The Literary Project

Apologies for the radio silence

2011-09-08T01:39:00.000+01:00

Dear all,

I am so sorry I haven't been here to update for the longest time.

Basically the real world got in the way. I have been fortunate enough to secure my dream job as a the Director of Library Services for a small town in Alberta called Chestermere. It is a beautiful, vibrant community that I am happy and proud to serve.

As many of you know, I am actually from the UK, so taking up this job meant packing up the family and moving to the otherside of the world on short notice. It meant wading through the soup of immigration and culture shocks (we still are). It was a small price to pay for the chance to live in my dream place and do my dream job, but it also meant I had to let a couple of things slide - including the Project.

I will get back to the Project, although it is looking as though it will be in the New Year. Yes I know that is forever away, but my goal is to get this right, rather than doing a half-job at it.

In the meantime feel free to drop me some emails if you have people you would like me to approach for interview. I'll get on with next year's list and I promise to get this site back off the ground.

Hugs to all,

Gem x

Gueat Post By Helen Hunt

2011-05-06T06:00:00.000+01:00

The Women's Magazine Market

Helen M Hunt

Gemma has asked me to share some thoughts about the women's magazine short story market and give some advice to anyone hoping to break into it.

First, a bit about me. I write short stories, book reviews and features for magazines. My short stories have appeared in Woman's Weekly, My Weekly, The Weekly News and Take A Break Fiction Feast in the UK, and That's Life Fast Fiction in Australia. I have also had real life stories published by My Weekly, This England and Evergreen magazine, and articles in Writers' Forum and The New Writer magazine. You can find my writing blog at http://fictionisstrangerthanfact.blogspot.comand my book review blog at http://bookersatz.blogspot.com.

One of the first things that you need to be aware of is that, sadly, the women's magazine market for short stories has shrunk over the last few years. Many magazines which used to take fiction, such as Woman and Woman's Own, no longer do so.

Add to this the fact that there are a large numbers of writers trying to break through, and it makes for a challenging and competitive market. Having said that, it would be wrong to assume that it's impossible to break into it. I have read comments in various places that suggest that women's magazines are a bit of a 'closed shop' and only established writers can get published. Happily this isn't the case.

When you look at the magazines you will find the same names coming up on lots of short stories, but that is because those are the writers who are consistently sending out a high volume of good quality stories carefully targeted to their chosen publications, not because there is an embargo on new writers.

If I can do it, then anyone can, but patience is the key. I went on a short story writing course at my local adult education college in September 2005 and wrote my first ever short story. I carried on writing and eventually my story 'Shredding The Label' was published by Momaya Press in 2007 – my first fiction publication. My first commercial publication wasn't until the beginning of 2009 when Woman's Weekly published my story 'Dandelion Clocks'.

Since that first publication, I have continued to write short stories and I have been fortunate to be published quite a bit by My Weekly, Woman's Weekly, and The Weekly News and have also had stories accepted by Take A Break Fiction Feast, People's Friend and a couple of non-UK magazines.

So for those who do want to write for this market, where do you start?

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here about submission guidelines for specific magazines. Instead I will direct you to Womagwriter's Blog. (http://womagwriter.blogspot.com/) This blog has all the guidelines and contact details for the relevant magazines with regular updates and also blog posts discussing various aspects of writing for this market. If you don't already follow Womagwriter I strongly recommend that you should.

My main advice to anyone who wants to start sending short stories to magazines is to initially concentrate on targeting one or two of them. All magazines have different requirements and like slightly different types of story so it's more manageable if you look at a limited number of magazines in great depth at a time. Always remember that magazines are looking for stories that are similar in style and tone to the ones they are currently using, but at the same time they need to be different enough to catch an editor's eye.

The key markets in the UK at the moment are:

Woman's Weekly – they take two stories and a serial every week in the magazine and also have regular fiction specials containing twenty or so stories. They are a good strong market that likes unusual stories and they are lovely to write for.

Take A Break Fiction Feast – this is a monthly fiction special which carries about fifteen stories each time. They like a variety of stories and take anything from romance to crime in a variety of word lengths.

The Weekly News – this is a newspaper rather than a magazine but also carries two or three short stories every week. Because the publication is aimed equally at men and women they like stories with male characters, are strong on crime and mystery and not keen on romance.

The People's Friend – this magazine is very much focussed on fiction, and carries six or seven stories and also a couple of serials each week. They like a gentle upbeat type of story and steer clear of anything too depressing or contentious.

My Weekly publishes fiction regularly in the weekly magazine and occasional specials. However, at the moment they aren't taking stories from people they haven't published before so they're not currently one for beginners to target.

Other magazines such as Candis and Yours take a limited amount of fiction, and there are a few overseas markets. All have their own particular requirements, and full details can be found on the Womagwriter blog.

So, choose a market and immerse yourself in it. It's probably best initially to go for the publication which carries the stories which most strongly appeal to you as a reader. Really study the stories carefully and concentrate on why they work and what it is about them that made the editor say yes. And don't give up!

For further information and advice, as well as Womagwriter's blog, I highly recommend Teresa Ashby's blog (http://teresaashby.blogspot.com/) and Della Galton's website (http://www.dellagalton.co.uk/).

I am intending to run some short courses and workshops on breaking into the women's magazine market later this year, so if you're interested please feel free to email me at helen-hunt1(at) sky.com. I'll add you to a mailing list to be sent details of the courses once they are up and running.

Thanks very much to Gemma for inviting me to do this guest post, and do feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.

Helen M Hunt

An Interview with Bernard Cornwell - REPOST

2011-04-29T06:00:00.000+01:00

*REPOST*

Hi all, I'm running around like a headless chicken at the moment preparing for some pretty big changes in my life. As such i didn't want to post a half-finished interview (not fair on author or on you), so instead I have decided to repost an old interview with one of my all time fave writers, because reading it once just isn't enough.

Normal service will be resumed soon!

Gem

Bringing History to Life

An Interview with Bernard Cornwell

photograph (c) Chris Clarke

It was my dad who first introduced me to the works of Bernard Cornwell, long before I fell in love with Richard Sharpe (well, okay, Sean Bean) as he strode around on TV looking very fetching with a rifle and a green jacket. I was a history buff as a kid, but that love had not crossed over into my reading habits. Until I read Sharpe’s Rifles. From that day on, Bernard Cornwell has featured very high on my list of favourite authors. I love it when he releases a new book. It means I don’t have to think of a present to buy Dad for his birthday.

Of course, it isn’t just the Sharpe books, based around the Napoleonic Wars, that Mr. Cornwell is famous for. The Starbuck Chronicles are set in the American Civil War, the Winter King Trilogy tell the tale of King Arthur, and his latest offering, The Burning Land, is book five of the Viking Saga, which are based in the times of Alfred the Great. Then there are his stand alone novels, like Gallows Thief and Azincourt. In terms of historical fiction, Bernard Cornwell writes incredibly well in a diverse range of periods.

So when I got the email back from Mr. Cornwell’s assistant saying that he was happy to answer my questions, you can forgive me for jumping up and down for a solid five minutes while squealing incoherently. Then I phoned my dad. He didn’t squeal, but I like to think he was as chuffed as me.

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. You are widely regarded as the greatest writer of historical adventure books of our time; how do you feel about this label? Did you set out to be the “best”?

I don't believe it! There's Robert Harris writing his trilogy on Cicero, C J Sanson's wonderful books about Matthew Shardlake, and let's not forget Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall! Wow, I'm way down the list. I simply set out to write entertaining books!

Most people know that they want to write long before they actually start; was this the case for you? What made you put pen to paper and begin writing?

I wanted to write from way back, probably from when I was a teenager (oh god, so long ago). I'm not sure I ever would have taken the plunge - I had a perfectly respectable job with BBC TV, but then I met an American blonde and she couldn't live in Britain for family reasons, and I had no strong ties so decided to emigrate. The US Government, in its wisdom, denied me a Green Card (work permit), so I airily told her I'd write a book. Which I did, and thirty years later I'm still writing books and, much more important, still married to the blonde.

Out of all the books you have written, do you have a favourite? If so, what makes that one stand out above the others?

This feels rather like being asked 'do you have a favourite child', a question which probably has the answer 'yes', but everyone denies anyway. My favourites are the three Arthurian books - starting with The Winter King. They were simply a joy to write . . . at the time it felt as though they were writing themselves. I've enjoyed writing most of the books (why do it if it isn't enjoyable?), but those three stand out.

Your latest book, The Burning Land, has just been published and is the latest in the Alfred Series. How does writing in this period differ from the Sharpe books? What period is your favourite to research / write in?

I suppose the main difference is that the real history is so obscure. We have an enormous amount of material on the Napoleonic era, and know a vast amount about what really happened, but the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle can be maddeningly obscure . . . events are mentioned, but without any details. So I'm freer to use imagination (good), but more likely to get things wrong (bad).

What are you working on now?

A book set in the summer of 1779, during the American Revolution, when the British established an outpost on the coast of what is now Maine and the State of Massachusetts sent a large fleet and a militia force to dislodge them. The campaign is very little known, but curiously features two men who became very famous. On the British side a very young John Moore fought his first action, while Paul Revere was in charge of the American artillery. It's a fascinating tale, and you'll have to wait to find out more.

How long into your career was it before you could effectively write full time? What advice do you have for anyone who aspires to be a full time writer?

I started writing full time the moment I emigrated to the States - I really had no choice! Advice? Just do it! I do have a real mistrust of writing groups, which a lot of people join thinking, maybe, they'll find encouragement. The only opinion that matters in the first place is your own, and then that of an agent or publisher, and finally the reader, but writing is a solitary vice, so my recommendation is to sit down, shut the door, threaten the kids with blue murder if they interrupt you, and get on with it.

Historical fiction is a popular genre but, as with everything, is subject to changes and trends in the market. What advice would you give to someone trying to break into the historical fiction market?

I'd tell them to ignore the trends and write what they want to read themselves!

New writers can struggle to get the balance between historical fact and the actual story right. How do you approach this problem?

By refusing to see it as a problem. My job is to be a story-teller. I'm not an historian. If someone wants to know about the Peninsular War, then I'd recommend Professor Charles Esdaile's brilliant book, but I'd venture to suggest that his book doesn't have the same suspense as, say, Sharpe's Company? I do try to get the history right, but if there's a conflict between history and story, story always wins.

You are definitely one of the more accessible authors out there; do you think that it is important for writers to engage with their audience beyond their actual books?

I guess that's up to the author? I like doing it, but I can quite imagine that some people don't, and their first job is to write the books. Nothing is really important beyond that!

Agents tend to be regarded with mixed feelings by new writers. What are your experiences of literary agents? Do you think that they are worth having?

If a new writer can understand the complexities of a publishing contract and negotiate like a junkyard dog, then of course they don't need an agent. But I do, and I like mine and I'd recommend that every writer has an agent. I don't understand 'mixed feelings'. The agent is on your side!

And finally, can you sum up a key piece of advice for new writers in one sentence?

Everyone who is on the best-seller list was a scared new writer once. So just do it!

Many thanks to Mr. Cornwell for getting the Literary Project’s new year off to a fantastic start! Bernard Cornwell’s website can be accessed here, and for those of you obsessed by all things Sharpe, there is a great fansite accessible at this address. Bernard Cornwell’s newest novel, The Burning Land, is out now.

I have finally stopped jumping excitedly up and down in my seat long enough to get this post uploaded and the links sorted out; but for those of you that follow me on twitter, I really am sorry. I promise I’ll stop bragging now.

Just after I’ve gone and phoned my dad.

An Interview with David Hewson

2011-04-22T06:00:00.002+01:00

When In Rome....

An Interview with David Hewson

photo by Mark Bothwell

David Hewson is good with words. He started out in journalism, working his way up from a local paper in Scarborough up to the big London broadsheets. He has also penned over sixteen novels, including the fabulous Nic Costa modern crime series, all set in the atmospheric city of Rome. Even his tweets are well constructed, which makes error-prone amateurs like myself sigh and think, "I wish I could write like that." I am impressed by the way he paints Rome, a city and culture he is not actively part of, yet constructs like a native. It is a writing benchmark that I am aiming for, so naturally I could not resist asking David to answer a few questions for me here at the Literary Project.

Hello David! Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I always wanted to write because it seemed the one thing I was half good at. But the only writing job I could find at seventeen was working on a tiny local newspaper in Yorkshire. So I took it. It seemed better than school, even at £5 a week back in 1970.

How do you think your background in journalism influences your writing? Do you think it has been a help or a hindrance?

Helps and hinders. Journalism teaches you research, editing and not to be too precious with your words. But it also relies absolutely on fact, which fiction doesn't. There's an Italian expression, 'Better a beautiful lie than an ugly truth'. Fiction is about telling beautiful lies, and to do that properly a journalist has to kill the reporter inside him.

Why crime?

Do I write crime? Yes, the stories involve cops and crimes. But I don't think I fall into the usual procedural template. My stories tend to be about justice, about relationships, about living in a fractured society. All narratives need a problem. Crime stories simply use a crime as the starting point of that problem. I don't really do whodunits. More whydunits and they've been around for ages, in all sorts of forms.

Writing novels based in a different country and culture to your own must be difficult – how do you go about getting the "feel" right?

I'm not a fan of the idea that you should write about what you know. Writing about what you don't know makes you work harder. You have to create that world from scratch which renders it more vivid and 'real'. I did it the only way I could. I moved to Rome, studied Italian, invested in myself and my ideas. Luckily it's paid off so far.

How did you get your agent? Any advice for aspiring writers looking for representation?

Everyone asks that and there's no secret answer. It really is the way it tells you in the Writers' Handbook. Go through the motions, send out the letters, keep your fingers crossed. No short cuts I'm afraid. My principal advice in this area is: for pity's sake read the submission guidelines and follow them to the letter. Be professional, not a jerk. Accept rejection and learn from it.

What is your proudest moment to date, writing-wise?

Seeing all eleven of my Italian books bought for TV movies in one swoop -- and from an Italian-based production outfit, Bavaria's Rome arm (though they will be made in English).

If you could change one thing about the publishing industry, what would it be?

The gap between delivering a book and seeing it on the shelf. It's sometimes nearly two years for me and that's just too long

Can you tell us about The Fallen Angel?

The Fallen Angel comes from a real-life tragedy from 16th century Rome, the case of a young noblewoman Beatrice Cenci. She and her family were convicted of the murder of her father who was reputedly abusing her. They were savagely executed in front of the Ponte Sant'Angelo. Beatrice became in icon for the virtuous criminal, defending her own virtue. In the book we find a young Englishwoman facing what appears to be a rerun of the Cenci case. Is this coincidence or a deliberate echo? So my Roman cops set out to find the awkward truth.

What are you working on right now?

A standalone book set in Florence in 1986. I felt the need to write something that didn't have the constrictions of the 21st century. No DNA, no science, no internet, no mobile phones. Makes for a very interesting environment in which to set a narrative.

And finally, if you could sum up a key piece of writing advice for aspiring crime writers in one sentence, what would it be?

Read lots of books and try to understand what makes the ones that work for you pull of that trick.

The Fallen Angel is available to buy here, and you can learn more about David and his books at his website over here.

Lesley Cookman Guest Post

2011-04-15T06:00:00.000+01:00

Lesley Cookman Takes Over The Literary Project

Gemma has very kindly invited me to contribute a guest blog for The Literary Project, which is a great honour when I see the other prolific and august authors who have preceded me, and whom she has interviewed.

Thinking about what might be of use to pre-published writers, whether novelists, short story or non-fiction writers, my first piece of advice would be, as it always was when I was teaching creative writing, to READ. It's amazing how many people say "Oh, I'm definitely going to write a book, but I simply haven't got time to read." Well, if everyone was like them, there would be a lot of books out there with no-one to read them. And the industry would grind to a halt.

So - READ. Particularly in your own genre. It tells you what the public wants, or at least, what the publishers and editors think the public want. And that isn't always the same. For instance, my "cosy" crime series is the direct descendent of the Golden Age detective fiction and the large publishing houses don't think there is a public for them. However, the smaller independent publishers know a thing or two about what the public really want, and my own, Accent Press (long may they rule) took a punt on the Libby Sarjeant series and here we are, eight books in and with two more on the stocks.

Anyway, back to the advice. Read to find out how to write. How to write dialogue, to see how things look on the page (not too many long paragraphs, for instance) and how to plot. There are many, many books out there that will tell you how to do this, but you can't do better than to read and compare other people's books and work out why they work - or don't, more importantly. This is not to say you must slavishly copy the style of your favourite author or journalist but to learn what has got them published.

Write what you know - well, not necessarily. SF, fantasy, horror and crime - most of us haven't experienced them, have we? I haven't murdered anyone yet, although give me time, neither have I investigated a crime, other than trying to discover which of my four children perpetrated the latest domestic incident. Your imagination provides everything you need to start, and with the enormous resources of the internet research is available to confirm any detail of which you aren't sure.

Network. Yes, a rather naff late 20^th/21^st century term, but very necessary. When I started as a features writer with Which Computer some time before Adam got his fig leaf, we didn't, strangely, have the internet or social networking sites, and we had to Go Out And Talk To People. Most of us who worked in that kind of environment latched on to the internet very early on, but as so few others did, it didn't do us a lot of good. I began going to events such as the RNA (Romantic Novelists' Association) meetings and got to know a few people in the industry. Nowadays, you can connect with your favourite authors, make friends with agents - only don't pitch to them on Twitter! - and research opportunities easier than ever before. And still go to the real life events, too, if there are any appropriate to your particular fancy and if you can afford to.

Have I said anything helpful? I'm probably only reiterating what many others have said before. There are many how to sites and blogs out there, and I expect Gemma knows all of them. One thing we will all say, though, is to repeat the old adage: 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. It's hard work, but persistence and dogged stubbornness will win the coconut. (Mostly.)

All the best,

Lesley Cookman

The latest Libby Sarjeant novel, Murder to Music, is out now and can be ordered here.

Interview with Russ Litten

2011-04-08T06:00:00.001+01:00

All the Fun of the Fair

An Interview with Russ Litten

I am not a native of Hull, and didn't move here until was in my mid twenties. As such, my first trip to Hull Fair – the largest travelling fair in Europe – was a memorable experience. Every year in mid October, Walton Street is taken over by old style fairground games; hair-raising, ultra-modern rides and more sweet & food stalls thank you can shake a plastic light sabre at. By the time night falls your senses are assaulted with neon lights, screams of laughter and blaring music. I remember thinking, "this is an amazing location for a novel," just before I took out a load of my aggression on the Whack-a-frog stall.

It turns out, however, that I was right. Russ Litten's debut novel, Scream If You Want To Go Faster, is based around the weekend of Hull Fair, just after the floods that caused havoc in the city back in 2007. Russ took some time out of his busy schedule to chat to the project about his debut novel, and his experiences of the writing and publishing industry.

Hello Russ! Have you always wanted to be a writer? What stopped you dreaming about it and actually put pen to paper?

I think my desire to be a writer stemmed from having a short story published in The Yorkshire Post when I was seven. The paper asked local school children to write something about Christmas and I wrote a short thing about an angel losing his halo and Santa finding it for him.

