Sending your manuscript out for review is a bit like sending your child to school for the first time. This beautiful but fragile thing, once a part of you, is going out into the cold cruel world. In both cases, you need to wait until the time is right. Your first draft is where you …
I love it when my former writing workshop students keep in touch – and I especially love news of publishing success! Julia Brooke recently self-published a book that is already selling very well. She has generously agreed to pass on some of the lessons she learned along the way. 1. What type of book have …
My head’s still spinning from all the things I learned at the brilliant Writers Unleashed Festival last weekend: http://shirewritersfestival.weebly.com/. Entering a mad scribbling frenzy was the only way to tackle the editors’ panel, and I’ve managed to distil their most crucial tips into the three top things editors require. On the panel were Emma Rafferty …
I’m sure you’ve noticed – many magazine articles take the form of interviews. There’s a good reason for it. Readers are interested in what people have to say: their experiences, their feelings, their story. Hearing it straight from the source resonates more deeply than someone else’s dry second or third hand account. Interviews are also …
Although this applies to many people, in many fields, I’m talking about the need to persevere with your writing. It’s one of the few occupations where you’re flying blind, all on your own, most of the time. Feedback from others helps, but essentially it’s down to you. It’s all too easy to give up when …
Many people come to my magazine writing workshops with perfectly good articles they’ve written, distressed that they haven’t been able to get them published. They’re surprised when I suggest they may have gone about it the wrong way. Rather than writing an article and then trying to sell it, try to sell it before you …
My head is still spinning from a social media workshop I recently attended. Such a steep learning curve! As writers, we all know we need a social platform, but establishing one that works takes time and effort. I’ve got a grip on blogging (I think!) but that’s only scratching the surface. The workshop was called …
I recently attended a writers’ conference in sunny Brisbane. First up was a panel of editors explaining what they like – and what they don’t like – to see when authors submit stories. Their tips were fantastic, so I scribbled them down as fast as I could. On the panel were David Reiter, publisher at …
Stella Tarakson 