Articles: Top tips from the Writer's Handbook

Want to get published?

CompletelyNovel take you for a whistle-stop tour of the Writer’s Handbook Live Event.

This was an event put on by Palgrave Macmillan to accompany the launch of the Writer’s Handbook 2010.

We have top tips from the publishers, literary agents, authors and lecturers who spoke to aspiring writers at the event and also found out just why events like this are so useful if you’re looking to become the next bestseller.

I have to admit that I thought it could be a bad start to the morning when I arrived in the rain and promptly dripped water from my umbrella all over the signing in table…whoops! But thankfully the organisers from Palgrave Macmillan were extremely friendly and didn’t seem to mind that I’d nearly ruined their delegate list!

Yes,‘friendly’ is a very fitting word for the day. There were lots of opportunities for delegates and speakers to network, ask each other questions and chat about their experiences. The event featured lots of advice and insight into how the publishing industry really works. I think there was a good balance of positive encouragement for writers, and reminders of realistic expectations and the need for lots of hard work!

I hope you enjoy the film. There were a number of people who narrowly avoided being taken out by me as I wielded the tripod around, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, but I’m pleased to report that no writers were harmed in the making of it.

You can check out more photos of the event over on our Flickr page.

I was also delighted to meet the winner of the CompletelyNovel competition for two free tickets to the event. Congratulations also to the winners of the five copies of the Writer’s Handbook. The books will be on their way shortly.

Keep an eye out for newsletters and articles on the website for news of more competitions! On that note, if you are an historical ficiton fan, you might like to take a look here.

Author Maggie Dana and Will Atkinson from Macmillan New Writing share their thoughts with the crowd.

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  Anna

  10 Jun 18:02

  You should have been…although I guess as you wrote an article for the Handbook, you’re fairly in the know when it comes to the publishing world!