The Wings of the Dove by Henry James – Stellar Authors

Anyone out there who has never read a Henry James? Is it because you believe he's inaccessible, boring, difficult, over-long, too fixated on minutiae, too exhausting for the brain? 

He is known to be a writer who takes his sweet time to tell a story. Although James writes with a deep and finely detailed eye, he moves his novels along at the pace of a growing bramble shoot. No matter – his style inveigles  you, and before you know it, you're chapters in. His writing voice gets 'into your head' and it's not hard to become involved and absorbed.

James was well known in his life as a critic and a scholar –  he was enthusiastic and exacting about the craft and theory of writing fiction. His theories work to this day – in fact, he's one of the best teachers, both through his acclaimed manual The Art of Fiction and through the example of his fiction. James is the past master of character development, plot construction, authentic dialogue, and structural timing – he places the where and when of each event and incident in their perfect place.

Above all,  his stories are dark. Each of his characters has a 'shadow side'. Through his books, he examines and exposes some of the worst traits of human nature. 

I've loved Henry James since my twenties. I'm not alone. Nigella Lawson explains, in her 1998 cookbook  How to Eat:

When I was in my teens, I loved Henry James. I read him with uncorrupted pleasure. Then, when I was eighteen or so, and had just started The Golden Bowl, someone – older, cleverer, whose opinions were offered gravely – asked me whether I didn’t find James very difficult, as she always did. Until then, I had no idea that I might, and I didn’t. From that moment, I couldn’t read him but self-consciously; from then on, I did find him difficult. I do not wish to insult by the comparison, but I had a similar, Jamesian mayonnaise experience. My mother used to make mayonnaise weekly, twice weekly; we children would help. I had no idea it was meant to be difficult, or that it was thought to be such a nerve-racking ordeal. Then someone asked how I managed to be so breezy about it, how I stopped it from curdling. From then on, I scarcely made a mayonnaise which didn’t split. It’s not surprising: when confidence is undermined or ruptured, it can be difficult to do the simplest things, or to take any enjoyment even in trying...

For my Read Classic series this time, I'm looking at The Wings of the Dove.  In lockdown, our village hall always had a box of free books in the porch and this Henry James was tucked in there, waiting for a new reader.I plucked it out because  I knew this novel would end up in Venice, a city I love. I read it over the winter, snuggling in front of roaring fires, and tucked into bed on a mound of soft pillows.  

On the first page you meet Kate, waiting for an interview with her unloved and unloving father – a wastrel who lives in poverty. Beautiful and full of style, it's fair to say that Kate is a designing young woman who does not want to end up poor like her dad, so has thrown her hand in with her Aunt, Maud Lawder, who is a rich widow able to show her niece off to polite London society. 

There's no stopping love, though; Kate has fallen so deeply for Merton Densher that she engages herself to him 'forever'. All this is kept a secret from Aunt Maud, because Merton is a poor working journalist, with nothing to recommend him as a husband – no fortune, in other words. 

Into the story steps Milly Theale, an American girl, bereaved of all her family and so in possession of a vast fortune. Milly arrives in London with her companions, young Susan Shepherd, and the more mature Mrs Stringham, who is an old school-mate of Kate's aunt. Milly strikes up a friendship with Kate, and she is already linked to Densher; she met and fell in love with him when he visited the states for his work.

Milly learns she is dying. She asks her physician 'what shall I do?' and he says…'live, live.' Milly is fatally ill, but she's not unwell; she is a vivacious, very genuine girl although of course, a little naive, so when she visits the grand estate of  Maud Lowder, she is wooed by Lord Mark, who Mrs Lowder had hoped would be a suitor to Kate. He's an unpleasantly shallow man, and gets rejected by both of them.

Kate, however, is devising a dastardly plan. She knows Milly loves Densher and encourages him to pay court to Milly. It is at this moment in the book that clever dialogue is everything. Kate wants Densher to believe her idea is primarily a ruse to cover his relationship with Kate, so the reader is not told outright that Kate's true plan is for Millie to marry Densher, before she dies, or at least, leave him an inheritance, so that they can marry in comfort. And Densher does worry about the subtextual implications Kate's not talking about. At this point in the story, the reader is no wiser than Densher – unless they have (like me!) turned to Google to check what is actually going on. Perhaps that is the 21st C equivalent of 'reading the last page', and it did colour my understanding, but not my enjoyment.

