Category Archives: Writer Interviews

Interview With In the Shadows of Love Author Awais Khan

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  1. When did you first want to become a writer?

Funnily enough, it didn’t happen until I was in my late teens. I have always been a lifelong reader, but it wasn’t until I was in college in Canada that I finally realized that publishing was actually an industry (we don’t have a publishing industry in Pakistan). I started to look – really look – at how the industry worked and that started inspiring me to write my own book. I started seeing myself as a published author. 

  1. You live in Lahore. How does that inspire your writing?

Lahore is in every aspect of my writing. I think, feel and breathe Lahore. There’s a popular saying in my part of the world ‘One who has not seen Lahore has not been born’, so you can quite imagine the kind of impact this city has on my writing. Lahore features heavily in all my books, and it wasn’t until I started writing Someone Like Her, which is partly set in London, that I realized how easy it was for me to write about Lahore, because I really struggled to bring London to life in my novel. Having said that, I have a very complicated relationship with my city. Just like in any relationship, there are good days and bad days, but I would be lying if I said that the city didn’t inspire my writing. Lahore is the very essence of me. Lahore is like for me as Paris was like for Ernest Hemingway – a moveable feast.

  1. You have written four novels now. Do you feel like a veteran now?

Hardly. If anything, I feel like things are getting more and more difficult. People tell me that I’ve made it, but they don’t know just how terrified I really am most of the time about failing. With each book, reader expectations rise, and after a point, the pressure sort of gets to you. However, while the insecurity never really goes away – it shouldn’t really, as it keeps us grounded – I have to say that I am getting slightly more confident about my writing. I may be having doubts, but somewhere at the back of my mind, there’s a small voice that says, ‘You’ve written something good. All it needs now is that one big push, that one final edit.’

  1. How did your first success come as a writer?

Success depends on one’s definition of success. Success can be selling a million copies of your book, but success can also be critical acclaim or positively impacting the life of even one reader. I first started writing In the Company of Strangers back in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2019 that it was published. During that time, I amassed a significant social media following, and since I naturally love to support my fellow authors, by the time my debut came out, it was an instant success with everyone I knew clamouring to buy a copy to support me in turn. The book went into reprint before it was officially out and also ended up becoming a national bestseller in Pakistan. However, it wasn’t until No Honour was published that I understood what it was like to be reviewed in major UK publications, and perhaps it was the topic, but No Honour ended up doing phenomenally well everywhere. In many ways, it was bigger than In the Company of Strangers. 

  1. What’s your writing routine?

My writing routine is all over the place. I suffer from writer’s block a lot when I’m in Lahore, and have frequently flown to London in the past just to finish writing my book. Being a writer in Lahore is not easy. Since there isn’t a publishing industry here as such, the environment here isn’t conducive for writing. A lot of people here disregard your efforts as a writer, thinking that whatever you’re doing has no value. All of it affects your self-esteem and motivation. Despite all of that, I try to be regimental about my writing, spending a few hours in my favourite café in Gulberg five days a week. It does bring some structure to my day and allows me to complete writing tasks that would just get delayed or put off otherwise. When in London, I like to write early in the morning and then in the afternoon too, preferably in a favourite café of mine. 

  1. Do you have a favourite of your books?

I feel that just like kids (not that I have any), one cannot have a favourite book. I’ve spent a lot of time with each of my books and they’ve all uniquely contributed towards my journey as a writer. However, if forced to choose, I would probably say No Honour, because I spent over three years researching and writing that book and it remains very close to my heart. 

  1. Tell us about The Writing Institute. 

I set it up back in 2016 when I realized that there were absolutely no creative writing courses available in Pakistan. Initially, a lot of people laughed at me, saying that nobody would be interested in something like this, that writers didn’t even exist in Pakistan. Yes, my courses did struggle at first, but as word got around, more people started joining them and since then, over 10,000 people have taken courses with The Writing Institute. Today, the institute prides itself on providing the best online and in-person creative writing courses in Pakistan at the most affordable prices imaginable. 

  1. What is your top creative writing tip?

My top tip for any aspiring writer is to never give up. This is a very subjective industry, and what works for one would probably not work for another. Never stop believing in yourself. Deep down, we know just how good our work really is. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If someone is giving you proper critical feedback that can be used, then listen to them, but if someone is disparaging your work just for the sake of it, don’t listen to them. Similarly, be very wary of people who praise your work to high heavens. Just believe in yourself, in your talent, and don’t let the rejections get you down. Have the skin of an alligator’s. 

  1. Tell us about your new book.

I am very excited about my next book called In the Shadows of Love. It is the sequel to my debut In the Company of Strangers. The story moves twelve years into the future and Mona is now in her early fifties. She and Bilal have weathered the storm of infidelity, with Bilal embracing the son Mona had from her affair. Although on the outside, it seems that Mona has everything, and that every single day of hers is the same, with glittering parties and society events, things are not how they seem. Her perfect world is forever changed when the first message arrives. Will the secrets of Mona’s past threaten her future, her marriage and even her life?

In the Shadows of Love will be published by Hera Books in October, 2024. 

  1. What’s next for you?

I have recently finished writing my first thriller, tentatively titled Her Sister’s Secret. We don’t get to see a lot of thrillers coming out of Pakistan and I really wanted to write one that explored themes of sibling rivalry, guilty secrets and toxic marriages. The story centres around Maria and Sohaib who seem to have everything they could ask for, but behind the perfect façade, their marriage is toxic and when Maria’s sister, Fareena, comes to visit, everything goes awry. 

Interview with Dani Atkins The Author of The Memory of Us

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The Memory of Us is a fantastic book. How long did it take you to write it?
The Memory of Us took approximately one year to write. I don’t write particularly quickly and
would panic if I had to produce a book any faster.
When I gave up work to write full-time I thought I’d begin at nine o’clock and work through
until five (with an hour for lunch, of course). It wasn’t long before I realised I’m not disciplined
enough for that.
People might be surprised it takes me twelve months to write a book, but I’m just amazed it
doesn’t take even longer!

Where did the idea come from?
My books have recurring themes of love, family, and friendship, often set against a life
changing moment or event. From the outset I knew I wanted this story to feature two sisters
and the unshakeable bond between them. Lexi and Amelia were a joy to write, and I miss
spending time with them.

The book has many themes. How did you manage to thread them all together so well?
I’d like to say it was a result of meticulous planning – except I don’t plan at all. However, I
knew the important plot points, so it was a matter of letting the story unfold naturally and
trusting everything would fall into place.

What is your writing routine like?
My day starts with a dog walk, when I’ll formulate my plan for that day’s writing and often get
ideas for conversations between characters.
Before I begin, I go back and edit the previous day’s work. I know many authors prefer to
keep their eye on the finishing line, but I’m not happy going forward if I think there’s
something that needs fixing.
Mornings are not my most productive time, so it’s mid to late afternoon before I usually hit
my stride.
Before turning off my computer I read that day’s work out loud. I find this to be a useful way
of checking both the pace of the story and the authenticity of the dialogue.

What advice would you give writers who want to maintain a career?
First, to keep reading in many different genres. Seeing how authors tackle a story, handle
the pace, the dialogue and the plot can be very inspiring. It motivates you to bring all you
have to the table the next time you begin to write.
Next, is to just write. Don’t tell yourself that ‘one day I’ll write a book’. Do it. Do it now. It’s
easy to think you don’t have time to write, but you just need to be disciplined and
determined. Don’t set impossible goals. If you aim for just 1000 words a day, in three months
you’ll have a novel.
Lastly, write the book that’s in your heart. It’s more important to be aware of current literary
trends than it is to follow them. At the end of the day, you must write the book you want to
write and tell the story you have to tell. Perhaps it isn’t the same one that everyone is
reading right then; perhaps you are bucking the trend… but it’s just possible you’re starting a
new one.

What’s next for you? 
My next book is well underway and has a working title of PROMISE ME – although I’m sure
that will change – they usually do. It is another emotional drama with some strong characters
who I hope people will fall in love with every bit as much as I’ve done. I don’t want to reveal
too much more, but I will say that I made myself cry writing the very first chapter, which was
a first for me.

