Why You Shouldn't Use Submissions Services

There are many submissions services out there and they will do just about anything for you, so long as it's related to submitting work to publishers, and you pay them for their efforts.

They'll send out query letters by email or post; they'll print up your submissions package if you want to send it by post; they'll provide a list of agents and editors for them to go to; they'll even write your query letter for you if you're happy to pay extra.

There are plenty of things they don't do for you, though. They won't target the best agents and editors for your work; they won't write you a mouthwatering, irresistible query letter; and they won't be able to show you that their service is effective because in most cases, a query sent via one of these services won't even get read. You don't believe me? Then perhaps you'll believe some well-respected industry professionals.

From Jessica Faust at Bookends Literary Agency:

I stop reading when... the query is sent through a query service, your husband, your grandmother, your daughter, your lawyer, your doctor, or your dog (and yes, it has happened). Nearly instant reject. I’ll read the query, but I go in skeptically and you darn well will have to knock my socks off and throw them across the room before I can be convinced you can actually do the rest of the work on your own.

From Janet Reid, Literary Agent:

These are the very few things that make me stop reading: 1. The query isn't from the author. That includes query writing services, cover letters from your assistant, free-lance editor, etc. You have to write and send your own
query letter.

Bolding mine. There are plenty of other similar comments on the internet if you want to go and look for them; but I've not been able to find a single agent or editor speaking out in favour of them. Don't waste your money: write your own submissions and send them out yourself, and remember: there are no shortcuts worth taking.

Trios: The Third Sign, by Gregory A Wilson: Getting Published

My thanks to Gregory A Wilson for this candid account of his route to publication, and for persisting with this series despite my hopeless lack of organisation! Contributions from Greg's editor and his cover artist will appear over the coming weeks, and if you'd like information about his upcoming readings, convention appearances and other events, just take a look at his website.


The road to publication has always been a long and winding one, as every aspiring author knows. But modern market circumstances and a crowded, competitive field has now made that road even longer and more winding than some might realize, and navigating it to its end now takes more than a good idea and good execution. It takes a bit of luck, a lot of persistence, and an overabundant amount of patience.

I started writing my first novel, a work of epic fantasy entitled The Third Sign, in 1996—or at least the first couple of chapters of it. But as I usually did in those days, I got buried in a host of responsibilities and let it go. Six years later I graduated with my doctorate in English, and wanting a break from academic work I went back to those early chapters, revised them substantially and this time, having learned in the process of writing my dissertation that I could actually finish something I started, stuck with the book until it was completed—which didn’t happen until the summer of 2004 (I moved, started two new teaching jobs, and got married in the interim, so I was a little busy!).

When I finished the novel I breathed a big sigh of relief; I knew there was more work to do, but figured the big job was over. I got my Writers Market books, got familiar with Jeff Herman’s agent lists, and started querying agents, ten at a time, adjusting my query as I went. Nearly eighty queries later I took a step back and took stock of my situation: a number of partial manuscript requests, a few fulls, and a couple of very near misses—including one agent with whom I had discussed a number of aspects of the manuscript before she finally decided to pass, not (according to her) because of the quality of the book but because epic fantasy was “oversold”; she told me she had seriously considered taking on my book anyway, but ultimately decided the market would have been too difficult. At that point I was stuck—I could either put the novel in a drawer and forget about it, going on to something else, or I could go another route.

One year later I attended GenCon, the largest fantasy, science fiction and gaming convention in the world; it had a significant writing track with a number of well-known authors, editors and publishers in attendance, and at a small press panel I ran into one of them: John Helfers, editor (recently nominated for a Hugo award) at Tekno Books, which handles speculative fiction acquisitions for Five Star, an imprint of Gale Cengage. John was interested in my book, and I liked what he had to say, particularly his point that the reason the market for epic fantasy books was allegedly “oversold” was because people kept buying them! So in January of 2006 I decided to submit the manuscript to him. We went back and forth a few time discussing revisions and the like, which I made; I resubmitted the manuscript in early 2007, and in late 2007 he made the offer. I accepted in early 2008, and here we are, only a few weeks from publication in 2009.

I’d be lying if I said I was happy with the incredible time delay in this business. There’s a lot more work involved with getting a book in print than simply writing and revising it, though I believe those have to be your primary tasks: I’m a writer, not a salesman or marketer, and it’s important for me to keep that in mind. (The best thing I can do to sell my first book is write an even better second one!) And the time lag from initial conception to actual print—in my case seven years, thirteen if you count my first dabblings with the book—can be discouraging when you want nothing more than to share it with a larger audience. But I’m very happy that I didn’t abandon the book, or accept the idea that it just “wasn’t meant to be.” Getting this published has opened a number of doors for me in terms of future novels (I’ve already completed a second book and am working on a third) and an editing project, and I’ve been fortunate enough to receive a number of very positive pre-publication reviews thus far. I’ve also been very happy with Five Star in particular; they’re a smaller but well-respected press which has handled a number of prominent authors in the past, and all of the people I’ve worked with there have been both professional and supportive (including the two others who have contributed articles to this series, my editor John Helfers and the cover artist, Joshua David McClurg-Genevese). None of this would have been possible if I had fallen prey to the temptation to self-publish, or even worse to go with a vanity publisher; I was warned away from those options very early in my career before I could ever seriously consider them, and it was an important warning.

Ultimately, despite the difficulties and setbacks, the opportunity to share publicly a world I have long imagined privately has been well worth the time and effort. I’m excited about the prospects for both this book and my future work, since my intention is not simply to write one book but to build a career, and I feel fortunate to have been given that chance—but I think the moral of my story may well be that publication by a reputable press is not the result of divine intervention or random chance, but rather hard work and patience. And the opportunities are out there, if you’re ready to take advantage of them.

