Karen Ball

Getting Out Of The House

2012-01-29T10:08:13Z

Getting out of the house is one of the best things you can do as a writer. At home, there can be too many domestic distractions - and food! - on hand to take you away from the work. Oh, I'll just put a load in the washing machine. Oh, now the washing needs hanging out. Wasn't there a packet of jammie dodgers at the back of the cupboard? It can be disastrous for your productivity and your waist line.

But finding a good place to go and work is the holy grail of the author community. You want somewhere warm, with desk space, toilet facilities and food on hand. You don't want it to be too noisy or to feel obliged to leave after an hour or so. Hmmmm. Know anywhere like that? Libraries can be good, so are some cafes. (If you have any top tips for writer-friendly cafes do post a comment!) Myself? I paid the £45 for membership at the Royal Festival Hall to access their private members bar with my netbook and a variety of supplies. Ah, yes. Supplies... What does the writer-in-the-street need close to hand to enable Factor Ten Productivity? Here are my tips.

Drink of choice

Very important, this one. I stop at Starbucks on the way in to get my extra hot wet grande skinny latte. I get very grumpy in the mornings if I can't find one of these. This drink will take me through until lunch time at least.

Food supplies

I tend to stock up ahead of time, rather than rely on the vastly over-priced food options available on the South Bank. I pick up a sarnie at M&S and some fruit. I try not to buy much more than that, because otherwise I will mindlessly graze in front of the netbook until I discover I've eaten my own body weight in chocolate covered raisins.

Wrap ups and peel offs

You can never tell how warm or cold you're going to feel, so I always take a wrap to put around my shoulders if needs me. I also sometimes take a pair of sandals to slip my feet into if my feet become too hot! (Or is that one just me?)

A dongle

If your venue of choice doesn't have access to free WiFi (the RFH does) you'll need a dongle for Internet research and guilty visits to social networking sites. I have a 3G dongle on a monthly direct debit of £8 and it's been a godsend. It's allowed me to be productive on trains, in train stations, in bars, hotels and beachside cafes. (Though I did once have to go and sit on a bench by the crazy golf in Mablethorpe once, because that's the only place my dongle could pick up a connection.)

White noise

Sometimes there will be a sudden, unwelcome spurt of noise from a group of schoolchildren, or a gathering of nannies or people just being obnoxious. It's a really good idea to have some White Noise or Sounds of Nature on your music device so that you can plug your (noise reduction) ear plugs in and blank out the outside world. There's a 'WhiteNoise' app you can download from your app store.

Notebook and pen

Sounds obvious, but sometimes easy to forget as you're packing up your bag.

A solid bag

Ah yes, your bag. Get a really decent one for lugging all this stuff about in! I bought a leather satchel from The Cambridge Satchel Company. The good news is that this is tax deductible.

Netbook

I've found a netbook much easier to lug about than a heavy laptop. Two years ago I received an Eee PC 1008HA for Christmas and it has been used every day of my life since. Literally.

Wireless mouse

Just so that you're not clicking away on an annoying little box on your keyboard when moving about a document.

Extension lead

Sounds crazy, but I am thinking of tracking down a compact extension lead when I'm travelling. Too often, I've found that hotel rooms have few plugs in inaccessible places and I've ended up stretched across the corner of a bed, just in order to be able to type. If you have any recommendations, let me know.

That's it from me! All you or I need to do now is allow our words of gold to pour forth. Do you have any venues you can recommend for writing, or would you add anything else to the list of essential equipment for a writing foray?

Counting Down To Christmas

2011-11-27T16:56:02Z

What does a writer do when she's between deadlines? Relax, that's what! For the past six weeks I've had the rare writer privilege of a break between commitments. It's been glorious and I've had lots of fun. I've sewn, I've knitted, I've met friends, I've gone away, I've exercised and I've had my weekends free. Oh, the luxury of 48 hours in which to do nothing but please myself!

