As we are now in a post-thinking society, I’ve decided to pose some questions relating to the publishing world after Brexit, and what it’s all going to mean for writers and readers. Warning: this post contains no fake news, and one shocking lean towards optimism.
Cookery books are always popular, so I’m finally jumping on the foodie blogger bandwagon with my own recipe. In other news, the numbers behind book sales can be a lovely thing, but only if used for good. Unfortunately this information is currently being used for evil, which means I’m about to get ranty.
When I threatened to kill a bunny by reading it EL James’ Grey until it ran headlong and arse-ways into traffic, some thought me callous. Some thought me justified, because the furry little gits give them nightmares. Someone else coined the phrase “Death by EL James”, which immediately sounded to me like a great story title. So without…
Over the course of the last couple of years spent crunching numbers for this blog, surfing dodgy creative social media and keeping my eyes open (in the darker hours) I’ve come to the conclusion that there are two pieces of advice all authors would do well to live by. The first is to stay far away from tight undergarments. The second is never to…
I hope you’re ready for another barrage of articles about the new Stieg-Larsson-Not-Stieg-Larsson, because they’re queuing up like full bladders at a music festival Portaloo. But first, at the risk of incontinence, I would myself like to discuss the marketing phenomenon that is ‘Continuation Fiction’.* In the world of Continuation Fiction, the characters live on, even if the authors don’t. Or indeed,…
…having insulted your dearly departed mother, and told everyone on Facebook that you love to torture dogs. At least, I think those are her latest crimes. I can’t be sure. There are so many. I love the Guardian. Don’t get me wrong. I embody many of the stereotypical attributes of a Guardian reader, except for…
Help! Overwhelming success is ruining my legacy! Or at least it might, had I any actual success to speak of. As of right now, I have to say my legacy is looking fairly safe. But the other day, as I was perusing the all-powerful culture sections of the broadsheets, a thought suddenly struck me. Are successful authors derided…
Or, as we in the business like to call it, “A Load of Charts”. It’s great seeing all the data like this. I could extract meaning from it all day and still not get bored. Bet you wish you were me. We are now, as promised, going to look at sales volumes, to see what they tell…
Tara Sparling writes 