Publishing Deal - Forget the Clichés

I promised to come back and tell you the rest of the end-story from Write to be Published. For the first part, go here. For today, you'll need tissues.

Again, this is reproduced with kind permission of Snowbooks.

PUBLISHING DEAL – FORGET THE CLICHÉS
So, what is it like, that moment when you realise you are really going to be published? It’s different for everyone, but let me tell you how it

My own journey - not a pretty story. Part 1

Many people who read Write to be Published comment on the story at the end, when I tell the details of my difficult journey to publication. People often say I'm "brave" to have told it. I don't think so. I have nothing to hide. People see me now - strong, healthy, confident, full of ridiculous energy - and find it hard to believe that I was none of those things in my younger adulthood.

For those

Use bookshops this Christmas

Bookshops are far more important than some people seem to think. Writers and readers need real bookshops and the passionate, expert booksellers who work in them. Amazon are expert sellers and, indeed, quite passionate about selling, but they are not passionate, expert booksellers. I don't object to the fact that they sell lots of books, of course - I simply object to how little they care what

PUBLICATION DAY: THE BIG CRABBIT INTERVIEW

Publication Day for Write to be Published is here! Where will I be? In a glitzy hotel being champagned? Being showered with flowers or gorged with goodies or snapped by paps? No. Well, not as far as I know. I'll be on a train to London in preparation for my FREE Foyles event tomorrow. I will have this bag with me, thanks to Lynn Price, who generously sent me one as a present to celebrate

WHAT NOT TO SAY IN A COVERING LETTER - COMP

Carrot: there's a competition at the end of this post! As part of the countdown to the launch of Write to be Published - three weeks to go -  I have two more crabbit bags up for grabs. (Oh, and I am thrilled and excited to say that the books ARE now in the warehouse and if I wasn't away tomorrow my copies would be arriving then! Yay!)

But first, the "learning", as management-speaky types say.

COUNTDOWN TO PUB DAY: THE BIG WTBP COMP

With one month exactly till publication of Write to be Published, I'm delighted/daunted to kick off the countdown with a The Big WTBP Competition, which will run throughout May and June.

"And the prize, the prize?" I hear you ask, in your usual demanding way. Well, you are all writers so I presume you have at least the beginning of the draft of something. Well, would you like a confidential

YOUR NOMINATIONS, PLEASE

I'm in the process of composing my list of resources to go at the end of Write To Be Published. Obviously, I have a list I made all on my ownsome, but what would you like? Now is your chance to nominate your favourite blogs and websites.

Just add them to a comment, including a tiny something to describe them. Please include the whole URL, even if you can't make a live link.

I will then organise

IN WHICH YOU HELP ME - PART 2

The other day, I asked for your recommendations to add to a list of useful resources. And now, there is something else.

(EDITED TO ADD THIS NOTE - the response to the first request below - asking for critical volunteer readers - has been overwhelming and I now have far more people to choose from than I can easily cope with. Thank you! Each will receive a personal reply in the next week or so,

SHORT STORIES - HELP, PLEASE

In a rare turning of the tables - and arguably a dereliction of duty - I am asking you for help. Or at least the short story writers among you.

As you know, I'm writing a book based on this blog. I've just got to the section about short story-writing. Now, I don't need you to tell me how to write short stories, but about the market for short stories, both in the UK printed market and on-line (