Tag Archives: writing

Business of Books: Jane Cable talks to Barbara Copperthwaite, Bookouture’s latest best-selling author

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Business of Books: Planning for successJane Cable talks to Barbara Copperthwaite, Bookouture’s latest best-selling author

How much of your working life does the business of books take up?

It’s almost a 50/50 split. A huge part of the business of books is social media activity. Networking with fellow authors and bloggers, and interacting with readers is so important. It builds relationships, and ultimately I believe that the business of books is about people. Marketing takes up a huge chunk of time, be it generating original content for your own website and blog (I have both, as I find they service slightly different purposes and appeal to different people) or writing guest posts for others to use. Of course, the rest of the time is spend actually writing the books!

 

What’s your business model to earn a living from writing?

I always remember my dad telling me that a new business takes an average of two years to make a profit. I went into self-publishing my books with that in the back of my mind, and very much thinking of it as an entrepreneurial venture. I ensured I had enough money behind me to survive for two years without making any profit at all. It’s been tough, but I had a three-year plan in mind – self-publish for two years, make a name for myself, make contacts, then get a publishing deal.

I was stupidly naïve though. I’d never had a Twitter or Facebook account, and no clue that book reviewers even existed online, let alone had such huge influence. Despite that, my first book, Invisible, became a genre bestseller on Amazon. Flowers For The Dead, my second novel, built on that success, becoming not just a genre bestseller but a bestseller, proper – largely because I had by then built up a small but genuine following on social media. Incidentally, for those who dismiss social media as unimportant, you are missing its point. It is not about shouting continually about how great your book is and why people must buy it. It’s about genuinely engaging with people.

All of this begs the question: if I was doing so well, why did I want a publishing deal? Because I know enough about business to realise I am not a natural business person. I have the knowledge and drive to get me so far, but I’m not capable of pushing myself to the next level. The most successful self-published authors I know are not just brilliant writers, but brilliant business people, too. They are great with numbers, marketing, and all manner of other things. I’m not – I’m a writer. Of all the publishers, the one that appealed most to me was Bookouture, a digital only publisher that is growing quickly, has a reputation for picking winners, and is really making waves in the industry (so much so that they were recently acquired by Hachette). I was lucky enough to be taken on by them after submitting my third novel, The Darkest Lies.

I have to add that the fact everything in my three-year plan has actually happened has taken me hugely by surprise, as I honestly thought it was probably a pipe dream.

 

What do you write and what do you consider to be your major successes?

 

I write psychological thrillers with a dark edge. I like to explore how ordinary people cope when they find themselves in extraordinary circumstances, what can push someone to kill, how a person can be manipulated without them realizing it. I always say that I write ‘whydunits’ rather than ‘whodunits’.

 

My major successes don’t necessarily have anything to do with selling a lot of books. It might sound cheesy, but every single time someone tells me they’ve enjoyed one of my books, is a success. Becoming a bestseller for the first time was absolutely incredible, as was being signed by my agent, and being offered my book deal (there was a lot of shouting and jumping up and down in excitement when I got that email!). Beating Lee Child to be chosen as the Sunday Mirror’s Choice Read was definitely a feather in my cap – little old indie author me, beating a multi-million selling, global author. Being contacted by a number of women who have told me how realistic my portrayal of an emotionally abusive relationship is in Invisible. All those things mean the world to me. They are the sort of thing I used to day dream about, and hoped might happen, but never dared believe they would. In which case, fact that my dreams are coming true has to be my biggest success.

Tell me about your latest project.

The Darkest Lies has just been published. When teenager Beth Oak is found beaten almost to the point of death, her mother, Melanie is determined to find the attacker. Someone in the village must have seen something. Why won’t they talk?

I’ve just finished writing a psychological thriller set within a seemingly normal family in the run up to Christmas. As the festive day draws closer, tension grows towards an explosive ending where nothing is as it seems. That will be out in September.

And, because I like to keep busy, I’ve just started a novel featuring a journalist who finds herself drawn reluctantly into investigating a serial killer who seems to be linked to her.

 

Barbara Copperthwaite is the best-selling author of psychological thrillers Invisible, Flowers For The Dead, and The Darkest Lies. Her first two novels were self-published, and she has now signed with Bookouture, an imprint of Hachette. When not writing, she likes to hide behind a camera and photograph wildlife.

 

 

GAWP: New Writing Prize Launched

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FLIPSIDE LAUNCHES GREEN ALPHABET WRITING COMPETITION
The deadline is July 31

writing-competitionFlipSide, East Anglia’s leading literary and arts festival, has launched an enviromentally-themed competition aimed at writers of all ages and for which entries are now open.