A couple of weeks ago I went to see David Nicholls at Book Slam give his last ever reading from One Day. A few days later, I caught the train to the Cambridge Literary Festival to join fellow author, Helen Moss*, for a day of literary entertainment and thinking. (Oh, and eating. And maybe a bit of drinking.)

*Have you SEEN Helen's amazing website for her Adventure Island series of books?

But with Christmas just around the corner (and after that a whole new publishing year) it's time to click my heels and salute the scheduling sergeant major. Publishing Peeps are planning, which means meetings have been had and deadlines have re-appeared.

I'm not going to lie to you - I'm glad to be back in the swing of things. Writers get a bit twitchy after a few weeks of R&R. We need to feel needed!

So as the Christmas countdown gains speed, and festive publisher parties abound, I am trying to find the head space to think about other things. It's time to get serious, and as any seasoned author will tell you, Christmas isn't really a holiday for us. It's a big chunk of time in which we can get loads of writing done!

The truth is, schedules are another area of a writer's life over which we have little control. Make of that what you will - it can be a reason to complain or celebrate. Personally, I relish a deadline. And as Katie Dale and I celebrated via Twitter this week, no one needs to know what we look like when we sit at our writer desks. All we need to do is write...

Tuning in to the Discovery Channel

2011-11-06T16:28:18Z

The panel of judges on launch night

This year I've had the great honour of being on the organising committee for Undiscovered Voices 2012, along with Sara O'Connor, Sara Grant and Elizabeth Galloway. The planning started long ago, way back in 2009 when we'd meet regularly to discuss how the third anthology would work. Fast forward a year to an autumnal evening and our eight judges - including editors, agents, a bookseller and a literary scout - had gathered to decide on the 2012 Undiscovered Voices long list.

Want to know what happens on an Undiscovered Voices judging evening? Well, we could be sure from the out set that not everyone would agree. To begin, there was pleasant chat over refreshments, whilst everyone probably secretly yearned to get stuck into the nitty gritty of the selection process. Finally, people settled into their chairs clutching reams of paper. Everyone present knew which extracts had made them passionate and which they could see potential in.

Sara Grant proceeded to do a highly professional and admirable job of steering the conversation. I and others made sure people's glasses remained filled and that extracts were easily on hand should judges need to refresh their memories.

Then I sat back and watched, whilst keeping my lip firmly buttoned. (I wasn't allowed to influence the judges' decisions.) What did I witness? Voices raised? For sure. Arms flung into the air? Certainly. Cries of incredulity or frowns of bemusement? Sometimes. But the one thing that made a very big impact on me was the passion. Not once did I hear an agent or an editor talk cynically about 'market demands', 'list requirements' or even 'trends'. Never, ever did I hear an extract dismissed because it wasn't working hard enough. If judges were discussing a piece of writing, it was because someone in the room liked it. If the corners of a diamond were a bit rough, I heard editors enthusiastically agree about how those corners could be smoothed.

These were professionals engaging with a writer's craft and talent and bringing their own craft and talent to the table. I lapped it up. As we locked up the building at the end of the night, and made our way home by the amber glow of street lights, I marvelled at something new that Undiscovered Voices had done. It had reminded me that in these sometimes exhausted, sometimes trying and sometimes cynical times the professionals at the heart of our industry are there because they believe in and engage with story. For one blessed night, no one present had to answer to anyone other than themselves for what they wanted to see progress. No one had to consider a marketing strategy, or author promotability (they didn't know who the authors were!) or past sales figures. They just had to think about which stories they liked - and, let me tell you, there was a lot this panel of judges liked.

I'd always known that Undiscovered Voices helped authors' careers. I hadn't realized it helped editors, agents, booksellers and literary scouts shine their brightest, too. When authors struggle to achieve publication, it's an often-heard gripe that the powers-that-be are wilfully slamming doors in their faces. On the evidence of Undiscovered Voices, that simply isn't true. Undiscovered Voices is helping careers all over again. And we haven't even got to launch night yet...

What's Frankfurt Book Fair Ever Done For You?