Anti-Plagiarism Day: An Update

Remember how so many of us joined forces to fight plagiarism? I've been told that the "writer" who sparked off all that outrage has once again won a prize for a story which seems to owe far too much to someone else's work. And this time, the writer who wrote the original piece might well be considering litigation.

I hope she sues the arse off him.

I've now seen a whole range of allegations against this "writer", which range from a slight overstepping of the "inspiration" line to full-blown plagiarism. I urge everyone whose work has been copied to make everything public now: the "writer's" name, the stories concerned, how it happened, and exactly what he did. I realise that you have many good reasons for keeping quiet: but I don't think it's in anyone's interest to continue to protect him like this. There could be other writers who he has taken advantage of; and all magazines or literary prizes which publish his more worrying fictions are terribly vulnerable to legal restitution or a loss of reputation. By going public, you're giving them a chance to take steps to rectify any damage done before it's gone any further. And if you're still not convinced, consider this: I've heard that he's now working in collaboration with a new group of writers. There'll be rich pickings there, for sure.

The Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction

My thanks to Jacky Taylor for this review.

'A successful flash enchants us, each small story successfully rendered engulfing us for a brief moment... in its own brand of light, or truth.' So says Tara Masih in her informative and engaging introduction to the Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction, published by the Rose Metal Press.

Flash fiction is a burgeoning form in this twenty first century, and Masih informs us that it has actually been around much longer than most people think – since the early part of the nineteenth when Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe were amongst its earliest proponents.

Now, in this age of compression, where all aspects of life are crammed ever more cheek by jowl, the flash seems the ideal bite-size fiction to savour in those increasingly brief moments we have to ourselves. So it follows that as the flash itself garners more attention, with a high online profile and a growing number of writers engaging in the form, the inevitable 'How To Do It' books should start pouring from the publishers.

There are many writing guides brought in on the wave of creative writing courses steadily multiplying across the globe. There are good ones and bad ones: the Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction is definitely a good one; I would even say a very good one. It doesn't promise unparalleled success or anything else it can't deliver, but does provide real insight into how writers work in this medium doing by exactly what it says on the cover – providing guidance that gently leads the would-be flash writer along the path to making their own work truly shine.

Collectively, the twenty five essays contained here explore the different facets of writing good flash fiction and such a prismatic approach reveals much of the art to writing the very best of them. The authors, many distinguished and multi-award winners amongst them, are all actively engaged in the form as either writers, teachers or editors – some in all three – and precisely because of this experience, they don't mess around but go straight to the heart of what they want to say. Each focuses on an aspect of either writing, teaching or editing flash fiction and, as forceful advocates of the form, what they convey is frequently eloquent, often illuminating, always passionate.

The book covers ten main areas ranging from 'In Defense of the Exercise', through others such as 'Beginnings and Endings' and 'Taking Risks' to 'A Call to Action'. Each of these is further defined by the essays themselves with inevitable titles like Expose Yourself to Flash and Flash in the Pan, but don't let that put you off: under the puns you'll find some incisive, educative writing.

Many sections are inspiring and with the added bonus of both top-notch examples of the form, and exercises to get the creative juices flowing, this makes the volume an invaluable addition to any writer's reference collection. A couple of the contributors do get a little caught up in their own philosophising but are no less interesting for that, and there are some truly inspiring pieces to get fingers flashing across keyboards and pens moving in hot little hands.

It seems churlish to single out specific authors from the pack when so much of the writing here is good, but both Jennifer Pieroni and Vanessa Gebbie deserve a special mention for getting me to briefly abandon this review, in order to go and write a new flash myself! I really can't think of a better recommendation than that.

Jacky Taylor is an Arts Education professional and lives in Portsmouth. She has worked as a teacher, lecturer, community arts practitioner, arts administrator and welfare rights advisor. The first three pages of her novel won second prize at the Winchester Writers' Conference; she has now written the other two hundred and ninety five pages of it, and has just started submitting her work.

Book Reviews: An Update

I've just updated my post about book reviews, which is linked to under "writers' resources" over there on the right: to help all you newly published authors, it now includes a link to a brilliant post on Editor Unleashed which gives advice on how to get your book reviewed in all the best places. Get reading.

Experiment

Ignore this. I'm trying to find out if I've added a Tweet This button to the bottom of every new post. I've probably just changed the font to Dingbats, and asked everyone to ignore me.

(PS: go to TweetChat and follow LitChats, because that's the other thing I'm doing right now.)

Trios: Beachcombing, by Maggie Dana: My Potholed Path To Publication

Maggie Dana, author of Beachcombing, comments regularly on this blog; she wrote a wonderful piece about typesetting for me a few weeks ago, which resulted in a spectacular spike in my reading statistics; and she's recently had her first grown-up novel* published. Here's her own account of her tortured path to publication, in which she demonstrated dedication in the extreme. Following pieces in this particular Trio will come from her editor Will Atkins, who will discuss the success of Macmillan New Writing and explain what he looks for in an author—and it's not just the writing.


When asked what got them started writing, quite a few authors will say they were bitten by the bug at an early age, six or seven, or even as late as twelve. But not me. I was a ripe old thirty-nine before I began writing, and only because my job for an absentee boss at a U.S. children’s publisher left me with little to do. So, to keep boredom at bay (and to look busy), I wrote a kid’s book—on their time, their paper, and their typewriter, and then (oh, sweet irony!), I turned around and sold it to them for $1,500, a decent chunk of change back in 1979, especially for a single mum with three teenagers, a dog, two cats, and a horse to feed.

