In this post (and, following some suspicious yoghurt, this one) I pretended to have a look at what was going to happen in 2014, but now I’d like to do it for real. What fads and fashions will we see in genre fiction in 2014? Will fantasy lose its dystopian and grimy-fingered grip on the bestseller market? And that age-old question –…
Category: Creating the Bestseller
2014: Unexpected Writing Sensation (The Year That Was, Part 2)
Following on from my review of 2014 bestselling books in a handy month-by-month guide (written now, in order to save time at the end of the year), I now shake up the crystal ball a bit to tell you about my own year: one of unparalleled success, misfortune, and speaking about myself in the third person. Here follows the…
4 Easy Ways To Write A Smash Bestseller!
Well. 2 of them are easy, from the outside looking in… Method 1: Accidentally encapsulate the cultural zeitgeist which began defining a generation yesterday at 2.43pm Who knew that young adults, for instance, wanted a world of complete fantasy where your undead boyfriend is constantly resisting the urge to kill you, before Twilight came along? Method 2: Be controversial This…
Respect Dead Authors. But You Got To Feed The Living
In a recent discussion with other emerging authors about book sales, a thought suddenly struck me. (It doesn’t happen often, but when I have a thought, I am very proud, and feel obliged to tell people about it.) Anyhoo. I thought about what most authors want; then I thought about what authors need, what they actually get,…
Mathematical Mondays: The Percentages of Plot
I’m sure someone wiser, prettier, and kinder to children than I am has already discussed this, but it struck me the other day whilst working on the NaNoWriMo novel (sometimes affectionately, sometimes disparagingly known as “No. 2”) that I didn’t know whether my plot was proportionately pleasing, so to speak. Is what’s happening, happening at the right time, or…
Writing Pyjamas
Word Count: Something or t’other. Deleted Words I Swore I Wouldn’t Edit: 10,000 I don’t often do personal posts, but writing 2,000 words a day during NaNoWriMo necessitates desperate measures, sometimes. Having no time to research anything informative which might actually be useful for any data fans out there, I’ve been forced to drag this…
Dear Authors and Readers: I Am A Total And Utter Spanner
Bet you didn’t expect this kind of honesty this late in the week, eh? I thought not. But I need to admit I’m a twit before I make any other wild pronouncements this month. Define: Spanner For those of you not familiar with different designations of Irish eejitry, a Tool is a person of significantly limited…
What The Hell Do Star Ratings For Books Mean, Anyway?
My post on the general uselessness of 5 star reviews generated a lot of interesting discussion, not least because of how passionately some people – both authors and reviewers – defended their 5 star reviews, and how violently other people – including me – dismissed them. But it does raise an extremely interesting point: what…
How Do You Write For An International Market?
They say, ‘Write what you know’. Or the world will see through you. That’s all very fine and well, except when you turn out exceptionally beautiful prose in your unique and local dialect, which readers beyond the next mountain find difficult to understand. Or in more general terms, America. I know James Joyce, Roddy Doyle, Irvine Welsh and Dylan…
5 Reasons Why An Author Should Self-Publish
1. Your Book Crosses Genres Score!! An agent has expressed an interest in your book! But oh dear. She says they can’t take it, because they haven’t a clue how or where to pitch it. They just don’t know whether to shelve it in the Science Fiction section, or in Gardening. Look. A lot of people working in publishing are jaded, working…
Tara Sparling writes 