The Word is the place this Saturday

Looks like The Book Show at Luton on the 22^nd that I mentioned in a previous post has been cancelled. Perhaps that £90 ticket price was a bit too hefty?

A better bet should be The Word festival at Astley Hall in Chorley, Lancashire this Saturday, 22nd September. Big draws include short story expert Clare Massey and Kerry Wilkinson, the guy who sold so many books on Amazon (250,000 downloads in six months) that he attracted a six-book deal from Macmillan. For many writers, that’s a dream come true, so I’ll be going along to mingle and network and also to find out the secret of his success – and report back for Fiction Feedback.

I think there are just one or two tickets left (at a reasonable £20, including lunch) if you want to join me.

http://the-word.org.uk/

http://thelancashireword.eventbrite.co.uk/

The 3 Things That Make My Head Buzz Today

Blog-time again. Lots to say, little time as usual.

First, editing novels is a joy but it can also be a very long, dark tunnel from which I wonder if I’ll ever emerge. That’s not to do with the style of the writing (well, OK, a bit) but with the immersion that’s required to make a cracking job of it. Wrinkly finger-ends are the least of it. Frazzled brain is what concerns me; it’s very important when editing to keep fresh, and this means having breaks between passes. (That’s right, you don’t edit in just one go; you have at least two edits of the full thing and sometimes, depending on the density and complexity of the work, rather more.) And that means the tunnel seems to get longer and the light at the end never grows larger than a pinprick. Oh well. I’m still enjoying it and I’m more satisfied than ever that my current author is going to get a very good job. That’s what it’s about.

Second, reviewing unpublished writing is also a joy – especially when it’s good. When the novel’s not so good, and you suspect that the writer has never read a novel themselves, let alone attended a writing course or seminar, it can be torture. We get very few like that at Fiction Feedback for which I’m eternally grateful. So many of our authors write books that, with a little help, deserve publication.

Which brings me to item three. We are looking at an association with a new ebook publishing company that launches next year. They’re adopting a new style of business, yet they are traditional publishers in the sense that authors pay nothing for editing, marketing, production and distribution, and are rewarded with royalties. A high percentage, too. So there might, there, be some good news for our authors, especially in the genre of crime which will be their main focus. And in which, coincidentally, we get most submissions.

Back to editing for me. Enjoy the Bank Holiday: if the weather is as lousy where you are as it is here – I can’t see through the window pane, the rain drops have formed one amorphous splatter – then maybe a good book calls.

Book Shows, Editing and Tennis

Book Shows, Editing and Tennis

Apologies for been away so long. I’m battling away editing a historical novel, which is fascinating in many ways but problematic on others, as well as organising sets of critiques for customers at a time when a lot of reviewers are either on holiday or inundated because everyone else is. Sigh…but it is nice to be busy. I had a little break in June, another reason why the blogging stopped, first at Eastbourne for the tennis, which I was able to visit with an editor friend, and then one lovely day at Wimbledon. Then there was catching up…

I’m now having a look in my diary to see what’s around the corner. A writer friend and I had hoped to go the Harrogate for the Crime Writing Festival this week, and were bitterly disappointed that they’d run out of tickets. So I had a look to see what else was out there…

Coming up on September 22^nd is something called The Book Show, taking place for the first time, at Luton. It’s a one-day event and is run by digital publishers Andrews UK. From the website – which is all I’m going on here, I have no inside knowledge – the focus is unsurprisingly on self-publishing, although they do say agents (Watson Little, no less, and Brie Burkemann) and authors will be speaking. The authors, so far as I can tell, are all writers of celebrity biography or of erotic fiction; an interesting mix. Some are self-publishers. So, for writers of mainstream fiction, I don’t think you’re going to find your idols here, and Fiction Feedback won’t be attending. Still, it looks like a nice way to spend a day, if you happen to be near Luton – and if you have quite a bit of dosh to spare. Ninety quid seems a bit steep, although that does include breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. If you buy before August 1^st, you get an early bird discount and pay £80. Check out the website and see what you think, www.thebookshow.co.uk

I’ll be back soon to report on any more unusual shows or festivals I hear about, and let you know the latest news at Fiction Feedback.