After seeing my story in print that was it for me, there was nothing else that I wanted to do. Which was fortunate really, because as I made my way through school it became very apparent that writing was my only real talent. I was useless at maths and couldn't kick a football, so putting words together was my only option. As I got into my teens I started reading about the Beats and that seemed like the very life for me - running around and having mad adventures and avoiding any form of responsibility. So when I was sixteen I joined a rock and roll band and volunteered for the job of lyric writer. That was when I started to really become conscious of my writing and tried to shape it for maximum effect.

You've worked a range of writing gigs prior to completing your debut novel, can you tell us a bit about those?

The first real writing job I had was in commercial radio. I used to write the adverts. At the time there was a concerted effort by people in the industry to raise the bar, both in terms of writing and production values. It was a good time to get involved and I got the chance to travel around a bit and meet some inspiring people. After that I became a freelance writer. I did stuff for magazines and newspapers, web-sites and other bits and bobs, including music festival brochures and cable TV publications. I used to write those things you saw in WH Smith where you buy the first issue and get issue two free, "The World's Most Famous Murderers" and stuff like that. It was all good practice for writing fiction because it equipped me with valuable editing techniques. And I was writing constantly on a wide variety of subjects. Somewhere along the line I got introduced to a film director and I went down to London to write film scripts.

So why the decision to write a novel?

My novel started off as a short film about a lad who got talked out of a suicide attempt by a taxi driver. I was told this story by the actual taxi driver in question. I thought it was a brilliant tale, and set about writing the dialogue and searching out people to put it together on film. I quickly found this to be logistically tricky, so I decided to re-write it as a short story. Impatience, really. And then I started wondering why the lad in this story would want to end his own life. So I put together another short piece along these lines. My original intention was to write a short story collection around a central theme, but I wasn't sure what the theme would be. Then I met up with my brother in law around the Christmas holidays and he told me his neighbour was a writer and if I was agreeable he'd show this fellow my stories. A couple of weeks later I got a phone call from this writer and he told me that in his opinion I was good enough to get published. And he also told me that I should write a novel, not a short story collection, the former being notoriously hard to sell for a first time writer. That was when I started to think of my stuff in terms of a thematic whole and started looking at ways of spinning all the stories together.

What type of writer are you?

I try to do at least two thousand words a day. I find the best routine for me is to get on the keyboard very early in the morning and just keep at it until mid afternoon. I have a rough outline of where it's going, but am always prepared to be led up various side streets and detours. Which is actually part of the joy of the process for me. I find I often think in terms of scenes rather than chapters. That helps me break it down into more manageable chunks. If I get stuck or stymied in any way I tend to go for a run in the park. That usually helps. And I like to write to music, although it's usually instrumental or ambient stuff. Lyrics get in the way. Or lyrics sung in discernible English, at any rate.

How long between starting your novel and seeing it hit the shelves?

I started the novel in the summer of 2008 and it came out in the January of this year. So that's about two and a half years. Although it seemed like several lifetimes longer.

Do you have an agent?

Yes, my agent is Jon Elek at AP Watt, and he's a thoroughly splendid fellow. I got an agent because I was told I needed one, basically. Your chances of having your manuscript read by a publishing house escalate noticeably if you are represented by someone with credibility and contacts. It's a simple matter of maths. They get flooded with stuff, so a recommendation from a trusted source tends to jump the queue.

Tell us a bit about Scream if you want to go faster

It's ten intertwining tales set in and around Hull Fair, in the aftermath of the floods that struck Hull in 2007. It's about ordinary people living under extraordinary circumstances and pressures. A lot of it is semi-autobiograpical. It's been described as "gritty", which is usually applied to most stuff that comes out of the North of England. But that's fair enough. I tried to give it a real human heart, because it's essentially a book about people and how they interact with each other. It is written in the present tense and the action all takes place over a single weekend. I had the idea that it would be rather like the police helicopter that flies over the city, picking out people below in the spotlight then swooping over to the next situation. I wanted it to be an accessible book and I wanted it to be very vivid and cinematic.

Has anything about the publishing industry surprised you? Is there anything you know now that you wish someone had told you right at the start?

I was initially surprised at the slow pace at which everything operates. I was used to fast moving commercial environments. But I've come to appreciate this way of working, because it's all about making sure every single detail is right, as painstaking as that can be sometimes. And I was very pleasantly surprised at how thoroughly decent and ego-free the vast majority of people I've met in publishing are. One thing that has surprised me is the lack of heavy marketing or publicity they do. I suppose this is because I'm a first time author. But I quite like this aspect as well. I'm all for letting things grow organically and I think at the end of the day a book will always find its natural audience.

What are you working on right now?

I'm on with my second novel as well as messing about with the odd short story and stage script. I also work in a prison two days a week helping people with their creative writing. The novel is the main event though. It's about two men who confess to the same murder. They're both unreliable narrators. One of them is an eighteen year old kid off an estate in Hackney. The other is a seventy year old ex-sailor who likes to gamble on horses and get drunk. The working title is Captain Jack & The Rocksteady Kid.

Have you got a long term writing goal that you're willing to share with us?

I'd like to write a novel every year and make enough money to keep going, feed the kids etc. And to help people feel less alone. That's the only ambition, really.

And finally, can you sum up a key piece of advice for aspiring writers in one sentence?

Don't think of yourself as an aspiring writer. Just be a writer. With the emphasis on be.

Thanks to Russ for talking to us about his debut novel. For those of you who have not experienced the heady insanity that is Hull Fair, Russ explains some of the draw over here, and you can read some of his articles over here. Scream If You Want to Go Faster is available now from Amazon.

An Interview with Steve Savile

2011-04-01T06:00:00.002+01:00

If at first you don't succeed...

An Interview with Steve Savile

On my quest for blokey writers, the lovely Adele sent me the contact details of one Mr Steve Saville, with the words "interview him, he's really cool," attached to the address. Once again, the girl was write about such things.

Steve Saville is a prolific writer who has had one of those bumpy paths to publication that plague most of us - although to be fair, his has been somewhat bumpier than most. Steve has been good enough to share the trials and tribultions of his writing career with us, which I think goes to prove that persistence is just as much a key to your eventual writing success as your talent as a writer is.

Over to Steve:

Hello Steve! Can you talk us through your writing career to date?

Oh my... okay. Erm. That's... well, it's a long story. It would be, wouldn't it? I mean, I write therefore I just about am. Okay, stepping back into the time machine (cue special effects, Tardis woo-wooo dematerialisation noise and we're back) I first started noodling about skipping lectures at uni to stay home and write some dreadful fantasy-pastiche that was Terry-Pratchett lite... then probably around age 20 I went dark. I discovered horror as a genre to read and found I really enjoyed writing it. So I sat down and wrote a story, Coming for to Carry You Home (as in Swing Lo Sweet Chariot... I guess it must have been the year the rugby fans picked it as an anthem) and sent it away to a small press magazine, Exuberance. It was picked up. Earned me fifty quid. I sat down thinking 'this is easy' and wrote a much longer novella, In Darkness, We Sleep and sent it to Frighteners, the Newsfield magazine (the guys who did all of the computer mags in the 80s) and Oliver Frey bought it for 350 quid. I was beginning to think this was 'easy'. They posted a note in Frightener that they were looking for 40,000 word stories to do as special projects, so I wrote The Last Angel (Angel of Pain, Secret Life of Colours... it's had a raft of titles) and subbed it, thinking it was seriously GOOD. I mean it felt right. But it came back in the same envelope unopened, and started to make a few calls. Newsfield had gone bust. My debut story was supposed to be in that issue along side Steve Harris and some other fairly well known 90s horror writers. I believe 30,000 copies were sat mulching in a warehouse back then. So suddenly I was stuck with a story that was an 'unsellable' length.

In that blind arrogance of youth I wrote a letter (more like a mini-book) of about 10,000 words and sent it to 10 literary agents down in London saying I was the next best thing to sliced bread... 9 wrote back within 7 days asking to see the full manuscript. I sent them out the next morning. Three days later Tanja Howarth (who was PD James and Patricia Highsmith's agent) phoned me at home to say she'd read it, loved it, and thought I was the hottest thing she'd found since whatever the last hot thing was. It was all very heady stuff. I went down to London, we discussed plans for expanding the book. Keep making it more magical was her advice - then it went out to publishers. Unfortunately, timing rather stumped us and the landscape of horror changed pretty much overnight with the arrival of Silence of the Lambs. Everyone wanted less 'magic' and more 'real human horror'. But after a lot of very brilliant rejections we got an offer, only this was right around the time paper prices hiked staggeringly and books went from sub one quid to two fifty and three fifty and four ninety-nine in about 12 months, and like so many debut writers I was cut loose. Unfortunately my second novel, The Sufferer's Song, was proving unsellable because it was too big (160,000 words when everyone wanted 80,000) and Tanja and I parted company.

I worked away in a wilderness for a few years, writing another unsellable novel, Laughing Boy's Shadow, which actually got me back into the game, so to speak, when Laurence Pollinger took it on, describing it as reminiscent of a young Chandler... but still, no joy. I was pretty much done in at this point. There's only so much great rejection a boy can take - and I was still young... maybe 24. So I went and got a real job. That didn't last.

I remember chatting to a guy, a really nice writer, who said you know, you should check out Lucy Bator over at Henderson's, they're doing a series of kids horror novels... like Goosebumps. So I gave her a call and we got on like a house on fire. She, however, admitted the horror line was closed, but they were looking for pre-teen romances... could I write one? The writer's mantra is "I can do that". Great, she said. I need a synopsis on my desk by the end of tomorrow, fax it over. So I got my then girlfriend to round up all of her female friends for a night on the town in which a dozen 20 something girls were going to entertain me with stories of what they thought was hot when they were 12... I wrote an outline that I reckoned knocked it out of the park. Lucy agreed. Unfortunately it was too similar to the idea her best writer had done, could I give her ANOTHER idea for the next morning? Of course, I said, I can do that... And did.

But again, the line never game out, so my teen romances are long gone, hidden on some harddrive I can't access any more.

What it did result in was a phone call many months later to ask if I was into computers because they wanted a book all about this thing called the Internet... I adopted the writers mantra, said, I can do that... and a three weeks later gave them a definitive guide to the internet circa 1995. They intended to publish it in 1997. Needless to say it never happened.

But that led to the first phone call that changed my writing life. It went something like this: "Steve... do you like space and dinosaurs?" "I did...when I was 12." "I've got a job for you but I can't tell you what it is. Want to do it?" "I dunno... do I want to do it?" "I think you want to do it.." and so we danced around it without saying what it was... it was actually pretty cool - adapting Return of the Jedi for young readers, and doing a series of little flip books for Star Wars characters, and doing a FunFax file for Jurassic Park II: The Lost World...

Suddenly in 1997 almost a decade after I started writing I had books out.

It should have been plain sailing from then, right?

Wrong.

Couldn't sell squat for about 6 more years. No matter what I did. I went through a string of agents. One I remember burst into the British Fantasy Convention to say "Steve! I've got BRILLIANT news!" and everyone thought he'd sold my fantasy novel (Bones of Dominion, still unpublished). He hadn't. Spurs had won 1-0.

Then I was quite ill, and during that illness wrote the story that pretty much changed it all, Houdini's Last Illusion, which won the Writers of the Future Award (under the title Bury My Heart at the Garrick). Within a year of that I'd sold a couple of small press collections, and then, through a quirk of knowing people who knew people, got to audition to write for Games Workshop's Warhammer line because their vampire writer had disappeared off the face of the planet...

From there I got fairly lucky in that I got to fulfil a lot of youthful dreams, writing for Dr Who, Torchwood, Stargate, Primeval and other stuff like Slaine, as well as do my own writing. I've been a full time writer since 2005, topped the UK chart with Primeval, hit the German and Italian charts with the Warhammer stuff, and am finally getting to see the reward for all that persistence.

Do you have an agent? If not why not, and if so, why?

I do. And I've had about 11. Nah, that's an exaggeration, but finding a good agent is like trying to find a wife. Actually probably harder in many ways.... you want to get on with them, but you don't want to be their friends, once you're friends they burst in to celebrate football scores instead of book deals... ahem.

You've written a few collaborative works with other authors. How does that work? Does it involve a significantly different approach than writing by yourself? Which do you prefer?

I've collaborated with Bram Stoker Award Winner David Niall Wilson on a Deadwood-esque fantasy about the Devil's Assassin, Steve Lockley (something like 11 times nominee for the British Fantasy Award) on the Sally Reardon Supernatural Mystery series (Of Time and Dust, Missing and Deadlines thus far), Brian M. Logan (an actor and screenwriter) on Monster Town, which has just been picked up by a tv studio in the US, and Aaron Rosenberg on so much stuff my head wants to spin. I really like collaborating because each of these guys brings stuff to the table that I don't have in my own locker. We create something that is neither me nor them but uniquely us. There have been other collabs, like Mostly Human, a straight to e-book venture with Scott Nicholson, Steven Lockley, Willie Meikle and I (four writers, four countries... got to be something for the record books)... in the main each one is very different. With Steve what happens is we thrash out a storyline, he'll write a really rough first pass because his skill is visualising things and chipping out the core story quickly, then I'll get it and fill in the characterisation, the scenery etc until it's smooth and you can't see the joins.

But, obviously, I love working alone as well... it's just fun to work together with people you like, admire and trust.

Tie-in fiction for Stargate, Primeval and Dr Who. How did you score those gigs, and what advice would you give to someone looking to write for established lines like these?

See above, basically. It was a process of luck initially, but in truth it came down to submitting a 100 page sample to Games Workshop, and being lucky that the editor, Lindsey Priestly loved it and thought I was what they needed for the line at the time. Then it was down to barter. I've done X, I'd like to do Y... and approaching the editors in question with cv and begging cap in hand.

As to advice - build your own body of work. More and more tie-ins are being delivered 'complete' from the studios with writers attached in the US, for instance, and then other properties are so hot you've got Michael Moorcock and Ian Rankin doing them... Places like Wizards of the Coast have auditions, check their website for details. Games Workshop run open submission windows- that's the best way in. With one of those you could get into the next anthology... write the best story you can, and you could get into the book line...

Does writing tie-in involve different skills to original fiction?

Yes and no. No in that you still need the basic skill set of any writer, but yes in that you have to please thousands of people who think they know the world you are writing better than you do, and can do it better. There's a shared ownership that you don't face with your own original works. People expect (rightly) that you know what you are talking about, that you are a fan of the show and you get the voice of the characters right. The thing is you can't please everyone, you have to focus on pleasing the people at the show itself, the editors etc. With my Stargate novel for instance, the characterisation was singularly praised by the MGM licensing department but has been savaged by the fans. I watched every episode of Stargate over a 4 week period (that's over 200 episodes of tv) until I knew them inside out, and then wrote the novel. According to the internet it's obvious I've never watched a single episode. You really can't win and you need a fairly thick skin and just need to be sure you've written the best novel you can write for the show.

Speaking of which, can you tell us a bit about your original works?

Well, I've done quite a bit. I'm most proud of two books, neither of which are available in the UK (unless you have a Kindle, that is), Silver, an assassination novel in the vein of Day of the Jackal, but with a religious undercurrent, and London Macabre (only available in Polish currently). Silver's out in Spain, Germany, the US, coming in France... I've released all of my back catalogue on the Kindle through my own imprint BadPress. And in the UK in a few weeks you'll get to see The Black Chalice, which is an original Arhturian fantasy written to kick of Abaddon's Knights of Malory series.

So, why genre fiction?

In truth, I write everything. I've ghostwritten novels in a variety of genres, I've done non-fiction, and am working on a rom-com script. Really, I'm like an idea magpie and flit form shiny thing to shiny thing...

What are you working on right now?

I'm ghostwriting a thriller for a very well known on-air talent in the US, writing Gold the sequel to Silver, and thinking hard about a new fantasy novel, Glass Town, which I think could be very interesting... if I ever get the time to dedicate to fleshing it out fully!

Can you talk us through the positives and negatives of being a full time writer? Do you love the freedom of being a freelancer or do you think you're possibly crazy?

Oh god... I can think of hundreds of negatives - the strain it puts on your family for a start, how it turns you from a writer to a business man chasing invoices and fighting to be paid for your work all across the world, how if you aren't writing you aren't getting paid so you don't eat... mortgage fear when the end of the month looms... but I wouldn't have another job. I am obviously barking mad.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to build a career writing full time (as opposed to just getting a novel published)?

Do it properly. Take the time to learn what you are doing. Think of it as a career - that means long term. Look at the numbers... if you start writing age 30 and write until you are 70 producing 3 great short stories a year (truly great, not just so-so or good) and write one great novel every 2 years by the end of your career you have got 120 GREAT short stories and 20 brilliant novels as your body of work, and that is one incredible body of work that could easily see you accepted into literary cannon. Don't be in a rush. Think of it as a long arduous walk in the desert - you need to take the time, and drink a lot. Ahem.

What is your ultimate writing goal?

I've often joked that if I ever get it right I'll stop writing... so I think that's it. I think my goal is to write a novel and know I've got it right. All of it. That it couldn't be better in any way. And that's the day I'll retire...

And finally, if you could sum up a key piece of writing advice for aspiring writers in one sentence, what would it be?

Be yourself. When you die and Saint Peter's up at those pearly gates waiting to judge you, he isn't going to say "Why couldn't you have been more like Dan Brown... or more like David Baldacci... or more like Terry Pratchett." He's going to say "Why couldn't you have been more like yourself." You have a unique voice. Share it. And that's more than one sentence, obviously, but you get the point.

Massive thanks to Steve for answering my many questions and being an all around top bloke. CHeck out more about his books over at his website here.

Interview with Julia Crouch

2011-03-25T06:00:00.003Z

NaNoWriMo Success

An Interview with Julia Crouch

Love it or hate it, most writers, agents and publishing people have strong feelings about National Novel Writing Month - or NaNoWriMo, as it is more commonly known. For those that don't know, the whole point of NaNoWriMo is to write the first draft of a novel in a month. No editing, no fiddling; you just get the words down on the page and keep on going until you type "The End". Participants of NaNoWriMo have shown that it is possible to write a novel-length manuscript in a month. Detractors usually respond by pointing out that what is written is a pile of cack.

But then... isn't that what first drafts are about? Seriously, I hope the first drafts of my novels never see the light of day, else my writing career would be over before it started. For newbie writers that first draft can be a daunting, impossible project - after all, writing a novel is far from easy. NaNoWriMo gives you a way to break through that.

But don't take my word for it. Meet Julia Crouch. Julia's debut novel, Cuckoo, began life as a NaNoWriMo project, and has just been published by Headline books. It is a disturbing psychological thriller that plays on the fear of how well we know the people around us. Well written and enjoying positive reviews, Julia is the latest proof that NaNoWriMo can work. Don't just take my word for it, though. Over to Julia:

Hello and welcome to the Literary Project! Have you always wanted to be a writer? What made you stop dreaming and put pen to paper?

Yes, I have, but no-one in my family did anything like that, so it just seemed like an impossible dream. I was always writing stories and poems when I was young, but it was a secret activity.

