by Teika Recently, I’ve led a spate of workshops to do with the business of getting published. One question that’s cropped up a lot is whether it’s worth paying for editorial, mentoring or publishing support. My answer, in essence, is yes. But, it does come with a question – what is more precious to the […]
Continue reading
Q&A with Jennifer Grigg of Green Bottle Press
by Teika Jennifer Grigg of the wonderful Green Bottle Press was kind enough to answer my questions about poetry publishing. Huge thanks to Jennifer for her thoughtful and insightful answers. 1. Why poetry publishing? Or, to put it another way – if, a decade ago, you were asked the question: ‘What do you […]
Continue reading
Fairy tales and the lessons they offer writers
By Teika As someone with a keen interest in fairy tales and their psychological richness, I cannot help but be aware of their continued applicability, even in today’s publishing world. We make sense of the world through stories, so I thought it may be of use to run through some common narratives to glean some […]
Continue reading
Q&A with writer Dan Micklethwaite on the short story writing process
As Dan is an author with an impressive work ethic and attitude to the process of short story writing and submitting, I thought it would be incredibly useful to take a peek into Dan’s writing process by getting him involved in this Q&A. I was absolutely correct – his answers are both useful and enlightening. […]
Continue reading
The cost of cons and invisible returns
By Teika: When I recently totted up the costs of attending Ytterbium, the name for this year’s annual Eastercon (the annual UK science fiction convention), it was rather disheartening to see that: petrol + car park fees + tickets for the con + table costs + hotel costs + food + drink = a lot […]
Continue reading
I’ll do it tomorrow
By Tom: Procrastination is a foe that many writers know well. To win at the game of publication, it’s a monster that must be slayed. Which is a shame because it’s basically part of you. Getting to the psychological foundations of procrastination is tricky, but essential, if we are ever going to succeed […]
Continue reading
Q&A with writer Angela Readman
by Teika Achieving remarkable success in any one form of writing is challenging enough, but to be able to achieve that kind of success in a variety of forms really does take some doing. Today, I am delighted to be able to welcome Angela Readman to the blog, in order to get nosy about her […]
Continue reading
A marathon of sprints
By Tom: Writing a book takes time. Unfortunately, time is a resource that is precious and limited, and for those of us without wealth or patronage, it usually has to be found in stolen, fragmentary moments. This can seem to be at odds with the sustained discipline needed for writing a novel or non-fiction book; […]
Continue reading
Q&A with short story writer Amanda Huggins
By Teika As I was recently emailed a request for advice about the short story submission process and how to decide which path to take to publication, I thought it would be great to hear from some of the most talented short story writers I know. The multiple prize-winning writer Amanda Huggins was kind enough […]
Continue reading
10 perennial problems in short story submissions
By Teika Having just now been in the thick of reading submissions for The Forgotten and the Fantastical 5, I was once again struck by the fact that year on year the same issues crop up in the short stories I’m sent. So I thought it would be of use to run through the most […]
Continue reading