Milly goes to Venice and the sun of Northern Italy, to enjoy 'her life' with her companions, and Kate and Densher follow. Milly can afford to rent an entire waterside palace, Palazzo Leporelli. This was modelled on the real Palazzo Barbaro, which was owned by friends of Henry James. And, according to Wikipedia, Milly herself  is based on Minny Temple (1845–1870), James' beloved cousin who died from tuberculosis. In his autobiography James said that The Wings of the Dove was his attempt to wrap her memory in the 'beauty and dignity of art'. Milly's illness is never openly diagnosed. It's not tuberculosis, at least not in its final stages. James may not have cared about the nicety of a diagnosis; it was the prognosis that occupied his writing.

 Venice is a mysterious place, the heart of romanticism, a place where Densher might easily seduce Milly Thele, but James’s Venice slides away from symbols of love and passion towards corruption, destruction. Asking your fiancé to play around with another women is never a great idea, and as Kate  and Densher meet at various famous city venues, Kate reveals outright that she wants Densher to marry Milly. Densher is horrified, and their relationship begins to grow strained. Meanwhile, the rejected Lord Mark arrives and is given an audience with Milly, telling her Densher is engaged to Kate. Wth that cruel revelation, Milly's palace becomes a place of siege. Densher is visited by Susan Shepherd who describes her as 'broken-hearted'. She has 'turned her face to the wall'.  Her health deteriorates and Densher returns home to Kate.

Back in London, Kate and Densher face the fact that their relationship has been irreparably damaged by their misadventure with Milly. Milly does leave him a large amount of money, but Densher wants to believe that Kate would marry him, rich or poor. He tells Kate that they should  refuses the bequest. The book ends with this glorious exchange;

     He heard her out in stillness, watching her face, but not moving. Then he only said: "I'll marry you, mind you, in an hour."        

    "As we were?”

"As we were.”

But she turned to the door, and her headshake was now the end. "We shall never be again as we were!" 

The lovers have been over-shadowed and separated forever by the wings of the dead dove.

, 

Getting Your Writing Published PART FOUR – Writing Competitions.

Nina at the Wells Literary Festival

One of the most memorable moments in my writing career, was walking up onto the stage to give a talk at the Wells Literary Festival. I'd been a previous winner of their short story competition and I'd been asked back to talk about my experience. This might not be the first thing you consider, when thinking about the benefits of entering competitions, but  it was a huge event on my calendar. 

I mentioned entering competitions right back at the start of this series of 'getting published' because it's one of the very best ways of making agents and editors sit up and take notice of a new writer, especially one who has just finished their first novel. They are a little more likely to read a few more pages of your submitted chapters if they know someone else liked your writing too. 

It is getting harder and harder to publish short stories. The small-press magazines are over-submitted (and sadly, not well read), and most weekly women's magazines have stopped including a short story. For over ten years I regularly had a story in women’s magazines - especially Bella who seemed happy for me to write dramatically about family issues, or sustaining relationships, rather than starting them (Bauer paid very well; I sent my daughter through her half scholarship on my Bella earnings), but now I aim my short stories at the anthology market, which is partly fuelled by competitions, and I recommend you do too, because agents and indie publishers do keep their eye on the winning contributions. 

Competitions are good for individual writers. They can help you work out how effective your writing is, in comparison to the work of others. They can help you push to finish things, and to polish them well. Winning can be quickly effective, gaining you kudos on your writing CV that might help get you a position on an MA course, or even introduce you to an agent. There are competitions for all disciplines and genres, especially short fiction, flash fiction, novel writing, scriptwriting, poetry and writing for young people. 

There are tricks and keys that open the door to getting into competition shortlists. Stories with originality that stand out in some way often do very well. Although ‘quieter’, beautifully written stories can win competitions, stories with a ‘tingle factor’ are bound to attract the judges' attention, especially after ploughing through hundreds, even thousands of similar, often derivative entries. 

Jo Verity, who won the Richard and Judy prize, says this..'I’d been writing for about 2 years. I happened to be off work with food poisoning – whiling away the time watching the Richard & Judy Show. It was the last chance to enter their short story competition (this was before the Richard & Judy Bookclub started) and I happened to have a story ready to go. I posted it off and forgot all about it. A couple of months later I got a call to say that my story was in the final 15 (from 17,000 entries) and could I go up to London the following week when the winner would be announced live on air. It was very exciting. Martina Cole, Suzi Feay and Tony Parsons were the judges. I was flabbergasted when they picked my story as the winner especially as I’d sent the same story out to a couple of competitions and it had done nothing.'

