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Hurray for Social Media!

24/1/2014

3 Comments

 
Soon after attending the ‘debate’ on Black publishers, which I talked about in my last blog, I attended another very interesting event: ‘Gatekeepers in fiction publishing’ which was organised by a London based organisation: ‘Spread the Word’.

Coming to terms with the powerful roles gatekeepers play in deciding which works of fiction get published and which get cast aside or remain on the so called slush pile, was rather daunting and a little demoralising. However, on the positive side, it was encouraging to hear about the tremendous publishing opportunities social media such as Kindle, on-line magazines and blogs currently offer writers.  

I can safely say that I have found social media invaluable, not only for promoting my writing, but also for getting my work published.

My first published short story, ‘The Last Leg’, came out of an exercise I was given in one of Jacob Ross’s writing workshops. The instructions were to write a short story with a whole recipe running through it. A challenge, I thought at first, but I produced, ‘The Last Leg’.

This story fell under the genre of crime. I was even newer to the publishing world than I am now, so wasn’t quite sure where I could get it published.  I left it sitting around for over a year, then took good advice and googled ‘crime stories’, whereupon I found the Short-Story.Me website. I submitted to them and hey presto, they said they would publish it. Chuffed? You bet I was. And what a boost it gave to my confidence as a writer.  


I’m sure many emerging writers have similar tales to tell.

Thank you social media!

As writers we are always told by those who know about the publishing world that short stories don’t really sell. We are told that if we’re not a known author (i.e. have one or two published novels behind us) publishers will not be interested in taking a risk on a book of short stories from us. Even if they do, we shouldn’t expect to make any money from sales.

Sadly, making money from published short stories is still extremely unlikely, but if the main aim is to get readers reading your work, the money’s not too much of a problem.

It is fair to say that gatekeepers will always exist in one form or another in fiction publishing, but I think the most important gatekeepers are readers. They are the ones who really give the writer that big red tick and worth while recommendations.

Check out my article on the ‘Gatekeepers in Fiction Publishing’ event published in the New Black Magazine.

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As always, feel free to leave your comments.
3 Comments

The Publishing Maze

17/1/2014

2 Comments

 
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I have found that as I progress into taking my writing more seriously, it has become imperative to keep an eye out on what’s going on in the publishing world.

Having a number of writing projects on the go and working full-time does not leave me much time for this, but I have decided to make a concerted effort to at least get about to more literary events which will enable me to learn more about what feels like ‘the publishing maze’.


At the tail end of 2013, I attended a literary event entitled, ‘The State of Black Publishing in the UK’. It was organised by Words of Colour Productions.


The panel consisted of four individuals from the publishing world. They were: Patsy Antoine, former editor at HarperCollins and former commissioning editor for Random House, Steve Pope former editor of The Voice newspaper and co-founder of X Press, Kadija (George) Sesay the founder of SABLE LitMag and series editor for the Inscribe imprint at Peepal Tree Press. The fourth was Jacob Ross, whom I have learnt a great deal from in writing workshops I attended in the earlier stages of my writing. I discovered at this meeting that he was also a former editor of Artrage Intercultural Arts magazine and an associate editor for fiction at Peepal Tree Press.

At the event, Joy Francis, Executive Director of Words of Colour Productions, informed the audience, that there is a long history of Black publishing in this country. However, one of the key messages I took away from the event was that Black publishing in the UK is next to non-existent or at least struggling to exist.

(Did anyone notice the word ‘former’ attached to the titles of most of the panelists?)

A member of the audience said they felt there was a lack of trust on the part of talented Black writers towards Black publishing houses and also a lack of collaboration and mutual support between the two.

Even before attending the event, questions which sometimes crossed my mind (and still do) are:

1.      Would Black writers benefit from having Black publishers?
2.      Do Black publishers have a better understanding and appreciation of the work of Black writers and hence are more likely to publish their work?
3.      Is getting one's work published simply a question of whether or not one's writing ‘meets the mark’ i.e. is interesting and of a high standard, therefore making it publishable and marketable?

Very intriguing, I’m sure most of you will agree. This is something I will return to again in future blog entries.

Do you have any thoughts on this?



2 Comments

January 11th, 2014

11/1/2014

2 Comments

 
Yes, 2013 is over and we herald in 2014.
But what does it all mean this New Year stuff?
I mean, isn’t January 2014 simply the month after December 2013?

What’s all the fuss about? Has anything really changed?

I’d like to see the progression of time as me getting closer to achieving aims and ambitions. Although, I must admit in the last two months, I’ve felt like as soon as one of my goals get within my grasp, it wobbles further away, leaving me almost falling... oops, flat on my face.

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You bet, I'm gonna crack that nut!

H
ere’s to a brighter, more successful and goal achieving 2014! 


