If you are currently getting ready to send your book or proposal out on submission, I’ve got a special coaching offer designed just for you.

My Book Proposal Review service will give you a comprehensive review of your proposal, from the cover letter to the sample chapters, and help you feel more confident that you’ve got a first-class, professional presented product ready to send out to your agent or editor of choice.   Even better, its extremely affordable.

My Book Proposal Review service include:

• A review of your entire proposal package, from cover letter to sample chapters
• A written evaluation highlighting the areas that work well and those that need additional effort
• A 30 minute coaching call that answers any questions your might have about the evaluation
• Specific suggestions on how to research and approach agents and publishers

I’ve sold fourteen novels, all on proposal, so you’ll also be getting the benefit of my years of experience and knowledge focused on you and your project.

So how much does this actually cost?

The introductory price for the next few weeks is only $50.00!

I’ll be making this a regular part of my coaching repertoire in the spring and will be raising prices at that point, but for now you get a smoking deal and a complete review of your book proposal for less than the price of a night out at the local steak house.

So how do you get started?

Use the Paypal button below and include the email you want me to use to contact you. I’ll get in touch, have you send your materials, and give you a quick turnaround date for when you can expect your written evaluation. It’s that simple! Why wait?

In follow-up to Quirk Classics’ widely successful novel from last year, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, comes a new novel of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem!

This is perhaps the first book trailer that I’ve actually enjoyed.  It perfectly captures the feel of the era, the stumbling nature of our would-be hero, and the sliminess of the villain!  (Never mind it’s an extremely well shot little video)

Kudos to all involved.

In honor of the limited and lettered editions of HERETIC being made available for preorder, I thought I’d provide a sampler for people to check out.  This way, you can read the prologue and the first few chapters of the actual novel, decide if it is the kind of thing you might like, before reserving your copy from Full Moon Press.

Click on the image below to check out the new digital sampler. (You can also print it or save it as a pdf for reading on your ebook device if preferred.)

Word today is that both Lionsgate and Marvel Studios have reached independent agreements with the Writers Guild of America to allow writers to resume work on their projects. From my view, this is good news – every single studio that breaks from the pack and signs agreements with the WGA makes the WGAs overall position stronger in the negotiations. Maybe we’ll see an end to this in the near future after all.

Keep it up, folks!

A few months ago I was chatting with friend and fellow writer, Jon Merz, about ideas for a book to work on together. It just so happens that we are both martial artists and follow the sport pretty avidly. Mixed martial arts, or MMA as it is known, is the fastest growing contact sport in the US, with a fan base that makes Nascar fanatics seem tame in comparison. Knowing this, we brainstormed different ways we might combine our passion for mixed martial arts with our passion for writing and came up with the idea to do a non-fiction expose on one of the major MMA organizations.

Jon had just finished writing The Complete Idiots Guide to Ultimate Fighting and by chance happened to know one of the senior executives at the International Fight League, a major MMA organization and the only one who approached the sport as with a team, rather than individual, concept. The IFL is a truly innovative organization when it comes to MMA promotions and we believed they would be an excellent partner to work with, so we arranged a meeting and pitched our idea to their top execs.

The folks at the IFL loved what we came up with and enthusiastically endorsed our concept. They gave us unparalleled access to the organization, from the day-to-day operations to the coaches and fighters themselves. Whatever we needed, they said, just ask. With their complete backing, Jon and I took our proposal to our agent.

Like the guys at the IFL, our agent was excited to take the project out to publishers. A sure hit, he called it, a blockbuster if he ever saw one. And he wasn’t just blowing smoke up our asses – he loved the idea as much as we did and after working in publishing for more than thirty years we were confident that he knew what he was talking about.

We turned the proposal into an event, sending it to a dozen publishers with a specific deadline attached, and sat back waiting for the offers to come in. This was it, our ticket to the big leagues, we thought.

Trouble was, we forgot that getting a deal isn’t as easy as just convincing an editor that the book is a good one.

For those who have never been through the process, here’s how it works. A writer puts together a proposal and send it off to the editors he’s carefully selected (or, as in our case, let’s his agent do so). The editor decides if he likes the proposal and, if he does, agrees to take it to the editorial board meeting. At the meeting, the editor pitches the book to the representatives from the various departments – editorial, marketing, sales, art, etc – and tries to convince them that one of the precious slots they have open on their publishing schedule should go to this project.

We heard from several editors who agreed that the project looked excellent. They informed us that they would be pitching at the next editorial meeting and would get back to us as soon as they knew something more. Convinced that we would have a deal in place, Jon and I travelled to the Open Tryouts that the IFL was hosting to build up their roster for the 2008 season, figuring it would make a terrific chapter in the book. We interviewed prospective fighters and some of the IFL top coaches, we took a few hundred photographs, and generally had a great time.