The prize was to have the story published in The Independent on Sunday, under the title Rapid Eye Movement.  The story relates the experience of a depressed young woman who gives up her job and cuts herself off from her family to perfect ‘lucid dreaming’. By the end, she’s spending most of her life in her dream world. 

One of my students came up with a 'tingle factor' story and successfully submitted it, to her absolute delight; Read her blogpost on her experience of entering a competition… here. Like  Jo Verity, my student had also had this story rejected in another competition. So bear in mind, when you don't win, time and again, that the choice of winner is both arbitrary and subjective. Judges are like the rest of us––they have their likes and dislikes. So long as you are sure you've proofread you work carefully, and that the story holds up under scrutiny, do submit it again. 

Prize winners all.

What is that scrutiny? Crucial to a winning short story are convincing characters, a strong and appealing core theme and an ability to provoke empathy or inspiration. Aim for coherent progression, rigorous construction and a satisfying conclusion. Many a fine story lacks ‘closure’, leaving the reader with untidy loose ends or an unresolved mystery. The author A S Byatt, suggests that: 'a good short story knows its ending before it is begun, it is always working towards its end…A good short story establishes its own rhythm at its very beginning, and the reader has a sense of the rhythm reaching ahead, towards the end…'

Read about AM Byatt in this Kitchen Table blogpost 

Make sure every word counts because word count is perhaps  more importance than anything else. Every competition has its rules and you must stick within them. Do not send out your 2,500 word story to a competition if the remit is 'less than 2,000 words'.

It's also best to keep to the short story maxim of 'few characters, little time and a satisfying resolve'. However, many a fine short story has successfully handled a bevy of characters, an extended timeline, or an ending that lacks closure. It might appear, at first glance, to be a collection of vivid but disjointed impressions. But the story still has to be rigorous in its construction; it must be a whole.

Most poetry writers start their publishing career by submitting their individual poems to poetry competitions. Your local library is as good a place to check these out as searching online. When submitting poems, try reading the previous winners’ entries, which give you an idea of which types of poems the judges enjoy. Be sure to read all the qualifications properly, checking for specific writing styles, points of view, settings, and especially length. Naturally, polish your work before submitting Use proper formatting within the title and description areas, and don’t use crazy fonts which will just annoy the readers.Start with smaller and lesser-known poetry competitions first, especially if finance is an issue, where you may have a better chance of being noticed.  If you are submitting your poem by snail mail, be sure to read over the poem after you print it and make any necessary changes.

Finding competitions across the disciplines is not difficult. They are all over the internet, and in every writing magazine. They advertise because most intend to make a profit, hence the entry fee. This often feels excessive, but it covers costs, pays the judges and often allows the prizes to glitter. 

There is nothing wrong with going for those glittering prizes, but the opposition is stiff, so don’t be put off by smaller prizes or contests that offer nothing more than the possibility of being published (especially in print). This always looks good on a growing CV.

Keep persevering…this can often be the best way to succeed. And –– by the way –– good luck!

Getting Your Writing Published PART THREE – Starting Over.

In the past weeks we've been looking at ways of getting started on the road to gaining a publishing contract as a writer. It's a big step and thinking about it can take place a long time before you actually even need to submit. So, as you start your first novel, you might be be nervous of its future, almost as pregnant parents are constantly nervous about their growing baby. 

You may already have faced rejection. You probably felt dreadful. Even the most successful writers have experienced what you’re feeling. You need stamina and confidence to move on to any further actions, so first of all, let this feeling pass – don’t do anything until it does. Put that manuscript away until you had a little breather.

Rejection is subjective. Editors know what they like and often go with their gut feelings. They may not have rejected your piece because it’s poor, but simply because it’s not for them. Agents will send a manuscript out between six and ten times before suggesting substantial revision. The alternative to substantial revision is to start again. At that moment – the moments after rejection of something you loved writing and had confidence in – you may feel that the best thing to do is either:

a) send it out directly, to someone who will like it

b) work on it, and send it out again.

c) give up; not worth the candle, this writing! 

But there are two other routes you should consider and in this blogpost I'm going to talk about d)

This alternative route is radical. Even so, I'm always surprised that writers almost never consider this at first. Given time…given the sixth, seventh, tenth rejection…they may get round to thinking about it, but I am recommending that this 'other way' is a far better, more productive and eventually, more successful route than a), b) and most definitely c)! So instead of getting the manuscript back out after you've had that 'little breather', here is my advice...wait for it…

d) Write something new. Yes, radical, eh? Stop using up all your creative energy on the novel, short story or script that's not been proclaimed as the Next Big Thing by those you've sent it to and begin again. But, begin different. Begin with all the experience of the previously completed piece of work. After all, at this stage in your writing life, you are definitely able to create new, prototype work. You've already done it! Take on board all you’ve learned from this experience and write something new.

