There are two kinds of writers – IBVs and DBVs. IBVs are those who are Inspired By Views, whereas as DBVs are writers who are Distracted By Views. I’m an IBV and for me the most inspiring views are to be found in the UK’s Lake District. Because of this, I try to visit the area several times a year and in 2009, I even spent five weeks living there, working on my novel. Read the rest of this entry »
First, thanks to Phyllis for her good advice about sidebars in last week’s blog. This is an area that causes concern for many non-fiction writers at the start of their career and any tips are welcome. Read the rest of this entry »
Breaking into the women’s magazine fiction market is difficult. Over the last decade several publications have abandoned fiction altogether and at least one (My Weekly) now only accepts stories from writers already known to them. Read the rest of this entry »
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s a tutor, I am always amazed when I receive an assignment and realise the student hasn’t bothered to analyse the market. I know tutors keep on about it, but there is a very good reason for labouring the point – if you want to sell work, you have to write what people want to read.
There are two ways to deal with market research. One is easy and the other is hard. Actually there are three ways, but the third is really only for those who want to spend their time writing articles that will most probably never get published.
It sounds simple and it is – all you have to do is to read several copies of a magazine. You can then come up with an idea of interest to the editor – taking into account the publication’s style and content. An editor is far more likely to accept your idea if he or she can see that the publication’s readers would find it interesting.
I must confess that in the run up to the Royal Wedding I would do pretty much anything to avoid the media frenzy. But when it came to the actual day I couldn’t resist – and I did enjoy it! The Abbey looked stunning with its avenue of trees, the couple looked well matched and genuinely happy and I found the hat-watching fascinating. It obviously inspired you, too, as we had over 80 entries for our Royal Wedding Sonnet competition. We’re still working our way through them, but we should have picked a winner by next week. Read the rest of this entry »
