Day Retreat Mentoring Task

I can't wait to see you at the Savvy Writer's Day Retreat! Beforehand, I’d like you to spend a little time thinking about where your project sits in the real world. So in terms of how a reader, bookseller or publisher would instinctively understand it. There are no right or wrong answers here, and we’ll use your thoughts as the starting point for your one-to-one on the day.

So please put aside an hour or so, and follow the steps below (you will be able to book your 30-45 minute slot for the day at the end, too).

Step 1. Take the quiz below to get a sense of your novel's genre is

This quiz isn't an exact science. But it will help you get a sense of the kind of genre your novel might be.

2. Now answer these questions

Your answers will be sent to my email so I can take a look before our chat at the retreat. You don't have to answer every question but try your best. If you really struggle with some, we can chat about it at the retreat.

First name

Last name

What's your novel's main genre?

What's your novel's sub-genre?

Now let's drill down to into what your novel's sub-genre might be. Follow these steps so we can try to figure it out:

1. Head to this page on Amazon UK 2. Find your main genre, as you indicated above, in the left hand menu bar. 3. Click on the genre. This will take you to a new page. Now look at the left-hand menu where you'll find sub-genres. 4. Some genres, like romance, have loads of sub-genres. Others, like Crime, Thriller & Mystery, will have 'sub-sub' genres (eg. if you click on Crime Fiction, it reveals different types of crime fiction, so drill down as much as you can). 5. Have a think. Which sub-genre do you think fits yours? 6. Check out which books are bestsellers in that sub-genre. Do they align with the type of book you're writing? If not, check out some other sub-genres. Or you may even need to rethink your whole genre so do some exploring. 7. Once you have a good idea, let me know the sub-genre below (or up to 3 if undecided).

Short answer

Now write your 'elevator pitch'

It's really useful to be able to describe your novel in one or two sentences. It can help in a query letter. It can help when describing your novel to friends and family... it can also help if you meet an editor or agent at an event. To write it, pick the relevant type of novel below – so plot-driven or character-driven – then answer the relevant questions for that type of novel.

For plot-driven novels (Where the story is powered by events, danger, mystery or a central problem. Usually the case for more commercial genres like Crime, Thrillers & Mystery / Horror / Fantasy / Science Fiction / YA / Middle Grade )

A) Who is your protagonist, in one defining noun? (not a name, a role or identity: widow, surgeon, mother, ex-detective)

B) What single trait most complicates their life? (ambitious, guarded, reckless, loyal)

C) What kind of life are they living when the story opens? (stable, constrained, quietly unhappy, carefully controlled)

D) What disrupts that life? (be specific and concrete. Eg. for my novel Wall of Silence, it's: 'finds husband stabbed in kitchen')

E) What must they do now, and what’s at risk if they fail? (eg.Eg. for my novel Wall of Silence, it's: 'must find out which of her children stabbed their father before the police do')

Now combine A, B, C, D and E in a sentence (eg. Melissa, a devoted mother who is still coming to terms with the death of her first son, discovers her husband stabbed in their kitchen. She must discover which of their children did it before the police do)

For character-driven novels (Where the story is powered by emotional change, relationships, identity or memory. Usually the case for Contemporary Fiction / Women’s Fiction / Literary Fiction / Family Saga / Historical Fiction / Magical Realism / Romance)

A) Who is your protagonist, in one defining identity? (widower, son, outsider, carer, father, exile, addict in recovery)

B) One adjective that captures their dominant emotional state or flaw (grieving, guarded, resentful, lonely, brittle)

C) What their life looks like emotionally before the story begins (isolated, tightly controlled, suspended, unexamined, quietly unhappy)

D) What challenges or destabilises that emotional state (a relationship, a return, a truth, a disruption, a realisation)

E) What emotional choice they must make by the end (whether to reconnect, leave, forgive, let go, or change)

Now combine A, B, C, D and E in a sentence (eg. for A Man Called Ove, it's: 'A grieving widower living in rigid isolation, is forced into connection by new neighbours and must decide whether to stay closed off or risk change.')

Have a go at writing your blurb

Your blurb is essentially a sales page written in story language. It's what will appear on the back of your book, as your Amazon description and more. Take a look at the blurbs of the top selling books in your sub-genre.

You’ll start to notice patterns such as:

How quickly the protagonist is introduced
Whether the opening focuses on situation, emotion or danger
How much of the plot is revealed (usually less than you think)
Repeated phrases or rhythms (especially in your genre)
Where the blurb stops and leaves a question hanging

Make notes. You’re not copying, you’re learning the shape. Feel free to share your observations here as bullet points...

