The Chichester Writing Festival - Part Four

Sunday at the Chichester Writing Festival began with New Publishing and the panelists were - Alison Baverstock- publisher, trainer and writer, Dan Kiernan-writer and co-founder of new publisher Ubound

and Adrian Weston agent.

Again the notes for this session are bitty...

DK Unbound – people buying into the work before hand, the audience is already there

The author has to be entrepreneur

Dignity of author – content creator

AB Self- publishing is a process not a product

Has to have value to someone

Self-publishing teaches you about publishing, you have to replicate it all

AW Agent representing self pubs on foreign rights

Not sure who to attribute these to...

How do you boundary time – importance of creating something worth reading

Building and audience connecting

Market visibly and editorial

The second session on Sunday was Writing For Children with Sally Kindberg - artist and author, Bridget Strevens - author and illustrator and David Whitley-author. I only captured David's thoughts as the others were varied on illustrations and confession...one gave me a brilliant story idea and well my mind was off plotting...

D W 

Darkness – take it as far as it needs to go

Focus on the emotion of the scene – then the scene will develop momentum – Greg Mosse

Began with Fanfiction at 19 and is now 27 (see Joanna Trollope's comment from yesterday's notes)

Tomorrow my notes on Kate Mosse's chat with Francesca Simon...

Marketing - A Learning Curve Part 5 (I am a Product)

me - thinking hard

Here are the posts I did a little while ago on marketing and PR in case you missed them.

marketing - a learning curve
marketing - a learning curve part 2
marketing - a learning curve part 3
marketing - a learning curve part 4

I'm now only six months from publication of THE CORNISH HOUSE. Uncorrected proof copies are out in the world and people are reading it - GULP(more about this another time). The book is no longer 'mine' it belongs to who ever reads it. If it works, which I hope it does, it becomes the reader's THE CORNISH HOUSE. But God is this scary - as my kids would say sh*t scary - of course they would never say this in front of me!

These proof copies are a key marketing tool and I have begun posting them to reviewers and interviewers - fingers crossed they love it. But as I prepare to send these out and draft yet another email to another magazine or blog I have to think of myself as a product. I want to promote the book, but that may not be what they want. They want an article they can feature that fits their publication...

So I have to step back and think about myself differently. It is a time to put all bashfulness aside and ask...
- What about me is different?
- What about me is interesting? (nothing i hear you say, but look harder and go all the way back to primary school if you must)
- Think of the meme things that were so popular on blogs a few years ago - you know the ones where you confessed the world that you had been a runner up in a beauty pageant (yup - yes at 18 or 19, memory happily fails - trying for a branch in the Boston area of the Irish American Rose of Tralee Contest and a trip to Ireland) and that you won a poetry contest (not to my knowledge) etc...

I have been reading back copies of writing magazines, Alison Baverstock's book - MARKETING YOUR BOOK: An Author's Guide, and looking through my notes from Jane Wenham-Jones' talk at the RNA conference this summer. You do have to separate yourself from yourself if that makes sense. Make a decision about what you are willing to send with the wide world. You need to know what you are comfortable with sharing. How do your family feel about being dragged in? Be sure you know before you proceed!

So in order to put together a list for the publicity department at my publishers, Orion I had to dig deep - in fact it was more like having your tooth drilled without the benefit of pain relief. I also can say I haven't done a very good job but I did do it. I would suggest before you begin making little paragraphs - a simple list of one or two words...

For me it began with ...
- writer (stating the obvious but then it's not longer a blank list)
- wife
- mother of 3
- expat expert
- cat lover
- traveler
- fearful flyer
and so on... you get the idea. With that list it's easier to build pitch paragraphs and you need them. You need to be thinking out of the box all the time...as a debut author (by the way see Nicola Morgan's post here and make sure you click through and read Nicola's interview with Catherine Ryan Howard) chances are you won't be reviewed so you need to look at other ways to get your name and your books name out there...

This is where the list comes in handy...I was reading a writing mag on the flight on Friday. They mentioned a new magazine in Bahrain. So I dog eared the page and then yesterday I did some on-line research to see what the magazine was about...once I figured that out, I went to my list to find a fit....and twenty minutes later I had drafted an email to the editor highlighting a feature of my life that might just fit their magazine. Look at it like the children's game where you have a list of names on one side and pictures on the other....

me -losing the plot completely!

This also help to keep 'you' out of it...after all you are just taking a little paragraph and matching it to their needs....simple - sort of....

Have you ever thought of yourself as a product?

(the pictures were taken by the wonderful Adam Gibbard and you can find him here.)

Notes From 'How To Get Published' Course - Part One Michael Ridpath

I know I promised these notes from 'How to Get Published' workshop at Kingston University ages ago but time....well lets just leave it. First let me say that again these are my notes and therefore are only what I heard and are therefore riddled with mistakes. So Michael Ridpath, if you drop by, I hope I haven't made any terrible faux pas and if so - sorry.

