Turning to Crime
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Short Story on April 23, 2013
Recently, I’ve been turning my hand to crime-writing – inspired by some of the competitions mentioned on Helen’s blog.
I’ve sent my entry into the M.R. Hall competition (by email after the on-line form kept insisting that my entry was longer than the required 2,000 characters, but I think that glitch is fixed now).
My entry for the Cremona Hotel competition has been drafted – but will no doubt need a generous dose of spit and polish before it’s ready to go on its way.
Now I’m turning my mind to brainstorming ideas for the GKBC competition (stands for Giving Kudos to Brilliant Content) and after that there’s the ‘Win a Book’ competition in the May issue of Writing Magazine (write 250 words in which someone pulls a gun on a bank cashier).
Alongside this, and to get me into the mind-set of a crime writer, I’ve been reading Crime in the City – the Official Crime Writers’ Association Anthology 2003. I’ve just looked on Amazon and only second-hand copies are available now – so maybe I’ve got a rarity here!
Like all good stories, these tales are character-led and usually contain no great detail about the mechanics of the crime involved or the police procedures used in solving it. The latter often puts people (including me) off penning crime fiction for fear of getting the investigative procedures wrong, so short stories could be a good starting point.
The best way of finding out about police procedure is to make friends with a policeman but failing that, there are resources available on the internet. After a quick trawl I’ve found:
- Crime and Clues – the Art and Science of Criminal Investigation
- Writers Write – this page lists several websites that might interest crime writers
- Writing.ie -Really Useful Links for Crime Writers
Or if you want some advice from the professionals (and have £99 to spare) why not book a place on Creative Thursday at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Festival.
Now, time to decide how my next victim’s going to die …
Reviewing ‘Indie’ E-books and Goodreads
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Self-publishing on April 16, 2013
Since starting my own adventures in e-publishing I’ve started reading more self-published e-books. I’ve been doing this for two reasons:
- I want to see what types of thing people are publishing
- I want to support other writers in the same way that I’ve been supported
Taking the second point – the best way to support self-published authors is to give them a review. It doesn’t have to be a full-on 5 star rave about the book – just a few words to show that the book has been read and enjoyed (if you have enjoyed it, obviously).
A while ago I read and reviewed something which I enjoyed. The book had held my attention from beginning to end and I looked forward to picking up again each night (I generally only read at bedtime). There were some formatting errors in the text but they didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the narrative. So, when I left my review I didn’t mention these errors, I concentrated on the book’s literary content.
Now a comment has been added to my review, indicating that I should have pointed out the formatting problems and downgraded my star rating accordingly.
My first reaction to this was anger that someone had dared to criticise my opinion and I had to restrain myself from commenting back and thus getting into a public argument.
Now that I’ve had chance to calm down and think about it, I realise that I was probably wrong not to mention the formatting issues. However, my review was the first one for that book and I didn’t want to give it the kiss of death – but I did want to leave a comment to say that I’d enjoyed it.
What would you have done?
I’ve recently tried another book and found it contains several punctuation mistakes. So, I’m not going to leave a review at all, regardless of the quality of the story, because I don’t want to get a reputation for dishonest reviews.
I’ve learned a lesson from all this – ‘Look Inside’ or download a sample of the book before buying to ensure that formatting, punctuation etc. is up to scratch.
Talking of books and reviews, My two short story anthologies and I are now enrolled in Goodreads. You can see us here.
Any tips on getting the most out of Goodreads, either as an author or a reader, would be gratefully received.
Lancashire Authors’ Association Flash Fiction Competition, Guest Posts & Royalties
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Self-publishing on April 9, 2013
Firstly, the Lancashire Authors’ Association has been in touch to tell me that they are holding another Flash Fiction Competition.
The winning entry will receive £250. Stories must be exactly 100 words, excluding the title.
Entry fee is £2 (or £1 if you happen to be a member of the Lancashire Authors’ Association) and entries can be submitted by post or email up to the closing date of June 30th 2013.
Rules are available here along with last year’s winning 100 word story.
Secondly, I’ve been getting around a bit recently in conjunction with my current obsession with e-publishing. You may have noticed me:
- On Womag’s blog describing how e-publishing is easier than you might think
- On the Writers’ Bureau blog talking about e-book covers
- On Nick Daws blog where I looked at the options when an e-book isn’t selling. I won this appearance on Nick’s blog via his blogging competition which I told you about a few weeks ago and the other part of my prize was a copy of his e-course Blogging for Writers.
Thirdly, I’ve received my very first Amazon royalty payment – 31p! It covers the US site for the last few days of January after the launch of One Day for Me. I was a bit surprised because I thought nothing was paid out until the royalties amounted to $10. Consequently, I haven’t yet got my US tax exemption sorted out – so they’ve taken 13p in tax, otherwise I would’ve had 44p! Take note, e-publishing is not a get rich quick scheme!