Remember my story in Part One of the agent who said they'd 'look at something else'? I'd sent them the thing I thought was my Next Big Thing. At the time, I believed it would be my defining novel. I'd had it in my head for years, and had worked on it for almost a decade. It had to be great, right? But after the agent's letter, I went back to my computer and found a paragraph I'd written a little while before. Just a few lines, describing a man on a moor, searching for a shallow grave. The atmosphere was dark, the mood grim. Who was this man? I had no idea. 

If you have read my first Shaman's Mystery, you'll know that
scene. It opens the book, In the Moors. 

I read through the paragraph, and then went for a walk so that I'd find that important 'lightbulb moment' which would answer the question; who is that man?

I think you have already experienced lightbulb moments in writing – something opens inside your mind and suddenly you have the glimmer of a writing idea. It can happen especially  when doing writing exercises, but also when reading, when watching a film or TV programme or hearing the news, or even lying in bed. It can happen when talking to friends or colleagues, or when you open your writer's miscellany of ideas. It can happen when you newly confront a view or interior (a common holiday experience), but it may equally happen as you look upon an image or hear a piece of music. It commonly happens to me when I'm walking alone.

For some writers, it happens in the middle of the night. Here’s Ali Smith having a 'moment':

It was the middle of the night and something too bright woke me. I opened my eyes, because what was it, an angel? A bad or good fairy? Some kind of magic being from the sort of story we never believed in even when we were kids and were meant to? Whatever it was had clearly been there shaking the covers for some time.

What? I said.

I shielded my eyes. I saw it wasn’t a magic anything. It was

just a bare light bulb. 

Hi, it said.

(Yes, brightly)

Oh, right, I said. The light bulb moment

Its element glowed.

Good for you, I said. Enjoy your moment. I’m off back to sleep.

No. Wait, the light bulb said.

And Ali Smith's lightbulb was quite right to insist; this is why I constantly recommend using a notebook and keeping it close by. This is why you never ignore those small, possibly silly ideas, but rather store them until they seem workable. Never tell your lightbulb to enjoy its moment while you go back off to sleep. Don’t let that happen. Check all those little notes and jottings, all the clippings you’ve kept hold of, and retrieve the deep memories for things you once thought you might one day do something with.

…I opened a book on the desk.

When I did, and flicked through it, it was a like a party had broken out there on my desk, a really lively one full of people I knew and interesting people I’d not yet met and writers I’d already read and writers I hadn’t yet, brand new writers, seasoned and experienced writers, and they were all talking and arguing and agreeing and disagreeing and the glasses were clinking and the music was happening by itself behind it all.

I shut the book.

I sat in the light.

I listened. Silence.

Right, I said. Ready.

(SOURCE; Novel Writing: A Writers’ and Artists’ Companion, R Gudeskera & A L Kennedy. Bloomsbury 2015 pg x - xii from the Forward by Ali Smith.)

Two lightbulb moments are better than one. Two ideas coming together feel like science; like atoms co-bonding. I already had one moment; a man, in the dark, alone on a moor, searching for a shallow grave. Now I needed another, and one that might slot with the first so that I could develop both successfully. You may have previously heard me talk about the way Sabbie Dare entered my life, sometime after I'd begun to learn about shamanic practice. I knew a few people hoping to start a therapy practice up, and I couldn't help thinking…

Shamanism is at the heart of
my murder mysteries

They are going to get a good deal of very unusual characters coming into that therapy room…' Sabbie Dare was born, with her last name answering that worry; she dared to invite in the lost, the broken, even those who had done wrong. Once I knew that the man on the moor was her client, I could plot with success.

Those lightbulb moments of inspiration are only the start.  Amalgamating two lightbulb moments can allow you the freedom you'll need to do whatever you want during the process of writing creatively This often means being brave about trusting your ideas and allowing them to develop from very small beginnings.

So leave that previous manuscript alone for now, however wedded you are to it. Instead, Make notes of any moments of inspiration – try dreaming and visualising your inspiration; take a long walk alone, or sit in a quiet room and let your thoughts roam. Also check out this blogpost to help you start collecting lightbulb moments into a miscellany. Spend time fostering old ideas and working up new ideas, and then gaining a foothold in your working ideas.

