Whisks

  • I’ve just been completing my Tax Return for 2017/18, due in online by 31 January, 2019 and found a very welcome ‘tax break’ for new authors with not too many sales.

    I published my first (and only, so far) book in 2016/17. I had to declare the additional income from the sales as ‘self-employment’ income. Lots of stuff to fill in and quite a…[Read more]

    • Hi Tony,
      Thank you for this post. Very good news about the Trading Allowance. It was a nuisance having to fill in forms about the small profits we might make from our ‘amazing’ self publishing experience. As you say if we keep careful note of our costs it may be a while before true profits are accrued.

  • A reminder to my friends on the Room With a View forum that there are only 18 more days to complete initial endeavours by 22:00 on 25 January. More time than the government has to conclude and present its EU withdrawal agreement on 21 January but I leave you to decide which is the harder task.

    Apologies to members not in the Room With a View…[Read more]

  • Raine posted an update 7 years, 6 months ago

    Ah feck and arse. I’m so sorry to have totally dropped the ball re the monthly comp. Had a difficult holiday period and a few things have fallen by the wayside – this included. I’ll read today and announce belated winner later. I might have to beg off the individual feedback if that will delay me further. So sorry folks – was pants of me.

  • Another engaging story, Richard. I have no particular interest in railway history but your adept recounting of these incidents mean that I open your blogs with a sense of anticipation and I am never disappointed. You have a gift for giving us the right amount of background to bring the events to life. Thank you!

  • RichardB posted an update 7 years, 6 months ago

    Those Denizens who are veterans of the late-lamented Word Cloud may remember my habit of posting occasional blogs on historical railway accidents. For the new year, I thought I’d revive that tradition here. See below.

  • One reason that railway accidents make such sensational news is because, in contrast to the daily carnage on the roads, they are so rare. It was once said that you are safer in a British railway train than almost anywhere else. And one reason for that is the responsibility and care with which the vast majority of British railwaymen have always…[Read more]

  • JaneShuff posted an update 7 years, 7 months ago

    I’ve posted a short story in a private group (After The Honeymoon) that I’d love some feedback on. It was my entry into last year’s short story competition and I recently dusted it off and did some work on it. If anyone has time, please have a look. It’s only in a private grup in case I decide to submit it somewhere later. Thanks!!

  • Hope so @elle! In truth the numbers game is a problem for me, as I struggle to write enough to get the hit rate. Will keep trying though. The Barren editors are lovely, they gave me the nicest rejection ever 🤣

  • Well done Elle. I’m impressed with all these publications. I still haven’t had one since my first nearly four years ago, despite a concerted effort recently. I did have a very kind rejection from Barren Magazine recently, which still counts as ‘a miss is as good as a mile’.

  • Daedalus posted an update 7 years, 7 months ago

    Happy Christmas, Denizens

  • Congrats again, @Elle!

  • Yeah, do post an update when you have time, @philippaeast! I’d love to hear how it’s worked doing such big edits with your agent as editor. I didn’t really get much of that with mine, so would be interested to hear how it’s been.

  • Raine posted an update in the group Group logo of December SloMoDecember SloMo 7 years, 7 months ago

    First day of school hols, which means a final, wonderful end to all the school xmas events (slides into exhaustion coma…) AND I am now ALONE till sunday, for which YAAAAAY!!!

    I’m half way through the book edit and have cut from 120k to 110k. Which means I’m on target to get to 100k… so far. I want to get to 99k for that subliminal 5figure…[Read more]

  • Thanks Ath and Libby!

    Yes I think my experience was unusual in the sheer volume of rewriting I ended up doing. It really didn’t help that I began writing the novel with absolutely no idea about plot or where I was headed. I’m pretty sure that if I’d had a clearer outline and idea of the shape of my book from the start it wouldn’t have needed 24…[Read more]

  • JaneShuff posted an update in the group Group logo of December SloMoDecember SloMo 7 years, 7 months ago

    Congratulations to my fellow December SloMo members on all your achievements in December. I know there is a third of the month to go but I am about to disappear in Christmas – ferries permitting. December hasn’t worked out for me quite how I thought it would and has ended up being more of time to reflect. I have written and edited a lot in 2018…[Read more]

    • I sympathise, Jane – my SloMo has been NoGo. A continuation month – CoMo? – in January would be great

      • I’m the same as you Daeds…NoGo. I’ll plump for CoMo, and try to get something out for RWaV 😉

        • I’m also a NoGo. Hoping January will be more of a GroMo or a FloMo 🙂

          • It is really helpful isn’t it? Seeing others’ updates and getting little boosts. Lets go for a SomethingMo. If only to get me through the most miserable month of the year…

  • Daedalus replied to the topic For Those in Peril… in the forum Blogs 7 years, 7 months ago

    The Penlee lifeboat disaster was 37 years ago today, Twitter reminds me. If you haven’t read Richard’s blog about it, above, I highly recommend you do

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years, 7 months ago

    The spambots are very pretty in the membership column, but I wish they’d beetle off! Can we lock the doors for a bit and hope they find somewhere else to play?

    • I wonder if there’s a tougher way to ask prospective new members to prove they are human? Not sure what BBpress offers in that regard

      • Are they not all the same? The ‘tickabox’ to say you’re not a robot, or the ‘type in these letters you can barely read, even if you ARE human’ box? 😉

    • We are now trialling a plugin that should deal with the issue. The vast majority of bots did get stopped by the system software and those few that managed to register were blocked, usually within the hour, manually. Hopefully the plugin will prevent any further spambots getting through!

  • RichardB posted an update 7 years, 7 months ago

    For those of you who don’t know, we’re still in the habit of giving our autistic son a bedtime read, and this can be quite instructive because he chooses library books I wouldn’t touch. The one we’re in the middle of at the moment could be set as a textbook on the subject of how not to write a novel. Belt-and-braces showing-plus-telling, long…[Read more]

    • I know… Not a ‘celebrity’ author, is it?

      • Er, no. It’s a run-of-the-mill piece of women’s fiction. I have just done a bit of on-line digging, and I’m appalled to discover that the author is represented by the winner of the British book Awards Literary Agent of the Year. The mind boggles. I mean, she can’t even punctuate. For instance, she separates a parenthetical phrase, not by bracket…[Read more]

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