Day #2 - Steps 1 thru 4 - Mirror, Mirror - & Jim's by Michael Fedor
What are your strengths?
● Real-world experience that has sown knowledge, a willingness to pull up the curtain and reveal hard truths, compassion, an ear for what works, and mastery of the English language.
What are you the best in your world at?
● Weaving suspenseful, surprising, complex, character-driven stories with relevance to modern readers.
Why do readers pick other authors over you?
● I am not yet known to them nor have access to them.
● Some people are looking for terrorism thrillers; that’s not my political fiction
Why do people read other similar stories rather than your story?
● They want a fiction that aligns with their world view and they do not identify with one that is the common thread of my universe.
What do you do that exhausts you?
● Seeking followers and engagement on social media.
What are your unfair advantages?
● I have worked directly in the world about which I am writing.
● I have the time and the ability to focus on what matters to sell great books.
What gives you the authority to write on the subject you’re writing on?
● I have first-hand real-world experience.
● I do not have a narrow political agenda or an office I’m after.
What gives you the authority to explore the themes in your writing
● I have first-hand experience and I have read and continue to read books addressing these same themes.
● I am a former actor in this world, and now an informed observer.
● I draw clear lines around plausibility in my speculative near-future fiction, and draw heavily on history as preface.
Who is your target reader?
● A man or woman, politically engaged but feeling unsettled by the current state of the world. Aware of key aspects or willing to learn about American politics and elections. Principled but not a hardline defender of either Party. Readers who feel their voice is left out or silenced from a system dominated by greed, money, and self-serving people. Intrigued or excited by near future fantasy, not turned off.
What does your target reader read currently?
● Thriller fiction
● Fantasy
● Political drama
● Historical fiction
How is your target reader different from other readers?
● Aware of and possibly informed on current events
Why does your target reader read books?
● Entertainment mostly, but also escape
How can you thrill your target reader?
● Plausible but terrifying plotlines
● Larger-than-life characters who leap from the page
● Unexpected twists
● Omitting the boring parts, as Alfred Hitchcock famously advised
What do readers like about you?
● Easy to read, rich details, story moves quickly, political without being a sermon or lecture
What are the themes and topics that come up?
● Power, trust, love, ambition,
What words do they mention in their reviews?
● Exciting, powerful, complex, fun, insightful
What do people say about you when they talk to each other?
● Intelligent, knowledgeable, ambitious, hard-charging, generous, impressive, family man.
What does my brand let my readers say about themselves?
● I am in the know
● I know how the political machine functions
● I don’t have to accept the status quo
● I know there are better ways
● I know I am not alone in my beliefs
What tribe does this brand give me access to?
● Readers disoriented by American political shifts, now feeling unhappy, uncomfortable, and dissatisfied.
Who are your outsiders?
● Partisans and ideologues
● Those who do not see anything wrong with the status quo
● The highly entitled, powerful, and elite
● Terrorism political readers
● Readers who prefer over-the-top plots over compelling characters
What is the promise you are making your readers?
● You will be excited by political thrillers driven by memorable characters set in the future that feel plausible and possible because of a faithful accuracy and moorings of historical facts.
What comes to mind when people think of you?
● Politics, campaigns, creativity
What is the empathy you have for your readers?
● I empathize with readers who want sharp, inciteful political thrillers that are relevant to our stormy present, driven by strong characters and prose not terrorist plots, and allow escape to a world where the good guys and gals win debates, not shoot-outs.
What is the authority you have for your readers? What gives you the authority to write on the subject you’re writing on?
● I worked on the front lines of local, state, and federal U.S. elections and policy for 20 years for and with some of the biggest names in politics, while at the same time being a student of history
What gives you the authority to explore the themes in your writing
● The major themes of my writing are the quest for power and its costs, the grey lines of what is “acceptable” action in politics and electoral work, the human relationships between leaders, greed & generosity, love & loathing, hope & fear, and many more. In each of these areas I have direct, first-hand experience as a political operative, candidate, and elected leader myself. I have two degrees from Penn State – both dealing with the ways humans learn, interact, behave, and form relationships with information and other persons. The challenge is to present stories in ways that do not have an agenda, but ring true and universal for all readers drawn to this genre.
Find a website that makes it about them, and brainstorm how you would change that website to make it about the website visitor. What are two things you would change?
● Drop the hero banner carousel with the welcome and replace it with a question:
○ Are you a Pennsylvania based writer – emerging or established – looking for your tribe? You’ve found us (Call to Action button: Learn More now)
○ Move the mission statement to another page, but more BENEFITS of membership on the main page like “CONFERENCE” “MEET UPS” “WRITERS CIRCLES” “PUBLISHING HELP”
Who is your target reader? Describe them in one sentence:
● My target reader is excited and terrified to explore the consequences of remaining on the current trajectory of U.S. politics and excited to imagine heroes to rescue us.
To stand out, we must shock/surprise/delight Broca on a regular basis. How have you, or how are you going to, shock/surprise/delight Broca during the next three days?
● My brand up to this point has been a buttoned-up, serious, stoic profile. To shock, surprise, and delight is a seismic shift from the person I was for years in politics. I have discovered that more established authors delight their fans and readers by giving them peaks into their lives. This is something I have really grown away from doing. So I plan to share a more casual, private side of myself that no one ever sees besides my family.
○ Engaging in time with my kids
○ Casual, candid shots working
○ What I’m reading shots
○ Photos with friends
○ A lot more videos, which I feel like I really neglect to make as often as I should for use with my audience
You know your brand has to be organic. What is different, unique, quirky, or surprising about you that can/does define you as a person? How are you organically compelling?
● I am a news junkie
● I am a trivia beast – I have a weird ability to recall an incredible variety of useless facts
● I am an outdoorsman and angler, but looking at me most people don’t assume that would be true
● I have visited more state capitols, national parks, historic sites, presidential libraries, and taken guided tours at them than professional sporting events!
In what areas do you need to give yourself permission to be you?
● Be more fun and more casual
● Be imperfect
● Let my acerbic whit and sense of humor come through more in my brand
In what two areas are you going to focus on where you’ll make your content surprising/entertaining/provocative/engaging?
● Website