2 Comments

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    Commonwealth Short Story Competition Winner 2016
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    Crowning Glory
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    Darker Times Publishing
    Debbie Flint
    Debut Novel
    Dub Poet
    Editing
    Emma Darwin
    Exhibit B
    Features
    Flooded
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    Gatekeepers
    Goldsmith's University
    Hair
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    I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
    Jacob Ross
    Jamaica
    Joy Francis
    Kadija (George) Sesay
    Kendal Train Crash
    Kindle
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    Linton Kewesi `Johnson
    Literary Editor
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    MA Black British Writing
    Maya Angelou
    MIR Online
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    Nella Larsen
    Parashar Kulkarni
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    Patsy Antoine
    Peepal Tree Press
    Poet
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    Protoje
    Psychological
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    Quicksand & Passing
    QVC
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    SABLE LitMag
    Saturday's Soup
    Short-story.me
    Sister
    Social Media
    Somalia Seaton
    Steve Pope
    Still I Rise
    Sunrise Pic
    The Bump
    The Long Song
    The Mathematics Of Love
    The New Black Magazine
    The Voice Newspaper
    Transatlantic Slave Trade
    Treasure Beach
    Vegetables
    Vladimir Lucien
    War
    Well-being
    Whistling Frogs
    Women
    Words Of Colour
    Writing
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    Yvette Edwards

    Categories

    All
    A Cupboard Full Of Coats
    African Writer
    Americanah
    Andrea `Levy
    Arts
    Beauty
    Beverley East
    Black Women
    Blossoms
    Business
    Calabash Literary Festival
    Caribbean
    Cats
    Chimamanda Adichie
    Chris Abani
    Cocks Crowing
    Commonwealth Short Story Competition Winner 2016
    Creatures
    Crime
    Crowning Glory
    Cuts
    Darker Times Publishing
    Debbie Flint
    Debut Novel
    Dub Poet
    Editing
    Emma Darwin
    Exhibit B
    Features
    Flooded
    Freedom
    Gatekeepers
    Goldsmith's University
    Hair
    Heat Wave
    Hedgehog
    Historical Fiction
    Holding On
    I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
    Jacob Ross
    Jamaica
    Joy Francis
    Kadija (George) Sesay
    Kendal Train Crash
    Kindle
    Lifestyle
    Linton Kewesi `Johnson
    Literary Editor
    London
    Lovers
    MA Black British Writing
    Maya Angelou
    MIR Online
    Mother
    Motivation
    Nella Larsen
    Parashar Kulkarni
    Passion
    Patsy Antoine
    Peepal Tree Press
    Poet
    Political
    Politics
    Prejudices
    Protoje
    Psychological
    Publishers
    Publishing
    Quicksand & Passing
    QVC
    Rape
    Readers
    Reaper Of Souls
    Relationships
    Reviews
    SABLE LitMag
    Saturday's Soup
    Short-story.me
    Sister
    Social Media
    Somalia Seaton
    Steve Pope
    Still I Rise
    Sunrise Pic
    The Bump
    The Long Song
    The Mathematics Of Love
    The New Black Magazine
    The Voice Newspaper
    Transatlantic Slave Trade
    Treasure Beach
    Vegetables
    Vladimir Lucien
    War
    Well-being
    Whistling Frogs
    Women
    Words Of Colour
    Writing
    Writing Projects
    Yvette Edwards

    Categories

    All
    A Cupboard Full Of Coats
    African Writer
    Americanah
    Andrea `Levy
    Arts
    Beauty
    Beverley East
    Black Women
    Blossoms
    Business
    Calabash Literary Festival
    Caribbean
    Cats
    Chimamanda Adichie
    Chris Abani
    Cocks Crowing
    Commonwealth Short Story Competition Winner 2016
    Creatures
    Crime
    Crowning Glory
    Cuts
    Darker Times Publishing
    Debbie Flint
    Debut Novel
    Dub Poet
    Editing
    Emma Darwin
    Exhibit B
    Features
    Flooded
    Freedom
    Gatekeepers
    Goldsmith's University
    Hair
    Heat Wave
    Hedgehog
    Historical Fiction
    Holding On
    I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
    Jacob Ross
    Jamaica
    Joy Francis
    Kadija (George) Sesay
    Kendal Train Crash
    Kindle
    Lifestyle
    Linton Kewesi `Johnson
    Literary Editor
    London
    Lovers
    MA Black British Writing
    Maya Angelou
    MIR Online
    Mother
    Motivation
    Nella Larsen
    Parashar Kulkarni
    Passion
    Patsy Antoine
    Peepal Tree Press
    Poet
    Political
    Politics
    Prejudices
    Protoje
    Psychological
    Publishers
    Publishing
    Quicksand & Passing
    QVC
    Rape
    Readers
    Reaper Of Souls
    Relationships
    Reviews
    SABLE LitMag
    Saturday's Soup
    Short-story.me
    Sister
    Social Media
    Somalia Seaton
    Steve Pope
    Still I Rise
    Sunrise Pic
    The Bump
    The Long Song
    The Mathematics Of Love
    The New Black Magazine
    The Voice Newspaper
    Transatlantic Slave Trade
    Treasure Beach
    Vegetables
    Vladimir Lucien
    War
    Well-being
    Whistling Frogs
    Women
    Words Of Colour
    Writing
    Writing Projects
    Yvette Edwards

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