Getting to Grips with E-Publishing 3
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Computers & Technical, Resources, Self-publishing on April 2, 2013
After all the wonderful advice I got on my previous post about cover design, I thought I’d got things
under control in that department. But my attempt at a cover for my third book was so abysmal that I daren’t even show it to you here. Compared with similar books already on Amazon it looked very basic and most definitely amateurish.
I think this is because the book is non-fiction and therefore requires a very business-like cover to get anywhere near competing with the hundreds of other books on the same subject.
So I decided to call in the professionals. I used the website Fiverr. This site features hundreds (or maybe thousands even) of sellers offering their services for just $5. The range of services is vast from personalised greetings cards, translations and bespoke bedtime stories. But there are also lots of e-book cover designers on there too.
I picked one of the top-rated designers (like on EBay, buyers have to leave feedback on the service they received) and told her the title of the book, what it was about and a brief suggestion about the type of image that might be suitable (it is also possible to send the designer a specific photo if you have one that you want to include on the cover).
Two days later my cover design was delivered and you can see it on this post. It’s much better than I could produce. I’ve borrowed the title from a ‘column’ on the Open Writing website which runs an extract from this blog each week (the site includes lots of other writing from around the world, too).
A Writer on Writing is a compilation of 14 of my articles that have appeared in the UK writing press, such as Writing Magazine & Writers News, The New Writer, Writers’ Forum and Freelance Market News. They cover subjects as diverse as generating ideas, writing articles with an anniversary ‘hook’ and flash fiction.
As I did with my other books, I have set an introductory price of 77p – with a view to increasing it when I see how sales go. Setting the perfect price point to encourage buyers without devaluing the work involved in producing a book is very difficult. 77p is the lowest price point available to independent authors.
Click here to see the book on Amazon UK and here to see the book on Amazon COM. It’s also available on all other Amazon sites by searching for ASIN: B00C0GBRS6 or by title and author.
I’ll keep you posted on how my e-publishing empire is growing (or not as the case may be!).
Writing the Mystery Novel
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Resources, Self-publishing on March 28, 2013
Has anyone ever been on one of Lois Maddox’s ‘Relax and Write’ weekends?
Mystery (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m feeling excited because I’ve just booked ‘Writing the Mystery Novel’ with Eileen Robertson, in Leeds. It’s a birthday present from my mum (I had a big birthday a couple of weeks ago) and I’m really looking forward to it – even though it’s not until October.
A fellow Midlands writer, David Gough, has just been on a ‘Discover Travel Writing’ course with Lois’ organisation and gave me a glowing report about it.
So why did I choose mystery novel-writing? Two reasons:
- I enjoy crime/thriller/mystery novels and most of my TV viewing is in the same genre – anything from the ‘cosy’ crime of Midsomer Murders through New Tricks to the grittier Scandinavian dramas of The Killing and Wallander.
- I saw some interesting statistics on BookBub (a site which advertises special offer e-books to thousands of email subscribers). These showed that many more of their readers are interested in buying mysteries and thrillers than any other genre. At the time of writing they have 410,000 subscribers interested in these types of books compared to Romance, which is the next largest genre at 310,000 subscribers. If you’re interested in how other genres fare, have a look here.
I know that I won’t come back from Leeds a fully fledged mystery novelist but I hope to be inspired both by the course itself and the chance to mix with other writers (as well as having the chance to stay in what is described as 4-star venue).
Roll on October!
No one understands me …
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Writing on March 17, 2013
… like another writer.
Everyone knows that writing is a lonely business, a solitary pursuit that is not for those who need other people around them.
I don’t mind being alone with my computer or notepad – I quite like my own company. But some sort of evolutionary process has made us humans into social beings who, occasionally, need interaction with like-minded people.
And ‘like-minded’ can be the difficult bit. I have a lovely family but they are not writers and have no interest in the literary world, bar a library book to read before bed. So it’s difficult to share with them the ups and downs of a writer’s life.
I don’t tell my husband about every rejection I receive or every competition in which I fail to even make the short-list. He’d probably ask me why I was bothering to write anything at all. But, to justify the time I spend at the keyboard, I do tell him in great detail about every success, however tiny. But that doesn’t count as an interaction with a like-minded person.
That’s why it’s so liberating when I get to meet up with another writer, especially one who shares the same interests as me. How good it is to talk to someone who knows the difference between a story for People’s Friend and one for Take a Break. How nice it is to see the sympathy in someone’s eyes when you tell them about the rejection of a story that you were sure had been absolutely perfect for your chosen market. And how great to share news of a success!
And it’s absolutely wonderful to talk to someone who doesn’t see writing as your little ‘eccentricity’ that you are indulging in now that the children are almost grown-up.
