Category Archives: Writing & Publishing

Alt.Fiction 2007 gets off to a rousing start with talks from Mark Chadbourne, james Barcla, Stan Nichols and a bundle of other writers. There is a fantastic selection of book stalls that I’m yet to even get near – I’ve stepped out for a bit to eat lunch and let the brain cool down afterContinue reading “Alt.Fiction Bulletin 1”

I wish I could have latched onto any of the more intelligent concepts in this gnarly, supremely accurate and well overdue article by Julian Gough, but the concept of Wangst has had me chorling with venemous glee all morning. I’m going to go a step further than my pal Julian and declare Wangst the new born genre of commercial fictionContinue reading “Wangst”

Today is good day in the world because George R R Martin is writing ‘A Dance with Dragons’. The next volume of of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ is probably the most eagerly awaited book in the world. If you don’t believe me then pick up volume one, ‘A Game of Thrones’ and start reading.Continue reading “Dragon Smack”

‘Although reading is linear, writing is not.’ Rudy Rucker, The Transrealist Manifesto Where have all the manifestos gone? Art is like motor racing, whilst winning is all well and good its the chance of witnessing a bloody great crash that makes it compelling. Or being in one. Without the odd revolutionary manifesto every once inContinue reading “Transrealism”

Once again the National Short Story Prize have neglected to include me on their shortlist. The nerve of it! Instead they chose this lot: ‘Slog’s Dad’ by David Almond ‘The Morena’ by Jonathan Falla ‘The Orphan and the Mob’ by Julian Gough ‘How to Get Away with Suicide’ by Jackie Kay ‘Weddings and Beheadings’ by HanifContinue reading “The Short Story”

An interesting enquiry to Miss Snark the mystery literary agent. How do you deal with embarrassing novels from earlier literary personae? And when, if ever, do you raise them with an agent? One of the positive consequences of having crashed and burned on multiple novel writing projects is that none of my unborn children madeContinue reading “Career Management”

A catchy little 12 point guide to  selling your self as a professional writer by Meg Rosoff. My personal favourite… ‘Contrary to popular belief, editors and agents are gagging for good books.’ Meg Rosoff Imagine you’re being paid 35k a year as an editor for Random House. You’ve got three kids, a husband / wifeContinue reading “Sell Sell Sell”

If you were harbouring any ideas about the wonders of being a first time novelist, read this. So its a tough world out there. Does this really take anyone by surprise? Are there people out there who think establishing a career as a professional novelist is just a matter of pitching up on an MAContinue reading “Its Tough Out There”

An interesting breakdown of the literary fiction genre by Toby Litt. Its refreshing to see someone usualy heavily associated with LitFic abandon the partisan position and admit that at bottom is just another genre. Toby is in a good place to comment, being represented by the Mic Cheetham agency who happen to also have IainContinue reading “The Litt Fic Genre”

Note to self: send story to Anne Vandermeer, new fiction editor of Weird Tales. Full release here

There is a great little post over at Tobias Buckel’s blog about hustling for freelance work to support a writing career. I’m not sure I’d advise taking out a six month loan (thats about 10 – 12k!) unless you are uber serious, totally confidant in your writing skills and have at least a few publicationsContinue reading “Word Hustler”

Agent and former leading SF / Fantasy editor John Jarrold on the route to publication. More information about John here Or see the original thread at the TTA Press forum here ***** This does vary from company to company, but here is the general route for a new writer: Basically, every editor in London willContinue reading “99% Crap”