2011-10-14T16:52:40Z

What does Frankfurt Book Fair mean to the children's author in the street? Not as much as Bologna Book Fair - exclusively devoted to children's publishing - but it remains the largest trade fair of the year, and publishers from around the world are currently dragging their exhausted behinds from meeting to meeting, catching up with old friends and colleagues, holding a finger up to test the way the wind is blowing.

For many authors and editors this week usually heralds a blessed reprieve. When the cat's away, the mouse can get some decent work done. All the big wigs are in Germany, which means that no major meetings or decisions will be happening (unless at the Fair), deadlines can relax a little and the offices of publishing houses get a little quieter and much more productive.

Unless your manuscript becomes the 'Book of the Fair' (unlikely for most of us) you may not immediately see any difference after Frankfurt. But publishers often use these fairs to get a taste for how businesses are faring and what the latest fashion is. This year, the signs seem to be that people are buying and selling, despite the horrendous recession we're in the midst of. Rights people will soon be returning to their offices muttering ominously about dystopian being officially dead or science fiction being the latest new kid on the block. Acquisition meetings in the following months may start to shift in mood, and that's when authors could finally see the impact of a book fair. Publishing is horribly fickle - our writing should never try to second guess the market.

If you're writing non-fiction, the end of Frankfurt may bring good news with it. Hurrah - publisher A has sold coedition rights to publisher B, which means the print run can actually go ahead and you will actually be commissioned to turn that proposal into a real book.

But by and large, my author message about book fairs would be leave it to the professionals. Keep your head down and let the rights people sell rights, the agents champion their authors, the publishers decide what we'll all be reading over the next few years. When it's your turn to be involved in the process, people will let you know. Don't worry about feeling left out; trade fairs are distinctly unglamorous. Just be ready to react when people need you to. After all, the agent in the toilet queue who gets chatting to the publisher who admires her dress may strike up a lovely new professional contact that sees your book being sold. Everybody out there is making friends. And these are people who may one day want to be your friend, too.

The Pleasure of the Past

2011-09-25T15:32:19Z

Yes, this is pretty much what my desk looks like whenever I write at the moment, covered in reference books. I'm working on a novel that involves a lot of research. Like, a lot. And guess what? I LOVE it! I never thought I'd say such a thing. Once upon a time, most of my fiction was contemporary for what, I believed, was a simple reason: there was no need to research the world around me. Easy! (Shows how much I knew.)

But over the years, I've written more and more novels set in an historical context. I totally flunked out of my History A-level. I knew it had been a disaster even as I walked out of the exam room. My 'E' grade hurt and I switched my brain off to history for, ooh, the next 20 years. I wasn't clever enough, my grade was telling me.

Interestingly, over those years I was an enthusiastic readers of biographies. I loved hearing about how people used to live, my imagination lit by the details of meals shared, clothes worn - not by the machinations of power bases beyond my ken. I don't think I'm different to most people in that respect. We engage with the human aspects of history.

And so eventually I was asked to write a historical novel. I threw myself into it. I loved the research, visiting museums, buying books, scouring the Internet. I'm now on my fourth historical novel and this is the apex of my research so far. I thought I'd share a few hints and tips about what I've learnt. I'm no expert, but this is where my stumbling path has led me:

The Internet

There's a fabulous quote about internet research from someone whose name I can't recall. It runs thus, though I'm undoubtedly paraphrasing: 'The Internet is a great place to start your research and a lousy place to end it.' I couldn't agree more. Your first port of call is inevitably the place you can access from your keyboard whilst lolling on the sofa. But as your research deepens, you'll realise how many sites are duplicating untested information, how thin that veneer is. The more you try to dig, the more your spade hits against stones. Use the Internet to inspire you and as a recourse for spontaneous moments away from the manuscript, but don't let it be your departmental head. It's more like the cocky student showing off in the university bar. Listen, learn, move on.

Illustrated Non Fiction

Oh, how I love a well-illustrated reference book. A person can learn so much from looking at lush pictures. When book chains are failing and Amazon can only show you so much of a book's contents, I frogmarched myself to Foyles and bought every decent book on my topic that I could find on the shelves. All of this is tax deductible, so there's really no excuse not to invest in your research. And if you don't have the ready cash, visit your local library. Ah, libraries...