I did a Drama degree and went on to devise and direct plays with a theatre company I co-founded - sort of writing plays with actors. I did this for about ten years, and also did some what I called 'sit down and write' plays, and wrote several screenplays and radio plays. But I never managed to make enough money to live on, and then I had children, which made the money issue more acute, so I retrained as a graphic designer - a job I enjoyed, that I could do from home and which paid well.

However, the story-telling never went away. So when my youngest – who is 11 now – started school, I did an MA in Sequential Illustration, where I wrote and illustrated two children's books. I realised the writing was what I enjoyed most, so I did a couple of Open University courses and discovered the joys of long prose fiction, but I didn't really have the confidence to commit a year of my life to seeing if I could develop a full length novel. My tutor told me about NaNoWriMo, and that's where I discovered that I could actually do it.

What type of writer are you?

I write the first draft very quickly. I liken it to running through a forest with your hands over your eyes, trying to find a way through. Then the second draft is slower, more considered - you go back, keep your eyes open, and examine your route to see if it could be better, or more thoroughly trod. Second drafts seem to take me about a year. My daily word count is high - anything from 2000-5000 words a day. But I learned to touch type when I was a nipper, so that really helps - I type as fast as I think.

Your debut novel, Cuckoo, was initially written as part of NaNoWriMo. Can you tell us about your experience of this event?

Going back to question 1, the obstacle for me and writing was self-belief - conquering those voices that mutter 'this is utter crap' as you get the words down. NaNoWriMo is all about doing battle with your inner editor, so it really worked for me. I have now done three NaNoWriMos. I love the energy and connectedness it gives me.

Did you always intend to develop Cuckoo into a saleable work?

I didn't. I wrote the kind of novel I wanted to read. I think to write for selling is a big mistake. You have to do it because you enjoy what you do. In any case, publication seemed to be such an unattainable dream that I didn't even consider it.

How many redrafts / how long did it take to get it from the first draft to the piece you submitted?

The draft I submitted to get my agent was the third. It was a sort of journey of discovery. After NaNoWriMo, I put it away till January, read it through, thought perhaps I could make it into something. I thought about doing an MA, but if you already have one, it is prohibitively expensive to do another, so I spent a little bit of money on some literary life-coaching with the marvellous Jacqui Lofthouse. She helped me focus and believe in my writing, so I spent the next nine months of my spare time working on the second draft. The third draft was really more of a line-edit.

Do you have an agent?

I do have a very good agent, Simon Trewin at United Agents.

I know nothing about publishing, I'm not good at selling myself, I don't have any legal background. Simon does all of that and more. He got me a three book deal with Headline with a strong enough advance to allow me to give up my day job. United Agents also have excellent foreign and media sales departments, so I've been seeing quite a lot of action on those fronts as well. If you're ready for publication, an agent will pick you up. It's just a matter of hitting the right desk at the right time.

Also, if someone likes my work, I'll say yes to them out of gratitude. An agent is important to someone like me because otherwise, I'd have settled on publication for a bar of chocolate. I'd have given them a bar of chocolate to publish me.

Can you talk us through your path to publication between finishing redrafting Cuckoo and seeing it hit the shelves of your local bookstore?

I set my sights on Simon from the very first. I went to a talk he gave in Brighton for New Writing South, and I thought 'that's my man'.

I sent him the first 8000 words and a synopsis (folowing his guidelines) and I waited. Luckily, I know someone who works in United Agents - in a completely different department to him - and he wandered downstairs a couple of times to ask if Simon had read my submission, so I think I got a bit of help in rising to the top of the slush pile. I don't feel bad about that. My friend was the only contact I had at all in publishing, so why not? If the work didn't stand on its own feet once read, then he wouldn't have got back.

Eventually, he did get back and said he'd like to see more, so after about a month's last-minute faffing on my part, I sent him the complete manuscript just before Christmas 2009. He called at the beginning of February, saying he loved it. He gave me some great editorial suggestions, which I acted on and sent to him. I went up to meet him, he signed me and within a week I had a meeting at Headline, which went very well - we got on like a house on fire. They came back with a pre-emptive bid and, after a bit of negotiation over territorial rights - again, something only an agent can credibly deal with - the deal was struck.

I then worked with Leah, my brilliant and perceptive editor, for two more drafts. Then there was a line edit with the copy editor, picking up random typos, factual and grammatical errors - I was amazed at how many were found in what I considered, by that point, to be a clean manuscript. Then there were the proof copies, which Headline make like a real book, so that's a very exciting part of the process.

Has anything surprised you about the publishing industry?

How much is still done on paper - great chunks of manuscript being couriered around! Also, having been an outsider with, as I saw it, very little chance of getting 'in', I tended to demonise publishers - seeing them as some sort of untouchable Gods. But in fact, every single person I have met has been completely lovely. It's the nicest business I have ever worked in (and remember, I used to be in theatre!).

What's the best writing advice you've ever had – and did you follow it?

Show, don't tell. I try to follow it all the time. And an offshoot of that is try to avoid adverbs, particularly following a speech tag. If you have written your scene well, you don't need to tell your reader how someone says something - it should be obvious.
The other one is if you don't actually write, then you are not a writer.

Tell us a bit about Cuckoo

It's a twisty psychological thriller told through the eyes of Rose, the main character. Her newly widowed best friend Polly comes to stay in the house that Rose and her husband Gareth have spent two years turning into their dream home. It doesn't go well.
I wanted to look at the darker side of attraction, the flimsiness of happiness, and the lengths to which one can go with self-delusion. But the whole thing started with the situation of the main characters, the setting of the house and an obsession with Nick Cave's album, The Boatman's Call, which was partly inspired by his affair with PJ Harvey.

How did publication day feel?

Strange. I got a bunch of flowers from my publishers, shared a bottle of Prosecco in the evening with my husband, but spent the rest of the day just writing. I'm a bit late with my second novel!
The next day was the launch though, and that was much more like it - new frock, wine and nibbles in Waterstones for about 130 people, a reading, lots of signings. It felt like a wedding without a husband.

What are you working on now?

Novel #2. It's another psychological thriller. The Wayland family - Lara and Marcus and their three children, 4 year old Jack and 16 year old twins Bella and Olly – leave England to spend a long hot summer in Trout Island, upstate New York, where Marcus has secured an acting job that might, finally, see his career lift off.

Still reeling from the abortion Marcus talked her into, Lara's hopes for the summer also include learning to love her husband again. All she wants is a quiet, happy life. But a chance meeting with an old friend makes that simple ambition impossible...

And finally, can you sum up a key piece of advice for aspiring writers in one sentence?

Learn your craft.

Julia's website can be accessed here and she tweets over here. If you would like to learn more about NaNoWriMo then stop by their website and have a nose around. I look forward to seeing more former NaNoWriMo-ers on the Project in the future :-)

An Interview with Mark Barrowcliffe (MD Lachlan)

2011-03-18T06:00:00.004Z

Viking Werewolves. 'Nuff Said.

An Interview with Mark Barrowcliffe

When I asked people what they wanted to see on the Project this year, a request for more "Blokey writers" was put forward. Although my first reaction was, "sure, that's easy enough", when it came to actually figuring out who to approach I found myself at a complete loss. I mean, I've interviewed plenty of male writers and a lot of people writing in male-dominated genres... but blokes?

So I decided to put Twitter to good new and try to crowd source me some interviewees. The marvellous Adele came to my rescue with two suggestions of friends who professed themselves to be the epitomy of blokiness. They also write books.

So, first up is Mr Mark Barrowcliffe, who also writes under the pen name MD Lachlan. Mark is a man of many talents who writes in a variety of genres, and his latest book, Wolfsangel, is out now. I'm about three chapters in already and thoroughly enjoying myself. Viking werewolves - what's not to love?

Hello Mark! Can you talk us through your path to publication?

I was ridiculously lucky. I wrote an article for The Big Issue on why you shouldn't feel sorry for men when their girlfriends finish with them - a flippant sort of piece. An agent - now my agent - saw it and wrote to me saying she found it very funny and asking if I had ever considered writing a novel. I said I'd done nothing but consider it.

I wrote something for her. She hated it because it was pretentious bilge in which I attempted to portray myself as a sort of alienated L'etranger figure. I asked for another go, wrote about my friends and Girlfriend 44 appeared. It sold quickly to Headline and became a bestseller.
I was, at this point, under the impression that being a novelist was a doddle that involved accepting large cheques for next to no work. I found out later I was very wrong.

Do you have an agent? If so, how did you secure representation, and what are the major benefits?

Yes. She asked me, as above. The major benefit - above all other - is that if your agent has a decent reputation then publishers will take them seriously when they recommend your work to them. You'll get read by publishers.

There are many other benefits too - they sort out your contracts, negotiate better rates for you, handle foreign deals (depending on your contract with your publisher). They'll also help selling film rights. If you're lucky they take you to lunch and make you feel like an interesting person.

So you’re a journalist, a contemporary novelist, you’ve written narrative non-fiction and also fantasy novels under the pen name M D Lachlan. If I forced you at gunpoint to choose just one genre to work in, which would you go for and why?

If you produce a gun and attempt to force me I'm afraid you're going to have to shoot me. You could have journalism and I don't really think I've got another memoir in me but I couldn't give up contemporary writing or fantasy. I love them both and I have work in progress in both. I'm also a ghost writer, which I really enjoy.

Was writing in different genres a conscious decision, or did your writing career just evolve that way?

Not at all conscious. Again, I was asked to write the memoir. One nameless major publisher were looking for a Dungeons and Dragons memoir and asked me to pitch on it but didn't quite like what I came up with. I'd done a lot of work on the pitch so my agent sent it to other publishers and Macmillan picked it up.

With the fantasy stuff, I sat down to write a modern comedy and found I was writing about a werewolf trapped in the schemes of the Norse Gods. I have no idea how that happened but, as the story interested me, I kept writing it. It's great to do something challenging and different to your normal stuff.

Why the pen name? How did you choose it?

The fantasy work is so different to the contemporary work that it would be confusing for readers. It's a matter of branding. Lachlan is my wife's name and my initials are MD. I wish I'd chosen 'Mark Lachlan' but my publishers asked me for a name and I didn't really think about it. A tip for choosing a pen name is to go into a book shop and see which names in your genre are at eye level on the shelves. Aim to get there. I didn't and I'm by people's toes.

Looking at your contemporary work, you really do seem to polarize your readers. Why do you think this is, and how do you deal with the reviews – both the gushingly positive ones, and the downright nasty ones?

Not everyone appreciates my sense of humour. It can be a bit black. Also people often equate the main characters with the authorial view. This isn't the case with me. I don't support people sleeping with others behind their partners back. Neither do I support wholesale slaughter in Saxon villages. My characters do both of these things.

On top of this, I have two books that I have mixed feelings about. Infidelity For First Time Fathers was the subject of a publisher-ordered rewrite. It was nothing like the original text. I'm not sure the original was very successful but the final version was more me doing an impression of me than me, if you see what I mean. I got 'deer in the headlights' second novel syndrome and the result is not as good as my best work. Read that and I'm not surprised you don't like me. I don't like me either all that much. Though that's my wife's favourite book. Mr Wrong, my memoir of all my relationships, got away from me. I get it right in places and there's some writing I"m very proud of but at other times I don't overcome the inherent problem of men when they write about sex - it can look like you're drawing attention to the notches on your bedpost. I meant to be very honest and confessional but at points it sounds callous and boastful.

Why people really like my stuff is that I'm a good writer. I have a good, original style - at least according to the reviews. I try to do what a writer is supposed to - present you with difficult and interesting characters faced by pressing and resonant problems. I don't try to present you with stereotypes and I don't use a lot of standard tricks to make my characters likeable. I'm funny, honest and irreverent. I also vary my stuff a lot. Girlfriend 44 is very black, very cynical. Lucky Dog, is cartoon like, upbeat and affirming. I've got a good turn of phrase too.

I don't at all mind bad reviews. I had a stinker for Infidelity for First Time Fathers in the New York Times and concluded that the critic was right. I decided to try to learn from it. Bad reviews on the web are fine too. There are serious reviewers on the web but there are idiots too. I particularly like the ones that are misspelled and full of BLOCK CAPITALS! I do seem to annoy the BLOCK CAPS and EXCLAMATION MARK!!!!!!! brigade. But people are entitled not to like my writing. Most of the time I think they're wrong for not liking it but sometimes they have interesting things to say which, if I take them seriously, will make me a better writer. As for the nasty ones - well I've handed out a bit of that in my time so I should be prepared to take it. One man burned a copy of The Elfish Gene, which pleased me no end. In my mind it put me in the same category as The Beatles.

The only bad reviews I hate are the ones where the person clearly hasn't read the book. I've had two like that in my career and it's maddening - people saying 'the plot is sooooo predictable' and then reviewing the plot totally incorrectly based on the blurb on the back and reading the first chapter. That makes my blood boil.

Good reviews I deal with by walking around reading them out to my wife until she attacks me with a spade or falls asleep.

Is there anything about the publishing industry that has surprised you? What do you now know about publishing that you wish someone had told you back at the beginning?

Careers can go down as well as up. I thought I'd made it with Girlfriend 44. I didn't realise that, as someone whose books were bought primarily by women, that the title Infidelity For First Time Fathers was not going to endear me to them, no matter how clever I thought it was. I wish somebody had told me to work harder and to concentrate on being a writer, not to get caught up in distractions. Give up drink might have been a good one too. I did five years ago and I'm an immeasurably better and more productive writer for it. I work very hard now but in the early years of my writing career I was lazy.

What’s the best writing advice anyone ever gave you, and did you follow it?

Be honest. Yes I did. You must write about the things that matter to you in the way that feels natural. I tried to be Kafka when I started. Unfortunately I'm an affable fool from the Midlands, not a hollow-cheeked Czech visionary. The advice I always give creative writing students looking for somewhere to start is 'write about your friends with honesty, wit and insight.' Obviously I'm not friends with any Viking Age werewolves but I try to be honest to the material. So I don't want to give you a modern person with a battle axe, I try to research and understand the real Viking mentality. I ask 'what is the honest response from a character in any given situation?' and never have someone do something just because it suits the plot. Characters must do things for a reason. I hate stereotypical characters and will always try to undermine those stereotypes. Whether I succeed is another question.

What are you working on now?

The copy edit of my second Wolfsangel novel, the copy edit of a ghost-written novel, a contemporary lit-ish black comedy and the third in the Wolfsangel series. I also have a thriller on the back burner.

What is your ultimate goal within writing and publishing?

I want to do the best work I can in a variety of genres. Beyond that, making a living is good enough for me. Oh, but I would like a 'posh' fantasy cover on one of my books. I like my present covers but they're clearly mass market. I'd like something that flattered my literary pretensions. A boy can dream.

And finally, could you sum up a key piece of advice for aspiring novelists in one sentence?

Read what you write very carefully and make sure you are saying what you think you are saying.

HUGE thanks to Mark for stopping by and sharing his wisdom with the project. You can learn more about Mark at his website, buy a copy of Wolfsangel here, or stalk Mark via his twitter feed. As for me, well, I'm off to read about viking werewolves. I just wish I'd thought of it first.

2011-03-11T06:00:00.002Z

Strange New Worlds

An Interview with James Swallow

The major upside to running the Literary Project is the opportunity I get to ~~interrogate and steal information from~~ chat to and gain insight from people already forging successful careers doing what I want to do. James Swallow is one of these people.

The major downside to running the Literary Project is the feeling of being smacked in the face with a hammer when you realise just how much hard work, dedication and talent someone has invested in their career to make it a truly successful one. James Swallow is one of these people.

Seriously, before I spoke to James I thought I was busy with a job, a toddler and husband, unenthusiastic attempts to take more exercise, a family tree, reams of never-ending offical forms, two blogs and my writing. Now I'm going to go buy me a book on time management and quit reading interesting-but-ultimately-irrelevant articles on Wikipedia about regency cravats or Norton 16H motorbikes from 1940.

Hi James, can you sum up your writing career to date for us? What got you started and why are you still doing it?

Okay, long story short(ish). I started off writing for fanzines and from that got work on pro publications (SFX, Starlog, that kinda thing). Being a media journalist got me contacts over in Hollywood where I made my first fiction sale – I was the first (and still the only) British writer to work on a Star Trek TV show – and that eventually led me toward writing prose fiction, audio scripts and videogames. I quit my day job in 1997 to write full time and I've never looked back.

I guess I got started when I was a kid; I loved writing stories and reading, and I always wanted to be a writer in some capacity (at least, after I realized that 'astronaut' and 'international assassin' would be the harder career choices). I'm still doing because I like to think I'm good at it, because people keep asking me to – but mostly because I love it.

Do you have an agent? If so, how did you secure representation and what are the main benefits; if not, why not?

I don't have an agent for my prose writing, although I do work with an agency on my videogames writing. I've never needed one, and while I sometimes think it might be useful, for now it hasn't really been an issue for me. Some writers don't like dealing with the business end of things, so an agent is important to them; for me, not so much (for now!)

I first came across your work through some of the tie-in novels that you have written. What is the appeal of writing tie-in? What are the limitations?

Tie-ins are great, because you get to play with fantastic toys! When I'm writing in an established universe, it's always one that I'm enthused by – I'd never write for a fictional world I didn't care about – and it is great fun to take epic characters and thrilling locations and tell stories with that toolkit. In a way, I feel like I'm giving back a little something to stories that have given me a lot of enjoyment.

Of course, the limitations are many. Quite often you have to put things back the way you found them and not break the universe (but that's not always the case). Tie-ins do get a (largely undeserved) bad rap... People outside the business often look down on them as uncreative works – which is utterly wrong, because you need just as much creativity to tell a story inside a set of confines as outside of them – and fans are often divided on their opinions if a tie-in doesn't match exactly with their personal take on a fictional world/character etc. But I prefer to think of the limitations as a challenge rather than an obstacle.

Speculative fiction is often regarded as a difficult market to break, and tie-in fiction as a route to more mainstream publication. Do you think that this is the case?

The truth is, all fiction is hard to break into. Speculative fiction, SF and fantasy or whatever you want to call it, is no exception. Talent, professionalism, dedication and a good amount of luck have to be the arrows in your quiver if you want to make a career at this stuff, no question.

I'm not sure I'd agree that tie-ins are the best course toward mainstream writing; certainly there are writers who follow that route, and do well with it. But breaking into the tie-in market is tough for anyone who hasn't already sold fiction out in the wider marketplace – for example, I sold four original novels before I got my first tie-in gig.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to build a career writing speculative fiction, and specifically tie-in fiction?

See my point above! Most importantly, I'd say you need to read widely both in and out of the field you want to write for, and try to cultivate what is unique and interesting about your authorial voice.

As for building a career writing tie-ins, don't limit yourself to that. Publishers are much more likely to take on a writer who has proven they have the skills in a broader context; see, the unique qualities of tie-ins mean that they need writers who can deliver good workable prose, to deadline, every time; writers who know how to work with an editor and a licensor and be professional. There's an extra set of hoops to jump through writing tie-ins, and you're more likely to be able to negotiate them if you've already proven you can write and sell a book.

Working on so many different sci fi lines must pose some challenges for organisation and time management. How do you keep your focus on each project and manage your research?