After writing five more books for children, life intervened and it was another fifteen years before I got back to writing again. Women’s fiction this time. I’d had no trouble finding a publisher for my kids’ books; how hard would it be to find one for a novel? (Do I hear laughter? Snorts of derision?)

A year later, my first effort weighed in at 180,000 words. Feeling rather pleased with myself, I fired off a handful of query letters and landed a New York agent who, while full of enthusiasm for my novel, told me cut it in half. I protested, vociferously, but she put her foot down and deleted the first ten pages while telling me, firmly, that my story began here, at the top of page eleven.

I spent another year cutting and rewriting, and cutting some more, till the story was a manageable 90,000 words and my agent declared she was ready to submit… the day before 9/11 turned the world upside-down. Months and months went by, and my agent dragged her feet, saying the time wasn’t right, that publishing was in disarray and editors were freaking out over the anthrax scare, that nobody was buying fiction, let alone women’s fiction. Discouraged, I stuck the manuscript in a box beneath my bed, and went back to writing for kids.

Picture books this time. I found another enthusiastic agent with an impressive client list, but her personal problems got in the way of her professional life and she wound up dropping the ball as well. Even more discouraged, I stuffed my four picture books into the box with my novel and decided I wasn’t cut out to be a writer after all. Besides, I had a living to earn. I couldn’t afford to waste time writing stuff nobody wanted to read.

But a good friend, another writer, disagreed. She nagged and cajoled, encouraged and threatened, till finally she convinced me to blow the dust off my novel and begin all over again with a different tense, a different point-of-view, and a different title. Using my original version as a detailed outline, I spent ten months writing from the ground up and having more fun than I expected. Layers of stodgy writing fell away, a fresh voice emerged. Maybe I was a writer after all.

More queries went out and a third enthusiastic agent entered my life, but after coming close with a couple of New York editors and being turned down by a handful more, my agent told me to write another novel and she’d sell that one instead. So I did, but the result didn’t sit well with her. At first, I was angry and indignant; then apathy set in. I withdrew from my online writing group, parted company with my agent, and added yet another manuscript to the box under my bed.

Time to think seriously about giving up altogether.

But that determined friend wouldn’t hear of it. She insisted my novel would appeal to readers in England, given a huge chunk of it is set in London and Cornwall, and why didn’t I try submitting it myself to publishers in the U.K.? So I did, and wound up in the capable hands of Will Atkins, my brilliant editor at Macmillan New Writing.

Time elapsed from that hefty first draft to publication? Ten years, almost to the day. So when authors say that getting published is all about the three Ps, passion, patience, and perseverance, I’d like to remind them there’s another P in that path to publication: potholes.

* I'd originally referred to Beachcombing as Maggie's first adult novel but it's been pointed out to me that an "adult novel" has certain connotations, particularly in the USA. So I've changed it to "grown-up novel" now, which sounds slightly Playschoolish to me: if anyone would like to suggest a better phrase, I'd be happy to hear it!

WordHustler Asked If I'd Be Interested....

I do not recommend the use of automated submissions services: writers need to target their submissions, and have to check their submissions packages for errors and omissions before they send them off. And yet such services continue to appear, and some of them are extremely pushy in their approach.

On Monday I received the following email from Anne Walls of WordHustler.

Hi Jane-

I recently found your blog and have fallen completely in love with it.

I wanted to drop you a line to tell you about my company and see if it was something you were interested in mentioning on your blog, since we, like you, are dedicated to helping writers demystify the publishing industry.

My company, WordHustler (http://www.WordHustler.com), is the world's first online submission management platform for writers. My partner John Singleton and I are two writers who grew tired of the traditional method of submitting work to publications, literary agents, publishers, writing contests and more, so we invented a way to do it better and more cost-effectively.

Writers upload their manuscripts to their free WordHustler accounts, select markets from our free database of 4,500 agents, publishers, contests, and publications, then we take care of all the physical printing and shipping of manuscripts for them.

Coming in 2010 we are launching a Digital Submission System to handle email submissions as well.

Something that really may mean something to your blog readers is the fact that we solve the hassles related to International Shipping and postage. WordHustler even offers a Virtual Office service, where we receive your physical correspondence from markets (SASEs, etc), then scan and email the results to you.

Over 5,000 writers from all over the world have already used us to submit their work, saving themselves time so they can do what they're supposed to be doing: WRITING. Our goal is to make the submission process easier and more organized for writers AND the markets who receive their work. In fact, Bnet.com called us "The Match.com for the publishing industry."

I'd love to chat more with you about WordHustler and hope it's something that interests you and your readers. We've also got a blog with lots of interviews with writers, agents, editors, etc as well as tips on writing query letters, etc that you can find here: http://wordhustlerink.wordhustler.com/

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope to speak with you soon!

Best,
Anne

Anne Walls
Founder Creative Director WordHustler.com - One Click to Destiny
http://www.wordhustler.com

It's good of her to say such kind words about this blog but it's odd that she claims to have only recently discovered it, as she left comment-spam here early in September 2008; crowbarred a link to Wordhustler into the comments to my Essential Reading post on the same day; and left similar links on various other blogs, which all now appear to have been deleted.

So irritated was I by her actions that I began a thread about Wordhustler over at Absolute Write and everyone there came to pretty much the same conclusion: WordHustler is probably not something the serious writer should even consider, because it just doesn't do anything that writers can't do perfectly well for themselves.

WordHustler offers a publishing directory and a print-and-post service. The writer decides who to send a query, partial or manuscript to, and downloads it all to WordHustler; and then WordHustler prints out the work, and sticks it in the mail. And it charges a premium to do so. I cannot see the value in that.