The Specialist Library

Find out if there's a librarian who can connect with your research topic. Now, you're talking! A visit is essential, if you ask me - it helps the librarian get to know you, care about you, want to help six months down the line when you email with an infuriatingly tiny detail that needs researching. A good expert librarian knows everyone in the field who knows anything about your topic. Ah, experts...

Ask Someone Who Knows

There's a really straightforward way of cutting to the nub of research: find an expert and ask them a question. I have been blown away by the number of people who are not only willing but enthusiastic to help, often providing much more crucial information than I ever asked for. This is, I'd argue, one of the most thrilling moments of research. A conversation, an answer, another simple question ... and suddenly a whole new aspect of your novel has opened up. The novelists of this world owe a huge debt of gratitude to the academics of this world. Where would we be without them?

What I've enjoyed most about this process is touching base with the academic world again for the first time since leaving university. Pursuit of knowledge. It's a marvellous, empowering, generous thing. I feel humbled in the face of it. I've also learned to stop feeling as though I don't deserve it. That A-level 'E' grade was so much nonsense that got in the way of years of enjoyment. I'm glad that writing has allowed me to rediscover the pleasure of the past.

Boys For Beginners - Launch Party & Launch Of A Career

2011-09-03T08:30:49Z

Earlier in the week I attended the launch party for Lil Chase's debut novel, Boys For Beginners. It was held at Daunts bookshop in Holland Park. The Daunt bookshops are gorgeous. One of my first jobs was round the corner from Daunts on Marylebone High Street, and I used to wander around there, dreaming of the travel books I might one day buy for the holidays I might one day be able to afford.

I love the above photo of Lil signing copies, taken from the open doorway of the shop. It's a picture to warm the heart of any aspiring writer. This is the doorway you may one day walk through to sign copies of your debut novel beneath gently glowing lamps. I also like that Lil is slightly isolated in this captured moment. Well wishers crowded around her all evening, but the author experience can be very isolating - even in the midst of excitement like this.

Lil's story is one I know she won't mind me sharing and it's a salutary one. Boys For Beginner's has been in her life and mind ever since she wrote the first draft as a child. Some kind parent kept that draft and it still exists today. Who knew that so many years later it would become an actual, real book! Though the journey wasn't easy. Lil was lucky to have a brilliant agent, Julia Churchill of Greenhouse, on her side and to encounter an innovative publisher in Quercus.

Quercus - announced publisher of the year in 2011 - have been busy setting up a new children's list. I think that whoever commissioned Lil Chase is a very clever person indeed. New children's list in need of a quality writer of humorous fiction? Lil's your woman. She's no one hit wonder, either. A reviewer suggested that Lil might be the new Louise Rennison. I believe that with the right guiding hand from a forward-thinking publisher, this reviewer could be spot on. Lil is the type of author a publisher wants to invest in.

I also really like that Quercus took on a humorous novel that I know would have left other commissioning editors twitching. It's funny. It has a female protagonist. It's about football. I can just HEAR some of the conversations going around some tables in some publishing houses. Girls don't do football - or that can be the dangerous concensus. Quercus were brave enough to ignore these silly rules of publishing, and they have a fabulous book and author because of it.

One last thing. I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about humorous fiction. It's often overlooked. People think it's easy. People think it's easy because they don't understand it. There are many, many crafts that can be learnt on the writing journey. How to be funny? You can either do it or you can't. It's that simple and that mysterious. I adore humour for its deep 'unknowability'. Oh, and the fact that it puts a smile on my face whilst reading. Smiling - it's not a complex emotional reaction, and I think that's another reason people can be snobs about humour. The emotion it provokes is not complex enough for people to think it's important. But where would we all be without a good laugh or friends that make us laugh? Hanging from the rafters, that's where!

