Can anyone be published?

It has been a busy week as I’ve been up to York sorting out preparations for the Festival of Writing. And the title of this post was a question asked to me at about 11.23pm last Friday by Shourjo Shakar on the Late Show, broadcast on BBC Leeds, BBC York and BBC Humberside. An intetesting question and I wasn’t immediately sure of my answer.

So I changed the question, which I think should be “have you got a story in you?” If you have, and you can get it written down that’s step one. Step two is learning your writing craft.

Anyone can be published in the sense that writers are ordinary people who come from all walks of life. What makes them writers, I think, is simply that they have stories to tell.

Someone texted into the show while I was on asking for advice about getting her book published. More about that in my next blog post.

Advice from John Jarrold

Snippets of wisdom from literary agent and script doctor John Jarrold, originally communicated on Saturday 21st February at the Get Writing conference.

• Publishing is not a job, it’s a way of life.
• These days the whole publishing company has to buy into a book. That includes Sales and Marketing as well as Editorial.
• Your editor is your champion within the publishers.
• Two words publishers are looking for in writing: pace and clarity.
• Use a single viewpoint at a time.
• Marketing matters. Half of paperbacks are bought on the cover alone.

Industry roundup

Two pieces of industry news especially caught my eye this week.

The Booksellers Association has launched batchconnect, a curiously-titled new service considering that its purpose is for the exchange of promotional information between publishers, authors and booksellers. (From BookBrunch)

And Harper Collins has announced that three authors have been picked from the virtual slushpile that is their project called Authonomy. There has been some debate over whether authors are wasting their time reading other people’s unpublished (possibly unpublishable) work when they should be writing. I’d suggest writers write the best novel they possibly can, but when the time does come to emerge from the cave, peer critique can be very valuable, whether from a critique partner, writing circle or a virtual forum like Authonomy. I agree that learning to give a good writing critque is a skill in itself but any writer, however novice, can respond to a work as a reader and let the writer know whether or not it grabs them and whether they want to read on.

So I’ve joined Authonomy to check it out, and see if anyone would like to give me some feedback on my crime-novel-in-progress. And if I see something fantastic on there I really want to see more of… perhaps it might be useful for me as a agent too.

How publishing really works

I was recommended by writer Jonathan Pinnock to check out Jane Smith’s How Publishing Really Works blog. It’s a veritable feast of information about how publishing works and should be in the blogroll of writers aiming for publication.

Jane writes:

Honestly: if a writer’s work is good enough and is submitted to an appropriate agent, it will find representation sooner or later.

I am looking for excellent writers, but also material that I can see is marketable and, because we all have our personal preferences, writing I can get really excited about. Thus I have had to reject several writers who I’ve had full manuscripts from who are excellent writers but not right for me. However, I would put money down that they will find representation, sooner or later. If agents are asking to see your complete manuscript, but not offering in the end, this is a sign that you’re very close. Treat any feedback you get like gold dust. Keep querying, and you’ll get there.