The Memory of Us’ by Dani Atkins is just published by Head of Zeus in hardback. I loved it. It is a beautiful and heartfelt novel which takes many themes and ties them together beautifully. The characters are divine and I adored the love story. I was fully immersed in this beautiful book. Superb writing mixes with a novel that keeps you guessing all of the way. I can’t recommend it enough.

NELL DIXON SHARES HER INSPIRATION FOR THE MISS UNDERHAY SERIES

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For the last two years I’ve been living full-time in Devon in a small fishing village. If anyone is unfamiliar with the area, it is a particularly beautiful place with sandy beaches, wide rivers, green farmland and historic and lovely towns and villages. Thatched cottages abound in a chocolate box setting. The Miss Underhay series is set in and around Torbay during the 1930’s. Torquay was the birthplace of Agatha Christie so clearly this is a landscape to inspire crime writing!

The world my intrepid amateur sleuth, Kitty Underhay inhabited in 1933 would be familiar to her today despite some damage done by the second world war and over enthusiastic building works in the 1960’s. Punctuating the landscape are several beautiful and unique buildings. All of which feature in or have inspired scenes in the series. Landscape has always been important to me as a writer. I’ve always been fascinated by the built environment and the human stories that are told through both the building and the spaces between them.

One such building is the now sadly neglected Pavilion theatre in Torquay, a gorgeous art deco affair on Torquay seafront. Set amidst green space and flowerbeds, in the twenties and thirties it hosted operas and a beautiful tearoom. It was the place to see and be seen. This was also a building familiar to Dame Agatha Christie. Hopefully it will take its place again soon as one of Torquay’s jewels.

Another favourite building is run by the National Trust, tucked away down a country lane on the way from Torquay to Dartmouth. Coleton Fishacre is a gem of a jazz age country retreat. Once the summer home of the D’Oyly Carte family, it’s set in beautiful gardens that lead to the sea. A wonderful cream tea can be enjoyed, and the house is one of the loveliest places to visit.

In nearby Dartmouth, the inspiration for Kitty’s home is York House. A black and white half-timbered building, it’s easy to picture Kitty and her grandmother running their hotel there. Dartmouth itself is full of amazing buildings, from the medieval Dartmouth Castle which guards the mouth of the river estuary to the Butter walk, a colonnaded stone walkway housing shops and tea rooms. The Butter walk was damaged in the Second World War but has been so well repaired that you wouldn’t be able to tell.

Dartmouth is also home to another incredible building, St Saviour’s Church. Listed as one of the best 100 churches in England, it was constructed around 1372, and underwent significant restoration in 2014 to preserve it for future generations. It has magnificent medieval wooden doors, heavily carved with gryphons and supported on huge iron hinges.

Another building that sums up the spirit of Torbay in the jazz age is a mansion owned by the local council which is now coming back to life. Oldway mansion in Paignton was home to the Singer family, a name known to anyone with an interest in sewing. Oldway mansion was modelled on the Palace of Versaille and the interior is a magnificently painted masterpiece. During the first world war it was a hospital for injured American servicemen and went on to become a country club. The house is currently closed to the public, but the beautiful grounds can be enjoyed by anyone and there is a lovely tearoom. It’s easy to picture Hercule Poirot strolling in the grounds.

As well as the places listed above there is also Greenway House, Dame Agatha Christies’ own home, which is well worth a visit.

Helena Dixon’s latest release in the best-selling Miss Underhay series is Murder at the Highland Castle available as ebook, audiobook or paperback https://www.nelldixon.com

From self publishing to Penguin Random House without an agent: A Writing Journey By Ivy Ngeow

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Pitching to Penguin after being signed to small publishers and being self-published.

Beginnings: I had not planned to be an author. I grew up believing that books were written by others, not me, for us to enjoy. Three or four events in my life, like special occasions, led me to “think” I was a writer. I was raised in a rich environment of stories, via my mum, my aunts, my grandparents, my dad, my teachers. I enjoyed hearing them so much that I also began telling them. I had a little burst of success as a 16-year-old in a national short story writing competition with the New Straits Times. I felt that indescribable buzz when I saw my byline among 30 highly-commended entries. 