So. I've claimed humour can't be learned and isn't about craft. But you can see the utter levels of discipline and craft in Lil's writing. Hers isn't the breezy first person narrative, casually tossing familiar jokes to the reader because, 'Look! I'm whacky, me!' This is an extremely carefully crafted novel. The jokes are clever and placed with precision. Lil thinks hard about her writing and it shows.

Lil didn't just make me smile. She made me think, 'I could never do this.'

I look forward to watching the rest of her career!

Boys For Beginners is published by Quercus.

Interview With An Author 7 - Rebecca Gerlings

2011-08-13T11:46:04Z

The great thing about being an editor and a writer is that you get to meet all sorts of creatives in various fields of publishing. You quickly learn that there's a lot of cross pollination! When I discovered that an editor I knew had also just had her first picture book published, I was really keen to find out what goes into this most mysterious (to me) area of writing and publishing. How does a person write a picture book? What's the publication process like? I was really pleased when Rebecca, author of Enormouse! agreed to be interviewed. I hope our chat sheds light on the process for you, too.

You've been an editor of children's books and now have written AND illustrated your first children's book. Where does all this creative talent come from and what has your training been? Did you go to art college?

My mum and dad were both book designers, so I was brought up in a house stacked to the rafters with visual stimulus. It would have been hard not to have been affected by that. If you ask my mum, she'll tell you I was wielding a pencil professionally at 18 months. That aside, I do remember I won a Blue Peter badge in a drawing competition aeons ago, so I suppose you could say my artistic 'trajectory' did start at a tender age. In terms of formal training, I took art at GCSE then A level, did a foundation course at Chelsea School of Art, a Fine Art/English degree at Oxford Brookes and then an MA in Sequential Design/Illustration at Brighton University.

I am a picture book ignoramus, having never written or edited one. Could you talk me and our readers through a few of the basic 'rules' of putting together a picture book and what criteria you were trying to meet with your own lovely story.

Here are five of what I think are golden rules (not all of which I manage to stick to myself):

1. Every word counts, and your text must have cadence and rhythm.

2. Read your writing aloud over and OVER again while you're drafting and redrafting it; that's how your book will be transmitted, so that's how it must work.

3. Characters need to look consistent throughout in terms of proportions, features, colour palette, etc.

4. Don't be too arch or adult in humour. It's not good to patronise your audience, but there's a limit to what your target age group can grasp. Of course, you can still throw in little gags to keep your weary grown-up reader entertained; we all know the best books are the ones that appeal to adults and children.

5. Test-run everything past your target audience to see if it has the desired effect. If not, head back to the drawing board...

There are loads of details for a parent and child to spot in the images. Did you have any help from others with suggestions? How long would it take you to paint each spread. (Ooh, and what medium do you use?)

Erm, I'm trying to remember if I had any input from other people about the details. I know my mum came up with the idea of the enormous mouse made of mice - not sure I should really thank her for that - but otherwise I think outside input mainly consisted of reckless encouragement to ramp up the existing detail. It took me about 5 days in total to paint a really complex spread - for example, the one with the squirrels inside the caravan - otherwise a bit less. I used Dr. Ph. Martin's Radiant Inks, coloured pencils, some gouache and a fair amount of wine. And packets of Minstrels.

Even though picture books have to follow several 'rules' I'm extremely impressed with the central spread and the enormouse idea you have at the heart of the book. It's something that would be very difficult to describe in words (I won't spoil the surprise for readers). But it totally works and, I imagine, is a source for fascinating chat between a child and adult. Were Egmont on board from the start or did they take some persuading?

This is going to sound a bit stupid, but I didn't think about how abstract the central idea is until the book was published and I started pondering how to talk about it at events. I think I'm going to need to link the theme to children's own experiences, to anchor it in their reality. At the same time I don't want to make it sound worthy and cheesy and adult and dull by saying something like, 'Hey, kids, do you know that every teeny tiny light you turn off around your house make a big thing like saving our world happen', so if anyone out there has any bright ideas, I'm open to suggestion! In terms of Egmont being on board from the start, as a company their focus is very much on innovation and ideas, so I think it fitted well within their ethos and was something they were happy to get behind.