Sorry, Anne. I'm sure you're well-intentioned, but next time you start a writing-related business you might consider offering a service which offers real worth to writers, and promoting it in less intrusive ways than you've used here.

Bad Science: The Giveaway

Oops. I should have blogged about this last week. Sorry about that.

Following on from my rather slapdash, ranty review of it, copies of Ben Goldacre's wonderful book Bad Science have been reserved for Catdownunder, for this great blog post; for Sally Zigmond, for the beautifully-phrased rant about diabetes which she left in the comments stream; and to Big Fat Lion, for amusing me when I really needed some cheer.

If you could email me your real-life addresses ("hprw at tesco dot net" should reach me; stick "HPRW Bad Science" or something similar in the subject-line so I don't mistake you for spam), I'll make sure your copies are delivered post-haste. Remember to review them once you've read them, if you can: the more people who read Ben's book the better.

Anti-Plagiarism Day!

Before I start, I have to point out that I don’t want to scare anyone here. Despite the fears of many novice writers, plagiarism doesn't happen often in the professional arena. Very few jobbing writers would ever even consider it as an option, and the odds in favour of a publisher or agent stealing the work of an unknown writer are almost infinitesimal. It’s more likely when you’re dealing with people who don’t know the rules, or who don’t have respect for other writers: as ever, if you take some care when deciding which company to keep, you’re unlikely to ever encounter a plagiarist.

Having said all of that, I've known a few writers who have fallen foul of plagiarists and every single one of them has been significantly hurt by seeing their writing so misused. Few have received a proper apology, let alone decent compensation for their distress: they've lost money, publishing contracts, and years of their life to plagiarism and despite it being recognised as wrong, it seems that little action is taken against those who commit this crime against their fellow writers. Having spent most of May and June watching as a new case of plagiarism unfolded before me, I announced two weeks ago that today would be Anti-Plagiarism Day, on my blog at least, and invited anyone who cared about it to join in.

I had intended to use this post to provide my own definition and discussion of plagiarism and copyright infringement—what each one is, where the two transgressions overlap, and how to avoid committing either—but discovered that it had already been done far better than I could manage at Dear Author. So instead, here is a roundup of some of the more notorious and entertaining plagiarism cases that I've heard about, for you to boggle at and enjoy.


In January 2008 those lovely girls at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books revealed how New York Times bestseller Cassie Edwards appeared to have plagiarised others in her novel Shadow Bear. A reader had found several passages of exposition in the novel which seemed very different in tone to the rest of the text. When she typed those passages into Google eerily similar passages turned up, all of which were attributed to other writers including one piece which concerned black-footed ferrets (and if you click on none of my other links you MUST go to that one: it’s priceless).

Further investigations revealed similar problems in other Edwards titles. Edwards appeared to have been caught red-handed but in a letter to the Smart Bitches, Edwards' publisher Signet was at first rather bullish.

Signet takes plagiarism seriously, and would act swiftly were there justification for such allegations against one of its authors. But in this case Ms. Edwards has done nothing wrong.

Signet later repositioned itself in a somewhat coded fashion when it wrote to the Smart Bitches again to say,

Our original comments were based on Signet’s review of a limited selection of passages. We believe the situation deserves further review. Therefore we will be examining all of Ms. Edwards’ books that we publish, and based on the outcome of that review we will take action to handle the matter accordingly. We want to make it known that Signet takes any and all allegations of plagiarism very seriously.

As far as I know Edwards is still being published, and her books—complete with the dodgy bits—remain available: and when it comes to borrowing words from others but remaining in print, she's not alone. “Wired” editor Chris Anderson found himself in a spot of bother last month when it was discovered that his book Free included at least a dozen unattributed passages from other works, including several from Wikipedia (which is renowned for its shifting and often unreliable content). He has at least responded with some grace by admitting the mistake and apologising for his error; his publisher, Hyperion, has stated that it intends to correct future editions; but that first edition of his book is still on the shelves, complete with the plagiarised passages.

Kaavya Viswanathan's novel was dealt with more appropriately. She was only nineteen when she reportedly received an advance of $500,000 for her novel How Opal Metha Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got A Life. Soon after her book appeared on the shelves it was noticed that it bore some striking similarities to two books: Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings, both by Megan McCafferty. A print-run of 100,000 copies of Viswanathan's book ended up being recalled and while her publisher, Little, Brown, originally promised that a revised version would soon appear on the shelves, that new edition never materialised and nor did the second book which Viswanathan was contracted for. Whether she was ever required to repay her advance remains uncertain.

Not all writers who plagiarise get paid advances for their efforts or have a publisher with a legal team on hand to guide and advise. When a fan of Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight series announced earlier this year that she was going to write an unauthorised sequel to the series I blogged about it briefly here (if you’re interested in the fan-writer's many press releases and internet hissy-fits they’ve all been linked to, and discussed in good detail, at Absolute Write here and here). While Meyers’ publishers don’t appear to have taken any significant action against this ill-informed writer it’s important to remember that she’s not yet published her book: she's announced that it will be published in September 2009 and my hunch is that if she does go ahead with that publication she will very soon afterwards feel the full weight of Meyers' publishers' legal department on her shoulders. And if that happens, it’s going to get very nasty and very expensive for her, very quickly indeed.

If you are now convinced that all books either will be plagiarised eventually or are themselves the results of plagiarism I direct you to Neil Gaiman, who provides a welcome interlude of calm and reason to the debate; and from there, you might like to go to Jonathan Lethem's thoughtful and witty essay on the subject, which appeared in Harper’s Magazine (to get the full impact of this piece make sure you read down to the key: I loved the joke but admit to being a sad obsessive about such things).