The competition, which carries cash prizes, will be judged by leading authors Jackie Kay, the Scots Makar (poet laureate), Blake Morrison, writer and Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College and Jon Canter, novelist and playwright.

“We are looking for inspirational writing about the environment,” says Liz Calder, co-founder of FlipSide. “We hope to encourage writers to think creatively about their surroundings and how to care for them.”

Submissions must take any letter of the alphabet and use it in a piece of writing on a green theme – poetry, fiction or non-fiction. Prose entries should be no more than 500 words and poems no more than 40 lines. Entries could include some visual art. The deadline is 31st July, 2017. All entries will be considered for inclusion in a forthcoming anthology.

The competition is split into adults (First prize: £500) and under 16s (First prize: £200). The deadline is July 31.

Full competition details and instructions on how to enter can be found on the FlipSide website : www.flipsidefestival.org

The Business of Books: Publish and Don’t be Damned

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Jane Cable’s big lessons from self publishing

At the moment I’m juggling. Even more than ever with a house move and Chindi’s talks at the Festival of Chichester both approaching at a frightening pace. And juggling means making the best use of my time, so when I was thinking about the biggest lessons I’ve learnt for Chindi’s self publishing workshop I thought they would make a good article as well.

Put simply, they fall into two categories.

  1. Your book may be self published but it has to be as good as anything brought out by a major house – if not better. You can’t afford for it to look out of place in a bookshop or on people’s shelves at home. Cover design, shape and size are hugely important.The content has to be perfect too – and I mean perfect. You are asking people to pay for your work and this is a total game-changer. How would you feel if you picked up badly stitched shirt – or a book full of typos where the plot didn’t hang together?The best single piece of advice I can give any would-be author is that if you are tempted to publish your book without anyone else looking at it first, then don’t. Even the super-talented have lapses of concentration and mistakes creep in. At least have some sort of edit or proof read. Follow your gut instinct as to which would be the most important for you.

    Basically there are three main sorts of edit: structural (which evaluates the whole manuscript and how well it works as a novel); copy (studies the manuscript line by line for spelling, grammar and consistency); proof read (works on the print or ebook ready version for formatting and a final check on spelling and grammar).

    It’s always best to pay a professional but if you really can’t afford it and/or have a super-careful relative or friend at least get them to proof it. You’ve spent so long nurturing your manuscript you just won’t see all the mistakes yourself.

  2. You will spend at least as much time marketing as writing and you need to do it. You have no-one else to do it for you, unless you can afford professional help.Before your book comes out, cover the basics: think about who your target audience are, how you are going to reach them and how/where they are going to buy your book. You will be in a very crowded market. How is your book different? How can you make it sound unique and enticing?Although I had some background in PR and promotion, when my first novel, The Cheesemaker’s House, came out I was clueless about book publicity. I had arranged for a former colleague to do some PR for me, but that was it. Pretty soon I had to learn about social media, book bloggers, AI sheets, collateral. Because I had chosen an assisted publishing route with Matador it was easier, but I still needed to invest a huge amount of time.

    There are, however, great resources available: books (such as Chindi’s Before You Press Publish), online (ALLi – The Alliance of Independent Authors), blogs and of course groups like Chindi which exist to help you and provide mutual support. When I joined Chindi my marketing came on in leaps and bounds and as the group becomes more online we welcome authors from around the world.Even if you move into the world of traditional publishing these skills are hugely important and it’s always worth remembering that ultimately you are responsible for your book’s success.Find out more about Chindi’s author resources here: http://www.chindi-authors.co.uk/for-writers/

 

 

The Business of Books: Fresh Endeavours

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The Business of Books: Fresh Endeavours 

Jane Cable talks to former publishing director of Endeavour Press, Amy Durant, at the start of her freelance career

1) What is your book related job or business?

Until earlier this month I was Publishing Director of Endeavour Press, but I have just left to move into freelance work, specifically in editorial and consultancy. I have worked in digital publishing for four years, and manage everything from commissioning new titles to overseeing marketing campaigns.
2) What is the most rewarding part of it?

The most rewarding part of my job is finding and falling in love with a book, and then getting to meet the author and sharing my enthusiasm. Seeing a book grow from a submission to a published book; and working with the author on everything from edits to cover ideas to a new title is so much fun! We also worked with a lot of estates at Endeavour Press, and it was great
when you get in contact with the family of an author whose books have gone out of print, and you get them selling again – it is really rewarding to keep an author’s legacy going strong.
3) What do you consider to be your major successes?

