Creative little sausages
Graeme Paton in The Telegraph: > The study said that “technology-based materials dominate as reading choices”, with text messages being named as the most popular form of reading material for children of all ages, followed by emails and social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Bebo. Wait. A
Bloggers need to do their bit
George Angus on having a writing blog [http://tumblemoose.com/10-things-about-having-a-writing-blog/]: > I’ve yet to find a writer who is not anxious to help another writer with support or information that will help move them forward. Trade secrets are non-existent. Pretty incredible if you consider most other industries out
The present and future of publishing
Last week I appeared once again on The Bro Show [http://www.thebroshow.co.uk/the-bro-show/2011/8/10/episode-69-the-present-and-future-of-publishing.html] , a podcast about technology. This time was slightly different though, as the whole show was dedicated to the world of digital publishing. I was also joined by Randy Murray
Why all writers need to have a crack writing team
This weekend I was part of a friend’s music video shoot at Aardman Studios (of Wallace and Gromit fame). And before I go on, you should definitely check out Native and the Name [http://twitter.com/native_music] on iTunes [http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/plain-song-single/id404176406] and
How to Kickstart your book project
Interesting post by Phil Simon over at Men with Pens, although I’m not really sure why the first half is spent berating traditional publishing. It’s really not true that all editors want to take your work and turn it into something else. Anyway, the rest of the post
Can you really write a book in seven weeks?
I’ve just read Joanna Penn’s short interview with John Locke, the chap who sold 1 million ebooks without a publisher. In it he talks about how he wrote a book – that’s an entire book – in just seven weeks. That’s very quick. Now, I don’t got
Are you pointing your writing passion in the right direction?
There aren’t many writers who are not passionate about writing. There are some, I think, who may see their creative work more as a means to an end than a work of art, but most of us write because we love it. It makes sense. Most people write without
Fiction is fiction
Some good advice in this list [http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/477894] (you don’t have to be Egyptian). My favourite ‘rule’ comes from the Orange prize longlisted, Leila Aboulela: > Never worry that readers will think that your characters are you. Once you start to care, you are
Write well and with humility
Catherine Ryan Howard [http://www.catherineryanhoward.com/] guest posting on Taleist [http://blog.taleist.com/2011/07/19/self-publishers-need-to-start-minding-their-manners/] : > Amazon is effectively the adults’ table, and we self-publishers have been allowed to join. (And yes, I’m using the word allowed, because Amazon is a privately owned business who
First things first
Rachelle Gardner with some sound advice [http://www.rachellegardner.com/2011/07/seasons-of-a-writers-life/]: > If you’re a fairly new writer, unpublished, you should probably be focusing on art and craft. Sure, it’s fun to spend your leisure time cruising the Internet and learning about agents, publishers, and how