Synopsis

The novel follows a bard named Carmine whom upon his travels, searching for inspirations for the song of his career he finds himself stumbling upon a path long forgotten. Curiosity gnaws at him and he forces his way among dead branches, freezing snow and darkness as his journey goes deeper and deeper into the forest. He’s almost at his limit, ready to turn back to his former route when the forest opens up into a clearing. Inside the clearing a village stands, rustic and quaint and not at all snowy. There he meets the people of the village, people who have never heard of anything outside their little realm. And among these folk is an elf, Moa, neither lord nor lady, who strikes Carmine with inspiration and infatuation. Despite his novelty of being a stranger, danger brews elsewhere and soon catches up to him. He must escape, drag along others who would die before their time if only to stay in their realm, and survive the elements together as they journey to one of the last safe places Carmine knows. The island elves.

Outline

Chapter 1: Chapter 1 is an introductory of the character, his discovery of the village, his introduction to their unique culture and Moa. He finds them in the dark of night, only light being the moon shining from above, as he looks for sanctuary. The village may not be touched by the outside world’s weather but he is still sopping wet and freezing cold. Entering further into the clearing he spots a single light among darkness, a flicker of flame so small he nearly didn’t see it. As he grew closer he found himself in front of a temple, the sorts one would find in ruins. But there it was well kept. He found sanctuary there, found people, and among the humans stood a single elf sweeping the floor silently.

Chapter 2: He introduces himself to the elf many times, eliciting no response. It isn’t until he says blasphemous things about the villages goddess that they finally speak, reprimanding him harshly and in a threatening manner. They tells him of the village and their fortune supposedly coming from the goddess Rin. He tries to tell them about his land, the land outside the village but they refuse to listen.

Chapter 3: He becomes more familiar with the people of the village. By more familiar he begins sleeping around. His tales of the outside world entertain others but he can sense that they find it all to be fiction. No matter how hard he may try there is no world beyond the clearing for the villagers. His infatuation with Moa continues to grow, the mystery of the only other person who is not like the others. 

Chapter 4: He begins writing fantasies about Moa. Songs, plays, stories, all starring a mysterious elf whom has so coldly rejected him despite capturing his heart. The more he writes the more he finds that they are less and less fictional by the day.

Chapter 5: Footsteps thumping, nearly shaking the ground as strangers run into the clearing, torch in one hand, weapon in the other. The village protected from time has had their time run out and they are pillaged thoroughly. Carmine escapes, barely able to drag Moa and the baker’s son away from the gory scene. They cannot run for long, the villagers unused to the harsh weather of the land outside of their realm and must make a quick camp. There are no songs that night.

Chapter 6: Carmine pushes the group forward, finds their way North, intends to get as far away from the realm than before. More time has passed than he has realized, for to him what was a short winter was years to the outside world. War had ravaged the land, most villages they passed burned to nothing but ash. He had to get them to somewhere, anywhere, safer than this. The island of the elves, the race’s last refuge, was the destination he had in mind.

Chapter 7: They begin their travel and it is during this time Moa begins to speak more. It is a gradual process, but they confesse that they do not hate Carmine, or the idea of being together. To Carmine that’s as close to a love song as he could imagine.

Chapter 8: They make it to the sea in the North after travelling, and can see a blip of land on the horizon. Their destination. Whether they will be accepted or not is the true question.

Audience

My primary audience are new adults and adults who enjoy the romance genre and fantasy elements. There is also an audience for those who enjoy LGBT works, that being because the protagonist, Carmine, is bisexual, and  Moa, the love interest, is agender. Women make up 82% of the romance genre audience and the audience is most likely aged between 30 and 54. Studies also show that they talk to friends about romance books they've read about 76% of the time, so word of mouth from pleased readers is a key factor. There has also been a rise in popularity with fantasy stories since video media has touched upon them recently, such as Game of Thrones and Fantastic Beasts. 

Sources:

https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fi...

http://www.latimes.com/books/l...

Promotion

I have Facebook and Twitter but small amount of followers/friends on these sites. On the website Tumblr I currently have 710 followers. What my proposed plan so far as social media press goes is to create a facebook account specifically for Angels Be Praised and link it to my personal accounts. I also propose starting a kickstarter for the book. If it does not receive the sufficient funds to receive the money then there will at least have been the publicity of being a project people could have supported, or even did and will remember the book's title if not my name. It also gives a platform to offer incentives such as signed copies, names on a thank you page, and so forth.

I am currently a member of a school club centered around fantasy and can spread the book's existence through word of mouth using said club members. I also have a teacher who has been supportive and may be willing to promote it with my fellow classmates. I came from a small private school and can go to them and promote the book using my alumni status to generate more interest. I have authors within my family who are members of book clubs and have followings themselves that can recommend the book or share it's existence in promotion. 

Since it is a book that's protagonists are LGBT+ written by an bisexual author, the promotional value within the LGBT community can be arranged particularly with social media as well. The examples listed so far do not cost money but effort on my part. 

Competition

Ariah, Zharmae Publishing Press, June 15, 2015, Focuses on a coming of age of a young bisexual elf in a predominantly human society, and it's center themes address issues with sexuality and gender. The difference in my story is that within Ariah there are societal expectations within the book but within Angels Be Praised, though the characters are LGBT+ the society discussed in the book does not address these characters as prohibited. 

Fires of The Faithful, Spectra, 2002, Focuses on the story of a woman whom initially is a musician who lives within a sort of protected environment while the rest of the world outside face famine and war, who then comes to escape the grasp of wizards' power and become leader of desperate people. The difference is that in Angels Be Praised the protagonist is a musician from the outside world and in the end does not become the leader of some large group but rather a couple of survivors, if he can be called a leader at all.  

Sphinx, Deep Vellum Publishing, 2015, is a gender less romance originally in French recently translated into English set in Paris. I add this because of the mix of LGBT themes and romance genre. However Angels Be Praised has a fantasy genre element as well.

Archangel, Ace Books, April 1st 1997 ,  is a fantasy romance set in a different world with unique religions and a romance between a woman and a man. It uses religion as a plot driver which Angels Be Praised also does. The difference is that my story does not focus on religion as a concept of reality but rather a belief system.

Children of Earth and Sky, NAL, May 1, 2016,  is a fantasy story based upon Europe, involving the raiding of people of the "Asharite" faith, but also follows the perspectives of several characters from unique cultural backgrounds. Angels Be Praised follows one perspective and centers around a land similar to premodern Japan, however Children of Earth and Sky is a more recent release when it comes to the fantasy genre.