Start a new notebook (actual or electronic). Include all notes, snatches, planning, character ideas and freewrites that pertain to this new plan of work. Transfer any ideas and thought you’ve gleaned through recent reading.

Speculation is the core of fiction writing. Look around you and fill in the gaps -- you'll find that characters are begging for your attention. Remember, however, that characters are just one element in a story. Put your most intriguing character into a most intriguing situation and you'll have fuel enough for pages. I had to ask;  Why is the man on the moor looking for a shallow grave? Did he dig it in the first place? And how is Sabbie to know that her client is guilty or innocent? Those were still the questions that I had to answer. 

Decide on a title. This will make the new writing real; a provisional, working title. Indulge yourself by spending time on this, as it can inspire in itself. Psychologically, knowing you have a working title can be a great boost. Put the title on the front page of the notebook/file. 

Freewrite the title to see where it takes you. Allow yourself to experiment with all the ideas that end up in your new notebook. Ask ‘what if’ a lot. Try things out. Take risks to see where they take you. 

Don’t expect something fully formed to arrive yet. Most writers only find this happened once they’re well into the writing of a longer piece of work. At the same time, reflect on what you’ve got and analyse where you’re going. 

I'm not asking you to forget the work you've just put away after rejection; I'm asking to move on from it.

After all, you’re a writer. You can do it again.

In the next of this series, we'll look at ways of getting yourself known as a writer – before you finish your novel.

 

Getting your Writing Published PART TWO –Is "self published" still a slur?

GETTING PUBLISHED CAN BE SCARY

My last blogpost looked at ways of getting started on the road to gaining a publishing contract as a writer, and especially at whether to get an agent, and, just as important, HOW to get an agent. 

Submitting work for publication is a bit step and thinking about it can take place a long time before you actually even need to submit. So, as you start your first novel, you might be be thinking of submitting short stories, especially to prestigious competitions. Once your name is out there, it becomes a lot easier.

Most of the books on a bookseller’s shelves come from long-standing publishing houses. You can find most publishers, from local, specialist, and editor-owner firms right up to global companies such as Simon and Schuester, Penguin, HarperCollins and Macmillan, listed in The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and The Writer’s Handbook – once you’ve made the decision to look for a publisher or agent, you need to own the most recent copy. Read each listing carefully and only approach those who deal with your sort of work. Check whether they actually take new submissions, and if they will accept unsolicited submissions. Each new year, use the updated handbook to look for arrivals in the market places – new or expanded publishers and agents may be looking to fill their books.So why not send your work straight to the commissioning editor, rather than accept a 10% or more cut from your advance? After all, a. publisher…: 

• Market your book – although they will still expect you to invest time and some money into marketing yourself. 
• Will take on the details of producing, printing, distributing your book
• Has the kudos of a known publishing name. 

There are drawbacks, however:

•     The publisher takes control of your book               
•         Publishers drop authors who fail to sell well

•       The various protocols and traditions can feel frustrating 

 

• The big advance may turn out to be full of clauses – for example, that £200,000 first book deal may actually cover an entire four-book deal, with moneys put aside for possible film versions. It may actually net the writer no more than £5,000 for their first book. Writers are more often offered a low advance with the possibility of royalties later.

 

• and the final, huge drawback to going straight to the. horses mouth;

• THE SLUSH PILE.

Editorial offices used to be littered with unsolicited submissions. But no more. The pile of through-the-post manuscripts has diminished. Nowadays it's far easier to SEND work to a publisher; you just ping it over as a Word Doc attachment. But easier, isn't necessarily more successful.

When there was a towering pile of packages to work through, the office junior was duty-bound to at least open and peer into the envelope. Only peer, you ask? In a busy office the allowed junior might  barely glanced its way as they lifted your work from its envelope and placed it, with the horrid little rejection slip, into the SAE. If you were lucky, you’d get a few lines of feedback. But why should they bother? They didn’t ask for it, and they may neglect to return it. 

That was then. Now, an email can get so quickly lost. Imagine the morning inbox of a commissioning editor. Hundreds of 'new mail' and all of them asking...begging...to be read and considered for publication. 

Unsolicited work via email probably won't be printed off. That poor office junior will probably be responsible for that first read, on the screen They will not pass on anything that they consider poor writing, a shaky start, or badly edited or presented  work. However, that member of staff will be adept at spotting something interesting. Once they’ve read enough to be confident, they will ping the email attachment over  to the commissioning editor, who will read it themselves and contact the writer.