The hotel rooms: As a university student and an adult, I wrote nothing. I only started when I started travelling for work in hospitality and resort design. I was in hotel rooms and airports a lot. I learned that I really valued and enjoyed observation and being alone, which of course, are the prerequisites of the writing life. I was surprised to be flooded with ideas which had nothing to do with work. I began writing again because as you know, you don’t need any fancy tools or equipment. In those days, I printed and posted my stories from airports, or the nearest post office to the hotel. This period led me to believe I had again some chance of success because I was getting accepted by the Sunday magazines. One story was bought and broadcast by the BBC World Service. I had meetings with agents in Soho back in London, which led to nothing but an inkling that my writing was getting attention, any attention. I took writing more seriously when I invested in an MA in Writing at Middlesex University. As you know it’s not free, so I was taking a big chance but I was working and it paid for the fees. I was astonished to discover that I won the Middlesex University Literary Prize in an international competition, a cash award large enough to cover a third of my fees. The judge was Penelope FitzGerald and about my story, she said she had never read anything like it in her life. 

The agent: I was snapped up by an agent immediately following the prize, a decision that was poor. I had no other offers. After 5 years, she did not get me a deal despite my writing not one but two novels for her to market. I did not write a word for 10 years. My writing stayed on my hard drive. It was deliberate. I had two children whom I wanted to give 120% of my attention. After 10 years and they were in primary school, I started submitting the novel again, and following 87 rejections I won a prize in Hong Kong, also a large cash prize. This novel, my debut, Cry of the Flying Rhino, was the turning point for me, because I now was an author. My entire family flew out to Hong Kong for the award ceremony and the publication. It was a small publisher, like my second novel’s, Heart of Glass.

The pandemic: Following the two novels with small publishers which were given zero marketing and publicity and unsurprisingly, hardly earned any royalties, I started to wonder if indeed they had even been published. I wrote another, Overboard. I got 50 rejections and I decided to start an imprint to publish it as I consider it to be my best book yet. I think my limit for rejections is now 30. I do think there is a limit otherwise you will be querying until you die. I don’t think I have the time or the patience to withstand 87 rejections like I did with the first, and 55 with the second. There’s no point and nobody cares. It’s an art form. It’s not a pizza which is edible and sort of OK even when bad. During the 2-3 years of the pandemic. I ate, sleep, wrote, published. Repeat. It was like a bumper sticker. 

Keep going: I did online courses on self-publishing, keywords, genres and copywriting to study the market. I cannot stress how important it is for a writer. Without knowing the market and the audience, you can’t pitch. I learned to write through editing other people’s work and through reading hundreds of books in the genres I was interested in. The MA will not teach you these skills. My objective had always been to write the best book that could write. This kept me going in the lockdown years. I published a couple more, short stories, and another novel, White Crane Strikes.

Perfect pitch: A famous author, unfortunately I forget who, said that if you cannot tell your story in 17 words, you don’t know your story. That intro letter, one-page synopsis and first paragraph in your manuscript is everything. I wrote The American Boyfriendin November 2021 which I decided I would query until that magic self-imposed 30 rejections before I would publish it myself. I would trade the complete control and higher royalties in self-publishing for a traditional deal because of the connections. By the time I started querying again post-pandemic, I had already distilled my book to the most grabby Netflix 40-word synopsis. I saw a window of open submissions from Penguin Random House Southeast Asia. I was just about to release my book, because I got to 27 rejections. 9 months after querying, in August 2022, I got the best email ever. It was from Penguin and consisted of 5 words: has this manuscript been acquired? 

Worldwide connections: The worldwide connections have been the most astounding and rewarding part of the publishing experience. Having a publicist was already mind-blowing as I had never had one before with self-publishing (that would be me) or with the small publishers I had been with (that would be no one). 

