Writing
Small Product Lab days 8–10: Losing track and light launching
I start by telling you that the Writing Style Guide Starter Kit [https://gumroad.com/l/styleguides] is now available to buy. I didn’t follow the exact Small Product Lab [https://gumroad.com/smallproductlab] (SPL) guidelines in the last couple of days, but I did launch my product bang
Small Product Lab (Days 1–2): Deciding and planning
I’m taking part in Gumroad’s Small Product Lab [https://gumroad.com/smallproductlab], which gives me 10 days to take an idea from just that to an actual thing that people can buy. I’ll be writing about the process here on my blog and this is my first
Albums to write to
Sometimes I write in silence but most of the time, I listen to music. Songs with vocals and actual words tend to be more difficult to write to, but it depends on how I’m feeling. My list here contains a good mix of albums that I turn to often
10 things you didn't know about A is for Angelica
It’s three years since my debut novel, A is for Angelica [http://iainbroome.com/angelica], was published. I’ve talked about it plenty, especially on my podcast for writers [http://iainbroome.com/podcast], but there are still a few things that you may not know. 1. When I started
Publishing industry, meet YouTube
Last week, the excellent news and features site, Publishing Perspectives [http://publishingperspectives.com], posted two articles about video and publishing, with a specific focus on YouTube. Though very much well-intentioned, I thought that both pieces were good examples of what’s wrong with the industry. Here they are: * What Can
Author envy, vlogger envy
In my latest vlog, I talk about how sometimes every other author (Hilary Mantel) seems to get all the prizes and awards and shiny things while you’re covered in double baby sick. And how that’s very much like constantly counting your YouTube and web statistics. If you’re
Why cycling to Paris is like writing a book
In this exciting video I talk about the time I cycled from London to Paris to raise money for the Stroke Association [http://www.stroke.org]. Turns out that it’s a lot like writing a novel. Painful yet ultimately rewarding. Much chafe cream is needed. You can also watch
Depressing books
I’m vlogging again and this is my first attempt [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22tiOBqWhrI] at using the fancy cut scene style as favoured by half of YouTube. What do we really mean when we say a book or other piece of art is depressing? And when we
Writing and publishing is all about teamwork
Stephanie Thwaites, children’s agent at Curtis Brown [http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/stephanie-thwaites-2/] in the UK, published a lovely post about rejection [http://childrensliteraryagent.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/publishing-rejection-vs-rock-roll/] this week on her blog. It begins: > It’s all about rejection. No, not online dating, but publishing: