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Canned stories anyone? |
News about my writing
Everything has slowed down a little as I have broken my
right arm badly. I'm also a bit housebound. Public transport is time-consuming
and juggles me around rather a lot. I'm reluctant to ask Martin for lifts as
he's already doing all of the cooking and having to take me to essential appointments.
I'm at my desk a lot now so although I'm working much more slowly I'm getting quite
a bit done.
I'm making lots of submissions and my short story
Crucifix is now on
CafeLit.
Canned Stories
I originally got
this idea from the Ministry of Stories
where they sold limited editions of stories by well-known writers. I adapted
this to use with my creative writing students at the Create Festival at the University of
Salford last year. These were limited editions – five copies of each story.
I'm toying with this as another way of publishing.
We managed to give
most of them away last year. These are\a few that were left over.
There is something
very different about consuming a story that you pull out of a can.
I'm thinking of
adding a few more small items to the can. Let me know your thoughts on this.
Patreon
I’m selling some
of my work via Patreon. You can find
details here. As the name
suggests, you would in effect become a patron. I think I’m offering real value
for money, with something for both readers and writers. And you can take both
if you happen to be both. Check it out
if you’re interested.
Dreamteam
I'm still building
up my dream team of reviewers and beta–readers and for my publishing and
self-publishing projects, editors, proof-readers, illustrators and designers is
beginning to take shape.
This is a personal recommendation. Initially I intend to use
my Dream Team a lot myself but gradually I would add in people that friends and
friends of friends had recommended.
What happens?
You sign up to a mail list and every time a request comes in
we mail it out to you or the enquirer contacts you directly via my web site. The
conversation then carries on between you and the person making the request. You
may also have a page set up on my blog and you may update that once a
year.
Interested? You may sign up for more than one category.
Beta readers sign up
here.
Illustrators sign up
here.
Proof-readers sing
up here.
DO REMEMBER THAT
AT ANY TIME YOU’RE APPROACHED AND YOU’RE BUSY IT’S PERFECTLY FINE TO SAY NO.
Bridge House
We have almost finished reading the entries for Gliterary Tales. There were a few more submissions this year
and some very good writing. We have to make some tough decisions so it's taking
a little more time than usual. We hope to release the list soon,
We’re also getting
plenty of interest in our single-author collections. These are for authors
we’ve published before and they may include stories we’ve already published,
ones they’ve had published elsewhere and new ones. The description for this is
now on the web site. We’ve already had some enquiries and we’re currently
working on a couple of anthologies. You
may recycle stories we’ve already included in another anthology, and you may
reedit these if you wish. You may also add in new stories. We’re aiming at a
total word count of between 30,000 and 80,000 words.
If you’re interested in this, contact me
here.
Already in progress are collections by Dawn Knox and Jesse
Falzoi. There are three more contracts out.
We now working on
edits of Citizens of Nowhere, with
the theme of the global citizen. We’re commissioned just over half of the work
from known authors and there has been room for a few open submissions.
CafeLit
Remember, we’re
always open to submissions. Find out how here. I’ve
been encouraging my students to submit. I’m beginning to see some of their work
appearing. Very shortly I’ll be putting together the Best of CafeLit 6.
The Best of CaféLit 5 is still available. There are some lovely
stories in this. I’m very pleased that I have a story in this collection. Order
your copy here.
Again we need more
reviews for this. Have you read them? Could you write us a review? And again,
I’m offering free copies as PDFs or e-mobi files.
Chapeltown
We’re still looking for collections of Flash Fiction. CafeLit
writers might particularly consider this as your stories so often fit this
brief anyway. See our submissions page
here. We have now
signed up five writers already and I’ll be putting out one of my collections as
well soon. Take a look
here.
The next one out will be Christopher Bowles' Spectrum, a challenging but very
satisfying read.
This call for
submissions will be closing soon so hurry if you want to submit.
Chapeltown is also
excited to be publishing Colin Wyatt’s
Who will be my friend? – a delightful
picture book about friendship and accepting others. Yes, Colin is Debz’s dad.
He is a Disney licensed illustrator and his latest publication is The Jet Set. We feel very
honoured to be publishing him.
We’re very pleased with this book and now aim to publish
more picture books.
Creative Café
We’re always
looking for new cafés. If you visit one
of the cafés in the project
and would like to write a review of between 250 and 350 words – nice, too, to
have a couple of pictures – send it to me here.