In an attempt to provide a little balance to my rant, I have found a few pieces which suggested that plagiarism isn't always carried out with malice in mind. My favourite among those essays appeared in Newsweek when Russ Juskalian discussed the suggestion that unconscious plagiarism, or “cryptomnesia”, could be to blame. This excuse has been used by several writers who have been accused of plagiarism but, like me, Juskalian is not completely convinced:

Unconscious plagiarism does exist, but writers who don't take proactive steps to avoid it are often either being lazy, or they have a diminished fear of being caught.

In my view, Juskalian’s opinion is reinforced by the Edwards case. When such large chunks of text appear to have been borrowed, it seems to me that a writer would have to have a very capacious unconscious indeed in order to retain so much text in her memory. If it wasn't plagiarism, then sloppy record-keeping is far more likely to have been the cause; but that since several of Edwards' novels have been found to contain many such “borrowed” passages, her sloppiness appears to be more of a confirmed habit than an occasional lapse.

Not everyone agrees that plagiarism is a bad thing: I've found countless articles online which argue that our works should be made widely available and distributed freely: but they all seem to ignore that writers have to earn their livings somehow; and the terrible hurt and anger that plagiarism can cause. Not only can it mean that a writer who has worked for years on a book sees it suddenly valueless if a plagiariser steals from it before it's published: there's also the senseof intrusion and violation which the plagiarised writer feels:

I feel as if he's broken into my house, stolen my computer, defaced all my family photographs and crapped on my bed. I've lost the better part of two years' work because of him and now it's been made public he's not had to pay back the money he has been paid for my work, he's had no more than a slap on the wrist. He's been boasting that all the publicity he's received has put the sales of his other books through the roof. And he's not even bothered to apologise to me.

I'll give the last word to Nora Roberts, a best-selling and highly prolific writer who endured a two-year-long legal battle after it was discovered that fellow romance writer Janet Dailey had plagiarised her widely and often. When the court case was over Roberts wrote,

Until we, the writing community, take a strong, public and no-nonsense stand against plagiarism, the publishing community will, I think, continue to downplay it, to keep violation after violation quiet--or attempt to. And the reading community will go on largely in ignorance.

Many people have supported Anti-Plagiarism Day, and here are links to their pieces, in no particular order. Let me know if you'd like me to add you to the list.

Tania Hershman happens to be a brilliantly gifted writer, a lovely woman, and a birthday girl today (happy birthday, Tania!). She has chosen not to dwell on her recent plagiarism trauma and instead discusses inspiration and intent in her characteristically engaging piece, This Day.

From Manuscripts Burn, a personal account of plagiarism and being plagiarised, which ends with this great quote: The moral of the story, kids, is that plagiarism hurts people. It might seem like a victimless crime, but when you steal someone else’s ideas they sit in their metaphorical elementary school chairs angrily not getting their metaphorical extra credit.

From Quiller's Place (the blog of writer Sally Quilford), a useful discussion of plagiarism, fan-fiction and betrayal with a useful list of links at the end.

The incomparable Nicola Morgan exhorts us all to not copy her, and reveals her own amazing story of not-plagiarism.

Even without adequate doses of ginkgo biloba, Sally Zigmond cuts the mustard: If another writer is generous enough to allow you access to their work in progress, then it’s wrong to ‘rewrite’ it for your own gain... that is not homage. That is not zeitgeist. It is a betrayal of trust. It is theft. Pure and simple. And it stinks.

Dear Author's Top Ten Tips for Plagiarists.

Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware provides a little history and perspective.

Dan Holloway points out that although he chooses to give some of his work away for free, you're not automatically allowed to take the rest without asking.

Catdownunder gets to grip with a hairy issue.

Miriam Drori supports Anti-Plagiarism Day.

Teresa Ashby tells us how she discovered that her own work had been plagiarised: "She said that she loved the stories so much she just wanted to write something similar."

Editorial Anonymous discusses how publishers are unlikely to plagiarise.

Marion Gropen beat me to the finish line, and covers a lot of ground with her post about the causes and limits of plagiarism.

Karen of Get On With It decides that enough is enough!

Nik Perring lightens the tone with a great interview of a brilliant writer, has a short rant against plagiarism and plagiarists, and remembers to wish the great Tania Hershman (read her book NOW) a very happy birthday.

At (W)ords and (W)ardances Jodi Meadows feeds her own ferrets duck soup, and sends her best wishes to the black-footed variety.

At Crawl Space, Sarah Hilary discusses how voice, influence and plagiarism can sometimes overlap, and lists some of my favourite short story collections.

Authonomists discuss Anti-Plagiarism Day.

Lisa Gold discussed academic plagiarism on her blog last week.

iThenticate congratulates us at Twitter!

David Tulloch draws us a cartoon. I hope he didn't copy it.

Snowbooks On Tour

Snowbooks has sent five of its authors off on a blog tour and today they visit How Publishing Really Works.


Paula Brackston runs creative writing classes and workshops, is a script reader for a film company, and sells short stories. She lives half way up a Brecon Beacon with her partner and their two children, and is the author of The Book of Shadows, and the forthcoming Nutters and Lamp Black, Wolf Grey.

Andrew Sanger is an award-winning freelance journalist and travel writer. He has also written some thirty travel guides, and his novel The J-Word is published by Snowbooks.

Thomas Emson has been a singer-songwriter, an author, and a journalist. He lives in Kent with a wonderful woman, an elderly cat, and two house rabbits. His debut, Maneater, became a bestseller as did his second novel, Skarlet. He is writing numerous further books for Snowbooks.

Alastair Sim has published stories and playscripts in magazines, anthologies and on the web. The Unbelievers is one of two books which he wrote while on the University of Glasgow's prestigious MPhil Creative Writing course.

