Articles

Nathan Bransford: A literary agent worth visiting by Anna Lewis

published on 2010-06-24

Just a quick blog post to say that writers, if you haven’t already come across Nathan Bransford you should definitely check out his blog. Nathan wrote this article in the New York Times entitled The Rejection Letter of the Future Will Be Silence (And Why This is a Good Thing). He makes a lot of really great points around the way that the publishing industry is changing. In his opinion, it is no bad thing that digital publishing and self-publishing means that there are lots more books available. He doesn’t like the fact that he has to ‘reject’ many manuscripts because they are not commercially viable for him to take on (and therefore trample on the dreams of many an aspiring writer). The fact is that they may have an audience out there, and now it is possible for an author to try and reach that audience themself.

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Reading to an Audience: Tips from Nikesh Shukla by Nikesh Shukla

published on 2010-06-24

There are many ways to promote your writing: blogs, Facebook notes with your friends tagged, Twitter, writing sites… but these always run the danger of attracting the same audiences. There are ways to reach new audiences, showcase your work, be at the same types of events as undercover agents (literary not spy). All you have to do is read… out loud… in front of people. Nikesh Shukla, writer and regular on the live literature scene offers some great tips on how to read to an audience and walk away smiling.

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Four ways to make your life easier if you self publish by Anna Lewis

published on 2010-06-21

I recently posted an article on the Publishing Talk Blog. It’s called Four ways to make your life easier if you self publish It’s a fact that not every author is going to have experience as a designer, typesetter or book production manager. This article is about investing a little time initially to get to grips with a few aspects of publishing books to save lots of time in the long run and ensure that your finished book looks professional.

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Future Human: Immersion Drama by Cathy Adams

published on 2010-06-21

Bad Idea’s Future Human Club landed once again last Wednesday at the Book Club in Shoreditch, with their latest event, Immersion Drama. Immersion drama is exactly that: an emerging form that looks for more immersive, interactive and personal experiences when telling stories. The night looked at the evolution of storytelling with the advent of new technology and that great resource called the World Wide Web, and how storytellers can actively engage their audience in new ways.

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CompletelyNovel Elevator Pitch: Alan Baker by Anna Lewis

published on 2010-06-15

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself stuck in an elevator with exactly the kind of publisher that might be interested in publishing your book? Would you punch all the buttons and run out screaming at the earliest opportunity, or would you grab the bull by the horns and pitch your heart out.* We took to the elevator with writer Alan Baker who has published The Martian Ambassador as well as a number of other books on CompletelyNovel, to see how he copes under the pressure! *Slyly pushing the emergency button so that they are trapped in there with you for hours is not an option by the way.

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The Arvon Foundation works with if:book and CompletelyNovel.com to create a unique anthology with a digital twist by Anna Lewis

published on 2010-06-11

PRESS RELEASE Last night the “Free Word Centre”: hosted the launch of ‘All of These Things Are True and Not True’, an anthology made up of an unusual combination of new fiction, poetry and playwriting from nine writers who took part in the Jerwood/Arvon Mentoring Scheme. To engage with audiences online and off, Arvon has worked with CompletelyNovel.com to produce a print-on-demand paperback version of ’All these Things Are True and Not True and also make the book available to read and buy through the CompletelyNovel BookStreamer and website.

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Spot the difference: CompletelyNovel updates, June 2010 by Anna Lewis

published on 2010-06-08

CompletelyNovel has changed a bit – here’s a run-down of the changes in case you haven;t spotted them, and also a quick word on what we will be working on over the next few months. Thanks to everyone who has given us such useful feedback!

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How did you choose your book's title? by Anna Lewis

published on 2010-06-08

Coming up with names is pretty tricky. Anyone who has ever tried to name a baby, company or band will probably share your pain. You can start by brainstorming but there always seem to be lots of reasons to reject what comes out. Then you find the perfect name…only to discover someone else has already taken it (perhaps not such a problem when it comes to babies as hopefully you won’t be intending to sell them).

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Useful Publishing Links: Week 4 - ebook formats, social media marketing by Anna Lewis

published on 2010-06-07

Some more handy links that we think you might like to take a look at from the web. Let us know if you come across anything that you think other CompletelyNovellors would be interested in.

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When Twitter doesn't come naturally: a starter guide for authors by Anna Lewis

published on 2010-06-04

If you find that twitter just doesn’t come naturally to you, the first thing you should know is that you are not the only one. Don’t worry – like many things on the web, a bit of watching, playing and trying things out should set you up nicely. We’ve put together a quick guide so that you, as an author can get started using Twitter to help move your writing career forward. It is good to start off by figuring out how Twitter can help you. What do you want to get out of using Twitter? If you don’t know why you are doing it, then it’s hard to know if it is working! Here are our tips to getting started with Twitter.

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