Welcome to Part 2 of my new series. You can find the link to Part 1 here. Writing colleagues and I share tips we hope will be useful ranging from contracts to marketing to even handling professional jealousy. There is much to learn from here!
Any industry attracts charlatans. Writing isn’t exempt. From copyright infringements to piracy, it pays to be aware of what can happen and where to go for advice. It is also useful to know what to avoid.
The three questions I set my writing colleagues were:-
1. Which tip over the years has proved most useful to them?
2. What do they know now that, with hindsight, they wished they’d known when they started writing seriously?
3. What do you think a new author should most be wary about?
I’ll start by sharing my answer to Question 2 and my second top tip.
Allison Symes – Question 2 Answer and Top Tip 2
I wish I’d known about the Society of Authors far sooner and how useful they are.
Allison Symes – Top Tip
Always research writer services thoroughly. You should find a point of contact if you need to ask questions. I am now a freelance editor as well as an author. You can find my details on my website. I also put up a reasonable amount of information for you to decide whether what I offer is of interest. There should be a track record. (You can check me out here on CFT but also on my Facebook pages, Twitter, Linkedin etc. My landing page on my website has direct links to my Facebook and Twitter feeds).
Guest Writers
My guest writers come from Swanwick Writers’ Summer School, Bridge House Publishing, the Association of Christian Writers, Cafelit, Chapeltown Books, Authors Reach, the world of self publishing, and, of course, it is a great pleasure to welcome local writers here too.
Genres represented include YA fantasy, flash fiction, crime, children’s writing, paranormal/ghost stories, romantic fiction, short story specialists, horror, and non-fiction. Between us there is a lot of experience in working in the writing world (both good and bad!).
This week, I talk with guests from Bridge House Publishing, Cafelit, and Chapeltown Books.
Dawn Kentish Knox – Amazon Author Page:
It is always a joy to meet up with Dawn at the Bridge House events. More recently, we were on an excellent creative writing workshop run by Gill James via Zoom.
1. Which tip over the years has proved most useful to you?
Make a start – somewhere, anywhere. As soon as you’ve written something, you can add to it, amend it or even delete it but those words are likely to prompt more response from you than a blank page. Even one word is better than an expanse of nothing and once you’ve added a few more words, you should have a sentence! If it needs further explanation, add to it. If it doesn’t make sense or say what you want, then alter it. If it isn’t what you intended, rewrite the sentence and delete the first one. Then keep going. And going.
2. What do you know now that, with hindsight, you wished you’d known when you started writing seriously?
Always carry a notebook with you and immediately record any ideas which come to you. If you hear or see a phrase, word, name, interesting trait or prompt for a story, make a note in your book. I never rely on my memory to recall anything because I know there’s a good chance by the time I need it, I’ll have forgotten it.
Of course, there are occasions when you may not have a notebook with you, so don’t forget you can record notes in multiple ways on a smart phone. You can type a note, email or text, you can record your voice using a dictaphone app or use speech-to-text and then email or text the result to yourself.
However, if you’re using the speech-to-text tool, check it has converted what you said correctly before sending it to yourself. Whilst on a walk in the garden recently (my lockdown exercise!), I had an idea for the beginning of a story and I spoke into my phone then emailed myself the message without checking it.
When I opened the email later, I couldn’t understand much of it and although I could remember the gist, I couldn’t recall the exact wording. “Perhaps a person who is Anthony I locked it a certain amount of luck” didn’t make any sense and I’ve no idea who Anthony is! There was no one called that in the story!
Allison: That’s wonderful, Dawn! And a lesson to us all!
3. What do you think a new author should most be wary about?
Keep it simple. Using long words for the sake of it can sound unnatural. If your reader has to keep stopping because they are unfamiliar with the words, it may interrupt the flow and their enjoyment of your piece. Pay particular attention when writing dialogue and use everyday vocabulary, unless you have a pedantic character, of course! If a conversation doesn’t sound as if it could have been overheard on a bus you may need to rethink and rewrite using words heard in everyday speech.