Meanwhile our enthusiastic editors were being shot down by, of all people, the sales departments.

See, there are only a handful of books out right now on mixed martial arts. Of the five I can think of off the top of my head, three of them are personality books, meaning they focus on select individuals in the sport rather than the sport overall. The other two happen to be instruction manuals. Which meant there wasn’t anything our there for the sales departments to compare our book to, to help them figure out what to expect with regard to sales, returns, and the like. In addition, there wasn’t any statistics that they could point to in order to show that the millions of fans who tuned into the weekly television shows and pay-per-view specials would pick up a book about the sport.

It didn’t matter what ammunition we provided to the editors – and trust me, we had it all, from network ratings data to growth projections for 2008 and beyond – each and every time the book was presented the sales departments shot it down, claiming that they weren’t sure that they could sell it.

And just like that, our brilliant idea died a quiet little death through no fault of our own.

We’d written a terrific proposal. We had the complete backing of a major MMA organization who was offering us unbelievable access to every aspect of the 2008 season. We had hand-picked editors who routinely bought sports-oriented books and publishers with an excellent track record of promoting such works with enthusiasm. In short, we’d done everything possible to make the project a success.

And it still wasn’t enough.

Sometimes, timing is everything. If one little cog of the publishing machine jams up, the whole thing can swiftly go out of whack and that’s exactly what happened to us. The idea was new and original, the sport was relatively new, there hadn’t been more than a handful of books on the sport with which to compare it – all the things that got the editors excited about the project were exactly the things that made the sales departments nervous. If there had been a track record of best-selling mixed martial arts books, we would have struck gold, as every other department was as excited about is as we were. But since there wasn’t, all it took was that one No to send us packing.

What’s the moral of the story? Remember that convincing the editor that your project is a good one is only the start of the battle. There’s an entire team involved in publishing and you need each and every one of them on your side in order to be successful.

(Originally published at www.storytellersunplugged.com)

Several months ago I submitted a story to an anthology called Holy Horrors, edited by T.M. Wright and Matt Cardin.  The anthology was designed around the idea of collecting horror tales with a religious theme, one that certainly appealed to me given the usual content of my writing.

I procrastinated with the story for some time, but finally finished it up just a day before the deadline.  My story, “On This Day of Reckoning” is a tale told through the eyes of a Catholic priest who has a crisis of faith just days before the Rapture and as a result is left behind when the apocalypse comes.  I was pleased when Terry wrote to let me know that my tale had made the cut.

Yesterday, the editors released the final Table of Contents (TOC) for the book and I’ve posted it below.  The mix between known authors and newcomers is very good and the number of stories is excellent.  This is an anthology I am highly looking forward to.  (No news yet on who the publisher is, but I’m sure the editors will arrange a quality one.)

So, without further rambling, here is the list: (title, authors, word count)

HOLY HORRORS Table of Contents

1. “Intentions” by William Freedman. 7800
2. “Saviour” by Gary A. Braunbeck. 6200
3. “The Sect of the Idiot” by Thomas Ligotti. Reprint
4. “The Dead Must Die” by Ramsey Campbell. Reprint
5. “The Editor” by Pamela K. Taylor. 1300
6. “Hate the Sinner, Love the Sin” by Brian Hodge. 10,000
7. “Darshan” by William Eakin. 3900
8. “At the Feet of the Forest Primeval” by Randy Chandler. 6000
9. “Vom-Beist” by Mike Norris. 4100.
10. “Porta Nigra” by Darren Speegle. 3600. Reprint
11. “Purifying Vows” by Kim Paffenroth. 5000.
12. “Magog” by Craig Holt. 9300.
13. “The Hands of God” by Michael McBride. 4500.
14. “Sanctuary” by Jim Rockhill. 330
15. “Redemption” by David Niall Wilson. 5500.
16. “Thunder of the Captains, and the Shouting” by Tom Piccirilli. 5500. Reprint
17. “The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini” by Reggie Oliver. 7300. Reprint
18. “The germ of his ideas” by Jose Lacey. 6400
19. “Abandon” by Adam Browne. 7200
20. “Bavel II” by Jens Rushing. 5500
21. “A Prayer for Captain La Hire” by Patrice E. Sarath. 6900. Reprint
22. “Behind the Bathroom Door” by Sarah Berniker. 4900. Reprint
23. “Sicarii” by Andrew Tisbert. 6700
24. “Cold to the Touch” by Simon Strantzas. 6500
25. “Darkness” by Jude Wright. 5000
26. “Ezekiel Remembers” by Kurt Dinan. 2000
27. “Bad Religion” by Douglas M. Chapman. 5000
28. “Anubis Has Left the Building” by Tim Waggoner. 3900. Reprint
29. “The Bishop Receives a Visitor” by Marion Pitman. 6500
30. “The Tattoo Artista” by Eric S. Smith. 4200
31. “In the Name of God” by Stuart Young. 5000
32. “Uncaged” by Paul Finch. 6000
33. “The Monsters We Defy” by Karen Williams. 4800
34. “The Shaft” by Brian Hodges. 6600
35. “Waters Dark as a Raven’s Wing, Flames Bright as a Dove’s Breast” by Dru Pagliassotti. 1900
36. “The Temple” by Quentin S. Crisp. 5200. Reprint
37. “The Wound of Her Making” by Gerard Houarner. 6100. Reprint
38. “And You Shall Be Adored” by Regina Mitchell.
39. “On This Day of Reckoning” by Joseph Nassise. 4500
40. “Rapture” by Robert Morrish and Harry Shannon. 3700