I’m very lucky in having a great writing buddy in Helen. Last week we had our quarterly catch-up and target-setting. Back home I’m thinking I was too ambitious in my targets – probably caused by the over-enthusiasm generated by talking to another writer. But never mind – it will do me good to aim high.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a virtual friend in person for the first time. I got to know Sharon via this blog and discovered she lived in the same town where I was brought up. So last time I was in the area we met for coffee. Sharon runs Fiction Addiction – an online critique group for womag writers. It was good to put a face to a name and share the trials and tribulations of trying to get published!
So how do you feed the need to share the frustrations and joys of writing? Are you lucky enough to have a like-minded partner or maybe you let off steam on a writers’ forum?
Publishing an E-Anthology – Is It Worth It?
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Computers & Technical, Promotion, Self-publishing on March 10, 2013
This question appears in Della Galton’s column in the current Writers’ Forum magazine. I thought I’d try to answer it using my own experience, with two anthologies published over the last six weeks or so.
I published One Day For Me on 23rd January and, as of 6th March, I have sold 63 copies, 3 on Amazon.com and the rest in the UK. Of the UK sales, 58 were at 77p each (giving me a 26p royalty each) and 2 were at £1.53 (giving me £1.03 royalty each). This has given me total UK royalties of £17.14.
I published Old Friends on 22nd February and, as of 6th March, I have sold 20 copies, all in the UK at 77p each. This has given me total UK royalties of £5.20.
So, financially, I say it has not been worthwhile. BUT I still have a lot to learn about e-book marketing and the inner workings of the great Amazon machine. So I’m hoping that once I get my head around that and also publish a couple more books that I have ideas for, sales will improve. In the meantime, if anyone knows how to get a foothold in the US market – please let me know!
Forgetting the financial side of it, there have been many other benefits from dipping my toe into e-publishing.
I’ve had lots of positive feedback from people who’ve read the books, particularly One Day For Me, in the form of Amazon reviews, emails and face to face. Also, I’ve learnt that those outside the ‘writing industry’ often don’t appreciate the importance of leaving reviews for books they’ve enjoyed – and many simply don’t know how to do it.
But the best thing to come out of this experience is the new respect that family, friends and work colleagues have for my writing. It is no longer just ‘a little hobby’. Instead it is something that has a tangible product which is on sale worldwide and which they can buy. This has made me feel more professional and less guilty about claiming to be a writer.
So, in summary – YES, the anthologies have definitely been worthwhile.
And if you buy one, I think you’ll find they’re a worthwhile read as well!
One Day For Me: 8 Award-Winning Stories – these stories have all either won or been shortlisted in UK national writing competitions.
Old Friends: 13 Coffee Break Stories – these stories have all previously appeared in UK magazines
Women’s Walking Magazine
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets, Non-fiction on March 3, 2013
I bought Women’s Walking magazine this week, for two reasons:
- It’s a new magazine (the current issue is only no. 2) and I thought it might contain a market opportunity
- I like walking but didn’t realise that such a simple exercise could need a whole magazine devoted to it
As far as market opportunities go, I’m not too hopeful:
Flicking through the pages and looking at the credentials of some of the magazine’s contributors tells me that I’m not qualified to pitch anything remotely related to the Health, Nutrition, Workout and Fitness sections of the magazine.
There’s a couple of ‘Real-Life’ features, one about a woman who lost seven stone by walking and another about a woman who walked her way back to health after an accident. Nothing so dramatic has happened to me (thank goodness!) so no openings there.
There’s a ‘My Life’ page, which tells the part that walking plays in the life of one individual woman. This month it is Pippa Kendrick, a published food writer – so I don’t think they’re looking for any Tom, Dick or Sally.
That leaves me to dream up a more general article. The magazine includes one this month on charity fundraising (for sponsored walks) plus a list of the best walking marathons. I’ve done a few 26 mile walks, so I wonder if I could do something along those lines…
But I think the best place to start is with the letters page – there’s a pair of walking shoes worth £90 for the star letter, nothing for the others. Nine letters were published in issue 2, mostly praising the magazine and describing what walking means to the writer. I’m going to think of something different!
And is it possible to devote a whole magazine to women’s walking? It appears so but there’s also lots of stuff in there about general fitness and equipment too. I particularly liked one of their tips for getting a flatter stomach – apparently a good night’s sleep is essential, people getting between five and six hours sleep have bigger waistlines than those sleeping for seven or eight hours – I like the idea of toning up whilst I’m dreaming!
So what do the rest of you do to combat the sedentary life of a writer? I go to the occasional BodyCombat class – lots of kicking and punching at an imaginary partner is great for getting rid of aggression – and I find swimming helps me think.
Sally Jenkins 