Talking of Egmont, how did you find the publishing process? Was it strange being an author/illustrator with them rather than an editor?

Yes, it was very strange being an author/illustrator with them as well as an editor, not that any of that was their fault. It was tough being in-house and working in the industry and having all that insider knowledge of the current publishing climate, especially regarding picture books. I also struggled with feeling like a bit of a fraud, despite being a Blue-Peter-badge-winning drawer. In fact I'm still struggling with that. But then I'm also still struggling with feeling like a fraudulent editor after 12 years in the industry, so maybe I just need to get over myself.

Do you have any tips for aspiring picture book authors reading this?

Without wanting to sound too X-Factor, trust your writing, and don't try and being anything other than yourself. Kids can spot artifice a mile off, a bit like dogs can smell fear. In fact, I think they can do that too. Never underestimate your audience.

Thanks so much, Rebecca! There's lots I relate to here: feeling like a fraud and a reliance on wine and chocolate being a few points we have in common.

How about you, readers? Do you have experience of the picture book industry? Do you have your own chocolate recommendations?

Rebecca's picture book, Enormouse!, was published in July by Egmont.

Do You Remember The First Time?

2011-07-22T05:38:11Z

Over at An Awfully Big Blog Adventure I'm mulling the lovely moment when an author friend opened her box of advance copies - and I'm remembering my own special moment when this happened to me. Are there things I'd change around publication? Yes! Take a look and see if my thoughts prompt any memories of your own...

One Stitch At A Time

2011-07-15T15:37:26Z

I'm just back from my annual writing retreat at Charney Manor with the Scattered Authors Society. Each year has been very special, but none more so than this. I didn't just enjoy gossip, seminars, the afternoon naps, writing, and the darting evening swifts, but I learned some important lessons, too.

What I found most inspiring was that other highly experienced, extremely talented authors with a wealth of publishing under their belt were happy to admit that they still didn't know it all. Not only that, but they were prepared to generously share their tips for improvement.

As authors we're constantly told to plan, plan, plan. Why has it taken me so long to take this on board? I can't begin to answer that question. Impatience? Arrogance? But finally - inspired by a session that included the magnificent storyteller Dianne Hofmeyr, I managed to recognise the importance of this part of the process.

In my other life of sewing, I took note from some early nasty mistakes and mastered the discipline to make a toile, tweak it, adjust the pattern, rip things back, take notes ... to spend hours and days on the make before ever cutting into the final fabric. The theory is that making the finished article should be the quickest part of sewing, and so it has proven.

The same can be said for writing. Plan, practise, look out for the problem areas, adjust your work to accommodate them, tweak and tweak again. Then, and only then, start writing. Sometimes we have to learn this the hard way, with novels that don't quite work, and sometimes we're lucky enough to encounter characters like Dianne and her words of infinite wisdom.

Take it from me. It's all about one stitch at a time. Carefully planned stitches sewn with care!

Thank you, SAS, and thank you, Dianne.

What lessons have you learned lately?

ABBA blog giveaway - spit, spot!

2011-07-10T15:38:58Z

Over at An Awfully Blog Blog Adventure I'm hosting a giveaway of goodies generously supplied by The Literary Gift Company. Hop over here for the chance of winning:

· Three 'East of India' book marks

· A calico bag bearing the immortal line, 'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink...' from Jodie Smith's 'I Capture The Castle'.
· A literary map tea towel
· A 'Libraries: Where Sshhh Happens' T-shirt
· Some alphabet parcel tape
· A library bag

It's all part of the online literary festival ABBA is hosting this weekend. You've never seen so many children's writers all in the same place at the same time!

I Heart ABBA!

2011-07-01T16:26:27Z

I'm very excited -and honoured - to be part of an upcoming online literary festival to be held over the weekend of 9 and 10 July, at An Awfully Big Blog Adventure. The anticipation is building and today we were featured in an article at The Bookseller, to be found here. David Fickling has highlighted it on his blog here and there's a Facebook page here.

