Authors Electric

House moving looms and we find that BT are unable to supply a telephone line until 14 days after the current house owner has moved out, and can't supply us with a telephone number until then. Our internet provider cannot supply us with a connection until we have our new number - and there is a ten day wait. Well that was the first rendering. My other half spending half a day on the phone has resulted in shortening those time scales a little, with luck, but only time will tell by how much. Yes, I know most people will use their tablet or smart phone instead but I am one of those people who kill things electronic, meaning I don't have a phone capable of email. The long and short of it is that, as you read this, I shall be languishing in the new house, surrounded by cardboard boxes and unable to get online. My first reaction was eeek! But given time to think about it this may be a blessing in disguise. I suspect many of us have come to rely on social media far too much. Ma...

My book fairy journey: The stickers arrived, the preparation happened and the six places I left my books in central London on Saturday 16 September 2017. Today, Goodreads turns 10 and they've celebrated by teaming up with The Book Fairies. Authors and readers were invited to order some special stickers, put them on the front of their books and then hide those books in plain sight for people to find. I had visited The Book Fairies website before, and loved the idea (you may have read about actress Emma Watson leaving books on London's underground for people to find, well this is the same thing and she is an official "fairy"). So, when I received an email from Goodreads, telling me about their #hideabookday to celebrate their tenth birthday, I knew I had to get involved. Throughout the year, The Book Fairies website sells stickers, badges, bags and ribbons that you can use with the books you're gifting. I opted for the stickers, as they had a few for Goodre...

Some years ago Bob Newman had a poem published which included the word ‘rescous’. It isn't in  First Frush , but there are lots of other clever and funny poems in there. The poem concerned was a sestina, with the additional complication of anagrams for the final words which are repeated in a different order at the end of each line. The poem was spotted by   George Chowdhary Best who was part of a committee deciding on which words were to be dropped from the OED. George produced the poem as proof that the word was still in current use. It was subsequently retained. This is the poem plus its introduction: (with permission). "Rescous" is, or was, "the illegal recovery of one's own goods after they have been seized by bailiffs but before they have been impounded". When they are recovered after they have been impounded, the crime is not "rescous" but "poundbreach". A few years ago a report from the National Consumer Council recommended...

Editing The image of the writer sitting alone, huddled over a typewriter is a long held image. For much of the time this is true, although we now have the modern equivalent - a computer and word processor. However, writers do spend a lot of time in solitary confinement, writing.  And of course there is editing to be done. This really does necessitate being alone, usually with a vast expanse of table, highlighters, red pen, a Thesaurus and a Dictionary. Most writers will tell you at this is hard slog, and yet somehow satisfying. Often it seems to take longer than writing the book in the first place. Then there's rewriting and re-editing. You get the picture.  What has this got to do with marketing I hear you ask? A fine question indeed. The above leads me on to the first tip I have for marketing your books.  1. The most important task you can do to market your book is write a good book in the first place. The better the book, the more likely readers a...

I left the treadmill of traditional publishing long ago. Actually I vacated about the same time I realized that neither my potential readers nor my lifespan could afford to wait long enough for the publishing machine to work: one to two years waiting between acceptance and publication; changing editors with diverse points of view; agents who operate on an outdated publishing model. That was my experience, which prompted me to jettison into self-publishing and never look back. I can say with complete honesty that if a publishing house were to offer me a contract today, I probably wouldn't take it. Unless it was a HUGE amount of money and a movie contract! (Joking) Anyways, I love being in control of my publishing destiny. Like surfing, it requires skill, reflexes, and keeping one's eyes open for the next big wave. Traditional publishing, by comparison, can be more like being a passenger on a cruise ship, destination unknown. The world is bound to change significan...

I heard someone suggest on the radio this morning, that you don’t really choose your favourite song, it chooses you.   And I wondered if the same might be said of the book one chooses to write.   I’ve no idea what makes one friend wake up one morning and decide to write a detective story set in medieval Scotland and yet another be determined to craft a love story based in modern times – I expect a psychologist could tell me.   The one thing I do know is that the choice one makes (or that is made for one!) has an enormous impact on how much of your life will be left by the time the novel is finished. I’m talking here, of course, about RESEARCH.   That dreaded beast that can be a joy, a drudge, an inspiration, a way to make new friends, or all of the above rolled into one. At the moment, I’m groaning about the topic I’ve chosen for a novel. I now have a stack of research reading material that will take me several months to get through, and I can’t seem to s...

I read of a young writer, years back, who told some friends at a convention: 'Gotta go, There's a bunch of more important people that I want to meet.' The cheek and gall reminded me of someone who snubbed me about the same time, in pretty much the same way. The same guy? No way to know. The type, though, is identical: 100% focused on knowing and stroking the people who count...and shunning the losers who don't. Plus: doing and saying whatever it takes. Yeah, I know: it's the way of the world. It goes on in the workplace: It goes on in bodybuilding: And it goes on in Vegas: But in writing it seems more disconcerting. Whatever our genre, we share a blood bond: united by storms of rejections...tens of thousands of hours alone at our desks...the anguish of poor reviews...the battle to make ends meet while finding time to write...and, unlike any other art, the lack of immediate feedback. Now and then a lone wolf like Howey or H...