I recently got shortlisted for the Kim Scott Walwyn Award for exceptional women in publishing, which was a great honour and personal success, and I feel privileged to have been on the same shortlist as so many inspirational women (including the wonderful publisher and editor Alice Curry of Lantana who won!). My major successes at work have been mainly around tracking down obscure literary estates (I have spent many an afternoon stalking unsuspecting relatives of authors on the internet!); signing them up; and injecting new life into the books – transforming them from hard-to-find second-hand copies, to shiny new ebooks, which are reaching a whole new generation of readers.


4) Have you always loved books and what are you reading at the moment?

My father is a writer and he worked in children’s publishing when I was growing up, so I was lucky enough to always have a house full of books! I have a few books on the go at the moment: I have just finished working my way through nearly 100 submissions for the HWA Endeavour Ink Best Historical Novel Award, and at the moment I am reading (and thoroughly enjoying!) The Girl in the Glass Tower by Elizabeth Fremantle; I am also reading The Queen’s Mary by Sarah Gristwood, which will be published as an Endeavour Ink book this summer; and The Power by Naomi Alderman, of which I have heard great things!

BIO
Amy Durant is a freelance editor and digital publishing consultant. She is also working part-time on a PhD on the works of Aphra Behn.

Contact Amy on Twitter @SavingBooks

 

 

The Business of Books: A Taste for Romance | Jane Cable visits a Choc Lit roadshow

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Jane Cable visits a Choc Lit roadshow

As regular readers of this column will know, I’ve been keeping my eye on Choc Lit for a while. As a writer of romance, you simply can’t ignore them; they’re up there, they’re out there – and they have a definite brand.

It’s this clear branding which draws me to them as a publisher. They have prettily and cleverly set out their stall as purveyors of delicious (in their words) women’s fiction from historical romance through to contemporary romantic thrillers. The books they publish are accessible and good quality; their readers know exactly what they are going to get.

When I saw that one of Choc Lit’s roadshows was coming to Southampton I knew I had to sign up. I was fascinated to see how they balanced an event aimed at readers and writers – not always the easiest of tasks. And the promise of chocolate was pretty enticing too.

Initially I hadn’t intended to pitch to one of their editors but when the email came through confirming my place I wondered if I should. Careful of their brand, Choc Lit have very precise submission criteria and I wasn’t sure I had a manuscript which would meet them. Or to be honest, one of them in particular: the requirement (for all but their Choc Lit Lite imprint) to show the hero’s point of view.

The book I am just starting could certainly be written that way, but Choc Lit only want completed – and professionally assessed – manuscripts. This is a really sensible move as it must make their slush pile less, well, slushy as a certain level of quality is assured. But reading their requirements again it became clear that self-published novels are acceptable and one of mine, The Faerie Tree, fits the bill.

The basic premise of The Faerie Tree is that when a couple meet again twenty years after their brief affair they discover that their memories of it are completely different, and this meant that the best way to tell the story was to alternate the hero’s and heroine’s points of view. It is the right length and certainly has romance at its heart, so I decided to give it a go.

If nothing else, it could be a foot in the door. Choc Lit are looking for authors with whom they can build a long term relationship, and as a writer, that’s what I am looking for too. I would love to be able to work with an editor to plan books ahead, knowing that they had a home when the writing was done. I would love a publisher where I could build my author brand alongside their own.

After listening to the Choc Lit authors’ stories (one of them, Laura E James, will feature in Business of Books later this summer) I was even more excited about setting out my stall to editor Lusana Taylor. In the main she was interested in my social media profile and how I marketed myself as a writer. I wanted to know about the importance of the hero’s point of view and what they looked for in an author. When we finally got around to talking about The Faerie Tree, she delighted me by asking to see the full manuscript.

Except it isn’t Lusana who will be assessing it. Choc Lit have a unique and rather wonderful way of choosing manuscripts for publication – their Tasting Panel of real readers. How refreshing is that? Once Choc Lit consider an author has potential it is up to this panel to decide whether the actual book is good enough. It seems a fairer process and a recipe for commercial success. I’m just hoping that The Faerie Tree delivers on flavour.

The final Choc Lit roadshow of the summer is at Stockton on Tees on 17th June. Find more details here: http://www.choc-lit.com/choc-lit-on-tour/

 

 

National Poetry Day and the BBC commission 12 new poems celebrating local words

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nationalpoetrydayNational Poetry Day and the BBC are joining forces this year to discover and celebrate the nation’s great local words in 12 specially commissioned poems – one for each of the 12 BBC regions in England.

