Sparks:A Year in E-Publishing by Authors Electric. Review by Penny Dolan.

 

Hello. There’ll be a review by Adele Geras along tomorrow, but for the moment, having now read the whole book, here are a few more thoughts on the Sparks anthology I mentioned when opening Awfully Big Reviews for 2013.

The Sparks anthology was created from a selection of posts from the Authors Electric blog, so is, appropriately, an e-book. Now there have been many books created from personal blogs and journalist’s blogs before. Nicola Morgan’s helpful “Want To Be Published?” is just one example.  I am sure there are some by bread-bakers, avid knitters and railway enthusiasts as well as others by people who just lead what could be called Interesting Lives. The Sparks anthology is one example of this phenomenon.

What I most enjoyed about the Sparks anthology was the diversity, which made it ideal for a page-or-two-before-sleep reading or a quick moment during a sandwich. Sparks is not a single voice following through the incidents of a life but a collection of post contributed during the time Authors Electric, a co-operative blog, has been running. The pieces come from writers who work mainly for adult or Y/A/teen readers, so this is not a children’s book.

Excuse me – I still struggle to find indexes and headings on my kindle – but each of the chapters, headed by the famous Blott cartoons, offer a selection of opinions, experiences, histories and reflections on the future of publishing and obviously, the posts come from committed e-book enthusiasts.

Collected together, so one doesn’t have to click or search through the AE blog, the pieces have a fresh, lively and sometimes confrontational quality. The posts – or should they now be called articles? – cover a variety of topics. A well-argued post in support of Amazon. A rightly angry post on cyber-bullying. A post that declares the e-book arena should be home to experimental and un-edited writing but having seen some un-edited writing, I am not sure I agree with this opinion. The tale of a new e-published historical series. An urgent call for e-book writers to be generous and review other e-books. And many more. The anthology is not an amateur thing, though it was clearly made with love and enthusiasm. Sparks was written by many acclaimed and award-winning authors who have opted for publishing o/p titles electronically, with or without help, as an alternative to publishing silence.

The Sparks anthology is not perfect but it should certainly be celebrated as a bold brave and interesting publication model – and a lot of work on several people’s part.

I did wish there could have been more posts, more ideas raised in the pages, but maybe that would have involved the whole issue of selection rather than a post per person – or maybe the posts don’t arrive daily? In addition, some posts still carry the marketing angle of their blog-post origins, but there is a honesty about this, and the final section – the biographies – did have plenty of information about the contributors.

All the same, reading through the variety of experience and wealth of publishing histories, I did wonder once again quite what publishers do want just now and why such writers - just search out the names - are having a hard time. Sparks is a grand and honourable experiment and offers a valuable glimpse of one future of publishing worth exploring.

Recently, I have been using my kindle rather than idly buying magazines – though other magazines are available – and feel that 99p or so was a small sum well spent downloading a very interesting idea. Well done, Authors Electric.

Hmmm. There’s definitely a lot of work involved. Not sure if it would be worth doing this for Awfully Big Blog Adventure, although it is an idea . . .

Penny Dolan

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Write To Be Published by Nicola Morgan. Review by Penny Dolan.

When I’m busy with a book, I find it quite hard to read fiction. A good tale easily distracts me, filling my mind with that story, not the one that should be in my head. It’s also a time when I often read through books on writing, mainly because I like to be reminded of those things that are so easy to forget.

Some writers don’t need or want such books. I admit I quite enjoy them, maybe because I don’t have a writing buddy, don’t read my work to a partner and don’t belong to a writing group. I think such books – perhaps? - act as critique by proxy or at least a kind of nudge.

The writing book that I’ve just read is “Write To Be Published”.

 I’d followed Nicola Morgan’s blog from the start so slightly missed the liveliness and surprise subject in each new post and the variety in the comment thread. However, the book has kept the same accessible and amusing tone and offers a breadth of firm advice and information, set out clearly and simply.

Nicola offers a well-structured account of how and what gets published, as well as what doesn’t, and –  importantly - the many reasons why. (She alos warns that luck plays a part, too!)

A good section of the book deals with complicated subjects like submissions, contracts, agents and platforms but it is also a useful guide to writing effectively, covering fiction, writing for children, non-fiction and more, plus a list of useful resources. 

I was particularly pleased by the way that Nicola's examples of titles were all current books, easily obtainable in the UK.

WTBP is about what it says on the cover. The friendly tone does not overwhelm or discourage but at the same time the reader ends up with an overview of the practical, tough business of modern publishing.

I’d certainly suggest this title to any of the would–be writers met at writers circles, social events or even in staff-rooms.

 "Write To Be Published" by Nicola Morgan

Published by Snowbooks at £8.99

ISBN 978-1-906727-94-9

Other Nicola Morgan titles for writers are now available..

http://www.nicolamorgan.com/author/

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'Writing for Children' by Linda Strachan: reviewed by Rosalie Warren

First of all, a big thank you to Linda Strachan. Reading her book, Writing for Children, helped me get started with writing for young folk, to persevere with my revisions and submissions and, eventually, to find a publisher for Coping with Chloe, my first children's/YA book.

Actually, to speak of 'reading' Strachan's book is something of an understatement. I tend to treat my how-to-write books rather like Bibles or other religious texts. Perhaps if I squeeze a book hard enough, some of the magic will seep from it into me... inspire my dreams and help me unlock the golden gate to success. I like to think I'm a bit more rational than that, at least some of the time, but to be honest, I'm not sure...