Fiona Robyn writes to help herself and other people to pay attention, and because she loves to. She writes a daily blog, a blog about being a writer, and has an excellent collaborative blog. She lives happily in rural Hampshire in the UK with her partner, her cats Silver and Fatty, and her vegetable patch. Her three novels, The Letters, The Blue Handbag and Thaw are all published this year.


Jane: How long did it take you to get published, and how many books did you write in that time?

Alastair: I've written three books, two of which have been published. Of the two published, it took just over two years for each of them to get from what I regarded as a market-ready manuscript to publication.

Andrew: It's worth mentioning first of all that I had had about 30 travel books published already before I wrote The J-Word. After what I'd heard about dealing with fiction publishers, I felt that I couldn't be bothered with them at all! So I planned to publish The J-Word myself, and was all set to go. But I was tempted to send the book to just one small publisher, because I really liked the look of them—it was Snowbooks. As you see, they wrote back that they wanted to publish The J-Word.

Fiona: I've written two books of poetry, one 'self help' book (A Year of Questions: How to Slow Down and Fall in Love with Life) and three novels. I published the first three myself and then Snowbooks said yes to all three of my novels, six years after I'd started to write the first one.

Paula: My non-fiction has been published since 1999, when I wrote a travel book, The Dragon's Trail about my month-long horse trek around Wales. I then started having pieces included in anthologies, and sold my short stories to magazines. But, from first page of first novel to publication of first novel (not the same book!) was nine years. I need to say that again. Nine years. In that time I wrote four novels and two screenplays.

Thomas: My first book was published in 1996 in the Welsh language. It was the first novel I wrote, but the second book—the first was a collection of short stories, which the publisher didn't want. But they asked me if I had a novel. I sort of did—half a novel, really. But I said yes. I quickly finished it, and they liked it. I've been lucky ever since with publishing - in Welsh and English.


Jane: What do you think you changed in order to get published, and how? Your writing, your editing, your attitude, or anything else?

Alastair: I've been lucky that my 2nd published book, Victorian detective novel of ideas 'The Unbelievers' found a very good publisher in Snowbooks (the first, 'Rosslyn Blood', ended up with an unprestigious American publisher who didn't market it). 'Unbelievers' found a better publisher because it's a better book—it reflects the intensive editing and peer-review input of having been developed when I was studying for an MPhil in creative writing, on the University of Glasgow course which has produced over fifty published novels and one Booker shortlisting.

Andrew: I think the real answer to 'What did I change?' is that I became willing to focus on the reader's point of view rather than my own.

Fiona: This might be controversial, but all that changed was my luck. I somehow felt more 'ready' to be published too, so maybe I was sending out different vibes. I do think it's vital that we constantly strive to improve our work, but I'm not convinced that there's always a direct correlation between how 'good' you are and how likely you are to get published.

Paula: During those long pre-published years I did an MA in Creative Writing at Lancaster University, which was sort of a statement of intent: 'I am a writer' kind of thing. I also had my two babies, and I do think that boosted my creativity. More practically, after all those hundreds of thousands of words it is just possible my writing got better.

Thomas: I didn't change anything, really. I've certainly learned with every book. Learned to be a better writer, hopefully. I've been a journalist for more than 20 years, so I'd been in the publishing world, if you like—I knew all about deadlines and getting the job done and working with other people—which you have to do even in a solitary job such as writing


Jane: What was the low point of your search for publication? A story involving humiliation or mortification would be good here!

Alastair: An agent I was keen to work with turned down 'Rosslyn Blood' because she 'couldn't see a market for a contemporary thriller around Knights Templar and the secrets of Rosslyn Chapel'. This was just months before 'The Da Vinci Code' came out....

Andrew: To be honest, I have been lucky. My problem is not with publishers but with agents. I still haven't got an agent and don't know how to get one.

Fiona: Searching for publication is a constant cycle of reaching out and disappointment, followed by a period of recovery. Depending on the disappointment, recovery can take five minutes or five months. I have got better at handling rejection, and this is a vital skill if you want to be a writer. I think we can be harder on ourselves than any publisher could possibly be.

Paula: Low point, you say? Hmm. Which to choose.… Having an agent who failed (in two years) to place any of my work? Being shortlisted for a crime-writing prize (which included publication) but not getting it? Maxing out all my credit cards with no sniff of a publishing contract? Fortunately, all these painful moments fade faster than a British suntan once you get your first book published.

Thomas: Oh dear! I don't have one, I'm afraid. I've been very, very lucky. When I decided to give up full-time work and focus on writing three years ago I did have low moments, thinking: This is never going to come off. Not because my work was being rejected, but because I was aware how difficult it was to get published. But I've got a wonderfully inspiring wife. And she, along with a dose of good luck, got me through.


Jane: What has been the high point of publication so far? And has it changed the way you see your writing career?

Alastair: Seeing 'The Unbelievers' face-out on the shelves at Waterstones, beside writers whom I admire and respect like C J Sansom. It confers a reality on the business of being a writer.

Andrew: The experience of seeing The J-Word in print, seeing people reading it, hearing people discuss it, was intoxicating, a dream come true. It has been exhilarating ever since. Having a novel published has totally transformed my view of my future. Above all, I feel that it's really worth plugging away at the new novel I am writing.

Fiona: Holding my first novel 'The Letters' in my hand, and seeing it in Borders with all the other real life books! And I'm always very happy to hear from satisfied readers. I have changed my ambitions since becoming published. I used to think I wanted glitzy awards and critical acclaim. I realise now that what I'd like more than anything is for 'ordinary readers' (whatever that means) to love my characters and to learn something about themselves from my books.