They'll be asking that lucky writer for more. Because don't forget, no one wants your entire book straight-off. They want first three chapters and a synopsis (and a covering email; polite, brief and informative. 

Once the longer attachment arrives, with the rest of the novel, they may flick through it, but quite quickly. it will be farmed out. Editors employ a reader to spend time on these manuscripts; and again their job is to sort wheat from chaff. The reader will furnish the editor with a report or review. At that point, the editor will finally read the manuscript themselves if they are to take it any further. With large firms, this usually means one of the regular commissioning committee meetings. When an editor rejects work because ‘our list is already full for this year’, they may mean precisely that.

Editors are experts. Treat any communication outlining what is wrong with the submitted work like a golden opportunity. Editors don’t spend time writing unless they believe there is some merit to the work. If they’ve taken the trouble even to scribble something in your rejection email, read it carefully and take note of it, both the particular and the general. If they’ve  outlined what’s wrong, pay even more attention. Details that specify changes are particularly important. Address the changes in your manuscript, then do a market analysis of further publishers. 

Rewrite your work and send the manuscript on to the next possibility. When an editor suggests that they’ll read a piece again if it’s amended, respond immediately. Rewrite your work as suggested and send the manuscript back to them with a covering letter detailing your thoughts and the work you’ve done. Do this as quickly as is physically possible; burn that midnight oil!

Editors sometimes ask to see more of your work. If you can send something new, give this a thorough rewrite and edit – don’t just stuff ping it off without a proper re-edit. But do this quickly – editors have short memories.

Self-Publishing

It might strike you as strange that anyone would opt to spend money on publishing themselves, when the time-honoured method via established publishing firms will reap financial benefits with very little personal outlay and less time and effort. But the lack of orthodox options has led a growing body of writers towards self-publishing.There are pros and cons to both routes, and most writers who have decided to become self-published do a lot of research first. As well as assimilating the information below, bring yourself fully up-to-date by scrutinising and analysing the route you might eventually chose to use.

Successful self-published authors, who mostly like to call themselves independent authors or ‘indie authors’, have so many alternative routes to pick from that at first the options seem overwhelming. Some writers only publish electronically, ebooks and Kindle. Some choose to print a number of hard copies to sell alongside the ebooks. Some take advantage of ‘print on demand’ which usually includes electronic distribution via internet sites such as Amazon, where a copy is printed off instantly someone orders it. This keeps costs to a minimum while responding to demand for your book and negates the need to store hundreds of copies of books. 

There are companies (don’t think of them as publishers) that will self-publish your work for you. They offer a range of services such as copy-editing, assigning an ISBN, book jacket design, author promotion and book marketing. Everything else can be bought at an extra cost... such as marketing materials, editing/proofing, expanded distribution, etc. The copyright of the work remains with the author. Some companies have an agreement to supply booksellers with copies. Check your agreement carefully for issues such as the cost of buying books upfront, you retention of copyright,  and other issues. Some lock you in to agreements you might not wish to be part of. Some companies will not help you redraft, rewrite or edit your book which makes it very easy for substandard books to flood the market. Don’t let yours be part of that trend. 

Indie authors also have to understand how to market their work. They have to build a strong online presence. They have to be able to commit a significant amount of time to finding creative ways to make sales. And they also have to be willing to invest money. The reality of all the legwork and cost can be disenchanting, especially as self-publishing still has a poor reputation in many cases, with readers, publishers and other writers continuing to regard it as the less valuable option.

Think of the self-publishing rout as a step-by-step procedure. Start by ticking off these steps as you take them. Try making notes about each of these steps. In fact, you may like to buy an up-to-date  manual on how to self-publish in the second decade of the twenty-first century. There's a lot of manuals out there, and a huge amount of advice to be had.

Here's your checklist.

1. Decide Why You Want to Publish a Book
2. Write Your Book
3. Get Feedback Before Publishing Your Book
4. Choose a Book Title
5. Hire a Great Book Editor
6. Design a Book Cover that Converts
7. Create Your Kindle Direct Publishing Account
8. Format and Upload your Book
9. Self-Publish Your Book
10. Price Your Book
11. Form a Launch Team
12. Maximize Book Launch Exposure
13. Celebrate Publishing a Book!

