Free novella
The Outtake Mum Kept
A loop of film in a sweet tin shows their mothers dancing together. The label says bonfire night. Jess recognises the summer dress her mother wore only once.
Story outline
Home / Premade Series / The Families on the Cutting Room Floor
Domestic thrillers · Premade three-book pack
The Families on the Cutting Room Floor
Their family films have lovely endings. Somebody chose where to stop the camera.
This pack has been sold. Each pack is only sold once.
3-book package
$705
$235 per book · Save $75
Order this packEach pack is only sold once.
Until 3 December: your concept comes with two On-Demand classes of your choice and six TropeSmith Maps.
Paid in full to reserve your slot · not refundable · free revision against your brief · Terms · Prices are in US dollars; Stripe may show your local currency at checkout · processed by PlotProse (The Coral Hart Group)
The concept
Three women who grew up on the same Birmingham estate help one another play old home movies after a friend’s funeral. Each remembers being just outside somebody else’s frame. Onscreen, ordinary birthday parties and summer afternoons look complete. The small differences between what the friends recall and what the surviving films show put the women in present danger.
Clare’s mother has been blamed for an injury at a childhood party. The reel shows the cake still whole after the alleged fall. Her uncle wants the film back before Clare’s own daughter sleeps at his house. The free companion novella is The Outtake Mum Kept.
The worldPrivate reels, original boxes and living witnesses can be compared. A camera records only its own view. Each household has its own secret and answer.
Series tropesChildhood Friends • Hidden Relationship • Grief to Hope
Intended readershipFor domestic noir readers who enjoy family history, physical clues and danger from a familiar face.
Tone & contentAdult family violence and grief. Every altered sequence receives a verifiable explanation.
The people behind the promise
Free novellaLorna Beecham and Jess Pate, childhood neighbours sorting a dead friend’s cupboard.
Book 1Clare Dakin, a divorced daughter, and the uncle who filmed her birthdays.
Book 2Brian Skeltona widower
Book 2Nadinehis childhood friend
Book 3Mo Gibbons, a bride in the last reel, and her oldest friend Pauline.
Series arc
An omitted outtake restores a friendship. Three later films reopen a supposed accident, expose an adult using a child as an alibi and force a wife to choose the unedited account of her marriage.
The three books
The direction is set. The books are written after you order.
Book 1 of three
The Birthday Before the Bruise
Clare’s mother has been blamed for an injury at a childhood party. The reel shows the cake still whole after the alleged fall. Her uncle wants the film back before Clare’s own daughter sleeps at his house.
Story outline
Book 2 of three
The Man Beyond the Paddling Pool
Brian’s wife is supposed to be filming a paddling pool while her husband is at work. In the lens reflection Nadine sees two adult men and no woman. One man has just asked to collect Brian’s daughter.
Story outline
Book 3 of three
The Last Reel of Our Marriage
Mo’s husband has prepared a film for their reconciliation dinner. Pauline notices that when the guests supposedly left, her own coat was still on its hook. Someone has moved the goodbye to the wrong end of the evening.
Story outline
From the free novella into Book 1
The friends’ first screening persuades another neighbour to bring the birthday reel to Book 1.
In the concept package
Includes the author pitch, editable Authorythm seeds and individual AI-generated front-cover concepts. The planned fiction totals 195,000 words.
Included free
Buy the 3-book concept pack and receive the companion lead magnet concept free. Each novel is planned at 55,000 words. The lead magnet, The Outtake Mum Kept, is planned at 30,000 words.
Included in the pack
Author pitch PDF with the series premise, characters, book blurbs and complete story arcs. One editable Authorythm seed document. 4 coordinated front-cover concepts.
What you get with this pack
- Three completed booksDeveloped from the pack you choose.
- Editing and human proofreadingFor every manuscript.
- Three coordinated coversA recognisable identity across the series.
- Blurbs and Amazon metadataFor all three titles.
- A+ contentTo showcase your books on their Amazon pages.
Order this pack and your series enters our production queue; we confirm your scheduled start.
This pack has been sold. Each pack is only sold once.
3-book package
$705
$235 per book · Save $75
Order this packEach pack is only sold once.
Until 3 December: your concept comes with two On-Demand classes of your choice and six TropeSmith Maps.
Paid in full to reserve your slot · not refundable · free revision against your brief · Terms · Prices are in US dollars; Stripe may show your local currency at checkout · processed by PlotProse (The Coral Hart Group)
The Names on the Emergency Card
The Houses We Borrow
The Bedside Visitors
The Handover Families
The Trolley Shed Sleuth
The Sweet Pea Plot Mysteries
The Ring Steward Mysteries
The Judges' Table Mysteries
The Euphonium Club Mysteries
The Stair-Counting Cat
The Folded Footpaths
Birthday Smoke at Plover End