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Insider tip
Ensure that no key elements of your work, particularly your signature, will be concealed by a frame or mount. Paintings should be signed at least 15mm into the canvas/paper.
Artist's Guide to Selling Work-
You'll find us not just here, but also on Facebook.
Trying to tweet
Filed under: Marketing Yourself
I am quite comfortable with technology, but it takes me some time to get started. I remember clearly telling my physics teacher that I would never need to use a computer because I was going to work with books…
I’ve got fond of blogs, and like updating my website. (Only after getting blow-by-blow instructions from my web designer. And then another set of instructions after the first ones didn’t stay in my brain.)
Twitter remained a mystery. It sounded nervy, I knew Stephen Fry spent a lot of time on there, Read more
What to ask your new agent
The day has come – a literary agent has accepted you as a client and your career as a published writer is taking off.
It’s hugely exciting – and only too easy to forget that you are entering into a professional partnership where it’s worth asking a few questions of your own before you Read more
Getting lost in London
I went to an important meeting in London yesterday – held at a venue I know well, in a part of London I know well.
Given those facts, I didn’t bother to print out a map, just had a quick check on a bus stop and leapt on a bus bound for Farringdon Street.
It gradually dawned on me as I headed in an unfamiliar direction that this wasn’t going well. The Read more
Why do you write?
Part of the work I do is advising writers on what they’ve written, giving them a realistic assessment of how likely it is they will get published, and how to improve what they’ve done.
Something I hadn’t considered until recently is why writers write. But last week I had a series of emails from clients which addressed this very specifically.
One writer wants to Read more
Short stories, poems – what’s the point?
Filed under: Competitions and Offers, Getting Published
I am often contacted by authors who are writing short stories, and want to know what their chances of getting published are. There is good news and bad news.
The bad news is that most publishers will only publish short stories if you are an established author. Even the most well-known authors will sell fewer books if they write short stories, and bookshops stock fewer short story collections on their shelves.
So what’s the good news then? Read more
You are so beautiful to me
Filed under: Authors and Books, Marketing Yourself
There are days when I get inundated with photos. I open submission after submission and they fall out, showing me stunning author after stunning author.
Nice as it is to put a face to the work, it’s really not necessary. Very few readers will judge a book by the author photo – it’s all about the writing. The one exception to this might be Read more
How to submit again
You wrote your novel, you thought it was great, and you sent it out. It came rushing back to you, bristling with rejection slips. The scales fell from your eyes and you realised you still had work to do.
After you have rewritten – how do you send your work out again? And indeed should you? Read more
Advice for writers from Jodi Picoult
Filed under: Authors and Books, Writing Advice
I recently went along to see Jodi Picoult talking about her new book, House Rules, at an event put on by Toppings Booksellers in Ely. As you would expect from someone on her 17th book, she does a tremendous amount to get her books written, and to promote them when they come out.
The questions ranged over many of her previous books, asking how she came to write about so many Read more
Did your characters vote?
The country has recently been gripped by election fever – or bored rigid by politics (delete as appropriate!), which brings up another factor for writers.
As I mentioned in my post on the weather, when you are writing about characters in the ‘real world’, it’s important that you don’t leave out everyday life.
Some novels focus on the political and the personal, but even if your novel is simply set during contemporary times, don’t forget Read more
Rules are made to be broken…
Filed under: Getting Published, Writing Advice
… so why have rules?
You will see time and again on this site, and others dedicated to writing advice, ‘you must write this long or this short a novel’, ‘you can’t have characters who do this or that’, ‘make sure you obey all grammar rules’.
Do you feel rebellious?
Do you wonder why Read more
Buy the 2011 Yearbook
The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is available at a discount from our online bookshop. Get all the information, contacts and advice you could need.On camera: Jon McGregor
"Being longlisted for the Booker Prize changed everything - it was the launchpad for my writing career." Click to view our video with novelist Jon McGregor »
On camera: Justin Cartwright
"Just write... If you're any good you may not know it, but certainly someone else will." Click to view our video with novelist Justin Cartwright »
On camera: Julie Myerson
The novelist and journalist Julie Myerson on how she got that all-important first publishing deal. Click here to view our video exclusive »