The First 50 Pages: Engage Agents, Editors and Readers, and Set Your Novel Up For Success by Jeff Gerke

The First 50 Pages: Engage Agents, Editors and Readers, and Set Your Novel Up for Success by Jeff Gerke is a very down to earth interpretation of what every writer needs to do in their first 50 pages to attract attention and engage the reader. Though this book is advertised as universal, I found some of the concepts a little difficult to adapt to my genre. I do, however, still recommend this book as there is a lot of good material in it. However, be sure to read craft books on your genre as well for a fully well-rounded look at what to do in the early parts of your novel. I found the last chapter to be the most helpful. It discusses the first line and the first page. There are some really great concepts put forth here for grabbing immediate attention. Most tomes just say it needs to be a catchy first line, but Gerke tells us HOW to accomplish that. Overall, I found a lot of good information in this book and it is free to read if you have Kindle Unlimited or it runs $10-12 for ebook/print copies. 242 pages.