I was first published when I was 15 and
wrote a piece on superstitions for Jackie magazine. Over the years, though my
writing, this is what I’ve learned -
1. Write as much as you can in as many
different genres as you can. That way when opportunities present themselves
you'll be ready. I know this from experience. In March 2011, I signed a
contract to have my first work of fiction published, my novella How Kirsty Gets
Her Kicks. For various reason it didn't happen. I also started a follow up book
I called Die Hard for Girls. When I saw on Twitter that Sassy Books were
looking for submissions, I tweeted the editor. Would she be interested in Die
Hard for Girls that I'd since renamed Hell to Pay. She said yes and I submitted
it and was offered a good royalty contract just days later.
2. That brings me to my second point - make
sure you're on social networking sites so you'll see these opportunities.
Without Twitter I'd have two books sitting in my unpublished file. Join great
forums like Writer's News Talkback. Network with other writers. See an
opportunity for another writer, let them know. They'll alert you to an
opportunity you might have missed.
3. That brings me nicely to my third point
- help other writers. Don't see them as competitors; see them as comrades in
the trenches of writing. Help one another. Commiserate when things go wrong;
celebrate their successes. Unless you do it can get lonely.
4.Learn to promote your books. You can't
expect your publisher to place ads in the big newspapers. They only do that for
the big names. As for you, a listing in their online catalogue is the best you
can hope for. The plus side is that because you know your book so well you're
the best person to promote it. I have Twitter, Facebook pages and dedicated
blogs for Dead Bastards and Living Cruelty Free. The only cost to me was my
time. I know doing this has sold books.
5.Don't ever tell yourself "I can't
write in that." If a story comes alive in your head, go with it. I
never thought I'd write a horror novel. Then this image came into my head of a
man turning up at his friend's door looking like he'd been mugged. Only when he
comes inside it becomes clear that his guts are spilling out and this is no
ordinary mugging. When he dies and then comes back and tries to eat them, they
realize that the zombies are here.
I just couldn't get this image out of my
head of this guy's guts spilling out onto the floor and this Glasgow couple
trying to scoop them up and shove them back in again, so I started scribbling
away. And so, Dead Bastards was born.
6.Just because a publisher says no the
first time doesn't mean you should give up. TWB Press who published my Glasgow