You just have to be disciplined. I work an eight hour day, six days a week, month in and month out. I don't wait around for the muse to strike, I make her punch the clock at the same time I do! I just sit my backside in the chair and get it done. As I said above, I write full time, so this is my job and pays for my rent and my food. If I don't write, I don't get to eat – and believe me, that focuses you very well!

As for research – I have a myriad of books all over my house, a good local library and a (mostly) robust broadband connection. The problem there is that I can get sucked into reading up on something cool and suddenly the day is gone...

How did you get into writing computer games? For those who don't know, can you explain what this involves?

I've been playing videogames pretty much since they were invented, and I love 'em! It was something I'd wanted to get involved with for a while, and then in 1999 I hooked up with a company producing a Star Trek title to act as a consultant. Since then, I've been working on one or two games every year. My most recent project is a cyberpunk epic called Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

People ask what a "games writer" is, and that's a big question. Not all games have (or even need) a story, but some have a lot of narrative in them. A games writer's job can be creating the world of the game, creating characters and factions, writing in-game dialogue, scripting cutscenes, writing text for in-game items (books, screens etc), localizing the translation of a foreign game script; designing quests and missions...and more.

There are a lot of people involved in the development of computer games, at what stage do writers tend to enter the process?

The best time for writers to come on board is after the initial concept for the game has been created, but when things are still in a creative flux where a writer can bring their skills to the mix. Sadly, that doesn't always happen, and often writers come in too late to do their best; but the games industry is waking up to the idea that good story can make a great game a fantastic one, and embedding writers in the project at an early stage.

Computer games seem to be an underrated area of the writing industry – to be honest, so is tie in. Do you think this view is beginning to shift?

I think games writing is often under-rated by people who aren't in the games industry, for sure! And like I said before, tie-ins get a bad rap. I think in both cases, outsiders look at these kinds of writing and don't see them as particularly creative avenues for writers – when in fact, the opposite is true.

Usually, it's people who don't actually read tie-ins or play videogames who denigrate them; and frankly, I don't have a lot of respect for those kind of critics. I'd like to think the negative attitudes are changing, and I will continue to fly the flag for both games and tie-ins.

You've written an impressive collection of audio dramas; again, can you explain what these are and what it involves?

Audio dramas are typically full-cast plays with music and special effects, just like classic radio plays, except they're usually produced and sold directly to the CD and download market. I've written a fair few, for Doctor Who, Stargate and others, and I have to say, I love writing them! I think audio is a brilliant medium for story – even more so for science fiction, because your only limitation is the imagination of your audience! It's a very intimate type of storytelling, both challenging and huge fun to write.

What is your proudest moment to date in your writing career?

The first time I saw a book with my name. And that thrill never gets old. It's like "Wow, I made this!"; and the thought that people you will never meet will get to experience your stories is powerful stuff.

How did it feel when you found out that you were a NYT bestselling author?

Pretty damn awesome, to be honest! It's always great to have the respect of the industry and the audience; but at the same time it's important not to lose sight of the realities of the biz and let something like this give you a swelled head. At the end of the day, you're only as good as your next book. My hope is that having this accolade means that my work will get exposure to a wider audience.

What are you working on right now?

I'm just finishing up a top secret videogame project for a major studio here in the UK, and working on outlines for a couple of novels for 2011-2012.

Is there anything writing-related that you would like to do or achieve, but maybe haven't got around to yet?

Oh, lots! I'm a huge comics nerd, so I'd love to write a superhero comicbook. Maybe create my own TV series, write a thriller or an original SF novel. Write the script for a movie. For starters.

If I forced you at gunpoint to choose your favourite reality and format to write in, what would you answer?

Tough call. I'd probably say something of my own, either as a novel or a script.

And finally – can you sum up a key piece of advice for aspiring writers?

Finish it.

All too often, I talk to aspiring writers and I hear them talk about how they have great ideas for stories that they start writing, but then abandon for others. If you do this, you're not a writer; you're a dabbler. Finish what you start, and learn from it. Even if the work isn't good, when you've done it, you've completed it and it will inform the next thing you write.

HUGE thanks to James for stopping by and for being nice to me at the Black Library Live event last week! James has a website over here, tweets here and you can check out his books here.

Black Library May Open Submissions

2011-03-04T06:00:00.004Z

Eldar & Slayers & Orcs, oh my!

Open to Submissions in May: The Black Library

Following the success of their open submissions period last year, The Black Library have decided to repeat the process and are opening their doors this May to published and unpublished writers alike.

For those of you who don’t know, The Black Library is the publishing arm of Games Workshop, and is responsible for the tie-in fiction set in the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 realities. Their novels have topped the UK Science fiction & fantasy charts, their authors have won prestigious awards, such as the David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and most recently Dan Abnett’s latest offering, Prospero Burns, broke into the New York Times bestseller top twenty.

The Black Library’s editors are looking for both short story and novel proposals for fiction based within either Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000. Full submission guidelines are available on their website here.

The Black Library authors are a lovely bunch of people who are happy to see newbies and established writers alike succeed in joining their hallowed ranks. Suitably bribed with promises of coffee and homemade cupcakes, Graham McNeill, Dan Abnett, Sarah Cawkwell, Nik Vincent, Nick Kyme and James Swallow offered up their top tips for anyone planning to submit to Black Library this May.

GRAHAM McNEILL

My rule is to see whether you can say: “but why don’t they just…” when reading back through your work. If you can do that, then there is a problem and you need to rewrite it. How annoying is it to read a book where you think, “but why don’t they just do *insert obvious course of action here*, and then everything would be okay?” That is part of what makes a book weak and it is something you need to avoid.

NICK KYME

Don't be precious about your work; get other people to read your writing and don't be upset if they don't like it. Don't be offended if they criticise or give you feedback, take it on board instead. Being a writer isn't glamorous, it's bloody hard work and anyone who has any illusions about it otherwise will be sorely disappointed. It's tough, but if it's what you want to do you'll do it anyway.

NIK VINCENT

People often ask about ideas, and how we generate them. We think there are probably two strands to answering this general query. The first is that a premise is not an idea. You might have a brainwave, but test that it works by applying the principle of 'what if', so that you have a fully formed idea before you embark on that story. The second is that you should trust your ideas. Don't dismiss an idea as silly before you've given it a chance to grow. Good writers don't have more ideas than everyone else, they simply trust the ideas they have.

JAMES SWALLOW

All too often, I talk to aspiring writers about how they have great ideas for stories that they start writing, but then abandon for others. If you do this, you're not a writer; you're a dabbler. Finish what you start, and learn from it. Even if the work isn't good, when you've done it, you've completed it and it will inform the next thing you write.

SARAH CAWKWELL

Never over complicate your ideas in a submission. Be definite about what happens, not vague and ambiguous. Never be afraid of being over confident. 'I can' beats 'I might' every time.

DAN ABNETT

If you’re submitting to a company, or entering a competition, or taking advantage of a submissions window....follow the rules. If they publish guidelines, follow them precisely. Don’t think you know better, or assume the rules don’t apply to you. If a publisher encounters a writer who can’t follow basic instruction, they’re not going to want to work with them. I know it sounds mind-numbingly obvious, but it’s amazing how often this mistake is made. I recently read a very good Warhammer story by someone who was wondering why they hadn’t placed in a competition. They were asking if I could tell what was wrong. The main problem seemed to me that they had entered a Warhammer story in a Warhammer 40,000 competition...

Book Review: Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance

2011-02-25T14:50:00.004Z

BOOK REVIEW

Kate Walker's Guide to Writing Romance

I'm not very good at writing romance.

There, I've admitted it, even though I'm not happy it. This is seriously frustrating for me because I am quite an avid romance reader. In amongst the crime, sci fi, fantasy and historical novels on my bookshelves are chick lit, rom coms, and a fair few catergory romances. I have a lot of respect for people who write romance, because it is a lot harder than the authors are usually given credit for.

So in a lot of ways that makes me a good person to review Kate Walker's 12 point guide to writing romance. I mean, if anyone needs help in this area, it is me. When I finally sat down and read the 12 Point Guide, I was very much impressed. I read it from cover to cover without attempting any of the exercises to get a feel for the book, then went back and started it again, this time using it as a text book.

The key components of writing a fantastic romance novel are split – as the title suggests – into 12 sections, and cover areas like Emotion, Conflict, Passion, Heroes & Heroines, The Intense Black Moment and The Believable Happy Ending, amongst others. The book is tailored towards people hoping to write for Harlequin Mills & Boon (sensible, since this is who has published the vast majority of Kate Walker's books), although it is worthwhile reading for anyone wanting to write category romance. A word of warning, though; if you are the type of person who regards M&B as trashy, or roll your eyes at the mention of Sheikhs, Billionaire Playboys, Secret Babies, Heroines with Amnesia or any combination of the above, then this book is probably not for you. In fact, category romance is probably not for you as a writer either, but that's a whole other blog post.

I'm not always the biggest fan of the exercise section of writing books, but I found Kate's to be logical extensions of the chapters and well thought out. I particularly liked the "12 Questions" asked at the end of each chapter (I have honestly never stopped to think about whether I am using "male imagery" for the hero before reading this book) as they can be applied both to something you have already drafted, or kept in mind as you are writing something new.

One of the main strengths of Kate's book lies in the fact that a lot of the advice is simple, honest and... well, obvious, but I don't mean that in a bad way. Too many books use jargon that confuses the newbie writer, or make sweeping generalisations about the publishing industry that may not apply to every genre. I liked the fact that this book stayed on focus, and left me with a better understanding not just of where I have been going wrong with my writing, but also feeling like I understood the Romance market better than I had before.

The only fault I could find with the book – and I really was nitpicking by this stage – was the fact that the odd typo and formatting error had slipped through the publisher's net. Although these don't detract from the quality of Kate's advice, it is a bugbear of mine and disappointing to see in a third edition. I devoutly hope that the editors at Aber Publishing correct them for the next release of this book.

So, to conclude: if you want to write category romance, or are looking to improve the romance stories that you currently write, then buy this book. It is without a doubt, the best "how to write" genre book I have come across to date. Well done Kate; and thank you for helping me see where I have been going wrong.

An Interview with Neil Roberts

2011-02-18T06:00:00.000Z

It's all in the Elbows

An Interview with Neil Roberts

I've had my fair share of nicknames over the years. Some have fairly obvious origins, others are the product of an in joke which, when you try to explain it to an outsider, just doesn't seem that funny. Several are unrepeatable and not generally used within kicking distance of my boots, and others are downright bizarre.

Nothing, however, comes close to the nickname of freelance artist Neil Roberts: Skinny Elbows.

Despite the nickname, Neil has produced some storming pieces of artwork, worked on computer games & comics, and is the cover artist for The Black Library's flagship series, The Horus Heresy. He's also on twitter where all the cool kids hang out, and kindly agreed to tell us a bit more about what it's like to be a kick ass cover artist for a New York Times bestselling series.

Hello Neil, welcome to the Literary Project. Pull up a chair and tell us about yourself!

So, from the beginning…

My name is Neil Roberts and I'm a Sci-Fi/ Fantasy/ Historical artist, illustrator and lecturer. I worked in the videogames industry for many, many years before becoming a freelancer. I've always been into comics, films, videogames since I was a kid. My first regular comic was the 80's re-launch of Eagle then I moved on to 2000AD and from there branched off into RPG's Warhammer and American comics. So, I feel like I've always wanted to be doing what I'm doing right now, it's just taken a bit longer than expected.

At school I got miserable grades in everything but Art and then I was off to Art College and eventually University where I studied on a Design and Illustration degree course. Whilst there, I knew I liked computers and art so I went looking for a job that would combine them both. Videogame production was the answer and I haven't looked back since.

How did you get into book jacket design?

I was made redundant in 2005 from the company that was (then) making 'Warhammer Online' creating in-game characters and the marketing art – from that I got a redundancy paycheck which allowed me a few months off whilst looking for another suitable job. In that time I worked up a few samples of art featuring Space Marines and sent them off to a friend at Games Workshop who forwarded them on to the good people at Black Library. They liked one of the illustrations, so after a few reworks, they bought it off me and the commissions started to slowly come in.

Why the focus Science fiction in particular?

I love Science Fiction. Its scope is so grand and can also be very intimate. It's a genre where anything is possible from time travel, exploring alien planets to a simple love story between a man and a green lady. As an artist that scope is very exciting (if sometimes a little daunting)

So how does the process work?

For book covers, I'm usually sent either a brief (which is the novel synopsis) or a few pages of relevant manuscript. From there I produce a few thumbnail ideas. Once one is chosen and approved, I work up the image in hi-resolution for print. It's a relatively simple process that works for me and my clients. Also, now it's a fully digital process, which is so more flexible.

How much input does the author have on the jacket design?

As much as they want. Some like the pleasant surprise of seeing the final thing, whilst others have a firm idea of what they want to see from the novel on the cover. Either way, my job is to make a cool looking cover that will sell the book to trade and sit on the shelves demanding attention.

If you could design a cover for any book currently in print, what would it be and why?

I would love to work on 'Dune' covers – aside from Warhammer, it's the weirdest and most completely realised science-fictional universe I know. Plus, Fremen stillsuits are awesome.

Do you keep abreast of new trends and fashions in cover design (for example, the current trend for dark covers with half a woman's face on it)? If so, do you take them into account?

I don't keep too abreast of trends – I work up what the editor wants, so I may well end up doing those half-face covers in the future if an editor requests it. However, any cover is done will be done in my style, which is what publishers want when they come to me. Remember, I'm a commercial artist so I like to make sure I'm always in work.

Artists and illustrators are a rare breed, we like to work by ourselves and produce art that artistically satisfies us, but also pays the bills. There's not much competition or jealousy in what each other is doing, we're just happy to be 'plowing our own furrows'. If anything we're curious as to what, and how, other illustrators work.

How far in advance of publication are the jackets usually finished?

On the whole it can be a full year before the book is out, so the publishers can get their books into the trade catalogues to sell to the retailers. The cover acts as the first point of reference in getting the products on the shelves (or websites).

How competitive is the market?

Well, there's always the worry that work will dry up or a cheaper alternative will take work away. But on the whole, I believe, if you have a sell-able talent and can deliver work on-time and on budget, you will always have work, that will become your reputation and a good reputation is everything when you're a freelancer.

As a freelancer yourself, would you recommend getting into this field to newbies, or do you generally believe that you are insane for not having a 9 to 5 job?

It can be very difficult to get started, but once you have a few commissions under your belt and you have proved your talent, I don't see why anybody would find it difficult.

I worked in videogames for over 12 years, doing the whole 9-5 thing with many more hours in between, which was great… for a while. Then I wanted to look for other artistic challenges, which is why I became a freelancer.

I remember the first morning being freelance after I'd finished work. I was sitting in front of the computer in a cold sweat, wondering if I'd made the right decision. In hindsight it's one the best things I've ever done. I'd definitely recommend it to those with the right disposition.

If you could sum up a key piece of advice for new illustrators and artists wanting to make a career in jacket design, what would it be?

Be good – in fact, be very good at what you do. And charge accordingly.

And finally; Skinny Elbows?

Aah, the 6 million dollar question! Let's just say it involves a story I wrote when I was about 7 years old, which involved the Space Shuttle and a person called Peter Parker!

The lovely Neil can be stalked on twitter, his blog and his website. He'll also be putting in an appearance at Black Library Live in March, so remember to say hi and take his card so you can harass your future publisher to commission for the cover of your science fiction masterpiece. I mean, the guy has the nickname Skinny Elbows. I'd hire him just for that.

Marian Perera guest post

2011-02-11T06:00:00.001Z

Today we have a guest blog by the wonderful writer and book reviewer, Marian Perera. I've followed and enjoyed reading Marian's blog for the past year, so was over the moon when she volunteered to write a guest post for us. Linking in with recent topics about marketing and promotion, Marian is looking at how a writer can set about getting more reviews for their work. Since she's been on both sides of the fence, I think she's pretty much the perfect person to write about this.

I also have to thank Marian for introducing me to romantic fantasy through her wonderful debut novel, Before the Storm. How I missed this genre for so long I have no idea...

Getting More Reviews

By Marian Perera

Being on both sides of the the review fence is an enlightening experience. I review both books and ARCs on my blog, but when my first novel was recently released, I wanted to get it as many reviews as possible.

That meant not only researching review sites but being aware of what etiquette was most likely to result in positive responses. Most reviewers enjoy books, spend time on their (unpaid) work and don’t like hurting feelings, either by declining a book or by giving a negative review. So there are a few things writers can do to maximize their chances of getting a review.

1. Personalize your request and be aware of reviewers’ requirements/guidelines.

It’s very much like querying an agent. Show the reviewer that the request is for them specifically, as opposed to being spam that’s gone out to thirty or forty other people, keep it relevant to the reviewer’s genre(s) and make sure that the reviewer is fine with whatever format the book is in.

It doesn’t hurt to proofread such a request either.

2. Make excerpts/book readily available.

Best not to send attachments, but a link to a chapter or two on the author’s website gives the reviewer a chance to check a book out further. Even if I don’t request a book, I often read the first few pages.

3. Take refusal or criticism gracefully

It doesn’t matter what the response is – whether reviewers decline, write a critical review or shred the book. The author should stay professional. At the very least, that will leave reviewers and readers with a better impression than if the author argues or complains.

An author once contacted me for a review of an e-book, but after reading the opening chapters and coming across a certain problem, I declined the book and explained why. He followed up with an email that acknowledged I had a lot in the TBR pile and therefore he wasn’t re-requesting a review, but if I followed the link (link inserted), I’d see that the problem had been addressed.

I did, and it had. That left me with a very favorable impression, and if this author writes something else I’d be more than happy to take a look.

4. Thank the reviewer for their time.

Even if the feedback wasn’t what the writer hoped for, a thank-you can mention the reviewer’s time, effort, honesty, objective comments and constructive criticism.

There are also a few things writers are better off not doing…

1. Don’t expect a reviewer to bend their guidelines.

Every reviewer has different guidelines – some only want self-published books, some only want books from major publishers and so on. I’d be fine with a brief, polite explanation of why I might want to consider a book outside what I normally review, but I’d be less happy about anyone pressing the issue.

2. Don’t request a grade.

A writer I know once sent me a message asking for a five-star review on Amazon for his book. Fortunately someone more tactful than I am explained why such a request was not a good idea.

3. Don’t respond to a negative review.

“No author has the right to whine. He was not obliged to be an author. He invited publicity, and he must take the publicity that comes along.” -- E. M. Forster

Responding to a negative review to defend the book is the natural reaction, but like many knee-jerk reactions it needs to be restrained. It’s unlikely to change the reviewer’s mind about the book, and it usually just draws more attention to the critical review (which may be the last thing the author wanted).

Worst-case scenario? It snowballs into a vituperative online argument between the author and readers who are now even less likely to buy that author’s books.

It’s also natural to want support and reassurance after receiving such a review. But it’s a better idea for a writer to confide in family or friends, rather than – for instance – criticizing reviewers or readers on the writer’s blog or discussion board. On the Internet, such comments get Tweeted instantly, and preserved for ever.

