Posts Tagged Lee Benson
5 Questions About Writing With . . . Lee Benson
Posted by Sally Jenkins in 5 Questions About Writing, Poetry, Writing for Children, Writing Handicaps on May 6, 2025
Lee Benson was the owner of successful Birmingham art gallery ‘Number Nine’ for 14 years and the sales director of a commercial gallery prior to that. 
He is a fine watercolourist with two sell out solo exhibitions and many group shows. Lee has published 11 children’s illustrated books, six of which were recorded for TV. He has visited over 100 schools performing the stories and has been a guest author for World Book Day as far afield as Dubai and Stourbridge. Lee has also had nine books of poetry published, with two new collections due for release early this summer. He has produced three novels, a ghost story and seven complete discographies in collaboration with A. Sparke. Under the pen name of Lee Hemingway he released an alien crime novella in the USA.
Lee can be contacted through his website: https://thecreativeleebenson.com/
All of his books can be viewed on his Amazon page.
How do you discipline/motivate yourself to write and do you set daily targets?
Great question. My mind is always busy and so is my life. I put myself into writing mode by walking in the fresh air and absorbing the atmosphere. This applies to both my children’s stories and my poems. When my mind is in the right gear, I write. I write from within the story. I see it, then write it.
What are the most important qualities required by a writer? Do you have them?
Self-belief.
I do not believe in writing to order or being formulaic. If I’m not feeling it myself, it gets binned. I hate rewriting chapters so I edit in my head first before committing to paper. My wife is a great listener, she tells me if it flows or if it doesn’t make sense. We all love reassurance that what we have created is good. Children are the best critics for my children’s tales.
How do you market yourself and your books?
I use all social media badly. I find performing at schools is the best way to sell my children’s books. After a lockdown drought, schools are letting us indie authors in again but the receptionist frontline can be a tight fortress to get through, plus teachers have to follow protocols now.
Which writing resources have you found useful, e.g., books, courses, organisations, websites etc.?
Because I am dyslexic writing courses are difficult and frustrating. Searching for help is even more challenging. You have to ask the right logical questions to get to the right logical answers and I have a problem with thinking logically. So I rely on my brain and my life experiences to help me.
A top tip for other writers?
Write away selflessly without editing. Don’t think you have to write a certain amount of words per day. If it flows, then go for it.
About Random Hopefulness – published October 2024
Random Hopefulness is a collection of observations on humour, love and loss, with a little tongue in cheek included for good measure. It is the first of a new series of poetic oddities. Lee focuses on what is all around us. He says, “Sometimes I don’t realise I am writing at mad unholy hours and voila in the morning, there it is, Random Hopefulness is the answer.”
7 Interview Tips for Authors
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Promotion, public speaking, Successes on April 25, 2025
I’ve had an exciting time since the launch of Out of Control in mid-March.
My bestseller flag!
The Kindle version achieved one of those little orange bestseller flags in the UK Kindle Parenting and Family Humour chart! Quite a niche chart, I admit, and the flag might not still be there when you read this but, for a short while at least, I basked in the glory of being a bestselling author!
Also, over the past month I’ve chatted on two radio shows, West Wilts Radio with Chris Penhall and Black Country Xtra with Lee Benson (to air 18/5/25). I featured in a quickfire video interview with Joffe Books and was invited to write a guest post on publishing for the Pounds and Sense personal finance blog, which is aimed at the over 50s and therefore fits very nicely with Fiona, the new retiree in Out of Control.
The prospect of being interviewed, either for radio or video, strikes fear into the heart of many of us! So I’ve listed below the strategies that helped me sound reasonably (I hope!) coherent rather than gabbling. Full disclosure: The interviews that I did were all pre-recorded so I knew anything that did go wrong could be edited away.
- Ask in advance if there are any particular questions or topics that the interviewer would like to cover and get your material ready.
- Prepare (and practise!) the elevator pitch for your latest book or whatever you are publicising. People won’t be persuaded to buy from an author who can’t succinctly describe his plot and characters.
- If you are asked to choose music as part of a radio show, have a reason why you’ve chosen a particular track. Does it remind you of a particular event or person? Do the words of the song mean something special to you? Does a character in your book dance to this tune?
- If you are being interviewed remotely via a video conferencing app (as I was) ensure that the house will be quiet (ideally empty!). Close windows and doors to avoid a sudden siren or traffic noise spoiling things. Put your mobile on silent and take any landline off the hook.
- If it is a video interview be aware of your background. It might be appropriate to have a bookshelf in the background with a display of your books. I had a canvas of my cover art on the wall behind me.
- If you have ‘iffy’ wi-fi, position yourself where you get the strongest signal. And make sure your laptop camera and microphone are working.
- Enjoy yourself! It’s rare to get the opportunity to talk about yourself and your books to your heart’s content.
Book Fairs
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Events, Markets, Promotion on February 15, 2025
Book Fairs appear to be growing in popularity. These are gatherings of large numbers of authors for the purpose of signing and selling books to the reading public. Authors pay for a table at these events. Sometimes readers have to pay an entrance fee and sometimes the events are free entry. 
These are not the same as Literature/Book Festivals where there is a program based around authors speaking about their books. Nor are they the same as events like The London Book Fair which is principally for the publishing industry, not the reading community.
There has been some discussion amongst the members of the New Street Authors Collective about whether Book Fairs are financially worthwhile. Tables usually cost upwards of £25 with those located in prime spots, and thus receiving the most footfall, priced higher. Many events cost significantly more than that. Adding in the cost of travel, parking and food and drink increases the financial outlay even more. Depending on how much authors charge for their books, the profit per book over cost price may be around £3. The sheer number of authors at these events means that competition is fierce and therefore the number of books sold may well only be in single figures. This means that many authors won’t make money at these events.
I’ve never attended one of these book signings and so I asked my fellow writers what the attraction was, given that they were likely to end up out of pocket.
F. D. Lee – “You don’t get many sales but more often than not you do get fans and fans will be loyal to you whatever you do.”
Dawn Abigail – “For me it’s a question of having some ulterior motive, i.e., Do I want to go, irrespective of how much I sell? If so, then sales are just a bonus.”
Jill Griffin – “It’s a good way to meet other authors and share information.”
Lee Benson – “I enjoy meeting people in the flesh and, at the shows I’ve attended, I’ve always sold books as well as getting school performance bookings and meeting other authors who want to be interviewed for my radio show and vice versa.”
The attraction of Book Fairs for authors is not wealth and riches – we all know that the average writer earns a pittance from his work – but the social aspect of mixing with other bookish people and comparing notes.
If you’d like to dip your toe into this world, whether as an author or a reader, here are a few places to try:
Book Extravaganzas (Midlands) organised by Rosie’s Retro Bazaar and Fantom Publishing
Book Signing Events in the UK A range of genres and locations
UK Book Signing Events Private Facebook Group
Sally Jenkins 