I love how excited authors are, when they’ve got an idea for a new novel.

But it frustrates me when I see that they’re not starting to write it – because they ‘don’t know enough yet’.

Whether historical novels, romance, women’s fiction, crime and suspense, biographical and adventure novels, family sagas, and, of course, love stories––

The initial research can spiral into a long phase of reading. While solidifying the foundations for their novel, authors often feel that they need to conduct more, more and EVEN MORE research work.

Sometimes, their original idea even gets drowned in LOADS of paper, articles and websites. It’s buried under PILES of books, newspaper clippings and notes.

Starting to write that first draft gets pushed further and further back. And when it’s finally time to start writing those first scenes, all that precious early excitement has gone. Writing the novel feels difficult now.

It feels as if research has put the brakes on the whole process. So many great ideas are not “Lost in Translation”, but “Lost in Research.”

Of course, a novel needs a solid foundation.

But I want authors to START WRITING as soon as possible.

I want them to feel they know enough to start writing.

For me, this means: Having a curated, comprehensible material dossier at hand.

Detailed enough to inspire countless ideas, and to get the writing process underway.

Extensive enough to get a solid overview of the chosen time & setting of the novel.

Just enough, so that the information isn’t overwhelming.

To curate such a package of research material, I’ve created CATAPULT YOUR FIRST DRAFT.

I want these authors to know: After working through this hand-selected material, they will feel ready to start writing.

They will receive…

… special writing prompts to make writing the very first scenes effortless.

… curated material from the particular time and setting of the novel.

… and a parcel containing highly relevant, hand-selected books annotated by their very own personal historical advisor.

Former clients have said that, because of our collaboration, they could start writing at least 4-5 weeks earlier. And the foundation for their novel was more solid, so that the overall writing process was much smoother.

Because when you capitalise on the early excitement of a new project, and have enough material to gain ideas from, all the energy can then go into writing.

Bridge the gap from “first idea” to “write your first scenes.”

Together, the author and I work on four pillars to create the foundation of a novel.

Inspiration to Start Writing Right Away,
Fill the Holes in the Plot,
Mentoring When Writing Gets Stuck, and
(of course!) Research Material For Your Novel.

CATAPULT YOUR FIRST DRAFT costs 2,300 Euros (approximately 3,290 AUD), and it’s created in a close conversation between me and the author.

Don’t let those ideas and that early excitement get “lost in research.”

If you know any authors who want to start writing their novel as soon as possible, let’s collaborate. Introduce us, so that we can start our conversation, by sending us an email.

Greetings from my medieval half-timbered house in Germany to you,

Dr. Barbara

Contact me >>

I see historical material with the eyes of a novelist.

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I am Dr. Barbara Ellermeier, a researcher and historical advisor for authors.

Using my research expertise and network of experts, I am able to provide hand-picked, historical material that makes a novel special – so that authors can concentrate on their writing.

Through my unique packages of factual and inspirational materials – created specifically for each client – I help authors save time and energy. Authors can be confident that all of the historical facts are correct and that they have enough material to choose from, while writing about a long-lost era.

My work has been featured in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Tagesspiegel and FOCUS.

The leading German magazine of the publishing industry, BUCHMARKT, called me “the research expert”, while my author clients refer to me as their “treasure finder”, “secret weapon” and occasionally even “my truffle hog”.

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Contact me to start a conversation: Click here

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