A few – very few! – authors have responded to such reviews with wit and humor – my favorite is Carla Cassidy’s reaction to the review of her novel Pregnesia. But unless an author’s certain of pulling this off, it’s safer not to try.

Sometimes we’ll get reviews, sometimes we won’t. Sometimes it’ll be a balanced, enthusiastic writeup that results in good sales… and sometimes it won’t. But it’s all part of the difficult, uncertain, challenging and wonderful process of being published.

Marian Perera studies medical laboratory technology (final year of college!) when she isn’t writing. Her first novel, a romantic fantasy called Before the Storm was just released in paperback, and she blogs about writing, publication and every step between the two at Flights of Fantasy.

Before The Storm

In Dagran society Alex is a "mare", a woman used by the nobility, until her owner gifts her to his greatest enemy, Robert Demeresna. Robert wins her trust, but this mare is a Trojan horse, her owner's weapon in the battle to come. A battle fought with steam engines on the fields of Dagre, and psychic magic in the arena of her mind. read Chapter One Here.

An Interview with Keris Stainton

2011-02-04T06:00:00.000Z

OMG! You wrote about THAT!?

An Interview with Keris Stainton

Debut novelist Keris Stainton is not afraid to tackle issues that others might consider taboo or difficult - particularly in young adult fiction. First time sex, the perils of online social networking, and female masturbation are all covered in her novel, Della Says: OMG! with a distinctive, fresh voice that will leave you wanting to read more of her work.

I'll be honest with you, I'm a sucker for a good cover blurb. When I saw the quote from Meg Cabot on the front of the book, I assumed Keris was an established YA writer that I had somehow missed. So when I discovered that this debut novelist was being endorsed by a favourite writer of mine, well what's a girl to do? Jump on twitter and demand an interview, that's what.

Hello Keris, welcome to the Literary Project. Have you always wanted to be a writer? What made you stop dreaming and actually start trying to write a novel?

I always wrote so I probably should have always wanted to be a writer, but it didn't occur to me until I was in my mid-twenties and then it took me years to get on with it and finish a novel. The crunch came after I had my son and realised I didn't want him to have a mum who was too afraid to follow her dreams. So I got a life coach, started doing freelance journalism, quit my job and then finally wrote a book I was happy with.

Can you talk us through your path to publication?

It was pretty straightforward, I think. The book I mentioned above is called FORGET ME NOT. I sent it out to a few agents and, after a few months, one invited me down to London and offered to represent me. She then sent FORGET ME NOT out to publishers and, again, after a few months (*cough* almost a year *cough*), Orchard Books offered me a two book deal, which I was delighted with. But then my editor said she didn't think FORGET ME NOT was the right book to launch me with and could I write something else, which is when I wrote DELLA SAYS: OMG!, which came out in May 2010.

Why Young Adult?

I don't really know. I didn't start out writing YA, I'd tried a few adult novels, but always got stuck at around 30,000 words. Then I had an idea for a teen novel (based on something I was desperate to do as a teen) and loved writing that so much that I wrote another YA. And another. (And a couple more.)

Young Adult is simultaneously viewed as the hot genre right now – but also as a difficult one to break into. Do you think this is accurate?

Honestly, I've no idea. I know that it's a hot genre, but I don't know that it's any easier or harder to break into than any other genre. I think if your book is good enough it will get through, no matter what the genre.

What advice would you give to someone aiming for publication within YA?

Don't try to write a popular genre just because you think that's what will sell. By the time you've written it, the market will have moved on anyway. But it's so important to write what you love. Apart from that, I'd say read widely - not just YA, but you should definitely read widely in YA.

Do you have an agent? If yes, how did you go about securing representation, and if not, why not? Do you think they are a necessity?

I do, yes. I don't know if they're a necessity, but I never considered going ahead without one - too stressful (also, I'm too lazy). As for securing representation, it was important to me that I could email them - I didn't want to be sending out parcel after parcel only to get them coming back, obviously unread. So I made a shortlist of agents and emailed a query - even if they say they don't accept email submissions you can still email a query. I was asked for three chapters by email (and I sent them by email) and it was only when they asked for the full that I had to print my MS out. Saved a lot of time and trees, I think.

Has anything about the publishing world surprised you? If you could do it all again, is there anything you might change or approach from a different angle?

The thing that's surprised me the most is how reactive it is. I kind of thought that publishers would me making trends, getting behind books and yelling about how marvellous they are, but there's a lot of waiting to see what the retailers think and a lot of chasing the success of other books. Actually, the power of the supermarkets was a big surprise. Della's publication was put back a year because it missed being presented to supermarkets and then the title was changed because a supermarket didn't like it. And then the supermarkets didn't take it, so it was all redundant anyway.

Della says: OMG! Is one of only a handful of books that actually deals with female masturbation. Was it a conscious decision to include this in your novel, and did you realise at the time it was so rare in fiction?

It was absolutely a conscious decision, yes. I'd been completely shocked to read that there were only two YA authors who'd dealt with it before - Judy Blume and Meg Cabot - over a span of 25 years (subsequently learned that it also appears in Aury Wallington's book, Pop) and I just thought that was completely ridiculous. It's one of those things that teen girls worry about doing and I think it's really important for them to know that (almost) everyone does it and it's completely fine. I get so irritated at how male masturbation is, um, everywhere (so to speak), but there's still a stigma with female masturbation. There's a scene in Gavin & Stacey where Stacey's unemployed and she says something about how she's been masturbating a lot ( "Like yesterday, I had three just watching cash in the attic") and Gavin or Smithy (or maybe both) are kind of horrified and embarrassed in a way they absolutely wouldn't be if a man had said it.

Leading on from that, what advice would you give to a YA writer dealing with a topic, like female masturbation, which is far from mainstream, bordering on controversial?

I would just say to write honestly. I did have a few wobbles about the stuff in Della, but I knew it was appropriate for the characters and I wasn't crowbarring it in for the sake of being controversial. As long as you're writing from an honest place, you'll be fine.

Meg Cabot read and reviewed your book... OMG! How did you get your favourite writer to review your work for you, and did you have a fangirl moment when you found out?

Oh I totally did. Meg's my favourite YA author so I was unbelievably excited when I found out. I interviewed her a couple of years ago for Chicklish (along with Luisa Plaja) so I emailed her and asked her to read it. I was really thrilled and flattered that she was kind enough to read and blurb it.

What are you working on now?

I'm rewriting an adult novel I wrote last year. I also wrote a first draft of a new YA novel during last year's NaNoWriMo, so I'll be taking a look at that at some point too.

And finally, can you sum up a key piece of advice for aspiring writers in one sentence?

Er. Saved the hardest question for last, eh? Honestly, the only thing you really need to do is to write. I know that doesn't seem particularly helpful, but if you don't write, it doesn't matter what else you do. It took me a stupidly long time to learn that particular lesson!

Major thanks to Keris for taking the time to answer my questions, and I hope all you budding YA writers out there enjoyed reading through this as much as me. Keris' website can be found over here, she tweets here and you can go grab your own copy of Della Says: OMG! over here

Guest Post by Talli Roland

2011-01-28T06:00:00.002Z

When Talli Took On Amazon....

A Guest post by Talli Roland

In December 2010 Talli Roland attempted something quite remarkable on the e-book release day of her debut novel, The Hating Game. Here, Talli explains the ins and outs of her Amazon Splash, and proves that you don't need a huge budget to make an impact on your sales figures.

When independent press Prospera Publishing decided to release my debut novel The Hating Game as an ebook ahead of its paperback launch next year, immediately I started thinking what I could do to generate buzz. Like most debut novelists, I didn't have big marketing bucks to hire a publicist. But I did have time – and an extensive network of online friends on blogs, Facebook and Twitter that I'd developed.

With over two thousand contacts, I had a small army available to help me spread the word about my December 1 launch. If I could get even fifty people out of those two thousand to buy on that day, my Amazon Kindle rank would shoot up, potentially helping my book break into the top 100 Bestsellers on the day of its release. All I needed to do was let people know about my mission to take on Amazon.

I wasn't comfortable requesting people buy my book outright, so instead I asked them all to post about my quest on the same day: December 1. By splashing my news across the Internet in a co-ordinated campaign, not only would I be generating word of mouth but also (hopefully) sales. From September through to the day before my launch, a steady stream of bloggers, Facebookers and Tweeters signed up to let their contacts know my mission by posting a blog, Facebook status or Twitter status – all linking to my novel on Amazon.

Early morning on release day, I checked my sales rank on Amazon: number 806 on Amazon.co.uk and 7,192 on Amazon.com. I hoped The Hating Game might break into the top 200 in the UK and maybe, if I was lucky, the top 100. Over the next few hours, more and more people began tweeting about my Take On Amazon quest using #TheHatingGame hash tag, posting links to their blogs, reviews and more. People started to retweet, I could barely keep up with the hash tag and blogs being posted, and my Amazon rank began to rise. By 10 a.m., I was at number 149 in the UK Paid Kindle Store. Before 11 a.m., I'd hit number 86. I was now on the Amazon Top 100 Bestseller list!

The tweets, blog posts and reviews kept coming and my rank continued to rise. At 11 a.m., The Hating Game was the top book on Amazon UK's Movers and Shakers, a whopping 17,829 per cent increase in sales rank from the previous day. By 2:30 p.m. it reached number 25 in the UK and was starting to creep upwards on Amazon.com, too.

By the end of the day, The Hating Game had reached number 24 on Amazon UK and 460 on Amazon.com, with hundreds of blogs, tweets and shared Facebook links from friends and strangers alike. My debut novel was now an Amazon Kindle Bestseller on the day of its release – with no marketing money spent and masses of social media power. Who needs a big budget when you can rely on the help from your virtual friends around the world?

Talli Roland blogs at http://talliroland.blogspot.com and tweets @TalliRoland on Twitter. The Hating Game is out now as an ebook on Amazon for £1.71 and will be released next year in paperback. Her next title, Watching Willow Watts, is due out in late 2011.

An Interview with Ruth Seeley

2011-01-21T06:00:00.002Z

Book Marketing for Newbies

An Interview with Ruth Seeley

The one thing all novelists, whether self published or backed by a major label have in common is the fact we need to market our books in order for people to learn about and hopefully buy them. I've had friends think I'm crazy because I've jotted down marketing ideas for my WIP since before the plot was fully formed. They usually say things like, "Good books will sell themselves, you know," or "publishers have marketing people to take care of that."

I don't agree. There are thousands of really good books out there that never sold more than a handful of copies, and I for one want to get the maximum possible number of people to part with their cash for my novel. Although big publishing houses do have marketing departments, the sheer volume of titles they produce means your book might not get the attention it needs to hit the public awareness. We all know the power of good marketing or a good add campaign for everything from holidays to hand soap. Books are a consumer item. They need good marketing, too.

Love it or loathe it, marketing is now part of being a writer, and looks set to become even more important. Ruth Seeley is a public relations practitioner with a special interest in the marketing of authors and their books. She is also Canadian, which automatically makes her cool.

Hello Ruth, thanks for agreeing to interview. Can you start off by telling us a bit about yourself and what you do?

Probably the first thing anyone who knows me realizes is that I'm an avid and committed reader. When people tell me they don't read, or that they don't read fiction, it's all I can do not to say, 'I pity you and your impoverished life.' (I'm also a Sagittarian, which has posed many life challenges for me on the 'telling it like it is' front.)
I'm also a public relations person with a background in book retailing and book, magazine, and newspaper publishing. After I got over a childish Audrey Hepburn-film-inspired desire to be a simultaneous Spanish-English translator at the UN (I still don't speak Spanish), I wanted to be a literary fiction editor. At the time I graduated from university, there were no post-secondary courses available in North America for people with this ambition. And it was very difficult to break into fiction editing in Canada by working one's way up the ladder. Most of the Canadian publishers were doing their own warehousing at the time and were located in the back of beyond. I not only didn't have – and couldn't afford a car, I didn't even have a driver's license. I finally got a job with a two-person publishing firm that was on its last legs. It was fascinating but frustrating, and I didn't last long. That was when I made the transition to first magazine, then newspaper publishing.

What made you move into PR and marketing for authors?

When I first established No Spin PR in late 2008 I planned to focus on clients in the clean energy and nanotechnology field, because that fit nicely with my high tech and corporate communications/issues management/corporate reputation management background. In the course of my research on nanotechnology and its issues, I began to learn about the power of social media. I also saw that marketers were increasingly trying to claim social media as part of their 'territory' – despite the fact that social media is no more 'all about marketing' than public relations is. One branch of public relations – marketing communications – is about supporting marketing aims.

As I continued to study and learn more about social media, I got a message from an old friend (ironically the same woman who had helped me get my first job in publishing). She knew an author in Toronto who needed help with a social media strategy for his self-published novel, as well as traditional PR. I hadn't quite believed that authors needed help from PR people – or that they'd be willing to pay for my help. They do, they can, and they will. Not to have pursued these opportunities and changed the focus of my consultancy would just have been self sabotage. It also neatly solves one of my biggest dilemmas: how can I remain a solopreneur without feeling completely overwhelmed by the work I used to be able to funnel down to juniors? The answer: by working with authors and publishers, they can create the first drafts of much of the copy and I can 'tweak' it to turn into a media release, a backgrounder, a more effective email interview – I get to act as a true consultant, rather than a dogsbody. I used to say, 'Oh the glamour of public relations – one's days of stuffing press kits at midnight will never end.' I think they have, actually.

Do you think marketing and PR is becoming more important for novelists? Why?

As I worked with more and more authors, I began to discover that what had always been true in the publishing business is still true: there are too few marketing and promotional resources stretched over far too vast an area. When you combine this with what's happening in mainstream media - book review pages getting less and less space in newspapers (or disappearing completely), newspapers and magazines folding at a fast and furious rate, I realized authors and publishers were in trouble. When you think about the fact that more and more books are being published every year, and that mainstream media outlets have an obligation to their readership to review 'the big books' that get the bulk of publishers' promotional and marketing dollars, you begin to see that first-time novelists, novelists whose work is praised but doesn't sell like Jonathan Franzen's Freedom, are getting the short end of the stick.

Here's the reality: there are so many novels in print at the moment most authors remain 'unknowns' till they've published not one novel, but three or four. Most novels – even those put out by the big US publishers – sell less than 100 copies. This is extremely depressing. If you've spent a year (or two, or three) writing a novel and it's good, you deserve more. Given the realities of the industry, however, unless you have a patron or spouse who's willing to support you and invest money in your career as a novelist, you probably have to work for a living as well as work at your true vocation, writing. How much time and energy do you have to invest in public relations in addition to the other two or three full time jobs you're doing? Behind every overnight success there's usually two to 10 years of hard work behind the scenes, slogging away. It would be a shame to miss out on your share of success because you just don't have the time, the energy, or the money to invest in yourself at the final stage of the process.

Word of mouth marketing has always worked for books. There really are some customers who walk into bookstores and consult the staff about what they should read next. Those who read fiction always make a beeline for their friends' bookshelves to see what's new and exciting there – and ask them what they thought. Social media in particular allows you to exponentially increase the chances of getting that word of mouth happening online as well as in person. And let's face it, there are fewer and fewer brick and mortar bookstores stocking fewer and fewer of the grand total of available books. I'm trying to think of the best way to put this: it's not that fiction readers are fickle. It's just that when they go to the bookstore or go online to buy a book, if they one they set out to buy isn't available, they still need and want something to read. They will buy someone else's book if they can't find yours. That's the single biggest difference between fiction book consumers and non-fiction book consumers. If I want to read Tom Peters' latest business book, I'm not going to buy the latest Jim Collins if the Peters isn't in stock. The subject matter is different and I'm looking to learn something rather than to experience something. If I want to read the new Ian McEwan, however, and it's not in stock, I probably will buy the new William Boyd instead.

At what stage should novelists consider using a marketing & PR consultant? Isn't marketing and PR a job for the publishers?

Marketing and public relations are jobs publishers want to do and try to do. Whether they're doing it any better now than they ever have is moot. I hear different stories from different authors about the efforts made on their book's behalf. One told me that part of his publishing deal was two days of PR and after that he was on his own. Auditing the work done by another publisher, I discovered that a lot of press releases had been sent out for a book, but there were some truly glaring omissions regarding who'd been sent review copies. One author was lucky enough to have a publisher who engaged a top notch London firm that specialized in entertainment PR and got him interviews with everyone and anyone when his book appeared.

What I do know is that the 'minimal traditional effort' - sending review copies to all mainstream media outlets – is not and has never been – enough. And if you'd ever seen a newspaper book editor's work space, you'd know that. In a million years and with a newspaper devoted solely to reviewing books, there's no way any newspaper could review all the books they've been sent.

I've helped authors write their initial proposal – which has resulted in their getting a publishing deal. I've advised authors on which publishers they should approach. I've done some virtual handholding with authors, where my role was primarily to assure them that the novel they'd written deserved and would get a publisher. I've also worked with authors and publishers on books that weren't 'new' and have succeeded in getting them the kind and quantity of reviews the book deserved, after the publisher's failed to do so.

When working with publishers or self-published novelists, I want to be involved from the 'book jacket back copy' and 'who to get to blurb' stage. I need to read the book in order to be able to promote it. That means I need a copy of the final edit before it gets even to the advance review copy stage. I like to have some input into the cover – or at least get to see potential covers before the final decision is made. I don't insist on getting my own way – but it's nice to be consulted and my suggestions are worthy of consideration. It also never hurts to have another pair of informed eyes from the typo and elegant variation standpoint when it comes to what is, essentially, copy writing.

So I'm afraid there's no one answer to the 'when should you engage me or another PR person?' A good rule of thumb is no later than three months before publication date in order for me to do an effective job. A year in advance is even better, but the sad truth is that most clients perceive the need for public relations and engage someone later than they should. We're used to it. I'd like to be involved from the finished first draft stage. After all, reading your novel isn't considered 'billable hours.' (Pity, that, even though I'm a fast reader.)

Social networking provides some brilliant opportunities for writers to engage with their audience (and potential audience) – but we've all seen some spectacular Authorfails as well. What do you think are the most important things authors should keep in mind when using social media for promotion?

I could write a book of my own on this topic (but I'll stick to just the occasional blog post and the individualized training I give the authors and publishers I work with).
There are three major things authors should keep in mind when attempting to harness the power of social media.

1. Social media can be an incredible time suck. One of the best Twitter author profiles I've ever seen is Hari Kunzru's: 'Novelist, skilled user of social media as work avoidance tool.' A little work avoidance is a fine thing. Missing submission deadlines and/or staying up all night every night to attend that party going on in your computer 24/7? Not recommended. A lot of authors invest too much time in the wrong areas of social media. I told one author a year and a half ago to stop investing time and energy in MySpace and focus his efforts on Twitter and on creating a blog. I was right. But that's the sort of the thing a PR person can help with. I make it a point to chase down trends and explore new forms of social media. I can then help you determine the ones on which you should focus your efforts. Since good writers are also avid readers, I try to push authors and publishers to take advantage of access to millions of readers on sites like Goodreads, Library Thing and Shelfari.

