Synopsis

The Guardians is a unique book which brings to life a world where anything and everything is possible and fully realised to its full potential. Dragons, Vampires, Mecha, Gunmen, Gods, Elves and so much more exist here and all of them are brought to life in a way that does the concepts justice. They are all as fantastical and awesome as they deserve to be, and then some. 

When I was growing up, I loved, and still do love, the Lord of the Rings and Marvel comics. The powers, creatures, characters and stories that they told me wowed me every single time I saw a new one. It was these that got my imagination to start burning and I started writing stories for those worlds, trying my best to bring my story to life. As I grew up, I got into video games which further increased my power for imagining, conceiving and creating worlds and filling them with life. Unfortunately, one thing has altered my imagination in an irreversible way; I was bullied for 3 years in Primary School, leaving me with very few friends that I could spend time with. Because of this experience, a lot of my writings took on darker, more mature themes.

After getting into Secondary School, I started writing more seriously, determined to create my wonderful worlds and to escape there, just to forget how much I hated the real world. I started off by writing short stories, then to a short novel, before finally writing the first story I have ever been proud of. It was called 'Ruin', the cast were my friends and the setting was the town where I went to school. Despite all of that, my book actually went viral within the school and soon almost everyone had a copy of it. My friends and colleges were praising it, saying how much they like it, especially the great narrative and the dark and mature themes, and that gave me my passion filled writing drive that I possess today.

Every day when I got home from school, I wrote. I wrote and wrote and wrote as many words as I could manage in an hour and, before long, I was writing close to 2000 an hour. My mind is always creating these worlds which I could bring to life, conceiving characters, powers, plots and God knows what else just happens naturally now. As of this moment, I have over a dozen concept ideas for feature length books, half a dozen film ideas and three television shows with more on the way, I'm sure. 

When I get into the zone for writing, I do not stop, not that I want to. If given the chance, I would write for hours because I have so much fun doing it, imagining how it would be as a reader to read the story. In a way, I am annoyed that I came up with this story idea and that I am the best person to author it, because it is the exact sort of thing that I would love to read and immerse myself in.

Knowing what it is that young people want to read, as I am one myself, I know that I have created a novel worthy of entering the young adult market and establishing itself as unique. This book will be a success with young people and I strongly feel that I am the best person to write this story. Even without this novel published at the moment, I am still writing two other stories, conceiving new ones and planning for even more characters and powers to introduce to these worlds

Outline

The story of 'The Guardians - Volume One' is spread across 40 chapters of varying length, with the average A4 number of pages being 10 per chapter. The story is then further divided into 3 main story arcs which are: 'Welcome to Ferris', chapters 1 - 14, 'The School Tournament', chapters 15 - 31, and the climatic arc 'The Phantom War', consisting of chapters 32 - 40. 

Welcome to Ferris acts as the introduction for the reader both into the main narrative as well as the lore of the world. Concepts such as Dragon Users and God Armours are introduced, as well as the main cast of characters and key side characters. The School Tournament Arc is all about characterisation, both on and off the battlefield. Each of the main characters is given a full in-depth exploration of both their origins, their feelings and how they fight in the team as a whole. The final arc is the resolution of all of the groundwork laid out in the previous chapters; the climatic fight between the Guardians and the Phantom Organisation. 

As I'm sure you can imagine, there is a lot to the narrative being presented here and, believe it or not, this is the cut down version of my original concept. The benefits of having this many chapters, this much content involving this large cast of characters are, quite simply, that it makes it a more engaging and enjoyable read. You are able to become immersed into the world of the Guardians very easily and you get to spend a lot of time there, enjoying the story, finding it heart-warming at times and heart-breaking at others. I strongly believe that the journey that both the readers and the characters go through is something that will be unforgettable and will make you feel that you made the right choice buying and reading this book.

To put it simply, when you buy this book, you get your money's worth.

