I receive several emails every day asking me for advice and I always do what I can to help. But a few months ago it occurred to me that if I were to respond to these emails in a more public way, more people could weigh in on the conversation–and more people might benefit from…
Tag Archive: getting published
Sally Zigmond And The Kindle Rush
My best friend Sally Zigmond has written a very useful post about the rush to self-publish to the Kindle. As is ever the case with Sally’z articles, this one is well worth a read.
What Publishers Want
I read this on Twitter a couple of days ago and I really like it. It’s so simple, and yet it answers so many questions. Isn’t that fabulous? Now all we have to do is write those books.
How Dreams Come True
Catherine Ryan Howard has written an excellent post in which she discusses how our chances of getting a publishing deal are not equal: Right now, the self-publishing evangelists would have you believe that it’s easier to get struck by lightning in the jaws of a shark while holding a winning lottery ticket than it is…
What Is Commissioned Publishing?
Well, according to Melrose Books it’s a shared partnership between publisher and author. If we feel that a manuscript has sufficient merit and can be promoted successfully we will make an offer of publication. The author commissions us to publish their book by bearing a cost towards the publishing process. That sounds like vanity publishing…
Getting Published Is Not Enough: Part IV
This is the fourth and final part of an extended version of a talk I gave at the Festival Of Writing in York this year: you can find the earlier parts here, here and here. f 11) What happens if your book gets nothing but rejections? a) Remember that most writers don’t get their first…
Getting Published Is Not Enough: Part III
This is the third part of an extended version of a talk I gave at the Festival Of Writing in York this year: you can find the first and second parts here and here, and the final part will appear in two days. k 8) So, now we know why we have to be published…
Getting Published Is Not Enough: Part II
On March 26 2011 I appeared at the Festival of Writing in York and talked about the importance of being published well. This is the second part of an extended version of my talk: you can read the first part of it here and the remaining parts will appear here next week. ; 4) Fast…
Getting Published Is Not Enough: Part I
On March 26 2011 I appeared at the Festival of Writing in York and talked about the importance of being published well. This is the first part of an extended version of my talk: the three remaining parts will appear here over the next few days. : 1) As new writers, we often focus only…
Is It Rude To Ask?
When we want to move house, we find a house that we think might suit and then we ask the estate agent how many bedrooms it has, where it is, how much it’s going to cost us, what sort of state it’s in, and all sorts of other questions too. Asking questions isn’t enough to…
The Speech That All Writers Need To Hear
Oh, this is a lovely one. Every writer needs to read it. Especially if you’re not yet published despite all sorts of good feedback and positive comments. It brought a lump to my throat as I read it, just as Nicola Morgan’s heartsong post did when she first sent it to me. Read it, have…
Festival Of Writing, York
This year, the Festival of Writing at the University of York runs from Friday 25 March to Sunday 27, with an optional hangover morning on Monday 28. Be there or be square and heckle Nicola Morgan and me: we’re each running workshops and would love to meet you. I think Nicola’s sessions are sold out…
Happy New Year! And How To Get Published
Well, here we all are feeling very mildly tired and perhaps just a little headachey, looking forward to all the joys that 2011 will bring us. But I always find it a little intimidating to have a whole new year stretching out before me, all clean and sparkly and bright, knowing that I am once…
Agents Deserve Time Off
When I began to read this recent article from Alan Rinzler in Forbes, I was incredibly irritated by its opening paragraph. How do literary agents who blog, tweet and carouse online find the time to do the real work of agenting: reading, hobnobbing with editors, reading some more and making great book deals for their clients?…
Brit Writers’ Awards
Earlier this year I began to see questions about the Brit Writers’ Award competitions cropping up on writers’ message boards. Writers were being notified left, right and centre that they had made it through to the various shortlists; very few writers who entered ended up being told that their work hadn’t made it that far;…
The Write Lines: Listen Tonight!
Don’t forget to listen to The Write Lines tonight, between 9 and 10pm, when Sue Cook’s studio guests will be Jacq Burns of the London Writers’ Club, and writers Richard Beard, Lynn Shepherd and the irrepressible Jane Wenham-Jones (who makes a guest appearance here tomorrow—watch out for it). As tonight’s show has been pre-recorded and…
Why Self-Published Books Don’t Automatically Impress Agents
Several agents and editors have blogged about how self-publication doesn’t impress them as a publishing credit and when Janet Reid did just that (mentioning my blog along the way), she ran into a little criticism from one of her readers who accused her of considering sales more important than quality. I thought it was worth…
An Odd Way To Get A Book Deal
When I read this story in the Daily Mail online last April I assumed it was some sort of hoax: a writer left her manuscript on Richard and Judy’s doorstep in the hope of getting herself a book deal and as if by magic, she landed herself a deal with Orion. But no: the article…
The Writing Business: Part III
This is the final part of the talk I gave at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival. You can read part I here, and part II here. The Writing Business 44) So, once you’re sure your writing is as good as it can be, you have to work out where to submit it. How can…