The Penguin publicity, marketing and sales team have opened doors from day one: no. 1 Sunday Times authors providing the cover endorsement quotes, media and press outreach including World Literature Today, Nerd Daily, Culturess, Book Riot, The Telegraph and Elle, being no. 4 on the Straits Times bestseller list in its opening week, being on sale at WHSmith at the airport departure lounge, book launch at West End London bookshop and in the USA, in Barnes and Noble physical bookstores throughout USA and at the airports such as in Key West, Miami International and JFK. I have also been invited to the Jaipur Literary Festival (“the greatest literary show on earth”) in February 2024. I have also seen an uptick in the sales of my other books. These opportunities to build audience trust and author visibility would not have been possible without the Penguin label. This experience has changed the way I see publishing as I come from a “nothing happens” school of thought from my previous publications. I am proud that my book now belongs with the orange-spined classics I grew up reading. I am inspired to keep writing. Stories keep us alive. Stories are more than ever what we need in these times.

My parting words and 5 rules of writing: Persevere. Learn to write. Write the best book that you can write. Believe that top quality writing always stands out. Above all, read.

RETREATING IS THE BEST STEP FORWARD BY CASS GRAFTON

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One of the many things I’ve learned as a writer is the importance of location. This isn’t about the settings of novels so much, but rather places where it’s possible to escape from day-to-day life and become fully immersed in a story in the making.

Most authors, when at home, tend to write in whatever space they have created for the purpose, anything from a desk in the corner of a room to a dedicated office or (my personal dream) a writing hut in the garden. When the opportunity arises, though, the chance to go away—especially with other writers—is the perfect mix.

Although I’m lucky enough to ‘retreat’ with four of my writing friends each year, usually on an escape into the Shropshire Hills, I’ve also enjoyed a few Cornish writing experiences through The Writing Retreat, superbly run by Jane Moss and Kath Morgan, who not only offer their insight and experience through optional tutoring and one-to-ones they also provide plenty of personal time to write. I’m booked onto my third retreat with them next March and can’t wait—though I’ll have to diet before I go so that I can enjoy the delicious meals they dish up every day!

My most memorable stay with Jane and Kath so far took place a few years ago in a truly remarkable location: the Old Sawmills, a property situated on a secluded creek off the River Fowey in Cornwall.

I was deep into the writing of a book I hoped would be the first in a romance series, set in the fictitious town of Polkerran Point (also in Cornwall), which had several parallels with the town of Fowey and the village of Polruan, situated further down the river from the isolated creek that is home to Old Sawmills.

This fabulous property sits on a tidal inlet, only reachable by boat at high tide or by walking through the woods from Golant or uphill and down dale from Fowey (a much longer route).

The mill building has a fascinating history spanning centuries and was converted some years ago into accommodation, with a music studio built on the lower ground floor. Many musicians have stayed there over the years, and some iconic albums have been recorded in this distinctive location, including Oasis’s Definitely Maybe, and several by Muse, including Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry.

Stalled in my writing for months, once installed in my room at Old Sawmills, I quickly realised I’d found my happy place. My bedroom overlooked the top end of the creek, beautiful in any season, and sat in the window there or curled up on a squashy leather sofa in the light, bright sitting room, the words flowed.

Perhaps it’s not surprising. Not only had many musicians created their masterpieces there, but Kenneth Grahame is also believed to have been inspired to write Wind in the Willows after picnicking in a little creek off the River Fowey—allegedly this one—an experience that is reflected in the opening chapter and describes the setting perfectly.

For myself, not only did staying at Old Sawmills give me the space and opportunity to pour my heart into my book—now published as New Dreams at Polkerran Point—but the setting of the recording studio will be a key location in the third book in the series.

Currently for sale, who knows what the future holds for Old Sawmills? In my dreams, a reclusive writer will buy it and happily sit in the conservatory, nature all around, as they pen novel after novel, lost in a world of their own creation.

 

Visit https://www.thewritingretreat.co.uk/ for more information.

 

 

 

 

WHY GO ON A WRITING RETREAT BY JO THOMAS

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To celebrate publication of  Countdown to Christmas, Jo Thomas shares the magic of writing retreats…

credit: Gemma Griffiths Photography

I love the chaos of busy family life. People coming and going. The dogs greeting everyone, tails wagging; the hustle and bustle in my kitchen. I thrive off it….most of the time. But sometimes I need everything a writer’s retreat gives me.

