Serendipity at Southampton Writing Buddies – February 24th, 2012

We met once again at The Art House to discuss our work, questions, ideas and concerns. Jimmy chaired the meeting in Penny's absence.

Firstly, Mo was presented with a book token, the prize for her winning slogan in a competition run on Twitter and Facebook by another of the Writing Buddies but judged independently. She received an enthusiastic round of applause.

Glen had been delighted to receive a consignment of her new book, Voices of Eastleigh, and she'd brought a copy for us to see. She is holding a launch party, and will be signing at Waterstone's in Eastleigh on March 17th (likely 11am - 2pm). A salesman at The History Press has told her that copies are 'flying off the shelves', and Keith Hamilton of the Daily Echo has agreed to mention it in the paper.

Tessa has had to resubmit our anthology, Wordfall, for consideration for an award, as the organisers had evidently mislaid the carefully constructed entry, but it is still in time for the judging.

Mo has had much interest in her recent blog post about her earlier recovery from addiction, including from her publisher, and there may be other platforms for it. Some students are making a film of her story, 'Teddy Boys Picnic'. The American film director continues to seem interested in filming one of her plays, involving her in the screenwriting, but as yet there has been no firm offer of the film or of payment.

Jacqueline is working through her online course on short story writing, and is keeping up. She was taken aback by a lengthy, mainly negative critique, from a co-student, of her story which was to be just a first draft, but members were very supportive about this. Other critiques were kinder. She now has a writer's page on National Flash Fiction Day's site, and has started a new blog about vegetarian food. She has pitched a biog piece to The Lady magazine.

We then heard from Ricky Tart, who happened to be at The Art House and who helped put up the tables for our meeting! He is writing a novel but teaches poetry in local schools. He is helping people to put up iBooks (for the iPad), and spoke of the necessary preliminaries such as linking with a book company registered in the USA and creating an account at iTunes. He is going to send useful links, which we'll put on the loop.

Janet is still working on some short stories on a nursing theme.

Karen continues with her novel, but she has unearthed some earlier short stories, and is now editing them for possible submission.

Lynn has been thinking of a fantasy scenario which involves the physical shifting of a whole country, but she wasn't sure of the target audience. The group felt that almost any fantasy scenario is worth working on, especially if there is a planned placement for it.

Jimmy feels that his own photographs for his Southampton Miscellany have not been sufficiently professional, so he is working on these skills. He has had huge disruption with alterations in his home, but has found that he is able to block out the noise and concentrate surprisingly well. Other members wished they could do the same.

During the following discussion, Glen read out the review of Wordfall from the new edition of the SWWJ newsletter The Woman Writer. This was a positive review, and singled out two pieces for particular praise, one by Catherine and the other by Monica. We also discussed the pros and cons of having an agent for a book, and went through the options for the writer, such as agent, self publishing, direct approach to publishers, and eBooks or iBooks. We chatted a little about the nature of addiction and about a promised new version of Kindle involving colour and better pictures.

The next meeting will be on Friday March 9th, 2pm at The Art House, Above Bar, Southampton. We are pleased that Ben Ottridge of SelfSelfSelf will be explaining the arrangement whereby he will publish writers' work as an eBook for a percentage of any net profit but no upfront fee, spreading it to all the usual platforms. There will also be a general discussion on e-publishing. Anyone with an interest in writing is very welcome to join us.

Blog notes by Jacqueline Pye

Writing Buddies, 15 April 2011

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 15 April for a discussion on writing matters.

Elizabeth is still working on the second assignment for The Writers Bureau and has completed a little more of her book.

Sunida is studying magazine journalism at The Solent University.

Jacqueline is once more flowing with her writing and has had a letter accepted for Sainsbury's magazine. The current issue of Writers News has her short piece about World Book Night and she is about to be paid for her contribution to Peoples Friend magazine. Also, Writers Forum magazine has printed her letter. Jacqueline is currently reviewing a self published book and is finding many errors. Last but not least, Jacqueline has received an email from Yours magazine who would like her to write an article on sleep, for the July issue. The magazine has planned it out and expects 800 words by 1 June, for which they will pay £200.

Glen is continuing with her book on Eastleigh which she has been commissioned to write by The History Press. She has written about 13,000 words so far and the requirement is 30,000 plus photographs. She is finding it a little difficult transcribing her interviews but is enjoying writing the book.