A final note; the Vanity Press 

 It's surpising to find that the vanity press still exist, but they do, and they are as outmoded and as overpriced as they ever were. They are not an option for any sensible clued-up person.By sending your manuscript to a vanity publisher for a large fee – up to £10,000 – you enter into a contract: the company will publish an agreed number of copies of your book and send them to you. The contract may also stipulate that the publisher will promote your book and pay royalties for each copy sold. In fact, once they have your payment and have delivered your order, they’re unlikely to do more than feature your book on their website. Vanity publishers will print anything. They don’t edit or give any advice with regard to how publishable – or how readable – the manuscript actually is. 

So think carefully before considering yourself ready to submit a book to a publisher. Think even more carefully, before deciding to move over to self-publishing. And never think about entering into a contract with anything that looks vaguely like a vanity publisher. 

Good luck, though! it can be done!

In the next in this occasional series, I'll be passing on tips for getting into the good position for finding a contract – everything from proofreading to winning competitions. 

Getting your Writing Published' PART ONE – are the facts all fiction?

Are the facts about publishing all fiction?

 

Kitchen Table Writers hasn't blogged about the publishing world for a while – instead, subject matter has ranged from Asian goddesses, to symbolism, to  recent books to art, to sacred walking, So it's probably time to get back to one of the basic subjects people ask me about; HOW DO I GET PUBLISHED?

 Most writers would like to see themselves in print. In recent years, gaining a publishing contract has not got any easier, but new writers are still being spotted and taken on by major publishing houses. It happens almost every week in the UK – it has just happened to a friend on mine – but you may not hear about such successes unless the advance is large enough to make news headlines.

Another happy first-time author. 

If you’ve not ever sent out work to a publisher, I'm actually going to first say; well done! The more experience you can get under your belt before you send off your work, the better. A good point to remember is that once you’ve had work rejected, it’s pointless sending it out again without further work, and it may prove useless to send it back to the same publisher, even after you’ve improved it. The only reason you might do this, is if a covering letter (or email) has suggested it. So before you decide to start looking for publication, ask yourself if you work is ready. This is often an area of research that writers hoping to see themselves in print skip over. They’ll spend time, even money, on approaching publishers, or investigating self-publishing, but they omit the hard work of presenting their work as publishable.

a recent anthology
 with my work featured. 

A lot of writers start by submitting shorter, individual works. There is a cache of small press publications who want shorter material, many of which have been in the literary magazine market for a long time, Ambit has been going for forty years and London Magazine was founded in 1732. Some publish in one discipline or genre…Envoi concentrates on poetry, longstanding Interzone takes horror and Chester based Flash only publishes flash fiction. Some are more eclectic; Granta will take art-work, essays, reviews, poetry, short stories and occasionally extracts. Certain magazines have grown out of university literature departments, for instance Short Fiction from Plymouth and Cake from Lancaster. Some publications, such as The Poetry Review, are extremely well thought of, while every week a new online publisher comes along…and almost every week, one fails and is never seen again. 

Literary and small press magazines can be unearthed online. Try Splice or any other website that offers a list of publishers. The The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook or Bloomsbury’s Writers’ & Artists’Yearbooks always include both newspapers and magazines in their listings, as does Mslexia's comprehensive paperback The Indie Press Guide, now in its third edition. A book physically by your side, which tells you where to send your poems, short stories or articles, is a useful thing to have, and although Mslexia is focused at women writers, they'll sell their wares to anyone. Traditionally, writing magazines in the UK not only compile regular lists of current competitions, but also updated lists of small press publishers. These included Mslexia, but Writing Magazine, and Writers’ Forum also do this.

Before submitting to literary or small press magazines, check their submission rules and stick to them. Do not send six poems (just because they’re short) when the maximum asked for is four. Send tidy copy. Check up on your presentation, and the criteria for submitting to that organisation, and follow to the letter. You should also send a covering letter, introducing yourself. If you’re sending by post, enclose a stamped addressed envelope, and when sending by email, check you’ve included your details, especially your phone number.

Winning the Rubery Prize

You may have written many short stories, especially if you're working through a writing course, degree or go regularly to short story workshops. You might feel you have enough for a slim volume; a collection of your work. Beware, though.This is Ailsa Cox, who's writing manuals are well-loved, writing in the latest edition of Writing Short Stories : A Routledge Writer's Guide:

“But things are changing in the UK. A report commissioned by the English and Scottish Arts Councils in 2002 confirmed that British writers were unlikely to have a collection accepted by a mainstream publisher unless they were already well known as novelists. Its recommendation for a major literary prize to raise public awareness resulted in the founding of the National Short Story Prize (now the BBC National Short Story Award) in 2005. This was followed by other prizes, including the Edge Hill prize for a published collection, The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award and a new short-story category linked to the Costa book awards. This revival in the fortunes of the short story is undoubtedly connected – as in the USA – to the rise of university-based creative writing

 programmes."