2. Social media is a wonderful way to provide incremental updates in terms of marketing and promotion. Neither your publisher nor your agent is going to issue a media release for every foreign rights sale of your book, or to indicate that your book's now back in stock at the Waterstone's in Coventry. But that's not what your blog – or your Facebook fan page – or your Tweet stream – should be all about. Talk about the authors and the books you love, the trends in publishing. Share great reviews of others' books – throw things out there for debate – let people know what's going on in your life, while keeping in mind there's no bigger turnoff than someone whose attitude is 'It's all about me, me, MOI!' The writing and publishing process is mysterious to those on the outside of it. Try to share some of that process in your blog posts if it feels appropriate – let the reader see some of the challenges you've successfully overcome.

3. Engagement is the key word. There is no bigger turnoff than an author on Twitter who never checks his/her @ messages, who doesn't respond to blog comments (or doesn't allow comments on their blog), and who's 'out there' in social media but doesn't understand that it's a two-way medium, not a broadcast medium. If you don't understand and accept this, you really need to rethink whether you, as an author, should be attempting to use social media at all.
At what stage in their writing career do you think writers should start blogging? What should they be blogging about?

Again, I think this is a very individual decision, based on the particular writer's time constraints and way of working. Just remember that Julie and Julia was a blog before it became a book. And a book before it became a film. Actually, I think I can answer an earlier question now: ideally, writers should engage a social media-savvy public relations person to design a social media strategy for them before they begin to use social media for professional, writing-related purposes. But it's never too late.

More important than the 'when to start blogging question' is having a blog strategy. Just as you wouldn't just sit down at the computer to write a 300-page novel without doing some research, thinking and note-making about plot, setting, structure and characterization, having a blog strategy at the outset makes it easier to generate content – which is part of what keeps people coming back to your blog.

I often read of authors using marketing ideas – e.g., paying actors to read their work in public, elaborate launch parties, blog tours, etc – but very few of these stories include hard data on how much sales were influenced. If someone is planning a marketing strategy for their new novel, how can they weigh up the potential outcomes, and measure the success of their marketing ideas?

The only true measure of success is sales: how many copies did we sell? And the only way to measure the success of an individual tactic's influence on sales is to build in some form of measurement metric – usually in the form of an incentive that can be tracked: 'if you bought this book after seeing the Julia Moore/Liam Neeson reading, let us know and we'll give you a dollar off.' There are always some people for whom the incentive won't actually be an inducement though. There's a wonderful article in Publisher's Weekly about how Rebecca Skloot (aided and abetted by her father, who is, in my view, both a hero and a saint), plotted her book tour for her first creative non-fiction book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. You can do it entirely on your own. It will be more than a single full-time job though. And you're more likely to succeed on the book tour front if you're a non-fiction author than a fiction author.

As a very general rule of thumb, here's what I think: the more time and effort you invest in 'fishing where the fish are' the more your efforts will pay off. In other words, if you can create the opportunity to do a signing of your book in an actual bookstore – where there's already an audience of folks looking to spend money on books – the more you will sell. This will involve time and travel costs of one sort or another, and it doesn't hurt to spend some money on professionally designed posters and bookmarks or printed invites that can be handed out in advance of the event. Those costs are significant enough for most writers that the elaborate launch party will have to go on the back burner.

Most of the rest of your promotional budget should be spent on getting books into the hands of those who'll review them. Given postal rates these days (January 2011), and the still relatively low adoption of eBooks and eReaders amongst reviewers, that will be about all you can afford.

Blog tours are free, so I think they're a great idea. They also give you that incremental content over a period of time that you can tweet, blog about and post to your Facebook, Goodreads, and other book social networking pages.

Do the things that don't cost money before you re-mortgage to have a launch party at the Savoy. You'd probably be better off investing in a little video camera so you can create a book trailer for your blog than paying for appies for 500 (who may or may not show up).

Introduce yourself as an author every time you go into a bookstore or a library. Have a copy of your book you can show the staff. Have something you can leave behind – even if it's only a bookmark or a card with your blog or web site. That's how word of mouth begins: 'you know who I met today?'

Is it possible to pull off a comprehensive and successful marketing campaign for a novel on a seriously limited budget?

Absolutely. If you're prepared to invest a fairly small sum in designing an effective strategy that you can execute yourself (see my comments above re stuffing press kits at midnight) and are prepared to do the leg work and treat your marketing and PR consultant as a consultant and strategist while you do the bulk of the leg work, you can probably execute a very successful campaign over the course of three months for less than £2500.

And finally, if there was just one thing you could make aspiring novelists do so they could increase sales, what would it be?

Remember that readers are curious about and grateful to writers for the joy they bring them. When you're marketing your book, wear your reader hat: think about what makes you buy a book, and make it as easy as possible for someone to buy yours. This may well involve your doing things you don't think are part of your job. Accept that your job is really only beginning when the printed copies arrive in their cartons.

Ruth Seeley is a public relations practitioner with global agency, corporate, and solopreneur experience. A skilled social and media relations strategist, her background in corporate communications. She's developed proactive and reactive media relations programs, built stakeholder communications plans, and designed and executed issues management strategies.

Ruth has a Bachelor of Arts (English) from Glendon College, York University, and a background in book retailing and book, magazine and newspaper publishing. She's also worked with aboriginal Canadians on the Ontario Native Justice of the Peace Program. She now operates No Spin PR, working globally with authors, publishers, scientists, and scientists who are also authors to develop effective, results-driven public relations and social media strategies and social media training.

Connect with Ruth on Twitter, Linked In, Goodreads , Library Thing, or Shelfari . Because first and foremost, she is an avid reader.

Angry Robot Open Submissions - Interview with Marc Gascoigne

2011-01-14T06:00:00.005Z

Join the Robot Army

An Interview with Marc Gascoigne

Of all the genre publishers out there, Angry Robot has got to be one of my favourites. Everything I've read from their label has been of awesome quality, and sufficiently different from other things I've read to keep me heading back for more. As I've mentioned before I am a big fan of speculative fiction, and I would heartily recommend their books to anyone who shares a love of SF, F, and WTF?!

A couple of weeks back, editors Lee Harris (interviewed here) and Marc Gascoigne announced via Angry Robot's website that they were going to open up to unsolicited manuscripts for one month – March 2011. Judging by the excited waves rolling through twitter as a result, they are going to get a lot of submissions from aspiring spec fic novelists two months from now.

Angry Robot's chief editor, the lovely Marc Gascoigne, was kind enough to answer a few questions about the open submissions window, despite suffering greatly with swine flu and being banned from doing anything strenuous. That, my friends, is called "dedication to the cause".

Hi Marc, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for us, hope you are feeling better. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, and sum up your literary career to date?

My name is Marc Gascoigne. I'm 48 going on 16. I've worked professionally in the fantasy field since April 1984. I've worked as a book editor and publisher, a roleplaying and boardgame developer, was consultant editor for Puffin on the Fighting Fantasy range for ages, and my Wikipedia page (where you'll get lots more detail) appears to list 54 books with my name or pseudonym on them - though many of those are as editor or compiler rather than sole author.

I know that asking an editor to name their favourite writer or book is like asking a parent to select their favourite child, but behind closed doors and away from where the kids can hear you, which are your fave writers / novels published in the last five years?

I read widely, fiction and non-fiction. In the former, I especially like well-written near-genre work. My favourite author is probably Jonathan Carroll, but I will always also rave about William Gibson, Graham Joyce, Michael Chabon, David Mitchell, Lucius Shepard, Kelly Link, Mark Helprin and so many more. I also read loads of non-fiction, on as wide a range of esoteric subjects as I can.

Do you have a weakness for a particular genre / archetype / setting?

That magic-realist, near-fantasy trope practised by Carroll, Joyce and Link, where a touch of the fantastical colours someone's everyday life. I can dream...

Tell us about Angry Robot; how long have you been running and what is it that you publish?

I set it up in September 2008, and recruited fellow editor Lee Harris in January 2009. We had our first books on sale in the UK in July 2009, and following a brief hiatus in 2010 as we moved owners, we launched in the US and Canada in September 2010. We publish imaginative novels with a modern feel, in a range we repeatedly call SF, F and WTF?! Our books tend to blend between genres (though not all of them do) and are written by men and women from various parts of the globe. All our books are out as eBooks as well as paperbacks, and we're about to announce an audiobook range too.

In March this year you are opening to unsolicited manuscripts for the first time... why have you decided to open for submissions, and why only a month?

Normally we only accept approaches from literary agents, or from authors who are already known to us. That still makes our unsolicited submissions pile pretty high, and like all publishers there's rarely enough time in the working week to keep on top of it. But at the same time, we continue to get approaches from authors who've put a hell of a lot of work into their debut novel. We discussed ways in which we could reasonably get this stuff reviewed without compromising our own ability to get scheduled books out. Lee's approach - to recruit a panel of trusted readers as a first stage - seems to offer a good compromise. If it works in March, we'll consider doing it again towards the end of the year.

You've mentioned that Angry Robot actively seeks work that isSF, F & WTF?! ... I take it this means that cross genre novels are acceptable for the open submission window?

Very much so. We've been disappointed to hear some of the stories from great writers who've brought us books that have been rejected by a corporate publisher because they didn't know which shelf a chain bookstore like Waterstones would put it on. Our belief is that the field has already changed and cross-genre already happens - indeed, it always has - and it's just a game one plays with the chain book-buyers. The readers just know books are enjoyable or not; they don't walk away just because a horror novel has an SF premise, or a fantasy has a crime plot.

So what DON'T you want to see?

The frank answer: Lacklustre books written by people who have only ever had one idea in their life and as a result think it must be a good one.

The detailed answer: Straight zombies or vampire novels, urban fantasies featuring Celtic gods or the wild hunt somehow rampaging through a US inner city; silly SF space opera; near-future thrillers about genetic boys who are the next generation of human; books about UFOs; horror novels about a "thing" living under a town or in a forest. And books that are just a bit too similar to our own existing range. "Comedy" SF fantasies where in the opening chapter someone is turned into a toaster. And above all - novels in which the main character is fuzzily portrayed, wishy-washy or just meh.

So what will a submission consist of?

A one-line synopsis, a one-two page synopsis (plot, characters, intentions), and the first five chapters / 6-10k words. The novel must be finished. We will only review one novel, but brief notes regarding sequels are OK. The most important parts for me are that one-line synopsis and the first few pages of that first chapter.

Many of us aspiring writers tie ourselves in knots over writing synopses – as do some established novelists. Seriously, how important are they? Do you read them before or after you read the first five chapters?

It depends upon the editor or reader, of course. But for me, I'll always, always read the synopsis first. Just like that movie poster, I want to know a little of what I'm going in to see. So give me a snappy line, a good set-up and I'm yours before I've read one word. In fact, my most common complaint is that a novel doesn't deliver on a great one-line synopsis. But that's where your helpful editor can come in.

I know that for some writers, both multi-published as well as beginners, the synopsis doesn't come naturally. They write in a more organic way, or do that bizarre "make it up as it goes along, see what happens" approach. But for me, I want a rattling good yarn, which implies an efficient, sixteen-cylinder engine powering all the charging about and plot-advancing.

Are submissions limited to one per writer?

Yes, definitely. If there's a sequel planned or finished, mention it; but do not send more than one novel.

Assuming that someone has read this far and is thinking they have the perfect novel to submit to you, can you sum up a key piece of advice for them in one sentence?

There are plenty of guides and thinking points on our website's Submissions page.

If I had to add one thing to all of those, it would be this - Really, really work on that one-sentence elevator pitch/movie tagline for your novel with your pitch. If you can't get the very basics of your book down into one sentence, or the line you come up with is desperately dull, perhaps you should take that as a hint J

Many thanks to Marc, who has agreed to come back and be interviewed again, only this time in more detail about his career as an editor. Yes, he was still ill when I asked and, yes, I am low enough to take advantage of an editor's weakness if it means they will spill the beans for us here at the Literary Project. Angry Robot's homepage is here, and you can stalk Marc over on twitter, too.

Anyway, why are you all still here? We have manuscripts to polish, elevator pitches to work out and the evil dreaded thing of torture synopsis of doom to complete by March. Good luck!

An Interview with Harry Bingham

2011-01-07T06:00:00.000Z

A Writers' Network

An Interview with Harry Bingham

I love York. It's been my favourite UK city since I was a kid, and I still love heading out that way whenever I can. I did kind of overshoot it when i finally left my native Wirral and ended up living in Hull (don't judge me), but hey, at least I landed in Yorkshire.

So, take my love for a beautiful Yorkshire city, and add to it another of my obsessions: writing. Harry Bingham, successful author and founder of The Writers' Workshop, a highly acclaimed literary consultancy based in the UK, has done just that. The Festival of Writing, a fantastic event for aspiring and established writers alike, is being held in York between 25th - 27th March. There are workshops and talks to attend, plenty of time to socialise with other writers, but also the opportunity to meet with and recieve feedback from those elusive creatures, editors and agents.

I have to admit, it sounds like fun! Harry has kindly taken some time out to tell us about himself, The Writers' Workshop and the York Festival of Writing.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? How did you get into writing?

I didn't start out as a writer. I spent ten years as an investment banker (hatching secret plans to destroy the capitalist world, obviously) before quitting to write novels. Since then, I've written five novels, three non-fiction books, and have another novel on the go as we speak.

What is the Writers' Workshop, and why did you set it up?

I set up the Writers' Workshop because whereas professional authors have their own complex support networks (agents, editors, publicists, the Society of Authors, and so on), first time writers can often find themselves desperately short of resources. So the Writers' Workshop aims to fill the gap. The main thing we do is to give new writers tough, professional feedback on their work. So if you've written (let's say) a young adult novel but are having problems getting it accepted by agents, then you can feedback on your book from a top professional author of young adult work. It's an amazing opportunity when you think about it. We also run some rather wonderful courses and workshops.

Why/when a writer should think of using a Literary Consultancy?

We're here for when people need us. When that is will differ from writer to writer. About half our clients come to us before they've even tried their luck with agents. The other half come after accumulating the normal fistful of rejection letters. But I never like to say that people ought to use our services. Whether they do or not is very much up to them and the way they like to work. All I would say, is that our clients do enjoy a much higher success rate than they would do if they just went the traditional slushpile route. We've had three bestselling clients, all of whom we did a lot to assist.

You've mentioned that you arrange conferences and festivals, and I'd like to look at the biggest of these please. Can you tell us about the York Festival of Writing?

The Festival is just amazing (www.FestivalofWriting.com). We pull together everyone that a new writer might want to meet and talk to - agents, publishers, indie publishers, professional authors, book doctors - and bring everyone together in York for a weekend of talks, workshops, panels, dinners, and conversations.

Why York?

We wanted everyone to live, eat and spend time together. We reckoned that the informal parts of the Festival would be every bit as important as the more formal bits, so we wanted a single compact campus where we could bring everyone together. York ticked all our boxes - plus it's also very pretty and easy to get to. It's a wonderful location.

There are a lot of Book Festivals in the calendar these days – what makes this one stand out?

There are loads of literary festivals aimed at readers. There are darn few events aimed purely at first time writers, and ours is only for writers. We'll never run a conventional literary festival. As you say, there are millions of those around now.

As well as the workshops, attendees get the opportunity to have a one-to-one with an agent, publisher or book doctor. Can you tell us about these please? What exactly are the one-to-ones, and what should a writer realistically expect from them?

Ah yes, the one-to-ones. They work like this. Delegates send us their work in advance (a short intro, plus their opening chapter). We get that out to agents and book doctors, then, at the Festival itself, delegates sit down with the agent/book doctor and go through that person's impressions of their work. The agent is more likely to focus on overall marketability. The book doctor is likely to focus on more rigorous editorial feedback. Put the two perspectives together and you should come away with an amazingly useful view of your work.

There is a lot of talk about networking and platform building being important to aspiring writers. Would you agree with this? If so, how should people go about it?

Yes and no. In the end, all that matters is a terrific manuscript. On the other hand, there are better and worse ways of getting that manuscript into the hands of the right people. At York last year, we had one writer whose work was so obviously strong that she ended the weekend with six agents interested in representing her (and she's since gone on to secure a lovely book deal with a major publisher). You just can't get that kind of headstart without something like the Festival.

Do you think that there is any particular parts of the publishing industry that aspiring writers tend to misunderstand? What are they and why do you think that is?

Oh yes - I think the entire industry is prone to being misunderstood, quite honestly, and that's because the industry is AWFUL at explaining itself to new writers. For the most part it doesn't even try to do so, which just isn't good enough. I feel strongly enough about these issues that I wrote a book about them - The Writers' & Artists' Guide to Getting Published. The point of that book is to tell writers the things they really need to know - including the things that publishers and agents would rather not tell them. I loved writing it!

And finally, can you sum up in one sentence a key piece of advice for aspiring writers?

One sentence? Jeepers.

In the end, the only thing that matters is an amazing manuscript, but it's also massively worthwhile understanding your market: go to a bookshop, buy a handful of successful debut novels from the last year or two, and read them.

Many thanks to Harry for his time and for his informative answers. You can check out the Writers' Workshop for more information on their services, or head over to the Festival of Writing Website if you're keen to head up to York this March. Better make it quick, though; places are filling up fast.

Ringing in the New Year

2010-12-31T00:01:00.000Z

Well it almost time to say goodbye to 2010 and to welcome in 2011.

I need to extended a massive thank you to all of the people who have been interviewed, who have guest blogged or who have helped me out over the course of 2010 - thank you so much for your help. A massive thanks, too, to all of the blog followers old and new for hanging out, for commenting and for tweeting / facebooking / reccommending my blog to anyone you think might find some use from what we do here.

The Literary project has some awesome stuff lined up for the New Year, and I hope you folks hang out for the ride! As well as the usual interviews with writers and industry professionals, I've done my best to accommodate all the suggestions made by you lovely folks over the last few months. We have book jackket designers, festival organisers, marketing specialists, writers, agents and publishers lined up over the next few months, all helping to give you more insight into the publishing industry.

So, because I am way too excited to keep this list to myself any longer, let me officially announce that 2011 will be kicking off with some of the following posts (in no particular order):

Harry Bingham, author and conference organiser, will be giving us the inside scoop on the up and coming York Festival of Writing,

Marketing guru Ruth Seeley of NoSpinPR will be discussing promotion and marketing for newbie writers,

Awesome artist & illustrator Neil Roberts will be talking about book jacket design,

James Swallow, the man whose career I am desperate to steal, will be talking about his uber powerful, multi-stringed bow of writing,

Yours truly will be reviewing the latest edition of Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance (sneak preview: it's very good).

The fantabulous debut novelist Talli Roland will be stopping by to tell us all about her bid to get the ebook version of her novel The Hating Game, into the top fifty of Amazon's download chart with zero marketing budget,

Young Adult novelist extraordinaire, Keris Stainton, is coming to chat to us about her book Della Says: OMG! and the issues around addressing taboo subjects in YA fiction,

The lovely writer and blogger Marian Perera is guest blogging about how to maximise your chances of getting your new novel reviewed,

and and and.....

and I think that's enough spoilers, don't you ;-)

So if that list has tempted you to come hang out here at the Project for the next year, I promise you that you won't be disappointed.

