Firstly i must apologise for my blog absence recently. Health issues, along with an overwhelming sense of “i Just Don’t Know What To Say” Syndrome have hit me hard. Thanks to the 100k Challenge, I’m still writing, daily, and hoping that some of it, at some stage, might make it into the novel.
But why I’m really here today is to record/share my thoughts on Swanwick 2014…
I can’t believe I forgot to tell you who our speaker was yesterday….shocking! Seee, brain dead already and it’s only day four *snigger*
Our speaker was the lovely Alan Samson from Orion Books. His talk was very interesting, and my favourite quote? “The book belongs to the author. An editor should be invisible.” which was said by Max Perkins, who is considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest literary editor ever.
So now I’ve got that out the way, what have I been up to?
I spent the early morning, writing, in my usual spot 😉
Then after breakfast it was a talk from Rebecca Woodhead which was all about E Publishing. Fascinating stuff, in which she told us the secrets of her success, one of which is about building your “tribe” lol. What that actually means is that you need to build up your loyal following.
After a break for tea it was “Ask the E Panel”. A Q and A session with Alan Samson, Rebecca Woodhead, Jan Davison and Jonathan Telfer (both from Writing Magazine).
One of our delegates asked the question “If you’ve already published an EBook, does that ruin your chances of getting a traditional publisher and agent?” The panel were in full agreement with their response, and the answer was a definite NO and that, in most cases, it actually enhances your chances, especially if the EBook sells well and you have good reviews! OOOOOOOOO!!!!!! 🙂 I kinda thought that would be the case, but it was great to hear from this well respected group. Alan Samson added that he would never take an existing eBook that had been published elsewhere. So remember that people. If you want to go down the traditional route, please don’t post your WIP’s on your blog 🙂
We had the afternoon off, so I spent it catching up with online stuff, reading my book and doing some writing. I had a wander around the beautiful Lakes in the sunshine and actually managed to find a bench in the shade.
The evening speaker was Sharon Kendrick who is a Mills & Boon writer. She gave a thoroughly entertaining speech and i’ll be attending her course today 🙂
The rest of the evening was spent watching plays that were written by, directed by, and starring my fellow delegates. Great stuff! And Simon Hall as the Song Police got my vote 😉
So my question today, dear reader, is…..will you be going down the EBook route, in the hopes that it will give you a publishing deal? I still can’t make up my mind lol 😉
I sat down yesterday and filled out my booking form for The Writers Summer school, or what is affectionately known as Swanwick
I am sooooo excited lol.
This year we have some great course tutors……
Lindsay Bamfield on Getting Started in Fiction
Alison Chisholm on Poetry
Alex Davis on SF, Fantasy & Horror
Linda Lewis on Short Stories
Benjamin Scott for Older Children & YA Fiction
Jane Wenham-Jones for Non-Fiction Writing
Then for the short courses we have…..
Public Speaking with Phil Barber
Technology for Writers with Malcolm Chisholm
Getting An Agent with Meg Davis
Research & Family History with Roy Devereux
Writing Erotica with Della Galton
Writing For The Media with Simon Hall
Characterisation with Steve Hartley
e-Publishing with Peter Jones
Copywriting with Lesley Lawson Botez
Comedy with David Nobbs
Crime with Michael O’Byrne
Flash Fiction with Alexa Radcliffe-Hart
Writing From The Subconscious with Xanthe Wells
Write a Haunting Tale with Stella Whitelaw
Oh my god!!!!!! how the hell am I gunna choose which ones to do? Lol
On top of all that I have to decide if I want a one on one and if so, who with?
I said last year at Swanwick that I was going to return next August having had at least 1 thing published…..at this rate I’ll be lucky if it’s a readers letter lol 😉
I just hope the weathers a bit better this year, last year i had flu and it was freezing! I’ll make sure I take a few cardi’s this year 😉
I tried my hand at a bit of romance yesterday with the eclipse prompt, but, it didn’t work….there was still a sinister side to the guy proposing on the church roof lol. Today’s prompt is what was seen through binoculars and I already have a few ideas 😉
The View Outside 