Mike is a new member and is in his 3^rd year at Chichester University where he is studying Counselling Psychology. He has written prose and poetry and is currently working on his dissertation of 12,000 words.

Jimmy has just completed a short children’s book which, when illustrated, will be dedicated to his grandson. He is working on chapter 5 of his latest book. His visit to The London Book Fair was productive as he was able to get two publishers interested in his books.

Mo also attended The London Book Fair and took three chapters of her book to Black Spring Publishers. She was particularly interested in the Russian section at the fair.

Catherine is editing her novel and is currently on the second draft. She aims to complete this by the end of April. Catherine has posted an interview with the author, Margaret James on her blog and the Writers in Southampton group have asked Catherine to do a talk on blogging in February 2012. Catherine was pleased to announce that she has been long listed for the Flash 500 competition she entered.

Penny went to The London Book Fair on the final day and was surprised to find some of the stands packing up. She visited The History Press stand to obtain feed back on her book sales and was very pleased to hear that her latest published title, Haunted Southampton, had achieved sales of 1,085 between 1 February and 31 March 2011. She has four further book proposals and on 1 May her Winchester book will be released. Winchester Cathedral, which will be stocking this book, have asked Penny to host an event. Waterstones have suggested to Penny that she hosts another ghost evening talk, following the great success of the last one.

General topics discussed ranged from the importance of a correctly composed covering letter to a publisher, to the need of double checking spellings instead of just relying on the spell check facility on your computer. As previously discussed, Penny confirmed that the meeting on self publishing would be arranged for Friday 13 May, which will be the next meeting of Writing Buddies. Jimmy self published through Lulu a few years ago and will be able to give some insight into the pitfalls that he encountered. Lisa has published on line and also John has self published his book of poems.

The Writing Buddies window display at The Art House Café was discussed and Penny will check if it is booked for 14^th or 15^th May. Mo will be able to contribute a laptop plus two posters, magazines and front cover of her book. Business cards and flyers will be needed and Jacqueline confirmed that she is able to contribute. Penny asked members to think about the display and requested help in dressing the window.

New member, Mike, explained more about his counselling services and that he has a website and would like to set up a regular blog. His website is www.livingchanges.co.uk He works privately and also with NHS referrals.

The next meeting of Writing Buddies will be on Friday 13th May. The meeting will be about self publishing and author Martin Baum will be welcomed as a guest.

Post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies, December 17th, 2010

Despite the big chill, Southampton Writing Buddies met once again at The Art House, and had evidently put in a good deal of writing since the previous meeting.

Jacqueline is working on the ending of her children’s novel, and will go on to do a substantial edit. She has begun approaching critique services to choose one to advise once the work is ready. She has entered the HowTo Books latest competition, and pitched to publishers the idea for a small till-side stocking filler book for next Christmas.

Glen has a poem in the Portsmouth poetry book, This Island City, and she has recited her story about singing turkeys at some events – this was inspired by a soft toy. Now that the Express FM soap Conway Street, for which she was a script writer, has ended, she is in contact with The History Press about a book on Eastleigh.

Elizabeth is setting her goals for the new year, and plans to allocate time every day for her writing. Meanwhile, she has been continuing plotting and writing her novel.

Mo has completed 9000+ words of her novel, a sequel to A Blues for Shindig. She read poetry at the 451 event at The Nuffield Theatre, including two new poems; the evening was headlined by John Hegley. She is now reviewing her previous body of work which includes plays as well as poetry.

Tessa has a new computer. There were problems upgrading some existing programmes but she has found www.zinstall.com very helpful. They provide a way of installing older programmes on new computers, or of putting them on a virtual drive which can be transported to any computer. The first draft of the third book of her trilogy, Ladybird Soar, is completed and Tessa is now editing it. Agents have liked her wildflower book but have not felt able to take it on for practical reasons, and she is also trying publishers directly, but she may decide to self-publish. She is also considering a book on a food theme.

Christine has re-registered with The Writers Bureau, and has already completed the first assignment. She first registered many years ago, but they are happy for her to resume now with just a small payment for updated materials. She is editing the second book on young people’s mental health, and details are being discussed with the publisher. She may submit a piece for the HowTo Books competition, and is considering updating and rewriting a very old book on local walks.