Happy New Year everyone, may you build on your experiences of 2010 and make 2011 the awesomest year you've had yet xxxxxx

Getting ready for the New Year

2010-12-06T20:36:00.002Z

Hi all,

first off an apology for not posting any interviews this month. Due to some unforseen health problems (of a minor but extremely inconvenient nature) I am behind with the Project. As such, we will be taking a holidy this month, but will be back with a bang come January. I already have interviews lined up with some writers, festival organisers, book jacket designers and I'm working on the agents. Please keep sending me any suggestions for topics and interviewees, or get in touch if you are interested in doing a guest post like those by John Lambshead and Roni Loren.

Thanks for you continued patience and support - I look forward to the second year of the Literary Project :-)

2010-12-01T19:44:00.003Z

I interviewed Talli Roland's alter-ego, Marsha Moore, a few months back on the literary Project. Her debut novel, The Hating Game, is released today, and Talli is making a concerted effort to see her book rise up the Amazon download chart. I am all for debut novelists - in fact, any type of novelist - being proactive about their own marketing, and I am watching this experiment of Talli's with interest; I would love to see a debut writer hitting the top ten on Amazon on their Publication Day... Talli doesn't know this yet, but I intend to get her to give us a run down of the success of this endeavour.

So, without further ado:

HELP TALLI TAKE ON AMAZON!

Help Talli Roland's debut novel THE HATING GAME hit the Kindle bestseller list at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk by spreading the word today. Even a few sales in a short period of time on Amazon helps push the book up the rankings, making it more visible to other readers.

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

No Kindle? Download a free app at Amazon for Mac, iPhone, PC, Android and more.

Coming soon in paperback. Keep up with the latest at www.talliroland.com.

About THE HATING GAME:

When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £2000,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?

We Are One!!!

2010-11-19T10:14:00.003Z

We Are One!

The Literary Project has now been running for an entire year! We have brought you interviews with writers and publishing professionals, articles to help you with your writing and information about new opportunities for aspiring writers. It's been a blast, and the year has gone incredibly fast. At the time of writing, the Project has over 126 followers on blogger and is scoring around 526 visits a month - not bad, considering I started with five readers!

Now the Project was initially meant to run for just a year, but since feedback has been so overwhelmingly positive we're thinking of keeping the project running for another twelve months - which is where you lovely peeps come in.

For one week only, I'd like readers to delurk and leave me a comment below saying hello, and who you would like to see interviewed here at the Project. This year the bias has been towards novelists, so would you like to see more poets, journalists and short story writers? More agents and editors? What about jacket designers, marketing executives, book doctors and booksellers?

Thank you for all of your support over the last year, and I hope that you found some useful advice and information to help you in your writing career.

Over to you!

An Interview with Penny Grubb

2010-11-12T06:00:00.001Z

Of False Money and of Free Money

An interview with Penny Grubb

Gods, I talk too much.

Listening back to the tape of my interview with Penny Grubb, author and chair of the Author's Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS), it becomes painfully obvious why I won't ever make a career as a journalist or an interviewer. I am opinionated, talkative, and prone to drag the poor interviewee off on wild tangents about things that have nothing to do with their writing and are, at best, wild speculations about some aspect of writing or publishing that has been in the news.

The problem was that there was just too many things I wanted to ask Penny about. She is quite possibly one of the most productive and organised people that I have ever met. She is a published novelist with two crime novels - Like False Money and The Doll Makers - to her credit, she is a respected academic in Health Informatics, has written academic books and "how to" guides, is chair of the ALCS and also manages to have a life.

Impossible, you say? Well if you've ever struggled to find time to write, then read on.

Oh, and did I mention the fact that the ALCS can bring in some extra income for UK based published writers – without them having to lift a finger? Free money, I hear you shout? Read on to find out more.

Hello Penny! Have you always wanted to be a novelist?

I can remember deciding that I was going to be a novelist when I was about four, although it wasn't a very structured decision. I even wrote my first story before I went to school; it was all of two lines long, I think. I then won a writing competition when I was nine. I have a certificate but unfortunately I don't recall any of the details about the story.

Obviously I started out at a young age. Success breeds success, and it was only fifty years later that I became a published novelist!

What started you writing as an adult?

I've dabbled in fiction most my life but I've always had jobs that involved me writing non-fiction. Mostly it has been technical tomes for the EU, as well as my medical writing in the mid nineties about medical informatics. I wrote a few text books during that period, too. Around that time I decided that I should give the novel writing a real go.

So how did you approach writing your first novel?

I deliberately went out to learn the craft. I bought so many books about how to write and went on a few writing course. I found the quality variable – back then I didn't know what was good or bad, so I learnt as I went along. I was writing one or two novels a year and trying them out. They weren't getting anywhere, but I was learning as I went along.

So when did you make your breakthrough in regards to publication?

A real breakthrough cane when I won the Crimewriter's Debut Dagger in 2004. I had pulled out an old draft of a book I'd given up on years before, but I knew it had a great opening. Since the Debut Dagger was judged on the opening chapter, I polished it up and entered it. It won, which was fantastic – only then I had agents and publishers wanting to talk to me, but no book – at least, not a book that was attached to the winning chapter!

It that point I had three other books that had received interest from publishers and agents (crime, romance and a children's book – I'm a diverse writer!), but I was working on rewriting another crime book for a publisher, so I had to put them all to one side. I've gone back to them now and they are all currently on submission. I'm a big believer in the slogan "Persistence Pays Off!"

Out of all the areas you have written in, why have you specialised in crime?

I like reading it. I have a flippant answer which is that when a woman reaches a certain age her thoughts turn away from romance and towards crime! But the truth is I don't know. I like reading crime but I like a lot of other genres too, although I don't know how good I am at those.

What type of writer are you? A plotter or a seat-of-pantser?

I am a planner now, but I wasn't when I started. That was the problem with the Debut Dagger book – I just thought it was a good opening and hadn't a clue where it would go. It was a real nightmare, I had to rewrite it from scratch. I lost count of how many times I had to rewrite that book. I'm not afraid to rewrite anymore, look at it that way!

Having said that I don't plot to the depths of say, Jeffrey Deaver, who can apparently write up to 300 page plans.

When I write, I always know the overall plot lines and I know where it is going to finish before I start. There are always gaps and bits where I'm not sure how I'll get from point a to b, but I've found that as I write the book it will suddenly come to me. I don't know whether it is my subconscious working on it in the background, but it seems to work for me.

You said earlier that you read a lot of "how to" books and attended writing courses. Did you pick up any specific writing techniques from these, such as character sheets, things like that?

I don't do detailed character sheets. I went through all that when I was learning the craft but it didn't work for me. Having said that I do keep track of things like how old they are. I've caught myself out on things like hair colour changing, etc, so I should probably do more than that!

I do keep the timeline of the book in a spreadsheet that details the events and over all plot in stages. With False Money I had a particular year in mind for the book to be set, so I had the right dates to specific days of the week, the weather records and the phases of the moon. I needed it because there were things happening at night, so I couldn't say "it was pitch black" if it was a full moon on a clear night. It was all in my spreadsheet though so was easy enough to check. If the writer doesn't someone else will after it is published so you need to get it right.

You've written in several fields, from academic through to fiction. Do you have a preference?

They are such different things but my preference is probably fiction.

Can you tell us about how you came to write "How to write a textbook"? Was it very different from you other experiences of writing?

I just rang up the publisher one day and asked whether or not they had a book on how to write textbooks. They said no, and I replied "well, would you like one?"

I had to do a lot of selling, and between me and my co-author we were able to put together a credible enough CV that they commissioned the book. It literally came about from me just ringing up and asking!

It was quite different from any of my other writing, in that it was written to a very strict template, right down to section headings within the chapters. This was because it was part of an established line and had to conform.

You sound very busy! Do you have an agent to help you out?

Well I had an agent for a while, and that was really helpful in terms of structuring the books and theories as well as for learning about the market. In the end we parted company – amicably – because it became quite clear I wasn't going to write the sort of books she wanted in her stable. Then I went out and found my own publisher, and sold my first novel by myself to independent publishers Robert Hale.

I'd re-written the book attached to the chapter that won the Debut Dagger, which is actually the third in a series. I'd pretty much completed the first book, so they bought the two together and published them in chronological order. The second book I only had in outline and I just couldn't write it fast enough, so that one is going to be published third, early next year.

Since you are effectively acting as your own agent, how do you deal with things like foreign rights, et cetera?

Well I don't entirely know! Obviously my publisher, Robert Hale, own the rights but they only print in hardback. If I want to sell the paperback rights, or indeed the foreign rights, then I'm going to have to go out to get them myself. I've already got them considered for large print and audio at the moment. Small publishers just don't have the resources to do it for you.

So do you think it is worth having an agent, then?

I would quite like to go and get an agent now, to be honest. If I get interest in one of the other projects currently on submission I would probably take that to an agent.

If you can get an agent it is well worth it. So many publishers won't even look at unsolicited works. If you haven't got an agent the only other way I can think of to get a large publisher to look at your work is for you to attend one of the writing conferences at Winchester or York, where you can pay for a one-to-one with editors and publishers. There's no guarantee they'll take it on, though.

There is a growing onus on writers to organise and promote their books themselves. What advice would you give to new writers about this issue?

Networking is vital! Twitter is good for this, as if LinkedIn and Facebook, but also doing book signings, etc, to meet more people.

I was jotting down marketing ideas even before I was published. That way you've got something to go at and you can hit the ground running. Marketing is the author's job these days. It is totally unrealistic to think any other way.

I'm an organisation anorak so I actually schedule in time to keep up with social networking as part of my writing. I would recommend reading books by David Allen about how to structure your time and help you be more productive. Brilliant book.

Your books are published by a small independent publisher, Robert Hale. Which do you think are better, the small publishing houses or the larger ones?

It's a difficult one to answer. In some ways it is better to be with a big publisher – for a start you get more money. But the flip side is that they don't tend to look after you so well. I know writers who have been published with Robert Hale as well as other, large publishers, and they agree that our publisher really does look after you and is in it to build up a long term relationship. The only problem I have with them is that they only produce hard back books. I need to investigate selling the paperback rights to my novels – it is on my "to do" list.

When you start out writing it can be a frustrating, lonely and sometimes heartbreaking process. How did you cope in the early days, before you were published?

I had ups and downs. There were certainly times when I felt like "I will never get published!" I sent every single book that I'd written to publishers or agents, and looking back now I can see how it developed. The first book came back like it was on a bungee rope, but gradually the rejections became more personalised – nicer, for want of a better word. Then it started to be – "Yes, I like this, but would you change this...?" So eventually I got there.

Remember, everyone wants to give up when you get rejections. You just have to keep on going and keep on improving.

Okay so with two busy jobs – one in London, one in Hull – your duties with the ALCS and your work as a writer, how on earth do you manage to keep everything going? What advice would you give to someone struggling to keep all the balls in the air?

Become an anorak over organisation. I can't work to a strict schedule because my jobs make that impossible. However I am disciplined about just not letting things build up. It's too easy to put annoying little tasks or putting off phone calls, but I'm good at making myself do them. It is about organisation. I have to keep track of things to keep it all going.

I literally schedule everything in to my diary and set up reminders, etc. Sometimes my reminder list for that day is ridiculous so I have to prioritise. But I would recommend the David Allen book Getting Things Done whole heartedly.

Also, have regular clear-outs. Sometimes you have to go through old to-do lists, work out which tasks will simply never get done, bin them and forget them. Also, try to keep your email inbox as clear as possible.

If you have a system that you trust in place, then you don't have to keep it all in your head. It is when you are carrying every single task in your head that you feel overwhelmed. Allowing yourself time to just think is very important for writers, and you need head space for that.

Let's talk about the ALCS. Who are they, why should writers care, and what's all this about free money for writers?

The Author's Licensing & Collecting Society was set up just over 30 years ago. It collects monies for UK authors from a variety of sources that would be impossible to negotiate on a one-by-one basis. These sources are things like foreign private copying levies, photocopying rights, audio visual uses, and so on. This is money due to writers that they otherwise wouldn't get because it has to go through a collecting body.

ALCS is the largest writer's organisation in the world. We have over 75,000 members now. We're talking about millions of pounds being paid out over the years (£213million over 30 years to be exact – Gem).

There are many writers out there who don't even know they are entitled to this money. Academic writers in particular are bad for not joining, maybe because they don't think they are entitled to anything because they think the journal took the rights when as a matter of fact they often are. People really don't think about it, but these are uses of people's work for which they are entitled to be paid. It isn't possible to negotiate all the uses on a case-by-case basis, which is where collecting agencies such as the ALCS comes in.

You just go to the website www.ALCS.co.uk and join up online. A lot of writers say they like us because you don't have to do anything with ALCS. We chase the money and write the cheques.

So more money for no more effort or work?

There is a one off payment of £25 but it comes off the first royalties cheque so you don't pay anything up front. If you are a member of the Society of Authors you get free membership of the ALCS.

The website goes into more detail about how it all works. We represent most writers – academic writers, novelists, poets, etc – just check the website for a full list.

I have to admit I didn't think about these as sources of revenue for writers. Do you think a lot of new writers misunderstand aspects of the writing and publishing industry?

I am sure people do. I suppose the reason people don't think about the various methods of payment open to authors is because most people become writers because they want to write, not because they are interested in Rights issues. You learn these things gradually. It is amazing how many people think that the author still owns the book rights rather than the publisher, or that the author owns rights to the book cover. New writers really need to educate themselves about the legal aspects of the business

Do you have a goal for your writing?

Not really! All my life writing has just gone down its own path, and that's the way I like it. I never know which strand will pick back up!

HUGE thanks to Penny for chatting away to me about so many things but especially for educating me about the Author's Licensing & Collecting Society. A totally informal poll by me on twitter and facebook revealed a mixed response from writers about whether or not they were members, and how much they knew about the ALCS

From my discussion with Penny I would suggest that, if you are a published UK writer, then go and check them out. At the end of the day, you really don't have anything to lose. If you are a member of the Society of Authors then membership is free, but even if you sign up independently the one off membership charge is deducted from your first Royalties cheque, so you never pay directly from your own pocket, and this is money you would not otherwise access. You don't have to do anything except fill out one form in order to access a potential new source of revenue. Or as I like to think of it, free money.

So... why aren't you a member again?

Penny's website is here, the ALCS is here, Penny tweets over here and her publisher is here. If you're based in Yorkshire then get yourself down to Hedon Library on December 2nd for a talk by Penny (and say hello to the supervisor, Jenny Ward, who is one of my closest friends and especially ace if you need recommendations for new paranormal romance authors).

Penny is awesome. Go check her out.

Lest We Forget

2010-11-11T09:06:00.005Z

They shall grow not old,
As we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun
.........And on the morning
We will remember them.

An Interview with Katie Fforde

2010-11-05T06:00:00.000Z

A Perfect Interview Proposal

An Interview with Katie Fforde

When I first started up the Literary Project, Katie Fforde was on my list of dream interviewees. A prolific novelist and also chair of the Romantic Novelists Association, I thought she'd be a great person to offer advice and information to aspiring writers. It also helped that she's active on twitter, and came across as very lovely.

Well, I was right, Katie was approachable, friendly and full of good advice - but she was also insanely busy with her RNA duties and unable to be interviewed at the time. She asked me to get back to her at the end of 2010 and said she'd be available around then. Little did she know I makred the date on my calendar and surrounded it with hearts and flowers, waiting for the day when- *cough*.

Um. I meant, she tweeted that she had a few free moments, so I nabbed her before anyone else found something for her to do.

Hello Katie! Thank you so much for fitting us in for an interview! Can you tell us if you always wanted to write?

Not really. The thought of it dawned on me quite slowly, in my twenties. I became addicted to Mills and Boon novels when my babies were little and I was very sleep deprived. Eventually I thought, may be I could write one of these...

Can you talk us through your path to publication?

My path to publication was very much helped by the Romantic Novelists Association (RNA), of which I'm currently chair. They have a scheme for unpublished writers to have their work assessed by a published writer. One year the organiser of the scheme passed my work onto an agent. She talked me through the book I was thinking about, read it a chunk at a time, and found a publisher before it was finished.

You describe yourself as a romantic novelist – for the uninitiated, can you define romantic fiction?

Romantic fiction is a very broad church but there has to be a romance in there somewhere. It could be the traditional boy meets girl, or a married couple finding each other after years of separation or anything in between. Sagas, Aga sagas, chick lit, hen lit, lit fic - it can all qualify.

Can you tell us about the RNA? What is it, how did you get involved, who should consider membership, and what are the main advantages of joining for both aspiring and established authors?

I've been a member of the RNA since before I was born - or so it seems. I read about it a book called To Writers with Love, by Mary Wibberly, and joined. The first event I went to I knew no-one and came away with friends I still have.

For unpublished writers, it is a wonderful way to meet other aspiring writers and if you're lucky enough to get on the NWS, the scheme whereby unpublished novels get read and commented on by published writers, its a bargain.

For published writers its a wonderful way to meet other mad women in the attic, network with agents and publishers and have a good time. There is also an advantage in knowing what other writers get in the way of money and attention. Writers of the world, unite!

In terms of your writing career, what is your proudest moment to date?

There have been many proud moments, but I think an early one was meeting a Mills and Boon editor at a party and she knew my work when she heard my name. I was never published by them but I got very good rejections. The fact that this girl (she was!) remembered my work was wonderful. They get so many submissions. But of course being chosen to be part of the WH Smith's 'Fresh Talent' promotion was wonderful and gave my career a terrific start.

What is your ultimate goal in the literary sector?

My ultimate goal? Hard to say! I suppose being a number 1 best seller, although I doubt this will ever happen.

Is there anything about the publishing industry that you know now that you wish someone had told you in the early days?

I've had a very positive experience with the publishing industry. I've only been with two publishers and they've looked after me very well. I can't think of any inside secrets.

What are you working on right now?

I'm currently just starting my 18th novel. Every one is hard although before you start writing it, it's always going to write itself. At least I know this now!

What do you think is the most common mistake made by aspiring writer?

I think the most common mistake aspiring writers make is to try and write like someone else or 'writing'. You need to find your own voice and trust it. On the other hand, don't, when people who know what they're talking about make suggestions say, 'oh but I want it to be like that.'

You are active on Social Media outlets, such asTwitter, Facebook, etc. Do you think social media is important for writers, both aspiring and established? What advice would you give on using these tools correctly?

I'm afraid I dipped out of Facebook as I felt so guilty about all those friends I didn't know or care about. I love Twitter!

I do think social media is important for writers and there are two sorts of users. I use Twitter as someone to chat to, (there's always someone in) as a research tool (and they know everything!) but I don't use it to promote myself much. I will say if I'm doing an event I think followers might like to know about, but I don't put links to good reviews or retweet compliments. I can't decide if this is intrinsically wrong, or just not what I do. I do shrink from people I follow when they do this. But may be it is what Twitter is for?

And finally, can you sum up a key piece of advice for aspiring writers in one sentence?

If you are prepared to persevere, listen to good advice, recognise bad advice, read a lot and accept it may take many years, you probably will get published, eventually. (Long sentence!)