 

From today and taking their cue from National Poetry Day’s 2017 theme – Freedom – BBC Local Radio across England will be calling on listeners to ‘Free the word’: nominating a truly distinctive local word that deserves to be better known nationally.  These 12 words, once chosen, will each be offered to a local poet as the creative spark for a new poem, to be broadcast on the BBC on National Poetry Day, 28th September.

 

Across BBC Local Radio, on social media, and in interviews and discussions, people are invited to recommend a word that is used by local people but not yet known by the nation at large.

 

The words suggested will be considered for inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary. The search embraces dialect, slang and idiom – any word that makes visitors do a double-take and ask what is meant. The ideal word will be striking and give a flavour of the place and local identity. It can be ancient or newly imported, just as long as it is regularly used by people locally and deserves wider circulation.

These suggestions will help an expert team of lexicographers from the Oxford English Dictionary build a fresh picture of regional English as it is spoken now. Each region will then be celebrated in its own poem, inspired by the chosen word, to be broadcast on National Poetry Day.

 

BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio Cymru (the Welsh-language station) are also taking part and will be calling for their own local words to provide the inspiration for a poem for National Poetry Day.

 

Susannah Herbert, Executive Director, National Poetry Day, said:

 

“National Poetry Day is truly national when it’s truly local. The distinctive words and figures of speech used in different regions have inspired poets for centuries, from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Daljit Nagra and Liz Berry – and a poem is still a great way to get a favourite expression before a wide audience. These new poems will draw on words handed down by grandparents and picked up in street markets: we’re hungry to hear how the nation speaks when it’s at home.”

 

Michael Proffitt, Chief Editor, Oxford English Dictionary, said:

 

“The Oxford English Dictionary is delighted to participate in National Poetry Day. This year’s focus on regional words and phrases makes it a particularly good match, as a celebration of linguistic creativity and diversity across the country.

 

The OED already records many thousands of words associated with particular regions. But language changes as society changes, and the OED is constantly updating its record of English. A national event about regional language is a great way for the OED to learn more about the distinctive, evocative, and poetic words and phrases that people use now, some of which have yet to appear in the dictionary.”

 

Last year on National Poetry Day the 40 stations of BBC Local Radio marked National Poetry Day by each broadcasting a poem about a local landmark commissioned from 40 #BBClocalpoets in an unprecedented lyrical mapping of the English landscape.

 

National Poetry Day (28 September 2017) is a mass celebration of poetry that annually engages people across the country with reading, writing, performing and listening to poetry. It enjoys very high participation rates, especially online and in schools and libraries: supporters include the Football Association, the Royal Mail, the BBC, and HRH the Prince of Wales. It is co-ordinated by Forward Arts Foundation, which brings together leading poetry, literacy and literary organisations around a common purpose: promoting the enjoyment, discovery and sharing of poetry.

 

For further information, visit http://nationalpoetryday.co.uk

To nominate a local word on social media use #FreetheWord

 

 

Business of Books: Behind the Best-seller Jane Cable Meets Rosanna Ley

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the-business-of-books-interviewswithjanecableThis week I am especially delighted to welcome one of my favourite writers, best-selling author Rosanna Ley.
BUSINESS OF BOOKS- Behind the Best-seller rosanna ley

1)      How much of your working life does the business of books take up?

Pretty much all of it! I work full time from home: writing, researching, editing, writing publicity material and taking part in events and occasionally doing a manuscript appraisal for an author (I used to do more of these but now although I’d love to, I simply don’t have the time). I also run an annual week’s writing retreat in Andalucia in July for around 12 writers at finca el cerrillo which I adore. It’s a haven of tranquillity and it’s so good to work with other writers. I used to do a lot more tutoring of creative writing and also working with community groups on therapeutic writing but I have had to let this go. Very reluctantly. But writing and editing a book a year (of around 130,000 words) is very time-consuming!

2)      What’s your business model to earn a living from writing?

I’m not sure that I have a business model at all. I’m fortunate in that I do earn a living from writing. It’s hard in these days of low advances and competitive deals from independent publishers, not to mention the number of authors who self-publish who have to work so hard to earn from their books. I would certainly consider running creative writing courses as a good way to supplement income, and there are appraisal agencies who take on experienced readers to give constructive feedback on writing for authors who go down this route. Apart from that, my model would be to keep writing, keep publicising and hope that your work is eventually recognised. Just keep getting it out there…

3)      What do you write and what do you consider to be your major successes?