I don't believe that anything like this has ever been attempted before. It's an administrative, logistical and creative feat - which is why it's so exciting. 40 authors working together to raise the online profile of children's writers - what's not to like?

Make sure you join in the fun - I suspect there will be giveaways aplenty. And maybe even some virtual cake, perfect for those of us watching our waistlines...

Follow @AwfullyBigBlog on Twitter for all the latest news

Survival of the Fittest

2011-06-09T06:21:18Z

I'm blogging about blogging today over at An Awfully Big Blog Adventure! Stop by and add your thoughts to my post, Survival of the Fittest. It's about the constantly evolving world of online writing.

Nicola Morgan, Write To Be Published Event at Foyles

2011-06-05T07:29:26Z

Earlier in the week I went to Foyles on Charing Cross Road for the London launch of Nicola Morgan's book, 'Write To Be Published'. If you haven't heard of Nicola Morgan, you won't know of the Crabbit Old Bat and if you don't know of the Crabbit Old Bat you haven't been doing much research around your desire to be published.

When I began writing my first ever contemporary YA novel, I Googled 'How to write a YA novel' and Nicola's blog, Help! I Need A Publisher, came up. I devoured her words of advice. Odd, when you think that I work in the industry, that I still needed an author to go online and point out a few home truths to me. But anyone starting a new novel is one thing: scared. Nicola's online persona as crabby, impatient but wise guide was just what I needed. She was the strict and scary teacher who you thought you hated but came to love.

It was only a matter of time until a publisher snapped up the opportunity to turn Nicola's sound advice into a commercial prospect - don't forget that she'd been giving us all this information for free on her blog! I was delighted when I heard she had a book deal with Snowbooks. A year later, when I heard that there was a London launch, wild horses could not have kept me away.

The event was highly organised and ran seamlessly. Nicola's presentation was faultless, questions from the audience came thick and fast. The staff at Foyles were clearly in love with their visiting author and as we queued to have our books signed, someone asked for the correct spelling of our name for dedications and added a post-it note to the book, prior to us reaching Nicola's desk. I've never seen a flurry of publication pleasure so nicely ordered!

So, the book. Have I read it yet and what did I think? Oh yes, I've read it - in one sitting. I brought out my fluorescent marker, something I rarely do because it feels sacrilegious. But on this occasion I was prepared to put aside respect for pristine pages for the greater good of remembering nuggets of wisdom.

Nicola's crabby persona is glimpsed every now and then in the text, but largely I felt as though a warm, supportive - still slightly strict - person was talking to me. And she's honest. Oh my goodness, Nicola is honest with searing details of her own humiliating behaviour as she sought publication. I shan't share the details here - buy the book.

There's a lot of the 'how to','do' and 'don't' in each chapter, yet Nicola manages to avoid being prescriptive. She won't tell you how long your novel should be for a 7-9 year old audience, but she will advise researching other books in the same market place and pitching your word count at within 10 per cent of the same bracket. This is such a great suggestion and avoids writers obsessing over 'the right number of words'. It also forces people to do what they should already be doing - researching the market.

I'm not a novice author, but I loved the fact that Nicola's assessment of how writing works, allowed me to understand how MY writing works! Nicola runs through various techniques for planning your novel and as I read, I realised that I am a 'planning in stages' and 'reverse planning' woman. Brilliant! Writer, as I suggested in a blog post of my own, know thyself.

Finally, I feel tempted to carry this book around in my bag at all times, to whip out whenever anyone invites me to read their unpublished manuscript. I'll crack open page 184 and instruct them to read everything Nicola has to say about the very 'big ask' of approaching someone you know to read 60,000 words of your prose in their spare time and for free. Nicola uses the word 'champagne' and suggests it as a gift - that's all I'm saying.

I meant to compose a short, succinct blog post of my thoughts on this book. Clearly, I've failed, but only because 'Write to be Published' has excited me so. This is a must-have book for aspiring writers. I'd say it's a must-have book for authors who already know their trade but want the opportunity to take stock. For me, it's inspiring that someone can set up a blog, share key advice for free, and then see that blog become a book. It says a lot about publishing in the 21st century.