“Nassise’s writing program helped me JUMPSTART one novel with amazing ease while working on another. When I was finished I had a complete outline, enough to dive right in when the time comes.” -Weston Ochse, Bram Stoker-winning author of Scarecrow Gods

The first Jump Start Your Novel Workshop was a smashing success, so it’s time to do it again!

Since I started writing in 2002, I’ve sold seven novels to major publishers in four different countries. Six of those seven novels were sold on the basis of nothing more than a proposal which consisted of a synopsis, an outline, and a sample chapter.

I’ve been able to do this thanks to the method I use to thoroughly organize and prepare my novels before I sit down and write them. This method also gives me an extremely detailed project bible that I use to keep my scenes, characters, and settings straight while the project is underway. This allows me to write the scenes I want to write whenever I want to write them, even if I’m writing them out of order, which keeps my creativity and enthusiasm for the project high. Even better, it lets me know pretty quickly when an idea isn’t worth pursuing, so I don’t waste valuable time and energy.

In the workshop I’ll walk you through the methods I use from start to finish. Since I’ve just signed a contract to write three new novels, I’ll be using one of those as a living, breathing example, sharing each step with you. In addition, participants will receive personal coaching from me, including feedback on the exercises you’ll be doing on your own project.

We’ll do this step by step:

Week One – Character and Plot Sketches, Summary outline

Week Two – Settings and Research

Week Three – Scene Structure

Week Four – Story Evolution and Timeline

Week Five – Beginnings, Middles, and Endings

Week Six – Revisions and the Final Outline

At the end of the six weeks, you’ll have an extensive outline and project bible which you can easily use to develop a rough draft without the usual false starts and stalled momentum. You should also be able to create a strong synopsis and a proposal from what you’ve completed.

The workshop starts on Wednesday, Sept 12th and runs for six consecutive weeks.Lessons and assignments are delivered via email and feedback is given every step of the way.

The cost of the workshop is $125.00.

If you are interested in participating, visit the Workshop page.

Earlier this month I talked about the new three book deal my agent had landed with my current German publisher, Droemer-Knaur. I’m now free to talk about those titles and wanted to share a little background information with you regarding them.

The new books are:

EYES TO SEE which is about a man who gives up his sight in order to see through the eyes of the ghosts that surround him, all in the hopes of finding the daughter who disappeared without a trace from his home eleven years before. (Publication in 2008)

THE WITCHES HAMMER focuses on a serial killer using 16th century witch-hunting techniques to select his victims and the maverick FBI agent who is assigned to stop him. Things go sideways, however, when the agent begins to understand, and even agree with, the killer’s decisions. (Publication in 2009)

THE BOOK OF COMING SORROWS deals with the discovery of a long-lost manuscript penned by the apostle John, a manuscript that, when read aloud, sets off the cataclysmic events described by John in Revelation. (Publication in 2010)

All other rights are still available, including US/UK/Canada, and information can be gained by contacting me at author@josephnassise.com or my agent at d4e0@optonline.net.

Word came this week that my story “On This Day of Reckoning” was accepted for publication in the HOLY HORRORS anthology, edited by Matt Cardin and T.M. Wright.

This was a story that I started at the Borderlands Press Writing Bootcamp back in January when we were given an assignment to write the opening of something new. At the time, I had no idea where I was going with it, but something about it seemed to work and so when the anthology call came up I thought I’d dust it off . This is actually the second sale I’ve made from an assignment we did at the camp – the other one turned into the sale of a new novel called EYES TO SEE to Droemer-Knaur in Germany.

I don’t have any idea who else is involved with the project, but word is that a full table of contents will be available sometime soon. I’ll be sure to post the whole thing here when it is.

Waiting to hear from too many editors on too many projects and waiting is not something I’m good at, not at all. At this point I’m ready to tear my eyeballs out.

The good news is that issue one of HERETIC came out last week and initial reactions have been good. If you’ve seen it in your local comic shop, or better, yet, took a chance and gave it a read, I’d love to hear any and all impressions. Thanks!

-Joe