Gill James – Amazon Author Central
I first met Gill at the Isle of Wight Writers’ Weekend many moons ago. Gill and I are connected via Bridge House Publishing, Cafelit, and Chapeltown Books where she is the publisher and I am the happy author! Gill is a prolific writer. Many of the Bridge House authors including Paula Readman, Dawn Knox, and I contributed to Gill’s Prompts book, which gives writing prompts for every day of the year. Gill’s latest collection is called Other Ways of Being.
1. Which tip over the years has proved most useful to you?
Writing is mainly rewriting. That leads to the percentage of perspiration compared with inspiration. I really started learning this when I joined the Writers’ Register in Southampton. This was part of the university’s continuing education programme. I’d been writing seriously for a couple of years by then. I’d thought I’d been editing quite well but this showed me something different and more meticulous.
This led to me discovering the Winchester Writers’ Conference. Through that I found my way on to the MA in Writing for Children at Winchester University. I learnt the value of critique groups and also how to accept criticism graciously. You have to remember in these frameworks everybody is on the same side – trying to get your text to be the best it can be.
I redraft novels about fourteen times, looking at a particular aspect each time. I’ve developed this method over the years starting from that first encounter with the idea back in 1998 at the Writers’ Register. It grew as I met the others. Short stories and non-fiction I edit about three times. Even if the first thing a publisher’s editor does is to deconstruct your carefully prepared script they’re still starting from a better base if you have done much of the ground work. It’s like peeling off layers.
2. What do you know now that, with hindsight, you wished you’d known when you started writing seriously?
That professional jealousy can be painful. I’ve envied friends who’ve got a deal with an agent or a two or three book deal after I’ve helped them. Or oh my goodness, they’re writing better than I am. This latter actually is cause for celebration. Some great things are coming to my reading list. And I might learn something here.
Then I’ve also been on the receiving end of such jealousy and that’s more painful. You have to use a lot of life skills to deal with it. I hold on to the bottom line I shall always strive to produce the best possible writing I can and make the efforts needed to get it out there. I do what I have to do and this is different from what everybody else has to do. And equally valid.
3. What do you think a new author should most be wary about?
A new writer should be careful not to give too much away for free. If you don’t value your time and efforts, why should anyone else? So be careful about giving away free copies of your work, of giving free visits to schools and festivals, or offering to read someone else’s script.
Having said that it’s fine to do this a little. Maybe give free copies to people who have helped you along the way – but don’t be shy of asking them for a review. It’s fine to do a few free school visit to schools where you have a connection, perhaps while you learn the skills needed to run these successfully. Try the fringe festivals where you set your own fee for an event. And that script someone wants you to read? Invite them to your critique group and offer to beta read if they’ll beta read for you someday.
Amanda Jones (who writes as Amanda Baber) – Amazon Author Central
I know Amanda via Bridge House Publishing. We’ve both been published on Cafelit too. Amanda and I adore dogs and her Missy has an uncanny resemblance to my Lady. Not only that, Amanda is my editor on Tripping the Flash Fantastic, my second flash fiction collection which is due out very soon. Amanda’s books are available via the links through Missy’s Matters and through Kindle.
1. Which tip over the years has proved most useful to you?
Never give up and follow your dreams. I always wanted to be an author but life, work and health got in the way. Now I realise how special it is to have followed my childhood dream.
2. What do you know now that, with hindsight, you wished you’d know when you started writing seriously?
That my tentative, dedicated steps approaching publishers in the 1990s and even more alien world of self publishing then would be very useful. My school English teacher worked with me and edited my book (one of them) back then and I will publish it soon.
3. What do you think a new author should most be wary about?
Losing confidence, it is a hard world and criticism shouldn’t be taken personally. It’s your writing and your choices which make it all worthwhile.
Paula C Readman – Amazon Author Central
I met Paula via Bridge House Publishing and Cafelit, as with Dawn. Paula and I share the delight in being winners of the Waterloo Arts Festival writing competition three times in a row. Our latest works for that appear in Transforming Communities, the most recently released ebook. It was a real pleasure to interview her for CFT recently.
1. Which tip over the years has proved most useful to you?
Thinking outside of the box. Try to list everything you can think of for your storyline or plot then set them aside and think outside the box. The first thing you think of is the same as everyone else.