I found Michael's talk brilliant. It was enlightening and honest. It was filled with concrete advice. His website is filled more wonderful information too.

Herewith my summary of Michael Ridpath's talk.

-writes thriller
-was a bond trader
- very analytical
- FREE TO TRADE was first book
-uses index cards (he’s a planner which is very important for a thriller)
-took 6 mos to write during which he gave up tv etc, woke at 4, word count 90k
- characters were flat, stereotype plot
- 3 to 6 mos later gave him the distance to see this
- he couldn’t let it go though
- took 6-9 months rewriting it which he enjoyed
- then took another year & another draft which was much better
- put together a list of agents and submitted to 2 at a time – had 3 rejections then Carole Blake requested the full
- after a bidding war it marked the highest offer at that time ever offered for a 1st novel
- made it to #2
-he wrote 7 more books all financial thrillers; 2nd was difficult; enjoyed the 3rd; 4th set in Boston very difficult because of relationship in it; 5th ok; 6th good; 7th hedge fund; 8th his best
- he had success in UK – US very different – it’s all down to luck
- over time sales of his books declined and he moved publishers – he tried to work out why sales were declining and realized that readers preferred legal thrillers to financial ones
- in 2005 dropped by the publisher
- agent suggested he try something else and he thought of a detective from Iceland called Magnus (book comes out in the UK in the spring- WHERE THE SHADOWS LIE)
- this whole thing caused self doubt and he could have given up or even two years before that
- PERSISTENCE IS KEY – THAT IS WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL WRITER; RESILIENCE
- things are on the way up

What to Write About
- what you know and enjoy
- details are important
- you will get more pleasure this way

Don’t Copy
- write your own book not what you think will sell
- needs to be something original that can come from ONLY YOU
- what do you want to say; don’t let them take that out
- keep in YOU

It the 1st chapter, 1st paragraph, 1st sentence that sells first books. Go to a book shop and read all the first paragraphs all the first novels published.

Key things:
-act professionally at all times
-be reliable
-expect rejection and don’t give up
-the higher your profile and the more you make – the more bad things will be said
-know when to give up
-learn the craft
-techniques can be learned
-you can never write the perfect book – you are always learning
-you are always worried that your writing isn’t good enough
-you must always be striving to write better
- you mustn’t get complacent
-don’t rely on income always being there-have a plan

Writing Process
-total time 1 ½ years
-6 mos to pan and research
-5 mos first draft
-7 mos subsequent draft
-crime or a thriller needs a plan
-begins with a I page story idea
-then spends months widening it; asking questions about the characters
-he does a schedule of 12 ideas which grows to 120 which covers each scene

The first draft is fun
-after about 25% of the way through he stops to rework it and compare to plan; sometimes he goes with the difference or he then goes back to the plan or not – which ever works better.
-he does the same process at 50% and 75%

Rewrites – GIVE YOURSELF TIME
-ideally 6mos so you can see faults and solutions more clearly

Get feedback from trusted sources
-if they aren’t pros then ask specific questions like- where is it slow and what do they like most

The Role of the Unconscious
-when writing you make up things all the time – day after day. But you get stuck; stand back; look at connections from a new angle
-on a Friday he will think about the problem and write down the questions that needed to solve the problem; then he doesn’t think about it consciously all weekend
-then on Monday morning he sits with a blank sheet and answers questions then and there
-if still stuck he writes down all the possibilities

Alsion Baverstock then summed up the talk before opening it up to questions. Her highlights were:

Method
Discipline
Structure –for time and writing
Replicable talent – that you can produce professionally
Think of what happens to your manuscript when it gets into an office

He was then asked a series of questions:

-he does roughly 2000 words a day – min 1000 and max 3000
-a book is never finished however most people think it is finished too early
-when leaving a book to ‘rest’ he takes 4 to 6 weeks ‘holiday’ but he is always planning
-he always writes in the morning
-he used to basic books on writing to learn about character and plot – both were by Writers Digest
-he takes notes on every book he reads to see what he can learn from the book

Finally he said AN AGENT SHOULD CHOSE YOU. THEY NEED TO LOVE YOUR WRITING

Fallen Off The Face of The Earth

I have been very quiet and not without good reason. Life has been crazy. Since my last post DS1 has had his GCSE results - which were excellent, truly. He is now back at school and radio silence has ensued which I know means all is well. However I am left bereft having enjoyed his company all summer. Tomorrow DS2 returns to school. He has grown another inch and is now the tallest in the family. He doesn't want to return but accepts the inevitability of it with his normal grace. On Wednesday DD leaves home for boarding school for the first time. I am trying to be brave. I really am. I know it is right for her but it is hell for me. Of course she doesn't see this and mustn't see this. She is full of fear and self loathing at the moment which worries me. The self loathing was there and has nothing to do with school but with her own inner perfectionism. Having struggled with that all my life I wish there was some way I could help her through - other than love her and talk to her. Anyway enough of my family stuff.