Paula: Holding my first copy of Book of Shadows in my hands for the first time. Seeing it on the shelves in Waterstone's. Watching its ratings go up (and down, and up!) on Amazon. Doing book-signing events. Finding my son's 'book' that he is now writing (aged 8) to be like Mummy. Giving my daughter (aged 6) a copy to take to school for Show and Tell. Shall I stop now?

Thomas: When Snowbooks said they wanted to publish Maneater. My first English-language novel. It gave me the confidence to think I could do this as a career. They keep publishing my books and keep making me feel very confident about my stories and my writing.


Jane: What single piece of advice would you give to new writers who are aiming at publication?

Alastair: You've got to combine a bizarre level of self-belief with a willingness to learn and revise, and revise again. Everyone else thinks you're a fantasist for wanting to be a writer—it's up to you to put the effort in which will prove them wrong.

Andrew: Picture a complete stranger reading your book, eagerly turning the pages.

Fiona: Be kind to yourself, and keep on going.

Paula: Don't give up!

Thomas: Write something. Finish something. So many people I speak to say they want to be a writer, but they can't find the time or can't think up a story. Well, without having something written, finished, you've got no chance. Once you've got a completed novel, you've got a chance then. You might need a bit of luck, maybe, getting someone to read it and then like it. But at least you've got something people might read—and like.


My thanks to all five writers for taking part, and to Emma Barnes of Snowbooks for sending them in my direction in the first place (and I do hope you’ve all remembered to subscribe to White Magazine, which is turning out to be a very good thing indeed).

Pitch Parlour

Here's an interesting new blog. Miss Pitch has probably shuffled more slush than she cares to remember. Send your work in, and then brace yourself.

Let me know if your work is showcased there, and I'll go and have a look.

Anti-Plagiarism Day: Friday 17 July

Just a little reminder to you all that on Friday I'll be blogging about plagiarism, and hope that some of you will write about it on your own blogs. If you've already written on the subject send me links (by email or in the comments to my plagiarism posts) and I'll edit them into my piece on the day.

Thank you!

Inside Publishing

There are several websites and blogs out there which provide concise, verified, useful information about the publishing business, and several more which send daily or weekly emails to their subscribers which are packed full of news about the publishing business. They're invaluable for writers, even those who aren't overly interested in the mechanics of publishing or in insider gossip.

I recognise that this is not an extensive list and it's very biased towards the UK, too: so I'd be very grateful if you could add recommendations of your own in the comments, complete with links and descriptions if possible so that I can edit them in here and build a really useful list. Thank you!


The fabulous AuthorScoop publishes a few posts each day, most of which are lists of links to publishing news and writing views. It's wonderful stuff and I'm very fond of it: if I'm not particularly disciplined AuthorScoop eats up whole days of my life.

BookBrunch sends out a good email roundup of publishing news and views daily, which is free: but if you want to read the full versions of each story on the BookBrunch website, you have to pay subscription fees.

Book2Book (also known as Booktrade Info) also rounds up publishing news stories and provides an email news service which anyone can subscribe to free of charge: unlike BookBrunch, however, Book2Book doesn't charge subscription fees to those who want to read the fuller story. Book2Book often links to publishing blogs: I've made their lists a few times now, and each time have enjoyed a very healthy boost to my viewing statistics as a result.

The Bookseller's website has a news section, a blog (which I've contributed to), job ads, rights sales, everything. It's sometimes criticised for being a little too staid but I don't think that's fair: it's thorough, demands meticulous, verifiable research from its contributors, and covers a lot of publishing ground. There is apparently an email update, which I have subscribed to but have never received. I don't think the problem lies with my spam-filter, but might well be wrong.

5th Estate is a blog written by editors, publishers and writers and is published by Press Books (a division of HarperCollins). It features book previews, opinion pieces and industry news, and, unlike some publishers' blogs, isn't wholly promotional.


Thanks to Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware! for providing me with the following links and information, which is mostly oriented toward the US market:

Publishers Lunch: For the "deluxe" version of this newsletter, you have to be a member of Publishers Marketplace, but the free version provides plenty of news and links.

Shelf Awareness is a free email newsletter for booksellers. It's bookstore-focused, but there are often fascinating tidbits of news here that you don't see elsewhere.

Publishers Weekly offers a number of free newsletters about the industry. I think you may need to be a PW subscriber to access these, though.

GalleyCat is a great resource for publishing news. You can also sign up for MediaBistro's Daily Media Newsfeed, which covers the media in general (not just publishing).

Happy Birthday To An Awfully Big Blog Adventure!

The gang of children's writers who write An Awfully Big Blog Adventure have decided to spend their blog's first birthday by celebrating children's books. They've promised that their party will include guest posts from industry professionals, a MASSIVE book giveaway, lots of comment and virtual cake; and it's all happening today.

I don't know what they're doing for you lot, but you can keep your hands off the free books and cake because it's all mine.

Bad Science And Bad Research

You might remember how I’ve decided to discuss logic and research here in an attempt to fight back against some of the very dubious argument techniques I've seen some writers rely on. And as that all sounds very dull and dry I'm getting things off to a nice gentle start today by suggesting a little reading, backed up with a great giveaway.

Dr Ben Goldacre writes a column for the Guardian called Bad Science in which he discusses the misuse and misinterpretation of science. One of his common themes is how the media frequently misrepresents scientific research in order to present a more sensationalist story and while we really should know what our politicians are up to and how our banks’ bosses are paid, the stories Goldacre covers are far more important to most of our daily lives. I’m astonished that his column isn’t more appreciated.

His Guardian articles also appear on his blog, which is a true delight: the discussions that evolve there are well-informed, articulate, reasoned and hilarious, and I usually learn more there about the truth of a story than from the news coverage I see all about me.

