How to write a book proposal and what exactly it needs to include are two of the questions I am asked most frequently as a literary agent – and not just by new writers. Even seasoned authors and experienced journalists may not have written a book proposal previously. In any book submission process the competition will be immense and the turndown rate high, so it is worth taking the time to get a proposal right. But what does that mean?
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Do you have writer’s cramp yet? Or typist’s tremor? Have you entered the annual November writing marathon that is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)? If you did, did you finish, or did you give up exhausted halfway through the month?
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Not all romantic novelists dictate their novels reclining on a chaise longue. Liz Fenwick tells us where she writes –
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November can mean only one thing: it’s NaNoWriMo time!
Whether you’re doing NaNoWriMo this year, saving your writing marathon for another month – or against the whole idea – there’s something for you in this issue.
We have two bestselling authors who used NaNoWriMo: Elizabeth Haynes and Julia Crouch; plus bestselling indie author Linda Gillard, who challenges the idea that churning out verbiage for an entire month has to be a good thing. Writing coaches Tom Evans and Sarah Salway are here to boost your productivity, and Jon Reed looks at some digital tools to help you write.
We’re all familiar with blog-to-book success stories. But what about blog-to-sitcom? Regular readers will remember Emily Benet. She won the 2010 Author Blog Award in the Published Author category, which was announced at the Publishing Talk tweetup at the London Book Fair. Her début book, Shop Girl Diaries, began as a weekly blog about working in her mum’s unusual chandelier shop.
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Are you on Pinterest yet? The latest social media phenomenon has crept up on many of us – yet the statistics show that pinning is winning. Pinterest is already the third most popular social network after Facebook and Twitter, according to a 2012 report by Experian. It has an estimated 13 million users. It is the fastest site ever to break through the 10 million unique US visitors mark according to comScore. And it now drives more referral traffic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined, according to a Shareaholic study in January 2012. All of which is reason enough to take an interest in Pinterest. But what is it – and how can you use it as a publisher or an author?
Read MoreMost of us have to do some public speaking at some point in our careers – whether as publishers or authors. Suzanne Collier offers her top tips.
Read More01 Why WordPress? Other blogging platforms are available – but WordPress is the one I always recommend: it is powerful,
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Issue 2 of Publishing Talk Magazine is all about having adventures – and writing about them! Who wouldn’t want to do that for a living? In this issue, Carol Drinkwater offers her top tips for travel writing, Steven Lewis explains why travel writing is the ideal genre for self-publishing and Isabel Losada tells us about the exotic locations she writes in. Ben Hatch shares his adventures in the Twittersphere – and around Britain in a Vauxhall Astra – in our Social Media Success Story feature.
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Our launch issue features crime writers, social media advice, and what you need to know about getting an agent. The very
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