The first writing retreat I went on was a house in Scotland, Cliff Cottage, owned by a writer who enjoyed the company of other writers. It overlooked the sea and was a marvellous place to sit and work and leave daily life behind.

There is nothing like spending time with other writers to get the juices flowing, ideas bouncing, plots unblocked and for laughing together. Generally, writers get other writers.

I went on to go on writing courses in France with Anita Burgh, Veronica Henry and Jane Wenham Jones and eventually after years of trying and failing I got my first book, The Oyster Catcher written. After that, Chez Castillon become a place to go and get words on the page for me.

I love morning tea with writer friends…… drinking tea in your dressing gown and discussing a plot problem that’s holding you up or talk through an idea that’s come to you in the night.

Now that I run retreats in France, we generally meet on the morning of the first full day to introduce themselves, tell us why they’re there, what they’re writing and what they want to achieve in that week.

For many people making time to get away from everyday life has taken a lot of effort and juggling, not to mention organising travel and paying for that time away. I don’t want anyone to feel they haven’t achieved something by the time they’ve left. Even if it’s a plan for going forward.

Then I’ll make time to meet with everyone, one to one. It may be over a coffee in café in the town, by the pool in the shade of the covered terrace or over a gin and tonic in the bar across the road. Somewhere we can talk about the path forwards; talking ideas, finishing the book, finding an agent. Anything.  A week away is like a fullstop on busy everyday life and whilst you may not write a book in that week I do want everyone to go home feeling they know how to keep going.

And so we leave with plans, food memories from meals out at the bistro or the restaurant by the river or oyster tastings on a Sunday morning, with new clothes bought from the linen lady at the Monday morning market, shoved into our already tightly packed cases. We have laughed together, swapped stories, even cried in some cases as we support and encourage each other in our writing. We swap email addresses, make WhatsApp groups and new friends. And we promise to meet again, same time, same place….. new words to go on the page. It’s a place of support, encouragement, celebration and laughter. A little pause on everyday life to keep the wheels of our writing routine turning as we go back to everyday life and I return to busy kitchen, happy dogs and family life around the table.

 

Countdown to Christmas by Jo Thomas is published by Penguin (£8.99)

PUBLICATION DAY SPECIAL: UNDER A GILDED SKY BY IMOGEN MARTIN

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Where do I start with this wonderful novel? With the sense of place and time, I guess, because it was so very brilliant. It’s set in rural Missouri in the 1870s and reminded me greatly of the childhood books I adored by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

The story opens when, much to her older sister Ginny’s horror, teenager Mary-Lou brings home an injured drifter. The sisters pretend their father is still alive, just sick upstairs, to keep themselves safe while Lex heals, but running the farm is a struggle in financial terms, although they cope on every practical level.

Then Lex leaves, and it isn’t giving too much away to say that a sweeping love story ensues. Beautifully done, but not overdone, embedded in both the social mores of the time and the freedoms of homestead life. The characterisation – and I mean all the characterisation, right done to the couple Ginny meets on a train – is wonderful, and I genuinely struggled to put this book down.

A strong contender for one of my books of the year and I just had to ask Imogen how she had placed her reader in the American Midwest in the 1870s, when she lives in twenty-first century Wales:

Credit: Faye Chamberlain

The story for Under a Gilded Sky had been in my mind for a long time. The first and most important thing was how my protagonists, Ginny and Lex, would get to know each other and fall in love. I hope their characters drive the story. Once I had written the first draft, I zoned in on the exact time and place. The novel is set in the Midwest and Boston, and begins in 1874, 9 years after the Civil War.  Although I have travelled in the States, I needed to do deep research. Luckily, the internet is a treasure trove of maps, photographs, academic papers, newspaper articles.

I’m a visual person and I needed to see my characters in their settings. Ginny’s homestead is the classic layout in the Midwest: what’s known as the I-House, with two rooms, a passage between, and the kitchen at the back. Not many remain, but Jessie James’ family home in Missouri survives because of his notoriety, so that was a great visual cue.