I have lots of exciting things on the agenda coming up. First I postponed my return to Dubai to fit in Alison Baverstock's getting published workshop at Kingston University. It's a great line up and to make even better I am staying with fellow writer Biddy. I return briefly to Dubai then I'm back in the UK for the Eid holiday and seeing the kids - one weekend each which left me with time to take Cornerstone's course 'Writing Commercial Women's Fiction' taught by the wonderful Julie Cohen. I know she is a fabulous teacher and has so many times gifted me with light bulb moments.

I am hoping between the two it will fire my enthusiasm and help me chart my way onto the next level of writing. I have received my NWS report back - quick I know. So quick my clever plan to have it sent to sil in London so it wouldn't wallow away lonely in Cornwall went awry. It was an excellent report - not in the sense that it was filled with glowing praise, but in the sense that it was filled with concrete advice to lift the level of my writing. Never an easy pill to swallow, but just the medicine I need at this point. No, it wasn't negative at all. The reader said lots of lovely things, but read the script with a careful eye and pointed out where I needed to strengthen the book and my writing in general.

So that leads to what to do next. I need to complete the first draft of Penderown, I need to polish the revised August Rock. I need to complete another rewrite of A Cornish House and finally I have another book bashing the walls of my brain waiting to escape onto a page.

I know ACH needs a break so that is easy to let rest. I have just another ten or twenty thousand words to finish Penderown. August Rock will be a major project, but one I am looking forward to. I think the new book can be contained in my brain until the New Year. So beginning Thursday I will pick up Penderown again (try and remember what the hell was happening without going back to read because I would never move forward). Once the draft is complete I will work on August Rock. I want to have that done and dusted by Christmas so I can let the Pilgrimage out of my brain. Once that is complete I will then move back to ACH. All this sounds set in stone, but of course nothing is. It means that I will have nothing in the market which may not be a good idea. However I think as the trilogy of AR, ACH and Penderown begins with AR this should be the lead book.

I hope to be blogging on a more regular basis soon. In the mean time there is a great post on research and one writer's approach on Anita Burgh. Can't recommend this blog enough as she knows her stuff having 23 books under her belt and tackles writing from a very no nonsense approach.

Finally a few photos - two of August Rock on a beautiful summer's day and two of some of the antics at the village regatta.

RNA Conference Part 2

It seems a long time ago now but the good effects are still lingering from the conference. I was so pumped up from it that the vibes carried me through the move. The move wasn't too bad but by the end my nerves were pretty thin and i was more than scratchy. Anyway enough of that and back to positive stuff.

The next session I attended was by Alison Baverstock. (she is on the left and Catherine Jones the RNA Chair is on the right) Regular blog readers will remember than I attended her marketing your book session a while back. This talk was 'How Long Does It Take to You to Churn one Out? - Keeping Up Motivation and Morale.' She spoke of the long road to publication and the long task of just writing a novel. In order to survive the process she presented us with 11 tips.

1. Feast on beauty, harvest things that inspire you (ie. a collection of postcards or a copy of you favorite painting)

2. treat yourself well

3. solidarity

4. jealousy is not necessarily a bad thing

5. Community; she cited the Romantic Novelist Association here as a wonderful example (think Novel Racers here)

6. Dealing with time:
a. building blocks; allocate time for writing
b. be selfish with your writing time
c. that time is essential to allow time for the subliminal up rush which she described like projectile vomiting. Here she recommended Dorothea Brande's Becoming a Writer.
d. make your time at your best writing time (which can be a problem is its 3:30 and you have kids but work with it!)

7. Find somewhere to write ; allocate a place that is yours; people take you at your own estimation and your writing space can affect this

8. encourage other people to take you seriously

9. maintaining own morale; keep the room bright; encourage your own writing; develop your own feeling of being a writer.

10. preset yourself as a writer

11. the importance of being an encourager of others ( Novel Racers!!)

She finished up by saying that remember that marketing is looking at yourself from the outside! Her book Is There A Book in You sold out at the conference book shop which is no surprise. My copy is on its way to Dubai!


Tomorrow I'll report on Jan Etherington.

On my own writing I had begun tweaking August Rock to send off to the New Writers Scheme of the Romantic Novelist Association. On the reading front I have finally finished Time Travelers Wife which I enjoyed but was not what I expected. I now have four other books on the go - The Self-Preservation Society by Kate Harrison, Going Dutch by Katie Fforde, and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.