@squidge
Active 1 month, 1 week ago-
JaneShuff replied to the topic World Book Day 2019 – quite an experience! in the forum Blogs 7 years, 1 month ago
Oh dear Squidge. My sister lives in Coventry and I go to great lengths to avoid driving on any part of the Ringway so I sympathise. Sounds as though your day went brilliantly though!
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Daedalus replied to the topic My Publishing Nightmare – the story of a book deal gone bad (Part 1) in the forum Blogs 7 years, 1 month ago
So here it is – Part 3, the conclusion of the story of my publishing nightmare, and how I finally recovered the rights to my novel from an intransigent and uncaring publisher. It was financially costly – but not nearly as costly as it might have been, and taught me a great deal about what not to do next time. Final blogpost, with as much in the…[Read more]
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Raine posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago
My mojo has been misplaced. If anyone sees it, please send it this way.
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A day off needed maybe? A walk? A few moments to remember how wonderful you are and how magical your writing is? Tea? Chocolate? It will return…
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Both tea and chocolate sound good! I decided to give myself ‘permission’ to not even try to write for a couple of weeks, rather than try and flounder. But I’m not sure that’s a good thing to keep doing as inertia and doubt set in – I know you understand! I’m away to test whether more chocolate is the cure…
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Time off is good, even if it feels dispiriting at the time. Honestly. My cats are worrying about you and the pompoms.
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Sending hugs, shakes, tea, chocolate, sharpened pencils, power ballads, more tea, pom poms, a fluffy cat, sympathy, and faith in you.
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Hopefully your mojo will be in there somewhere, too. xxx
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That is the splendidest rescue package ever!! Thank-you! I can’t tell the pompoms from the fluffy cat but I guess I will once I shake them…
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Hee hee!
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Hugs and chocolate and inspiration pills being sent over the ether now. Waiting for those replies doesn’t help, does it?
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Raine replied to the topic Warnings in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 2 months ago
Along the same lines, I saw a warning about a competition that was asking for all rights to ALL entries (not just listed ones) with no reversion mentioned. Yeah, don’t agree to that!
I second what @Phillipaeast says – mags/comps generally ask for first publication rights or english language rights for a period between (ime) 3 months to a year.…[Read more]
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Philippa East replied to the topic Warnings in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 2 months ago
Hi Janette,
Thanks so much for sharing this. Yes, most literary mags use something like “first publication rights” which means they have the right to publish your story for the first time, but after that, the rights remain with you, so you can re-publish / resubmit it if you want.
Definitely must look out for comps / mags seeking to take…[Read more]
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Janette started the topic Warnings in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 2 months ago
I’ve set up this link that we have a place to warn each other of bad experiences in the writing world, or other words of caution we wish to pass on.
I’ll kick it off with something I came across while catching up on my Writers’ Forum magazine reading last night. This month’s issue features a warning that some short story magazines are beginning t…[Read more]
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Janette replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Just saw the news on the main wall. Congratulations, Stevie! Great to hear what the comps on here are producing.
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Philippa East replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Congratulations Stevie! That’s wonderful news! Another highly deserved success.
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KazG posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 2 months agoGood for you @philippaeast. You more than deserve that break! What a rollercoaster in a whirlwind you’ve been riding, but also, what an awesome result. Do you have an outline for book 2?
My update is that backat the end of last year I thought that Penguin Random House had gone too quiet and all was lost (my agent was getting ready to go out on…[Read more]
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That’s brilliant news Kaz. It’s like snakes and ladders, isn’t it?? Glad you’re still on an upward trajectory, and really looking forward to this book
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This is AMAZING news, Kaz! Well done! Sounds really hopeful and positive and generally fantastic. I’ll be keeping fingers and toes crossed that aquisitions are quickly on board. WIll your agent be subbing more widely anyway, or are you waiting on this one first? And good luck getting back to the NaNo book. It feels like a looooong time since the…[Read more]
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Ooh that sounds fantastic Kaz. Exciting, exciting, exciting!!! I’m watching this space…
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Thanks @raine, @daedalus, @janeshuff! Yes, Snakes and Ladders is exactly how it is. We’re only submitting to PRH at the moment; the situation is a bit unusual in that I got a response from them after pitching directly to them, before I’d even signed with my agent (which happened just after, actually). They’ve already given me editorial feedback so…[Read more]
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Oh gosh, so exciting! And well don’t for grafting out those edits. Really pleased they worked for you, and hopefully it just means you’re even happier with the book. Now I’m keeping everything crossed, but given that (if I understand correctly) your agent hasn’t even sent anywhere else yet, this is all looking super optimistic! Good luck on the…[Read more]
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Thanks @philippaeast. Yes, we’ve only submitted to PRH so far. The silence is killing me!
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Oh man, I feel your pain!!
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ps I’m trying to put an outline together for Book 2 as we speak. I’m not keen to go writing off into the wilderness as I did with Book 1! Still trying to find all the pieces, and how they might fit together….
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Oh good luck! I’m doing the same, to try to stop things flying off in all directions. What outline template are you using? By chapter?
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I’m using the Story Grid Global Foolscap template, where you block out your beginning hook (act 1), middle build (act 2) and ending payoff (act three), identifying the key plot points in each (inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis, climax and resolution). This template also gets you to define your overall genre (e.g. love story,…[Read more]
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Oh that looks interesting! A new approach. I’ve just done a plotting workshop that looks at different ways of approaching this so my head’s trying to incorporate it all and decide on the best approach for me right now. I’ll summarise and post when I get a moment. Thank you!
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And GOOD LUCK 🙂
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Elle replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Congratulations Stevie! If the system hasn’t changed with TMP all highly commended stories are published in the anthology.