I wanted the size and price of Ginny’s farm to be accurate so I poured over the beautiful copperplate writing of page after page of the 1880 Agricultural Census for Missouri. I used William Strassburg’s farm in Pulaski County as a guide.

The episode in the Missouri Governor’s Mansion (my heroine has a rich cousin who is determined to find a rich suitor for her) uses the exact layout and décor of the real Mansion, using the rich details on their website.

The moments of research I most loved was when I found a nugget that would enhance the story. For example, I read on a history website about the devastating grasshopper plague of 1874 and 1875 which afflicted western Missouri and created financial strains. An academic from University of Missouri wrote a paper about the Missouri Banking Fraud of 1861, so I threaded this into Ginny’s aunt’s story.

I tried to capture train journeys of that time. Charles Dickens wrote letters about travelling on a train in Massachusetts and, although earlier than my setting, I used snippets such as his description of orange peel and nuts on the floor.  My best research moment was when, after hours of Googling, I discovered the exact timetable for Ginny’s journey from St Louis to Boston. She leaves at 7.20am, because that is the accurate time from 1875.

Looking back on my notes now, I see a huge level of detail. My hope is that this has made the story feel authentic, without the reader thinking they are walking through a museum.

 

 

TEN YEARS AN AUTHOR… JANE CABLE SHARES HER MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS

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Jane Cable self published her first book in 2013, after it reached the final of a major national competition sponsored by Harper Collins. After a brief flirtation with an agent and another publisher, in 2018 she signed to Sapere Books, for whom she writes haunting romances. Two years later she achieved her dream of becoming an Harper Collins author, writing as Eva Glyn. So far four women’s fiction titles have been published by One More Chapter, three of them set in Croatia.

This week, lessons eight to ten:

Publishing deals are increasingly hard to find

One thing I really wish I had been able to tell my twenty-something self was to prioritise my writing then, because publishing would become an increasingly tough business. Sadly that still holds true today.

Think about it; when one of the mainstays of your business plan is the 99p ebook (of which the platform selling it will take a very large share), a huge number will need to be sold to make anything like a profit. And it seems to me a bit of a fallacy that the costs involved are lower; the only thing missing are printing and physical distribution, and those can be done very cheaply in bulk, especially when you consider the differential in price.

So publishers have to be incredibly careful about what they acquire. Celebrity authors are bankers who bank roll the rest of us, but very little else is certain. Even authors with contracts can find themselves in choppy waters if the first book of a deal does not sell well. It’s brutal, but it’s a business. And sadly, with a cost of living crisis gripping the country and beyond, I can’t see it getting better any time soon. Sorry.

 

You will spend more time marketing your books than you ever imagined

When new authors blithely ask what they need to do to make sure their book sells I do have a wry little smile to myself. If there was a magic bullet and I knew what is was, I would be top of the Amazon rankings.

The one thing I can say with a degree of certainly is that you need to choose your marketing channels and stick with them consistently. I can tell when some authors have a book out in the near future because suddenly they pop up on social media, after an absence of months or even years. In that time all but your closest contacts are going to forget you.

Of course marketing takes time. I spend at least an hour on it each day, mainly on social media, but also looking at other promotional opportunities such as advertising, preparing new graphics, polishing up my website and Amazon pages, writing guest blogs… The list is pretty endless, but it’s only by trial and error you will discover what works for you.

 

A good edit is the best learning experience you can have

The first book I wrote for One More Chapter was The Olive Grove, and when the structural edit came back it wasn’t so much a case of ‘could do better’ as ‘must do better’. I was devastated, but the notes I was given were so detailed they provided a roadmap for how to improve the book, so it could become the best seller that it has.

I learnt so much from that experience. How to fill the pages with wonderful settings and deep, credible emotions. How to take a reader inside the story and keep them there, turning every page. It was the most valuable learning experience of my entire writing life, and I have pumped what I learnt into everything I’ve written since. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m perfect and every time I receive an edit back from One More Chapter I am trembling not only with fear, but with anticipation.

Each and every one has made me a better writer. And that’s very exciting indeed.

 

Lessons one to seven have been published on the previous two Wednesdays.