Observations

You're now going to try to write a three paragraph blurb for your novel. You may have done this already but this might be a chance to reframe it. Is isn't necessarily the final product, or what would be used. But it'll help with your writing. The first paragraph is covered by your elevator pitch above. So let's now focus on the second paragraph, which is all about the pressure point. So introducing the tension without explaining everything. To help figure out what to cover in this paragraph, answer the following.

What is immediately at stake for your protagonist emotionally or personally when that 'inciting incident' arrives and changes their life? (so, for example, what do they stand to lose, expose or be forced to confront?)

The final paragraph is all about the promise to the reader. This is where many blurbs go wrong. You're not revealing the ending, you’re signalling the experience. So answer the following to get an understanding of what needs to be in this paragraph.

What difficult choice, reckoning or transformation lies ahead? (leave or stay, forgive or walk away, speak or remain silent)

What kind of reading experience are you offering? (tense and unsettling, emotionally immersive, dark and provocative, tender but sharp)

Now try to put it all together and share it with me below. To help, this is a blurb following the same format for my novel, Wall of Silence. I've obviously added other strands too and you can do that: Melissa Byatt is a devoted mother, fiercely loyal to her family and certain she knows her children better than anyone. In the quiet suburb of Forest Grove, she believes she’s built a safe, ordinary life — until the night she comes home to find her husband stabbed on the kitchen floor, her children standing silently around him.

In an instant, Melissa understands the unthinkable: one of them is responsible. Terrified, protective, and unwilling to lose another child, she makes a split-second decision to lie to the police — and to herself.

As suspicion creeps through the neighbourhood and someone claims to know more than they should, Melissa’s certainty begins to fracture. The closer she gets to the truth, the more she is forced to confront the question she’s been avoiding: how far can a mother go to protect her children before the damage becomes irreversible? Because in Forest Grove, silence isn’t just complicity — it’s a weapon.

Now have a go at writing yours below!

Think about how to apply this learning to your writing by answering these questions

Look at your blurb. What is the primary experience you're promising the reader? This should be one clear sentence. (e.g. mounting psychological tension, emotional healing, romantic escapism, unease and paranoia)

Now turn that promise into practical choices. What must appear early in the novel to deliver on this promise? First, what tone do you want to deliver? (eg. uneasy, warm, tense, intimate)

What's the emotional state of your main protagonist (eg. (hopeful, guarded, ambitious, grieving, content, restless)

If you're already written some or all of your novel, do you feel you get all this across in those crucial first chapters?

Yes

If not, think about how you can. Make notes here.

Your blurb and genre sets expectations. Scenes that work against that promise don’t make your book richer, they confuse the reader. So ask yourself: What kind of scenes would dilute or contradict the promise I’m making?

For example:

Romance: a graphic act of violence or sudden tonal darkness in the opening chapters that overwhelms the emotional or romantic arc
Psychological suspense: long stretches of cosy domesticity where nothing feels uneasy or threatened
Book club / women’s fiction: high-octane action sequences that pull focus away from emotional change
Literary fiction: on-the-nose exposition that explains feelings rather than letting them emerge
Small-town fiction: jet-setting subplots that fracture the sense of place and intimacy

What kind of scenes would dilute or contradict the promise I’m making?

Take a look at your first chapter: if a reader chose this book because of your genre, sub-genre and blurb, would the opening scene:

Feel like a reward

Feel like a surprise in the wrong direction

If a surprise in the wrong direction, you need to rethink your opening scene. But don't panic, we can discuss this when we chat!

I hope this helps you feel clearer about your book, your genre and what you’re really trying to deliver to the reader. Understanding where your novel sits in the market — and using that knowledge as a guide while you write — can make drafting feel far less wobbly. There’s space below to jot down any further thoughts, questions or things you’d like to talk through, whether that’s genre fit, blurb tweaks or how all of this connects to the story you’re writing right now.

Share your note and questions here

Looking forward to seeing you at the day retreat!

3. Book your session on the day

This will run 30-45 minutes. It'll be chance to chat through your answers above and anything else you want to discuss.

16 January Mentoring Chat
45 min
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Helping Published Authors Navigate the Marvellous and Messy World of Publishing

Day Retreat Mentoring Task

Step 1. Take the quiz below to get a sense of your novel's genre is

2. Now answer these questions

What's your novel's main genre?

What's your novel's sub-genre?

Now write your 'elevator pitch'

Have a go at writing your blurb

Think about how to apply this learning to your writing by answering these questions

Looking forward to seeing you at the day retreat!

3. Book your session on the day

16 January Mentoring Chat