We all know Nik Perring. He’s a good friend and an even better writer, and I’m thrilled to be able to hand my blog over to him for today. First off, I’ll apologise in advance if this is either boring or unhelpful or both. But my route to publication was, compared with the routes of…
Category Archives: how i got published
How I Got Published: Tom Vowler
Tom Vowler is a writer of extraordinary talent and perception. His first book, The Method: and Other Stories is published by Salt today. I was a late developer. Middle set of English at school. No love of children’s classics, no shelves in the family home bursting with literary delights. Until my mid-twenties books, like mortgages…
How I Got Published: Tania Hershman
Or, How Tania Hershman Achieved Her Dream and Got A Book Deal 1. The girl reads everything. She reads books through every meal. She finishes the entire section in the library for 8 year olds and moves on. One day, she thinks, she will hold a book with her name on it. 2. The girl…
How I Got Published: M G Harris
I’m pleased to welcome M G Harris, my Twitter-friend and author of The Joshua Files series, who concludes her Zero Moment blog-tour here. Ten Things That Helped Me Get Published 1 Writing Fan Fiction In the mid-1990s I took up writing as a hobby. I was a member of the online Blake’s 7 fan community…
How I got published: Marian Perera
I am very fond of Marian Perera: she is a knowledgeable and prolific member of Absolute Write, has supported How Publishing Really Works ever since it first appeared, and runs an excellent blog of her own. She studies medical laboratory technology when she isn’t writing, or blogging about writing. Her debut novel, Before the Storm,…
How I Got Published: Karen Schwabach
Today Karen Schwaback explains how a combination of her membership of a professional writers’ association and a very sensible sister led to her eventual publication despite her efforts to scupper her own success. My middle-grades historical fiction manuscript, A Pickpocket’s Tale, won the Sydney Taylor Manuscript contest, which is open only to unpublished writers and…
How I Got Published: Lesley Cookman
Today we hear how Lesley Cookman got herself into print while not really trying, and realise how working at our craft can bring far bigger results than expected. When I was young, I had a vision of how and where a lady writer would work. In a dark panelled room, with french windows hung with…
How I Got Published: Vivian Swift
I think that Vivian Swift is being just a little too self-deprecating when she places all of her success on leverage: from what I’ve seen of her book, she has a remarkable talent and a welcoming style which probably played a far bigger part in her success than she realises. Here’s her view of her…
How I Got Published (Part II): Tommy Donbavand
Last week we heard all about Tommy Donbavand’s metal balls and how they helped him get four non-fiction books published in the competitive how-to market. This week he tells us how he sold his first novel, turned it into a series, persuaded his publisher to double the length of his contract and picked up a…
How I Got Published (Part I): Tommy Donbavand
I first came across Tommy Donbavand’s books in the Barrington Stoke catalogues and, when I spotted him on Twitter, I pounced. I blagged a free book from him and then insisted he write something for my blog. I knew it would be good. One of the questions I’m asked most often (aside from ‘what are…
How I Got Published: Josa Young
Josa Young is a writer more used to magazine publishing than book publishing, but last year her debut novel was published by independent pubilsher, E&T Books. You can find Josa on Twitter, at her own website, or via her novel’s website. How did I get published? Well, it started a long time ago with an…
How I Got Published (Part II): Nicola Morgan
Last week Nicola Morgan told us a little about the writerly struggles she faced in the days before she was published. This week she reveals how she found herself an excellent agent, moved from not-really-published to very-well-published-indeed, and discovered her heartsong. Ok, so there I am ridiculously pleased with my boring government documents but horribly…
How I Got Published (Part I): Nicola Morgan
We all know the many-times-published, human-whirlwind, footwear-obsessive that is Nicola Morgan. Our favourite crabbit old bat recently posted this beautiful piece about getting published, inspiration and support on her own blog: it is now my great pleasure to give you Nicola’s own account of how she first got published, and how that publication has changed…
How I Got Published: Lorraine Mace
We’ve all heard that you need talent, hard work and determination to get published and Lorraine Mace and Maureen Vincent-Northam proved it when they got their co-authored book published not once, but twice. In this piece Lorraine is kind enough to give me some of the credit for their success but trust me: Lorraine and…
How I Got Published (Part II): Daniel Blythe
A little later than planned, here’s the second part of Daniel Blythe’s account of how he became a professional, published writer (you can read the first part here). Read and it and boggle. No publisher, no new book on the horizon and a dearth of new ideas and enthusiasm – that’s where I was when…
How I Got Published (Part I): Daniel Blythe
Daniel Blythe is one of those rare creatures: a writer who makes his living from his writing work. He’s also a regular contributor to this blog, and can be found in the comments-streams on many of my posts. His latest book is Autonomy, and is a Doctor Who novelisation. Here’s the story of his route…
How I Got Published: Tell Your Story
I keep reading comments online which insist that you can only get a book deal if you have mysterious connections in the publishing business; and how it’s absolutely impossible for new writers to get published at all. The logic of these arguments is fundamentally flawed, and they’re just not true; but how to convince people…