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Kate replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Brilliant Stevie. Have to say I loved that story, so I’m not surprised.
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Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
That’s great news Stevie. Wonderful to hear of a RWAV story hitting success so early, it bodes well for the field in general
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Raine replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
COngrats @stevie – that’s great news, and how multitalented you are! You were super-quick off the mark to get your story in already – I’m impressed!!
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Jules replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Congratulations, Stevie. Great news and very well deserved 😊
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Athelstone replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Brilliant news, Stevie. Well done!
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Sandra replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Oh, well done, Stevie, and deservedly so!
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JaneShuff replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Congratulations Stevie!!
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Athelstone posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago
I expect many here know about Jericho Writers, the successor to the Writers’ Workshop that hosted the Word Cloud forum. It seems that they are about to offer a one-year Writing a Novel course to include a pass to the Festival of Writing and either the Getting Published or Self-Publishing day. It also includes a full MS assessment, one to one…[Read more]
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Oh yes (part 2): just to show how bad I am at reading things – it’s £4,950 / €5,700 / $6,500
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Well, that just answered my own question for me. At about half that price I might puzzle over whether I could stretch to it, but £5K is way out of reach
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Sounds to me like Harry’s got his head in the clouds again. Who on earth is going to commit that sort of money? Anyone who was confident enough of their abilities to make it seem worth it would be confident enough to think they didn’t need it, surely?
Incidentally, I see Retreat West, partners in this venture, is run by Amanda Saint, who was on…[Read more]
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At least 4 of the people in my self-edit group are publishing away, Richard. One of the our very own Bric. We definitely do not all move at the same pace along our paths!
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You’re as good a writer Richard. Anyway, people on each SE course are naturally at different stages when they come into it. Incidentally I still think that second novel of yours is cracking and would urge you to keep subbing it as well as working on AROS
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Agree with Daed and WB. We all take tge journey or mountain at what speed best serves us. And you should definitely keep going with AROS (as long as you want to!)
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Who the hell is going to pay £5k for that? For £5k you could probably do one of the more prestigious creative writing MAs
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Flippin heck. That is steep. With no guarantee at the end of it that you’d be published…
Amanda does seem to be getting on well – there are some other ex cloudies working with her now as well.
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Interesting… almost feels like they’re trying to offer something similar to the Curtis Brown Creative course. That’s a massive amount to invest.
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Ok that’s mad. For £84 you can join skillshare (having got the first 3 months free) and pretty much learn evetything being taught here from a choice of 100s of different teachers. With a bit of research and determination, you can find professional author groups to join that will give you a lot of the hand holding and help. Ok it includes the…[Read more]
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Yes, Jules, that’s just what I was getting at above. If you’re so near to the start of your writing journey as to need everything in this package it’s still basically a dream/hobby. And how many have that sort of money to blow on a dream?
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Chichester Uni’s creative writing MA costs £5,202, and features some fairly big names on the teaching roster. With all due respect to the people on the Jericho course, they ain’t Jim Crace or Kate Mosse.
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And of course at the end of that you have a postgraduate qualification as well as having received first-class teaching and support
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If I had 5k to spend, I’d spend it on an MA. YOu get the 1:1 tutoring from highly qualified teachers and writers, peer support, much more in depth writing tuition, and you end up with a degree that agents etc will sit up and pay attention to. No contest. (I wish I had 5k. I’d LOVE to study writing at MA level)
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Me too, Raine. And yeah if I had a soare 5k to spend on writing, that’s where my money would go too.
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Same
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Very much the same.
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Tick. I’ve learned that money spent on courses, assessments, etc isn’t necessarily well-spent. I’ve already wasted too much.
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Wow, Daeds, that comparison is a real eye opener. I wonder which will go best on a CV? He really has showed himself up for what he is IMHO.
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It is indeed a lot of money. It is rather aimed at complete beginners as far as I can tell, because somewhere (possibly in a blog about it) Harry has said that if you have completed a novel and are editing it then it probably isn’t for you (at least not for that novel) so it does seem like a write from scratch hand-holding affair. I’m sure that it…[Read more]
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No. I’ve been waiting for it in paperback, not sure it’s out yet, but certainly intend to.
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I’d be very inetrested to know what you think of it when you do. I was really, really looking forward to reading it but I’m a bit disappointed and wondering if I’ve missed something.
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*interested
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I was toying with splashing out on the Kindle edition but Andrew Motion’s review made me think about it. I probably will, though.
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I have now read Andrew Motion’s review and he sums up my frustration with the book perfectly.
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Thanks Ath.
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I think I agreed with Andrew Motion’s review too. Read Warlight when it came out and memory of details is beginning to fade. But, yes, a little disappointing. Sort of changed its nature part way through?
PS Motion’s review of Tessa Hadley’s latest, Late in the Day, pretty spot on too though I enjoyed it a little more than he seems to have done.…[Read more]-
PPS Actually I liked it, but I’m a big Hadley fan. However I didn’t put it down thinking I’d like to read it again.
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Ooh I’ve never read anything of hers. Could you recommend one, @libby?
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Of her novels, I’d go for The Past. Though I also like The London Train for the way it includes contemporary issues and anxieties.
The short stories are even better. I’d start with the last volume, Bad Dreams.
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Bella posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago
Dan Brown is a bit of a guilty pleasure. But if he tells me ONE MORE TIME that Prof Langdon has an eidetic memory I shall fling “Origin” out of the window. I don’t need a **@&£** eidetic memory to remember that Langdon has one. End of rant.
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🙂
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I read ‘The Little Stranger’ and thought if Sarah Waters tells me one more time that Dr Faraday does things gently, I’d rip the book up. I couldn’t though, because it was a library book.
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