Writers' & Artists' Blog

The shortlist for our Villain competition is here! We’ve spent the last few weeks reading entries and discovering characters that have instilled fear into our hearts – and, as ever, the shortlisting process has been very tough.

Out of this shortlist of ten, there will be two runners-up, both of whom will receive copies of judge Laura Powell’s Burn Mark and Witch Fire. The overall winner will receive signed copies of these books, as well as a copy of the Yearbook and a 20% discount on our services.

So, without further ado, our shortlisted entries are…

Struan Murray

Claire Berrisford

Rebecca Ferrier

Nev Willis

Sam Graham

Philippa Brewer

Julie Andrews

Eugene Lambert

Yasemin Kaplanbasoglu

Jennifer Moore

The three winning entries will be revealed on Friday 31st May.

Find out more about our competitions here.

Before her one-hour advice session for www.writersandartists.co.uk on Twitter next week, writing mentor Susan Grossman provides key insight into how you can market your non-fiction book even before it’s been published...

A few years ago a youngish man, a lawyer, consulted me about his idea for a book.  He had just had a baby and his wife (also a lawyer) was the breadwinner.  He stayed at home to look after the child.  Such was his total adoration for his new-born and his incredulity at the new world that had opened up for him, he excitedly described his book idea to me: it would be called Outings in London for Toddlers.  Hmmm.

When I gently pointed out that there were probably several hundred of these on the bookshelves already, he listened and, graciously, accepted that this particular idea for a book would not offer him a great deal of success. But between us we came up with another idea that would.

Our session was booked to discuss what he should put in his pitch …

It’s a bad week to be a Conservative politician.  Someone allegedly called the grass-roots anti-Europe movement a bunch of ‘swivel-eyed loons’.

Isn’t that wonderful?  Not that the Conservative Party are imploding – once more – on Europe – that will depend entirely on your political leanings –but what a great insult.  It sounds a lot like Shakespeare’s ‘cream-faced loon’ – and if you’re feeling Shakespearean today – why not try to generate your own archaic sounding insults?

On the other hot topic that appears to be dividing politicians, have you seen the very funny speech by a New Zealand MP on gay marriage?  It’s a beautiful example of how to turn your opponent’s words against them.

What examples of interesting or funny speech have you come across in the public arena recently?

An author came to me the other day, asking for a critique on her rom-com. Sometimes the faults quickly jump out from a manuscript. The problem with this one was obvious: ‘Your lovers are too nice.’

I told her to muddy them up a bit, have them doing the odd mean thing. Sleeping with their best friend’s boyfriend, that kind of stuff. ‘But surely no-one will like them if I do that?’

Nice is boring, I’m afraid. When people talk about a ‘sympathetic character’, what they should say is ‘empathetic character’. Look at the chap in ‘One Day’ – what an idiot (but we’re gripped until he finds redemption). And Scarlett O’Hara is one selfish bitch – but we love her courage. In Trainspotting some characters are perfectly vile, but we enjoy the way they make us laugh. Give us something ‘nice’ and we’ll go to sleep.

 Your character needs to make a journey, and a ‘nice’ protagonist won’t be able to move satisfyingly towards that position of …

In the first of her self-publishing series of blogs for Writers & Artists, Cressida Downing puts publishing into context and gives a brief overview of the topics she's going to be tackling in the coming weeks.

You'll find out what to consider before you self-publish, how you can do it right, and the common mistakes you should avoid.

I was born before the Digital Native cut-off point (1982 or thereabouts) and have found some aspects of the new digital world easier to get a handle on than others.  Kindles have come easy, smart-phones less so (I recently upgraded my phone only to find that, for some reason, I’m apparently stuck in March 2012.) 

It's not me that's the dinosaur, though.  The world of publishing however...

Publishing: coping with evolution.

To bring you up to speed, here's a very sketchy history of the publishing trade for you.

Publishing was born out of self-publishing.  From the days of hand-inscribed vellum manuscripts, to the revolution of the …