Huge thanks to Katie for answering my questions and getting them back so fast! Katie's books can be perused over here, her website is here and she tweets a lot, too. In fact, jump on twitter and say hi and that I sent you. And if you're bored, you can say hi to me, too. :-)

We interrupt our usual program

2010-10-29T00:07:00.002+01:00

Yes, I know, I'm meant to have a post up here today, aren't I?

Due to some personal issues I'm unable to post today, but I'm hoping to get something up here over the weekend - early next week at the latest. I hate missing deadlines, even self inflicted ones like the Literary Project, so trust me when I say that it is with great regret that I'm not posting today.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused, and hopefully normal service will be resumed by Monday.

Gemma

Roni Loren Guest Post

2010-10-22T06:00:00.004+01:00

Roni Loren Visits the Literary Project

Once again I am not really here. I have left the blog in the very very capable hands of Roni Loren, a debut writer who has just this week scored a two book deal for herself. Her first novel will be out in 2012, and I just can't wait to get my hands on a copy so I can proudly declare "I knew her before she was famous."

I've known Roni through Blogger and Twitter for around about a year (I think), and am a huge fan of her blog. As are an awful lot of other people. As an unpublished writer she has a following that a lot of full time novelists would kill for.

So, what with all this talk about aspiring writers needing to build an online presence before they've so much as landed an agent, I decided to ask the lovely Roni if she would mind sharing the secrets of her platform-building success with us. Then steal every last idea and use it myself.

Anyway, enough from me. Roni, the Literary Project is all yours for the week!

How To Build a Blog People Want to Follow

By Roni Loren

First of all, I want to thank Gemma for inviting me. She's gets some seriously awesome people to chat over here, so I feel like to dorky girl who has slipped into the popular kid's party. I'll try no to trip over my feet or spill my drink. :)

Alright, what I thought I'd talk to y'all (I'm from Louisiana and live in Texas, so forgive the y'all) about today is building your blog following. I started blogging a little over a year ago--mostly because I felt like it was something I was "supposed" do since I wanted to be a writer. I never thought I would stick with it. Then I started meeting all these terrific people, and I was hooked!

Now I have built a pretty good following -- 775 as of today (and almost as many on Twitter). Not numbers that rival those with big platforms like literary agents and such, but pretty decent for an unpublished gal just talking about writing. And beyond the friends I've found in bloggyland, I also gained a benefit I never imagined I could get through blogging--my blog and a fellow blogger who got to know me through it helped me to land my agent (Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary Agency)! (If you're interested in how blogging helped me get my agent, you can access that tale here.)

So needless to say I am very pro-blogging. :)

Now, how did I get the following I did in a year with no platform at all? Well, it's not all that complicated really. Just takes a few different things...

1. If you want to be followed, follow.

--If you're just starting blogging, this is the best way to gain followers. Go find blogs you like and follow them. Many will return the favor.

--Once you start gaining momentum and those follower numbers increase, then the scale starts to tip and people begin following you first. So don't be a diva, go check their blog out and if you like it, follow them back.

2. Comment!

--I ♥ comments. The fact that someone took those few seconds to tell me what they thought makes me happy. So I try to provide the same for others. If all you do is lurk on blogs, you probably won't get many comments of your own (unless you're famous, already published, have already developed a base, or have some established platform.) This gets harder as you get more followers (I've become terrible at this now), but it's vital in the beginning.

3. When people comment on your blog, try to respond to the comments.

--Doing this makes it feels more like a conversation. And many people subscribe to comments via email or check back on blogs later--make sure you let them know you heard them. Once again, this gets harder to do once you get past say, 20-30 comments a day, but then, instead of responding to each person, respond to the themes of the comments. Just so people know you are reading what they've said and have thoughts on it.

--Some people also respond to comments individually via email instead of in the comments section. That is also effective, especially if you start getting loads of comments.

--Of course, we wouldn't have to do it in these tedious ways if BLOGGER WOULD GET FREAKING THREADED COMMENTS! Okay, I feel better. Maybe I'll start a petition.

4. Make sure that when people click on your name from a comment you leave that it leads to either your blogger profile or directly to your blog.

--In the beginning, I tried to comment on every blog that left me a comment each day, so if I didn't have that link in the comment email, I'm probably not going to hunt it down. This also applies about attaching your email address to your account so that people can respond to your comment via email.

5. Ensure your google friend/follower button also links to your profile or website.

--Lately, I have been getting new followers, who, when I click on their little picture it just shows me who they follow, but doesn't list their website. I can't check out your site if you don't give me a link in your profile to access.

--To check this, go click on your follower picture on someone else's site. If it's not showing, change your settings.

6. Having multiple blogs can make it confusing.

--When I click on someone's profile and they have four blogs, I'm not sure which one is most related to writing or whatever our common ground is. I'm probably not going to check each one. And this will divide up your followers.

--So, if you have multiple blogs, I would suggest making the title clear enough that people can figure out the subject of the blog.

--Also, you can hide certain blogs from your profile if you want to funnel people to one instead of the other. For instance, I have a blog for my son, but it's for my family, so I don't list it in my profile.

7. Keep a regular blogging schedule.

--This is probably one of the most important points on this list. If you only post once a month, people will probably not remember to come back.

--It's okay not to post every day, just make sure you follow some pattern that people can expect. For instance, for the first year, I blogged every weekday because I had time to do so. Now I do M/W/F because things have gotten a bit busier since I've gotten my agent. But all that matters is that people know when to expect new content from you. My readers know I'll have something new on my blog every M/W/F. (If not, someone send out a search party, I've been kidnapped.)

8. Write blogs that people care about.

--Remember, this is only if you want to gain followers/comments/etc. If the blog is just your outlet and you don't care if people are reading or not, then it's fine to do whatever you want.

--However, if you do want people reading, don't just have nonsense posts all the time. Figure out what commodity you are offering the reader--why would they want to come back?

--I've chosen a teaching/information sharing model. So if you come to my blog (most days) I hope you are able to take away a little nugget of helpful information. For other blogs the takeaway may be humor or shared experiences or an ongoing story or book recommendations or contests.

9. Beware big blocks of text and posting large writing samples.

--I have to watch for this because my posts are long. So I try to break things into bullet points or lists or isolate different sections in a different color.

--Also, this is just my opinion, but huge passages of your fiction writing can also scare people away. Not because of the writing, but when someone follows 100 blogs and they hit a big story excerpt that

a)they have to read without knowing context and

b) have to comment on--which is precarious because it's like critting someone's work, they may just click by.

(However, if this is the purpose of your blog and what people expect, like public query slushpile, than that's okay. Your followers have signed up for that.)

10. Ask a question at the end of each post.

Involve your readers, make it easy for them to comment. A question gives them something to ponder and share.

11. Practice good karma

Link to other bloggers when you find something helpful on their blog. Honor others with those pat on the back awards.

12. Be sincere.

If you're only mission is to get as many comments as you can, so you go and comment "great post" on everyone's blog without reading them, people will realize what you're doing. And be yourself! I'm a dork, I don't hide it. People can tell who is being genuine and who isn't.
13. Technical stuff

Get rid of that little word verification box that people have to fill out to make a comment.

--Man I hate those. I can't tell you how many times I type of my comment, hit publish, then close the window, only to realize that a verification box had popped up and I just lost my comment.

--This is the standard setting on blogger, so if you want to change it, you need to do it in your settings under "comments", choose no for word verification.

I changed mine ages ago and have had no problems with spam.

14. Throw contests and participate (or host) blogfests.

--Contests don't have to cost money or be spectacular. Many times, I'd just give away a critique, which costs me nothing but time. Just make sure that you require people to follow you in order to earn an entry (and give them chances to earn extra entries by following you elsewhere--twitter, facebook, etc.)

--Blogfests (those things where you sign up and on that day a slew of bloggers post themed excerpts on their blogs--the Kissing Blogfest, the Rainy Day blogfest, etc.) Not only do new followers find you that way because you're on the list of participants, but you never know who will see your excerpt. One of the reasons my blogger friend referred me to her agent was because she had read my blogfest excerpts and "knew I could write."

Alright, those are my tips. What are yours? Or what are your pet peeves that turn you away from a blog or commenting? What makes you return to a blog time and time again?

Roni Loren is a romance writer whose goal is to write sexy (okay, sometimes downright naughty) stories that make readers laugh out loud, hold their breath, and fall in love--all before reading "happily ever after." She blogs on writing at Fiction Groupie and tweets like mad woman. She's hoping to see her books on the shelves soon!

Feel free to stalk her:

Website: www.RoniLoren.com

Blog: fictiongroupie.blogspot.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/RoniLoren

An Interview with DJ Kirkby

2010-10-15T06:00:00.002+01:00

Secrets & Lies

An interview with DJ Kirkby

There are times when my work, family and writing commitments can seem a little overwhelming, and I wonder if I'll ever be able to pull it all together long enough to achieve my goals. I get very irritated at people who say things to me like, "oh I wish I had time to write like you do!" when I know full well that they spend the better part of five hours glued to the TV every night.

Then you get to chat to someone like DJ Kirkby, and somehow she makes everything alright. A busy mum with a full time job, Denyse still managed to find the time to craft a beautiful debut novel, Without Alice. People like Denyse give me hope, because they remind me that I can make the necessary time available and still do a storming job in the process. Oh, and I don't have to give up twitter.

DJ Kirkby is stopping by the Project today as part of her second virtual book tour to chat about her debut novel and hand over some very sound advice about getting yourself published.

Have you always wanted to be a writer? What made you put pen to paper and complete your novel?

I can remember writing my first story when I was six. I'm sure it wasn't very good but I do wish I had kept it so I could read it now. Without Alice grew from many different scenarios that I messed about with trying to see how little it would take in terms of miscommunication before my characters went off into unexpected places.

Can you talk us through your path to publication?

To say that the path to publication for Without Alice was rocky would be an understatement. The original publisher went out of business and I was lucky enough to find out in time (just) to terminate my contract with them. Then I lost a lot of confidence and decided to pay for it to be professionally edited before submitting it to another publisher. Kevin Mahoney from Punked Books made me very happy when he offered me a contract for Without Alice at the London Book Fair last year.

What type of writer are you?

I am very much a member of the pant flying club. The only time I plot is when I am preparing for NaNoWriMo and then I use the Snowflake Method to help me plot.

Do you use any type of feedback system to help you with your work? If so, what are the benefits of the approaches you use?

I work fulltime, have a family and absolutely no time to be a member of a writing group although I would love to be able to indulge in such a thing as I think there is massive benefit to be gained from membership in a writer's group. I do use beta readers for feedback though and comments from readers of my published work as their feedback helps me know whether I am getting it right.

How do you manage to balance the writing with all of your other commitments, such as working full time, your family life, etc?

I write in the dark hours when I should be sleeping mostly, though I do slip in the occasional hour in the evening after our youngest son has gone to bed. There really isn't enough spare time to do all the writing I want to do though. I find myself lying awake at night writing in my head and hoping I'll remember it when I get up in the morning.

Tell us about Without Alice

Without Alice is a novel about very normal people, about the problems we all can have when we don't communicate properly. It is a story about love and loss, forgiveness and redemption.

What inspired you to write Without Alice?

I wanted to see if I could begin with the reader thinking one thing about a character and completely turn their opinion around by the end of the novel. I'll leave it to the readers to decide if I managed. I'd love to hear what you all think about Without Alice and have a forum set up on my website – http://djkirkby.co.uk – so please come and chat with me and other readers. The more, the merrier!

What are you working on right now?

I am working on a non-fiction book and two novels at the moment. I have a low boredom threshold and this is the best way I know of the keep writing. When my interest in one fades, I move onto one of the others.

What is your ultimate goal as a writer?

I would like to be able to earn a living writing full time.

And finally, what advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Believe in yourself

Develop an online presence through a blog and open social networking sites such as twitter – this will give your readers a place to find you and an opportunity to get to know you.

Always remember that publishing is a small world and as an author it's important to behave professionally at all times

Write something worth publishing

Have it professionally edited by a reputable firm such as BubbleCow

Submit it with a catchy tag line, robust blurb, a synopsis that meets their requirements and concise cover letter.

Have any publishing contract vetted by the Society of Authors

Sign the contract

Drink champagne with loved ones to celebrate.

Begin writing your next novel.

Be prepared to do a lot of self promotional work

Don't expect to earn a living from writing for a long time.

Many thanks to Denyse for that fabulous advice. You can watch the video preview to Without Alice over here, or just go buy it now. Her official website is at this location, and she also tweets.

An Interview with Stephen Wade

2010-10-08T06:00:00.001+01:00

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Interviewers...

An Interview with Stephen Wade

It is probably a good thing that you don't have to listen to the recordings of my interviews, as my cover as a super-literary-journo-interviewer-type would be blown in a matter of seconds. The writers and publishing people I meet always sound really professional with a lot of useful stuff to say, when I on the other hand tend to talk a lot of bollocks.

The problem is that I talk too much. I get to meet all these really great people through the Project, and lots of the share common interests with me. The odds always favour me gabbing away about some random point of pop culture or history with a kindred soul, until poof! Twenty minutes have passed and I haven't asked my first question.

This is what happened with Stephen Wade. Steve is a talented nonfiction writer with an impressive backlist of true crime and military history titles to his credit. True crime and history. Well, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to chat about those subjects, was I? We talked about a wide range of things from the collecting the Notable British Trials series to more recent unsolved murders in Hull. It was a fun conversation, so much so that we got turfed out of the student union and had to relocate to a nearby pub to complete the interview.

There are times I really, really love this job.

Hello Steve and thank you so much for putting up with my constant rambling. Have you always liked books and writing?

I left school at 15 with no qualifications. No one in my family read for pleasure; we were proper Yorkshire working class. I'm the only book lover. I was a late developer, too, and couldn't even read until I was 12, but I always loved books. I used to get my mum to buy me these red backed children's classics and I'd hug them, or I'd slide them under my pillow when I went to sleep, waiting for the day I could read them. I just loved books, but I don't know where it came from – not my family.

What started you writing?

Gosh I've been writing for so long, but I suppose I started writing when I was nineteen. The first thing I ever published was a poem in the Yorkshire evening post. Back then the first thing for me was poetry, and I still love poetry now, but in my twenties that was all I thought about, I was going to be the next Milton! I am a huge fan of Seamus Heaney. I wrote poetry throughout my time at University and started writing about poetry as well. I was your stereotypical horrible, snobby, literary critic in my twenties! I wrote a few short stories and tried my hand at longer works, but to be honest I am hopeless at novels.

In 1987 I had a book of poetry published. After that my main ambition was to teach at University. I'd done my doctorate just before that, and I was into academia. I was writing academic texts on poetry, or on writers. I did 6 years teaching at Huddersfield and taught in FE for twenty years before that.

I didn't start taking it seriously though, and thinking that maybe I could earn money from writing, until I was in my forties.

What happened then? How did you move from poetry and academia into popular nonfiction?

In 2001 everything changed. I was working at Huddersfield, and one day in the local bookshop I came across a series of history books called Aspects Of... various towns by Wharncliffe. I thought that it must be fun to edit that type of book, so I wrote to them and put myself forward to edit a second volume of Aspects of Huddersfield. He said yes. I edited the book and thought that was it, back to the English and poetry, only he got in touch and said, "do you fancy doing a local crime history book?" and that was that!

I've always loved history, too, so this was perfect for me. I wrote a book called Foul Deeds in Halifax, which was the first in the series, and it has just gone on from there. It has only been the last nine years that I've written with the view to making some money out of it.

So do you have an agent, then?

I've only had an agent for a year.

For the last four or five years I was thinking, "I'm never going to step up beyond regional publishers without an agent," but not really doing anything about it. For the record, regional publishers are excellent, but I knew that even with my backlist it was unlikely that one of the major publishing houses would consider a proposal from me without an agent.

Then by chance I met a TV presenter who was looking for someone to ghost-write his autobiography after the original deal had fallen through. I just said, "I'll do it!" so we got talking. Through the course of this conversation we discussed the fact that I didn't have an agent, but would need one for the negotiations. The presenter's wife chimed in, saying "I know someone you should contact," and gave me the details for Isabel Atherton. I wrote to her, and she took me on. I was only with her for a month and she'd sorted me a contract – so a good move!

What would you say are the main disadvantages and advantages of having an agent if you write nonfiction?

I'd say that in fiction the advantages of an agent are huge; it is competitive out there, and a lot of places only want agented works. Non-fiction is a bit like that in some areas, but it is a wider market. However, the advantages of an agent is that they have more chances of selling something than an individual writer does. As well as that, a good agent knows what's going on in the industry and will have contacts in publishers that you would not have approached on your own. I wish I'd got an agent when I was younger. Disadvantages, well, I suppose they take a cut of your earnings, but a good agent gets you more work.

I was interested to learn that your background was in literature and not in military history or criminal history. How do you secure contracts to write in a field that may interest you, but you don't have qualifications in?

This is a very typical non-fiction writer's answer: START SMALL! I started in magazines, and once I built up that backlist then publishers were interested in me. I'm not seeing that it is easy because that is far from the case; magazines are competitive but it is a good way to start. Once you have a backlist of articles on a subject you can approach publishers with those as your credentials. If you aren't an academic in the field you want to write for, then regional presses are a good place to start your career.

What mistakes do you think people tend to make when they are starting out writing?

Not being bold enough and brash enough to get a fair deal from a publisher! The reason being, a lot of small publishers work on small runs or print on demand, so they won't even mention the word "advance". Some writers are so grateful to see their work published they won't negotiate a fee.

Also, the contracts are very complicated. A lot of people just sign them without reading them properly. Even if you don't have an agent, you could join the Society of Authors and they can help you with the contract. I would definitely do that.

Also, don't be afraid to ring people. I know a lot of places don't recommend this, but with the smaller non-fiction presses I would definitely say to ring up – I've actually sold projects over the phone this way. You have to be persistent and you have to be thick skinned, but it will pay off.

Is there anything you'd like to write about that you are yet to touch on?

I'd like to write about one particular thing I picked up from my prison work. The proper occasion has not come up for it yet, but basically I worked with an ex-soldier who educated me on the reason why so many ex-servicemen are in prison; it's scandalous, and I'd like to crusade that point.

How important is self promotion for a nonfiction writer?

For nonfiction I think it is essential. This is a competitive field, and I think face to face is the best way to market. It's also a good way to meet people – there's often a spin-off that you never expect. A while ago I did a talk to 70 people – but no one bought a single book. However, at the end a man came up and gave me his card – he was an educational publisher looking for crime writing for kids. So it was worth doing! Doing things face to face is worthwhile.

And finally, what advice would you give to someone wanting to make a career writing nonfiction?

Get busy, get sample writing out there, but have as wide a base as you can. Have your own patch that virtually no one else writes about, but don't specialise too far because you need to be flexible and adaptable. In non-fiction people tend to commission, so the wider area you cover the more work you get. Treat your work like an academic; check, check then check once again.

Oh, and build up your own research material. I've invested a lot of money building up my own private research library. I have dictionaries, law books, social history books, and so on. If you want to make a living from non-fiction then building up your own research resources is invaluable.

Steve's website can be found here, and his books can be bought over here. Massive thanks to Steve for chatting to me, not complaining when we were chucked out the student union, listening to me babble on about the Regency period and to introducing me to the criminal past of Lincolnshire, it was a treat!