The Avacado Papers is selling first-time novelists opening
paragraphs at the rate of $1.75 a word. You have your choice of a
number of them, several of which seem to be based on the insanity or at least
extreme eccentricity of their protagonists. The average price comes in
at around $300—and that’s non-exclusive, so several novels could start with the
same paragraph.
It’s a fun little wheeze that will get the blog some publicity, but if you’re really in need of an opening paragraph I can save you some money. One free method is to mash up opening sentences from several novels, like this:
“”The lift is lined with mirrors, with many Cassies. Once again, he woke up
screaming. Four in the morning, the dead of December. A warm sour cloud wafted
across to Tommy’s side of the bed as his wife rolled over in her sleep.”
(from: “As Far as You Can Go,” Lesley Glaister, “Gideon,” Russell Andrews, and “The Distant Echo,” Val McDermid, and “Blood Brothers,” Richard Price.)
Or you can have this one, with my compliments:
“He was in need of inspiration…but where to find it? Then he remembered Jurgen Wolff’s blog at www.timetowrite.blogs.com. There was always something interesting there. He typed in the web address, his stubby fingers stabbing the grimy keyboard. Damn! He got it wrong. He ended up at www.timetowrite.com, Jurgen’s website, instead. Still, it was full of useful information, too. Suddenly a shot rang out.”
Please send me a copy of the novel when it gets published. J
