Sometimes it feels like the publishing industry has us all boxed off into dastardly delineated categories. We are either readers of crime, science fiction, sports autobiographies, or bird-watching manuals, but never all four. Everything must be packaged according to its genre, and there are labelling rules. Chick-lit novels use loopy fonts, and have caricatures of shoes and dresses on…
Category: Publishing Tricks
Nice Writing Karma
You probably won’t believe me if I say that when I posted 5 reasons why you should be entering Writing Competitions last week, I had no idea that I’d just been shortlisted for the RTE Today Show / New Island Books ‘Get Your Book Published’ competition. Talk about some gorgeous irony, eh? But that’s what happened.…
Are you writing? Then SHHH! I’ll tell you a secret
Writing competitions might save your life. Unless you’re keen on starving for your art, in which case you should probably stop reading now. Writing competitions are the lowest common denominator of literary prizes. And I mean that in the best way possible. Because we may be living in an era when writing competitions have become the new – if…
OOOOH!! So Close… IWC Novel Fair 2014 Near Miss
In English, it’s often said ‘nearly never won a race’. And in Co. Clare, where I’m from, we say ‘nearly never bulled a cow’. Bovine or not, it’s the same thing, really. At the end of the day, having entered the Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair 2014, the results of which have just been announced, I…
It’s The Chick-Lit Book Title Generator!
Stuck for a name for that chick-lit book you’re writing? Or simply want to know what your weepy romance novel would be called, if you ever got around to writing one? Well fear not! The Chick-Lit Book Title Generator is here! I know you’re dying to know, so here’s mine: Where Rainbows Might Speak by Tara Sparling (that’s…
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…
2014: The Year That Was (Part 1)
Taking inspiration from J.K. Rowling, who wrote the last chapter of the Harry Potter series long before half the books were even published, I’ve decided to write my 2014 reviews now. It will save time at the end of the year, when I’ll be very busy with TV appearances, liposuction and smiting my enemies. Only…
Small Publishers, And The Way They Might Look At You
In a previous post I said I was a little bit in love with the small press movement, and small wonder, with the successes brought about by these small publishing houses in recent years. Several international big-ticket prizewinners and nominees have seen the light of day only because a small press took a chance on them when nobody…
On Assisted Publishing, Self-Publishing, And Insanely Optimistic Feelings
NaNoWriMo Word Count: 3 and a half, approx, give or take 1,000 So, even in the twilight hell that is NaNoWriMo, I’ve been exploring different publishing methods lately, mostly through the efforts of some very talented Dublin-based authors and their publishing experiences. And the results of these investigations are absolutely inspiring. I am a total pessimist (I have…
Tara Sparling writes 