Catherine was pleased to finish NaNoWriMo in good time, and will do further work on the book after the holiday. She plans to spend more time writing short stories again, for magazines and competitions. She has been entering competitions including one for blogs, and has so many followers that she is going to run her own competition. She is also considering joining the Romantic Novelists Association.

Jimmy is now working on chapter 22 of Java’s Revenge, and the proofs of his autobiography Growing Up in Southampton, Someone Else’s Trousers are due just after Christmas.

Lisa recently attended a crime and thriller workshop, and made many contacts. The speaker recommended the book Forensics for Dummies. She has entered short stories on authonomy, and has been blogging; her blog includes music reviews, and some links to it have started up from other sites including Facebook.

John read his poetry at the 451 event at The Nuffield, and thought the evening went well. He also read for a solo session at the Arches Bizarre event at The Bargate shopping mall; the audience at that time was small but there was a very positive response. He has entered the competition for an opinion columnist; the prize is substantial over a period of time.

Penny now has the software working for Wordfall, the Buddies’ Anthology, and it is taking shape. Richard Ashman from Southampton Central Library has agreed to proofread for us. Penny has been book-signing for Southampton Then and Now and Folklore of Southampton, including at Waterstone’s and ASDA. It was the first time ASDA had staged this sort of event; they produced a very good environment for her, and she sold an impressive number of books. She is currently working on Voices of Southampton, and is shortly to interview Carol Cunio, the city’s mayor.

Discussion followed, and topics included obtaining critiques, using #ff (forward Friday) on Twitter to recommend good people to follow, and a magazine Teller, which includes poems and short stories and is prestigious, though it does not pay writers. Marketing for our books was also discussed; it was agreed that Penny’s establishing ASDA as a signing venue could be helpful for Buddies’ future books. Various genres and competitions were also on the agenda.

This was the last Writing Buddies’ meeting for 2010; the next will be on Friday January 21st, at 2pm at The Art House, Above Bar, Southampton. Everyone with an interest in writing is very welcome. In the meantime, we wish everyone a productive and successful new year.
me, Glen, Elizabeth, Mo, Tessa, Christine, Catherine, Jimmy, Lisa, John and you), Writing Buddies, HowTo Books, John Hegley, Romantic Novelists Association, Authonomy, Facebook, Waterstone’s, ASDA, Teller.

Writing Buddies, 19th November 2010

The Writing Buddies met at the Art House Cafe in Southampton on Friday 19th November, 2010.

JACQUI has one more assignment to write for the Writer's Bureau Course she is studying. She is finding the feedback from her tutor very helpful and wants to concentrate on novel writing rather than short stories from now on.

GLEN has finished her last script for EXPRESS FM and has sent it off and received good feedback. She brought a book to the meeting, 'This Island City' - a collection of poems by Portsmouth writers. This was looked at with interest.

TESSA is working on the third novel in her trilogy, 'Ladybird Soar'. She is also working on her wild flowers book but hasn't had much interest from publishers so is considering self-publishing.

JOSEPHINE has nearly finished her latest textbook. She is thinking about re-starting her course with the Writer's Bureau and has ideas for further books and articles, particularly on embroidery as this is something she enjoys doing.

ANNE was welcomed as a new member. She is a student with the Writer's Bureau and has finished the non fiction assignments. She has had articles published in 'Yours' magazine and 'Nursery World.' She is now studying the fiction part of the course and is considering writing stories for 11-14 year olds. She also has an idea for a book on a walk from Romsey to Lymington that could be done over 5 days.

WENDY has written 4 books this year and brought one of them, 'Haunted Worthing' for the group to browse through. Another book, 'The Story of Pembrokshire' is due out on 1st December. 'Shipwrecks of Sussex' is now finished but 5,000 words over. Wendy intends to spend next year writing fiction for a change.

JIMMY continues to work on 'Java's Revenge'. He's writing Chapter 20 and the book is shaping up to be longer than the other 2 books in the trilogy. His book, 'Someone Else's Trousers' is almost ready to go to the publishers and the proofs should be delivered shortly.

ELIZABETH is working hard plotting and planning her novel. She needs to do some research for it but she's very pleased with progress so far.

CATHERINE has written 35,000 words for the NaNoWriMo challenge. She hopes to have the first draft of her novel written by January. She has prepared a column for 'Stylist' magazine and submitted some ideas to 'Slimming World.' The SWWJ (Society of Women Writers and Journalists) has just accepted Catherine as a probationary member.