There is also a Bad Science book, which is a quick and funny read: but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s lightweight. It’s beautifully researched, meticulously referenced and jam-packed solid with advice and information for everyone who has ever marvelled at a newspaper story, or wondered why so many scientists seem to research such ridiculous things. And it’s all written in very clear and accessible language so it’s suitable for just about anyone, even those without a science background: my thirteen-year-old son is now reading my copy and is enjoying it immensely.

I have no doubt: if your writing depends on research in any way and you don't want to make yourself look foolish, this book is essential reading for you no matter what you’re researching: it discusses verifying data, interpreting data and how research should be structured, and warns against common misconceptions and mistakes.

I could go on about how this book makes science interesting, accessible and entertaining; or about how the fabulous Dr Goldacre meticulously unravels all the nonsense about supposed links between the MMR vaccine and autism; I could quote extensively from the book to make my point and make you laugh at the same time: the chapters about homeopathy and Gillian McKeith are riotously entertaining. But I won't do any of that. Instead I urge you to get your hands on a copy and read it for yourself, and there are two ways you could do this: you could go out and buy yourself a copy right now, or you could leave a comment here and tell me exactly why you deserve to be given one of the free copies which HarperPerennial has promised to provide to my readers.

The lucky winners will be selected a week from today from everyone who has commented on this post, and I’ll admit right now that I’m likely to be biased towards people who make me laugh, people who pay attention, and people who make sense. Those nice people at HarperPerennial will, of course, have some say in the matter so if you promote Bad Science and this giveaway in some way (on your own blogs, perhaps—remember to post links here or we won't know about your efforts), then that might well score you extra points.

Anti-Plagiarism Day: Friday 17 July

A few weeks ago I watched a nasty case of plagiarism unfold which involved some writers I’ve had close dealings with over the last few months.

One trusted, talented member of an online writing workshopping group went much too far when looking to his colleagues’ writing for inspiration, and ended up in deep and particularly dirty water. He won at least one cash prize with a plagiarised story, and there are possibly more out there which have not yet been discovered or acted upon.

His actions were hurtful and distressing to all the writers concerned. The plagiarised writers are terribly upset and understandably angry, while the plagiarising writer has lost the support and friendship of a valuable critique group and is unlikely to ever be published again by anyone who is aware of this whole ugly mess.

The plagiarising writer still insists that he did nothing wrong; I don’t think he’s even aware of how deeply he has hurt his friends and his own reputation, or of the corrosive effects that his actions will continue to have. I don’t think he had malicious intent: he just didn’t consider what he did to be stealing, and he still doesn’t seem to understand what is and isn’t acceptable when seeking inspiration.

I wish I could have made him aware of the facts before he went so far: it’s too late to help him now. However, it’s not too late for other writers and I’d like to try to reach some of them, with help from all of you.

I’m declaring Friday 17 July Anti-Plagiarism Day. On that day I’m going to blog about plagiarism, and I’d like you to do the same: on your own blogs, on message boards, on Facebook or Twitter: anywhere where writers congregate. If you don’t have a blog of your own but would like to get involved then email your piece to “hprw at tesco dot net”, with a subject line of “HPRW anti-plagiarism day”, and I’ll post it here. Send me links to your blog posts or message board discussions and I’ll edit them into my piece.

You can write about anything you like, so long as it’s based on plagiarism: what it is, what’s allowed and what’s not, famous cases of plagiarism, how it feels to be plagiarised, and what effects plagiarism can have (on both of the writers involved): anything which is plagiarism-related, honest, well-researched and properly informed.

I hope that by extending this theme across a lot of blogs and cross-linking between all the pieces we’ll create a network of articles and discussions about plagiarism which we can point to whenever we feel another writer is veering too close to the edge, or when a new writer asks why it’s wrong to “borrow”, or when an established writer grows lazy in her ways. We’ll reach writers who are unaware of the laws and conventions, or misinformed about them. And if in the future our work stops just one writer from making the same mistake my former friend has made, then we’ll have done a little bit of good.

Spread the word.

Selling Books To Book Shops (Part I)

The following article first appeared on my blog in October 2008, but thanks to my technical ineptitude it disappeared from view a couple of months ago. Here it is again. I hope it stays here this time!


Mainstream publishing houses employ sales representatives who work all over the country, visiting all the book shops they can find. Their publishers provide them with gorgeous colour catalogues to work from, which show all the books on their publisher’s lists; they use streamlined ordering systems which deliver books swiftly and efficiently, and usually the next day; and the book shops have accounts at their wholesalers or distributors, and so don’t have to pay for the books that they buy straight away, which gives them a chance to sell the books before they have to pay for them, and so gain a nice bit of positive cash-flow.

Independent presses often don’t have access to such sales teams. They might employ a sales agency to sell their books for them, and so increase their turnover that way—but there’s a fair amount of cost involved in this, and it’s not an option that the smallest independents can take. Once they’ve developed a good-enough reputation they are sometimes allowed to sneak in under a bigger publisher’s wing, which allows them to remain independent but still gives them access to the bigger publishers’ sales teams; this gives them that all-important nationwide representation, which invariably leads to a swift improvement in sales figures and, therefore, turnover (which is not the same as profit).

Self-publishers don’t have the option of employing a sales agency, or of persuading a big publisher to help them out with their sales (after all, if they could do that then they probably wouldn’t have self-published in the first place). The only way that they can realistically hope to get their books into bookshops is to sell them in there themselves, which means visiting each and every bookshop they can find. And even in a country as small as ours, that’s an awful lot of bookshops for one writer to visit, and a very unprofitable way to sell just one title.