Audience

Although I feel as if my novel has a wide range of appeal, I do think that it is probably best suited for a younger audience, only because the majority of the main cast of characters are children. It deals with their lives, their physical and emotional suffering and trials, and how they grow and are shaped by the events which occur in the Guardians. The primary market of readers that the book is aimed at is the young adult area of readers, because they, most likely, will be able to appreciate the novel to a greater level than most other readers. For instance, not only are the concepts covered in the story ones that they love, the characters are more relatable for them because they are close to their age, allowing them to bond with them on a closer level. For these reasons, and because of the awesome experience that they will go through, I know that they will want to buy my book.

Promotion

Once I have secured a publishing deal, I will set up a personal blog and a website for the Guardians series, both of which will detail various things about the series. For example, I will be posting concept art, character biographies and background information from the universe that the series takes place in. I will also announce dates for releases, meetings and signings as well as other things.

I will make sure that I am connecting with my target audience by always having my email inbox open to inquiries about my book, including anything that they do not understand, as well as if they wish to know about me or the book's release schedule. I will also create a Twitter account which I will also be posting these updates and releases on, allowing those who are interested in my progress to get the latest and most accurate information about the series as soon as it is ready to be announced. 

I am also considering creating and releasing YouTube videos, which could detail a great number of things. For example, an 'Ask the Author' video or a preview video of what people can expect from an upcoming title could be produced and released on this channel. 

And if that isn't enough or what people want, I will listen to their suggestions and adjust my strategy accordingly.

Competition

The young adult marketing is booming at the moment. It seems almost every single day that we hear of a new novel appealing to this market that will be launched as a series, believing itself to have broken the formula enough to appeal to the masses. Some of these books, such as Harry Potter, the Hunger Games Trilogy and the 'Gone' Series are very, very good, but each possess their own flaws, like all narratives including my own I'm sure.

The Hunger Games books rose to popularity once the first book was released and they then soared to the top of the world as the film series began. However, as a fan of the books, I have to say, there are some serious flaws with it. For example, in the first book, there is so much fluff and filler that it sometimes felt like a chore to read through it all. Stories about how Katniss knew which plants were and weren't poisonous were unnecessary and could have easily been summed up, not wasting the reader's time. Another example is right before the final show down. By my recollection, there are two solid pages of text saying how Katniss and Peeta couldn't go to the fight because of the weather which, again, made the book drag and it broke my immersion. The Guardians - Volume One does not do this. If it is important, then it is in the story; if it isn't, then it is gone.

Another popular series of young adult novels are the Twilight series, books which, as a writer, shame me to say I want to be in the field as these embarrassments. Poorly written stories, characters and romance storylines make the series unreadable, let alone watchable if you are talking about the films. As a fan of both Vampires and Werewolves, both of which featured in the world of the Guardians, I was offended that someone could portray them in such a way. Twilight made Vampires pathetic; my story does not. They are powerful, fuelled by awesome power and are badass.

The Divergent series is another one of the most well-known young adult series and it is a good read to say the least, not the most memorable or iconic, but still quite a solid journey. However, the generic method of storytelling which makes it feel cliché and like the Hunger Games and Maze Runner hurts the series so much that it doesn't stand out and, in all likelihood, it will eventually slip into distant memory which is a shame. I strongly believe that the Guardians will stand out from the crowded market place of the young adult novels and it will be remembered for many years after it stops releasing entries to the series.

One of my all-time favourite book series, the Gone series, is a great young adult novel in its own right. It writes for its target market well, provides them with relatable and loveable characters while also not pulling any punches with its dark themes and mature content. Put simply, this is a fantastic ride and you'll wish there was more to immerse yourself in. This series holds a special place in my heart because of how it does not hold back and it helped me conceive some of the ideas within my narrative. However, because it is written for teens, it is not the most well written book out there. I feel that I have managed to capture the excitement, tension, epic feeling, emotions and enjoyability of the series while also managing to write to a better level than this series in some regards.