I write novels often described as ‘commercial women’s fiction’ which are contemporary but also contain elements of the historical. They offer a bit of mystery and some romance and are set in stunning locations such as Sicily and Sardinia (as well as my home turf of West Dorset and also Cornwall). I have also set novels in Cuba, Burma, Morocco and Barcelona. Yes, I like to travel… My books are often called ‘holiday reads’ because of the locations I choose, but I like to think they offer a bit more than that…  I like to include some (hopefully) thought-provoking subject matter and I like to explore human relationships and the ‘tangled webs we weave’. My biggest paperback success has been ‘Bay of Secrets’ which takes on some rather dark and hopefully intriguing subjects centring around the Spanish Civil War when a woman from Dorset in 2012 goes looking for her birth mother. My biggest e-book success was ‘The Villa’ which is about three generations of women and their journeys – one to find her lost love, one to discover the secrets of the past and one to find her own sense of self!

4)      Tell me about your latest project.

The project I am currently working on is entitled ‘Her Mother’s Secret’ and is set in Belle-Ile, a small island off southern Brittany, France. It centres around Colette, who left the island when she was eighteen and who returns when her mother Thea is ill in order to care for her and help run Thea’s flower shop. I have finished the first draft and am doing some editorial work on that now. We are also looking at cover ideas. I am also doing some publicity work for ‘Little Theatre by the Sea’ which is out in hardback with Quercus already and will come out in paperback on June 1st. This book is about restoration and change. Faye travels to Sardinia to take on the project of re-designing the little theatre and finds much more than she ever bargained for…

Rosanna Ley is the best-selling author of The Villa, Bay of Secrets and Little Theatre by the Sea. Her books are published by Quercus.

Festival Fun: Jane Cable puzzles over how best to publicise a local event

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the-business-of-books-interviewswithjanecableI don’t know if it’s just me, but as a writer I’ve become so locked into digital marketing that asking me to promote something tangible and local leaves me scratching my head.

Although Chindi Authors were always going to run a series of events at this summer’s Festival of Chichester I hadn’t really envisaged joining in. For a start, I would be in the middle of a long distance house move. But since the arts’ editor of the local paper persuaded me to take part it has kind of become my Chichester swan song.

Chindi are running six events in all. We kick off with a crime writers’ panel on 20th June, the next night host a ghost walk around the city, followed by an indie publishing panel on the 22nd and on the 23rd I’m going to talk about how starting my writing career as an indie helped me to win my publishing deal. On Saturday 24th we have two events planned: a creative writing workshop during the day and a wine & words quiz in the evening. The latter came about because our festival home is the function room above Hennings, Chichester’s independent wine merchant.

As ever, children’s author Christopher Joyce is the moving force behind the project. As ever, I was two steps behind him, nodding enthusiastically. As a result of this enthusiasm I find myself taking part in the indie panel, hosting the editing table, and if numbers dictate helping him to run the creative writing workshop. But numbers are the thing – bookings for our events are starting to come in, but they are not all as popular as we hoped.

Some of this is to do with being part of a festival. The upside is being featured in their programme, on their website and across their social media (in theory – the last time they tweeted anything was two weeks ago). The downside is that there are so many great events for people to choose from, so how do we make ours stand out?

FESTIVAL FUN Jane Cable puzzles over how best to publicise a local event

We need to reach local readers and writers – mainly writers – and they are a limited audience. The local papers are being supportive but how else do we make sure they know about our events? Twitter is a massive stage for this sort of thing and although we have lovely Canva graphics to post we need to make sure we are using the correct hashtags. So perhaps social media isn’t the best approach.

Our email newsletter goes out next week and features the events so hopefully that will help increase the numbers. At least the audience is targeted locally and we know they love books.

As a group we decided against leaflets because everyone hates giving them out, but I think this could have been a mistake. We have a poster in the window of Hennings, and I have designed one for my own event which will go into the library and anywhere else I can persuade to take it. Although we are a group and we all promote each others’ events our biggest responsibility is to our own. And from my point of view, local promotion is something I’ve lost the knack for.

Actually, event or not, being visible in the locality of your book, or where you live, is an essential part of the author’s marketing toolkit. People are always so much more interested when they feel they may be able to recognise something of their own lives in your work it’s vital we don’t become so focused on the global horizon we forget our own back yards.

For more information about spoken word events at the Festival of Chichester look here: http://festivalofchichester.co.uk/spoken-word/