2. What do you know now that, with hindsight, you wished you’d known when you started writing seriously?
Things are never quite as you expected them to be. In the time I’ve been writing, the publishing world has changed beyond recognition, and not just with the virus. Online publishing whether that be on a publisher’s site, or online magazines or ebooks, has become the norm. So too has marketing moved online.
3. What do you think a new author should most be wary about?
I think all new authors should understand contracts and read them carefully before signing them. It’s too easy to get swept up in the moment of a publisher accepting your manuscript. Put your excitement to one side until you’ve read the contract carefully and understood what it entails. In this day and age you will need to promote your book and come up with new ideas to make your book stand out from the crowd.
Allison: You can get your contract vetted by the Society of Authors. And the Alliance of Independent Authors has its own advice page on its website.
Paula R. C. Readman lives in the UK. Her fiction has mainly been published in anthologies in Britain, Australia and America. Overall winner in five writing competitions, her first crime novella, The Funeral Birds, was published by Demain Publishing in February 2020. A collection of short stories called Days Pass Like A Shadow has recently been published by Bridge House Publishing and Paula also has a crime novel called Stone Angels published by Darkstroke.
Amanda Huggins – Amazon Author Central
Amanda and I are Chapeltown Books authors. Amanda’s flash fiction collection, Brightly Coloured Horses, has a stunning cover and you will see the distinctive Chapeltown branding when you see hers and mine together. Whether you’re with an indie publisher, self published, or with one of the bigger publishing houses, your first advert for your book is your book cover. The good indies work hard to ensure a reader picking up their wares would not be able to tell these books are from smaller publishers – and that is how it should be.
Amanda’s latest story collection is the moving Scratched Enamel Heart.
1. What do you think a new author should be most wary about?
There are many things for new authors to be wary of, but publishing scams and dodgy competitions are two of the main ones to look out for. New writers are often over-keen to be published at any cost (literally!), and this can lead to them giving their work away or parting with their money to see their words in print.
There are a growing number of so-called ‘hybrid’ publishers springing up, where the cost of publishing your book is ‘shared’ by writer and publisher. Although some of these publishers are reputable – offering professional editors and cover designers etc – many are simply vanity publishers in a new guise. It might sound like a great idea to have 500 copies of your novel or poetry collection printed – but you’ll probably be selling them yourself, and that’s a lot of books to shift. Although it’s getting harder and harder to make a living from writing, the golden rule should be that publishers pay writers – however little – not the other way round!
When you enter competitions, look for ones that are well-established. Start with the small competitions which are free to enter or only ask for a nominal entry fee, and always be aware of the ratio between entry fees and prizes – e.g a £5 entry fee and a £300 first prize seems reasonable, but a £15 entry fee and a first prize of £150 does not! Some competitions offer publication in an anthology as part of the prize, which is a tempting plus for new authors. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that unless these are established and highly-regarded competitions, the chances of anyone reading the anthologies other than the contributors themselves are slim!
2. Which tip over the years has proved most useful to you?
I’m always repeating this one – but the best tip I was given when I started writing was to keep sending work out – lots of it! The more you submit, the more chance of success. Plus, if you’re always waiting to hear back from several competitions and publications then you won’t pin all your hopes on one piece and so rejections will sting a little less. Remember competition judges and editors will always view your work subjectively, and someone else may love your rejected story or poem. My Costa prizewinning story, Red, came nowhere in three much smaller competitions first – not even a long-listing!
3. What do you know now that, with hindsight, you wished you’d known when you started writing seriously?
I wish I’d known how much time I was going to have to devote to promoting my work. I’ve learned to enjoy it, just as I’ve learned to enjoy reading to an audience, but I’d rather be writing!
Many thanks to everyone for their contributions this week. Next week, I’ll be talking with two fab Scottish crime writers and some of my Swanwick Writers’ Summer School friends (though one of said fab Scottish crime writers counts as both!).
Related Posts:-
Writing Historical Fiction – Interview with Gill James Part 1
The Joys and Woes of Writing Historical Fiction – Part 2 of Gill James Interview
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
Never miss out on another blog post. Subscribe here:
Thanks for that, Allison. We all have the same problems but different ways of solving them. You are giving us useful comments.
Thanks, Mike. Look out for the final part of this series next week. This is the kind of post I would have lapped up when I was starting out as a writer.