Most important of all, Nicola may have achieved that one thing that busy editors, struggling bookshops and expensive writing courses may have failed in. She could be changing lives.

Nicola signing - with a nice, orderly queue!

The Importance Of A Dazzling Smile

2011-05-30T10:58:22Z

We're told constantly that being a writer is hard, that we're facing an uphill struggle, that we'll be rejected, slapped in the face, asked to smile through the tears. We're told this, yes, but do we listen? Informing a novice writer that one day this process might actually hurt is a bit like telling a child not to put their finger in the flame. One day they'll learn - by putting their finger in the flame.

The thing is, when a person starts writing they're often so far-removed from any of the crashing realities of the publishing process that ignorance really is bliss. An unpublished author has no contract and no deadline - all the time in the world to get a manuscript right. Or as right as it can be. There's no rejection yet because no one's even heard of them and a book can't be allowed to go out of print because, quite frankly, the sniff of a publishing contract is still pie in the sky.

But one day that can change.

The stage in your career when people start to notice you can be dizzyingly exciting. It can also mark the end of your own Age of Innocence. Being noticed means being judged and that can mean rejection. How should you react? Well, you can throw a hissy fit, slam the phone down, send an angry email or refuse to work with someone again - but I wouldn't recommend it. I really wouldn't.

This is where things become tough, because you'll need to become a good actor. Be gracious, smile through gritted teeth, weep in private - these are all talents you'll need to learn. Why? Because the eminently sensible editor who opined that your latest manuscript wasn't quite mature enough may one day read the second, third or fourth manuscript you've written. They may like it. They may like it enough to champion it in an acquisitions meeting, and you don't want them to remember you as the person who made them feel bad about themselves. Editing, acquiring and publishing - these are hard games to play, too. We all need to play with people we like. I'm not advising that you be a spineless mug in your dealings around rejection - there are often constructive conversations to be had and much advice volunteered - but you do need to keep smiling, nodding and shaking hands.

It's tough being a writer and it never stops being tough. But hey - you won't find that out by listening to me. Be brave and try it - you're one of the people who dares. But remember to practise your smile in the mirror, for accepting awards or rejection. Either could come your way - and anyone who's ever accepted an award has undoubtedly endured rejection.

The Gentle Art of Hosting A Book Event

2011-05-22T12:28:27Z

Yesterday, I attended an author signing for Jane Brocket's new book, 'The Gentle Art of Knitting'. Jane has also written a children's book, Spikey, Slimy, Smooth, but this was an altogether different title. Still, I thought there was a lot we children's authors could learn from the polished way that Jane and the store, Loop, handled this promotion.

The event was mentioned ahead of time on Jane's blog, the shop's blog, and on Twitter. Not way ahead of time. Too much warning, and people forget. A couple of weeks in advance was enough to prompt me to put this in my diary AND remember to turn up.

There was a ten per cent discount available to purchases on the day. This can't compete with the aggressive discounting to be found on Amazon, but it was enough to show willing - a thank you to the independent shop's visitors.

There was cake! Oh my goodness, there was cake:

Someone had clearly gone to an awful lot of trouble. The refreshments meant that people stayed and chatted, long after their purchases - or to consider further purchases.

There were also flyers, helpful staff on hand, an interesting location outside the front door of the shop and an engaged author who chatted merrily to all visitors. Soon the small room was crowded with people.

Jane Brocket blogs regularly and engages with her loyal fan base. Not too much - she manages to retain some semblance of privacy. But she lets readers feel as though they are a part of her life, as much as her books are a part of theirs.

This was a model template for a well-run book event. So much of it is about showing willing, being open and generous with an afternoon of your life (plus those extra hours spent baking, driving, sourcing supplies). It's a lot of effort, but I'm sure it pays dividends well beyond the books sold on a single day. It creates good feeling, and you can't put a price on that. Being open to your readership can help a person's career in years and years to come.

It's definitely worth baking those scones...