.”

Competitions are often easier to get placed in than magazines. I'm just having a short story presented in an online competition magazine. the SaveAs competition, judged by the University of Kent, short-listed one of my stories recently. But why bother, if what you want is to get that novel published? 

Being able to say you're in accepted magazines, or that you've been placed several times for your short fiction can make all the difference when you're searching for an editor or an agent. So don't turn your nose up at this option.

But first, perhaps we should look at the choice most writers need to make – getting on the books of a good agent, or going straight for the great contract with an established publisher. Which is it to be?

It’s often said that it’s harder to find an agent than it is a publisher, but a good agent hugely increases your chance of selling your work. Good agents believe in their writers, and that alone can be a valuable boost to morale. 

Some publishing houses state clearly that each manuscript must arrive via a literary agency, but even those who do not state this are often swayed by the agent’s ability to sell the work they advocate. Agents not only know which publishers to approach and argue the best deal for their clients, but also handle the legal and financial side of publication and can advise on promotion of the published work. They charge around 15 per cent of all fees, but there aren’t usually any up-front payments to make. Most published authors use an agent, sometimes obtaining one after they’ve struck a publishing deal.

Some agents do ask for an up-front payment before taking on a new client. Although legally entitled to do this, do be wary of such contracts. Most agents will want you to work on your manuscript, in affect, appraising it for you.  It seems reasonable to assume that if you send your work to an agent and pay for appraisal, they may undertake to handle it if they like what they read. Whether you’ve paid for their opinion, or whether they send it gratis after reading your work, what often encourages an agency to take you on their books is your response to any initial assessment. They want to see that you are flexible, can take criticism, and can think around writing problems. They’ll read the rewritten version before they take you on, and may still turn you away at that point.

After I’d completed my MA in creative writing, I had an almost finished book in my hands. I rewrote, edited and proof-read it. I sent off a synopsis, three chapters and a covering letter to an agent. They asked to see the full manuscript. Within eight weeks, they’d returned it, along with a positive, supportive letter, which said they had liked my writing voice, my characterisation and my skill with plotting, and would be pleased to see anything further that suited their list. So, that was a 'no', then. 

But within a year, I had a completed good draft of my first crime thriller, In the Moors, and chose to send it to that same agent. We met in London, and I was given a good deal of work to complete on the book before my agent was able to tell me I'd been offered a contract. However, taking their suggestions for the rewrite under my belt resulted in that agent being able to sell my book to the right publisher. And, of course, it was a better book – the first in the Shaman Mystery Series.

Because it's such a big decision to send out a manuscript, it is advisable to get a second opinion on it, before you do so. You can 'buy' that opinion, using a appraising firm, mentor, or 'book doctor'. or, as stated above, an actual literary agency. Some of these services are eye-wateringly costly, and all of them charge a fee. 

I have mentored many new novelists over the years of being a writing tutor and assessor, and blogger. I charge, but I don't charge silly money. I think of it as 'an exchange of energies', because what I'm usually doing is giving that writer more work to do!!  However, you must bear in mind that all book doctors are giving you is their opinions The next along the line might say really different things about the same material. Which might lead you to conclude that sending to a variety of agents could have the same (but far cheaper) effect. 

One person you probably don't want to ask about your book is your nearest and dearest. Unless they are also a writer, publisher or agent, of course! Their response will be far too subjective and possibly down-right wrong.

I would recommend, rather than a one-off appraisal of your book, you try a writing course, or intensive workshop over a week or more, or a degree like the one I'm part of – the Open College of the Arts BAhons in Creative Writing. This isn't a cheaper option, but you get a lot more bang for you buck than using a writing doctor.

a great gang of writers who share they work
...and their woes.

There is a cheaper alternative, although it takes more time and a lot of effort. Join a good writing club, society or online group. Read your work aloud or send it to be read and critiqued; this is definitely an exchange of energies and you may learn as much about your book by critiquing others as you will from the comments you receive.

In the next blogpost we'll take this perennial question of HOW DO I GET PUBLISHED further, by looking at the publishing houses and their editors – and how to get their attention.

In the meantime, if you want to ask a question, or make a comment, or tell a story about your publishing experience, don't forget the comments box below this post.

The best of luck with your writing!