Do the same if you find a new café.
I’m now sending out welcome letters to each new café that’s
added. This will also offer them the opportunity to join the mailing list.
I’m also now proactively encouraging cafes to stock The Best of CaféLit. Do you know anyone who
might like to stock it? We can offer a 35% discount to retailers. Query gill at
cafelit dot co dot uk.
The Red Telephone
We are currently
open for submissions. Hoorah! We’re looking for the next great YA novel. Check
out the details here. We’re particularly open to speculative
fiction but we’ll also like anything that is well written and
well-targeted. I welcome others but send
sample chapters and synopsis first. The full details are on the site.
I am now working
on Richard Bradburn’s Evernrood. We
are still open for submissions but this will only be for a limited time
now.
I’d also like to
mention now that I’m mentoring two of my former students to help them get their
novels up to publication standard. They won’t start this until they’ve finished
their studies but it is something for them to keep them occupied as they wait
for their results. I’m looking forward, too, to working with them.
Book tours
If you’re a Bridge House / Red Telephone / CaféLit / Chapeltown
author and you want to get serious about book tours, consider our author’s kit.
We provide twenty books you take to the bookshop and the bookshop can put these
through the till. We then invoice the bookshop, with a 35% discount for any
sold and top up your supply to twenty. At the end of the tour you can either
pay for the remaining books at cost + 10% or keep them until you’ve sold them
and then pay the normal price of 75% of RRP. The latter can in any case be set
against royalties. You need to allow at least ten days between events. Contact
me
here if you’re
interested in this.
School Visits
I’m proactively promoting my school visits associated with
The House on Schellberg Street
project. I’ve now developed a whole workshop for this. It starts off with a
board game, includes some role play and creative writing and ends with a
discussion.
Costs= travel expenses plus £400 for a full day and £200 for
a half day. This includes all materials and some freebies. Two schools near to
each other might consider splitting the day and halving the travel expenses and
fees. This is open to negotiation in any case.
I also offer a free half day visit, though you pay my travel
expenses, if you allow me to promote my books.
I’m also continuously adding materials for schools to the
site that are different from the ones I use for the workshops. I’ve recently
added in resources and books to do with the topic. See them
here:
Query for a school visit
here.
I’m also happy to tailor a visit for your agreed donation.
This can be for either a
Schellberg Cycle
visit or a creative writing workshop. Any monies raised this way will go
specifically to a project I have for a non-fiction book about a journey that
will follow the footsteps of
Clara
Lehrs. I’m hoping to do the whole journey by train, including departing via
my nearest Metrolink station. It’s important to feel the rails beneath my
feet.
I offer as well standard
author visits which include readings from my books, Q & A sessions and
creative writing exercises.
It is now also possible to purchase the kit to work on on
your own. Find details
here.
Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation
if you can’t afford the full price.
Upcoming events
Note also for your diary: the London Bridge House / CafeLit
/ Chapeltown / Red Telephone celebration will be 2 December at the
Princess of Wales again. People published
2017 will be invited first and then it will be open to all authors of our
imprints. You are in any case invited to bring one friend at the first call.
Last year we “sold out” – the event is free but ticketed. We shall have:
- general mingling
- cash bar
- an opportunity to buy lunch
- an opportunity to buy books at an advantageous
rate
- “speed-dating” where you get to speak to as many people as
possible in the room i.e. promote yourself to readers, swap tips with
other writers
- author readings
- latest news from me
- collection for a local charity
- big book swap (bring one of your other titles and take something
else home – hopefully all will be reviewed. If you bring a non-writing
friend they can just bring a book they love)
Giveaway
This month I’m
giving away an e-mobi file for your Kindle of Light in the Dark Download here.
You will also find in the dropbox:
·
An
extract from Clara’s story
·
Some
seminars for schools about The House on
Schellberg Street
·
Some
fiction writing exercises
·
The
opening chapters from my manual for writing the young adult novel
Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I
manage, sell for anything form £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about
£2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our
writers to make a living. But we’re offering these free samples so that you can
try before you buy.
Sign up to get your freebies here.
Writing opportunities
Remember I keep a
full list of vetted opportunities on my writing
blog. See them here. New
ones are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I go through it and
take out all of the out of date ones. At that point I send it out to a list. If
you would like to be on that list, sign up here.
Happy reading and
writing.