Writing for Children certainly opened a number of gates for me. First and foremost, it helped me believe I could do it. I'd already had two books published for adults, but writing for children was something new, and I had no illusions that it would be easy.

Linda Strachan's book focuses on writing for children up to the age of 12, and she tells you everything a beginning author could possibly need to know, in the straightforward and unassuming manner of one who has been doing it for years and has over 50 books to her name. Unusually, she gives plenty of space to writing non-fiction as well as fiction, and she also discusses at length the practicalities of writing for a fee or writing for companies like Working Partners. All this was new to me and very useful to learn about. Strachan also discusses writing and publishing poetry and plays, and there's a useful section on research. She gives a great deal of helpful advice on the mechanics of writing - how to get ideas, how to tackle plot, structure, characterisation, dialogue, settings, beginnings and endings and point of view... and how to revise your work.

Strachan provides useful writing exercises, too. Normally I skip the exercises in books, but I did try some of hers and I'm very glad I did, as they are unusual and inspiring. She takes you through the process of how to prepare your submissions and send them off to agents and publishers - and what to do when the inevitable rejections come.

There's a useful chapter on what to expect of your publisher or agent - and what they might expect of you. Plus there are many ideas for self-promotion and advice on how to deal with school visits and other author events. Money matters, contracts and royalties are covered, too, and Strachan offers good counsel on how to work - as I do - without an agent. At the end there's an invaluable list of resources of all kinds, including organisations for writers, courses and consultancies, plus magazines, websites and recommended books.

Another great thing about Writing for Children is the way it is scattered throughout with helpful and inspiring remarks by children's authors of all kinds (plus Anton Chekhov, for good measure). You get the feeling that you're in the company of experts and that, with their help, you won't go far wrong. I've started recommending this book to budding authors who come to me for advice about writing and submitting their children's books.

My copy is now severely battered. Like a favourite old teddy bear, I still turn to it from time to time, and the section on handling rejection is well-stained with coffee, chocolate crumbs and tears. It's been scribbled on, too, and a number of the page corners turned down. Can a recommendation come more highly than that?

Writing for Children
Author: Linda Strachan
Publisher: A & C Black
Year of Publication: 2008

On Amazon:

Kindle edition (2009):

Rosalie Warren's website:




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Stinky! by Ian Whybrow and Lynne Chapman. Review by Penny Dolan.

Oh dear! Having, in my comments on Paeony Lewis' thoughtful post, agreed with the need for quiet, calm picture books for young children, this title doesn't fit into that category. Yet I do agree with her, because what children need is a range of books to fit different moods and times. 

I chose Stinky because of the writing and because of the illustrations. Obviously, but what does that mean?
In picture book texts, what I look for is a certain amount of playfulness, a sense of the changeability of language, a hint at the difference that intonation can make as well as a certain poetic and rhythmic quality that makes the words sound alive in the mouth or the head.

I like moments of repetition because that is where I find children - whether being read to, reading themselves, or maybe both - can join in with the story-making.  Those moments are where they enjoy predicting and recognising what’s coming next, and where they learn about the literacy game, the “let’s pretend” of a book.  I am also, I must admit, easily lured into a picture book by an element of quirkiness.

This is why – and please don’t back away – this review is about a book with the full title of "Stinky! OR How the Beautiful Smelly Warthog Found A Friend."

The writer, Ian Whybrow, is known for the Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs series, However, way before that, Whybrow wrote a marvellous chapter book “Little Wolf’s Book Of Badness”, where sweet, caring Little Wolf is sent to learn from Uncle Big Bad how to be a truly Bad Wolf and a credit to his parents. (Quotes such as “Fib Your Head Off” still resound in our family house at times of crisis.)

Stinky! is written with a similar sense of fun. Being a little warthog, Stinky is sweet but smelly. Mrs Crocodile and then Mrs Monkey ask Stinky over to play with their own little darlings. Stinky is as well behaved as can be but his aroma attracts swarms of “the tickly, quickly flies.” Havoc, blame and sadness follow. Only when Mrs Littlebird asks the now-bewildered Stinky round to play with her little baby is there a happy, insectiverous ending.

Stinky may not be the book for all children in every circumstance, nor for all grown-ups. Sweet it isn’t, but I’m sure many young children, especially boys, will laugh and enjoy the joke. It's an ideal book to borrow from your local library - if you still have one, that is.

The bold, cheery illustrations – another reason for my choice – are by the artist Lynne Chapman. Her brightly coloured work appears in a host of popular picture books, including Class Two At The Zoo by writer Julia Jarman so you will know that Lynne’s choice of pastels as her medium is anything but “pastel”. The pages of Stinky, like all her other books, vibrate with colour and are all worth looking out for.

Additionally, if you are a writer, illustrator, or just interested in picture books in general, do visit Lynne Chapman’s website, www.lynnechapman.co.uk, a truly value-for-viewing website. It has short videos about how she makes her books, and her blog gives an insight into the variety of work in an illustrators daily life, as well as pages from her sketchbooks and information about Sketchcrawl projects.

Meanwhile, if you’re anywhere up north, there’s an exhibition of Lynne’s work at Salford Art Gallery. Great for young children on summer holiday too, I suspect, but on till November 6th. And not stinky at all.

ps. For anyone alarmed by this double set of picture book titles, the next Awfully Big Review will not be a picture book. At all.

Penny Dolan

www.pennydolan.com

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Label Set

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