MO is off to Berlin where an actor will record her work to accompany some art work. She's been contacted by a producer in America but she's not hopeful that it will come to anything. Mo is also planning a new novel.

JOHN is busy writing poetry and has some followers on 'Twitter and 'Facebook.' He told the group of two new literary magazines to look out for - 'Five Dials' and 'Shortlist Press.' Both of these could be good markets for short stories. John did a 750 word review for a Ben Willis book on 'Twitter' and got a free copy for his efforts. He'd like to write more reviews.

LISA recently attended a crime writers discussion group at the Portsmouth Book Festival. She has booked her place on the Harper Collins Authonomy Workshop in December. Lisa is also busy working on the sequel to her book.

PENNY has done some book signings for 'Southampton Then and Now' and the launch will be held on 28th November at 'The Old Farmhouse' in Southampton. She attended a function at 'Waterstones' for local authors recently but not many visitors came into the store on the evening it was held. She asked the group if anyone had any experiences they could share for her next book, 'Voices of Southampton.'

There followed a general discussion. Anne is keen to pursue her idea for the walking book and is looking for a suitable publisher. Penny suggested she should contact Simon Whalley, who has written several books on walking. She also advised Anne to have some idea of the length of the book.

Catherine asked if anyone had joined 'The Romantic Novelists Association'. A new novelist scheme is starting in January with limited places available. Penny said it was a well respected organisation and Wendy said she had joined in 1992 and had always been pleased with the help she had been given.

The Writing Buddies blog has been noticed by 'Wikipedia' for their 'Wiki' blogs. Penny received this news by email recently. The Writing Buddies Anthology book (due out in January) has been mentioned in the Southern Evening Echo.

Post written by Jacqueline Field.

The next meeting will be held at 2 pm on Friday December 3rd at the Art House, Above Bar, Southampton. All writers, aspiring or published, are welcome.

Writing Buddies, 4th June

Southampton Writing Buddies met at the Art House in Above Bar on Friday June 4th, and it seems that the Buddies have been busy.

Glen continues with her novel; as an exercise she has tried writing the last part before the rest is finished. She found this interesting, as did the other Buddies – none of us had tried this before.

Christine continues to have a brain busy with loads of writing ideas which need organising. She has, however, now finished editing her novel, and is currently typing it all.

Jimmy was disappointed with the version of his Sundance novels produced by lulu.com some time ago and so has withdrawn them. He is now working on the second of his cyber novels; he will use a slightly altered name for these. He has completed his autobiography.

Patricia has recently written a short story in English, and has started a novel in French, her first language. She has also begun collecting an archive of her family’s favourite recipes for a possible cookery book. As part of her work she has been writing up tours around local park involving maths content for children.

Jacqueline continues to contribute to suite101.com and has eight articles published. She has submitted a feature to Saga magazine; they invited submission but stressed their features are mainly written in-house. The Southampton Area Talking News (for blind and partially sighted people), for which she is an editor, are looking for short original stories to include on their magazine tapes, and a note was circulated to Buddies. Four had so far replied offering stories, and she will get back to them as soon as SATE lets her know how they would like them submitted.

Barbara was welcomed to the group as a new member. She writes poetry and short stories, but has not submitted them as yet and is considering self-publishing. She currently attends a creative writing workshop, and also assists in running a children’s creative writing group.

Mo was contacted by a Hollywood director who had seen her work, to discuss involvement in a film, possibly as an adviser on 1950s style. However, she was then asked for some details including date of birth, and contact suddenly ceased – she thinks this might be an ageist problem, and it was agreed that if so, it should be pursued. The Society of Women Writers & Journalists are expected to include the topic in the next issue of the magazine. Mo has also been blogging and has a website established –www.mo-foster.co.uk . She is sending a story for a BBC competition. In early July in London, there will be an art exhibition at which an actor will be reading some of Mo’s work.

Tessa has been away, but she has sent a novel to various agents. One said there was no space in their list currently, but invited her to be their writer of the month. She is still enjoying her Kindle e-reader, finding it easy to use. She mentioned a self publishing organisation called Quercas Publishing who are apparently able to offer a free service, and this is to be pursued as a possible route to publication of the Buddies forthcoming anthology. Tessa has, like Mo, found that giving her date of birth in relation to her work has resulted in interest or offers being withdrawn.

Penny had previously written for the Diplomatic Service Families Association's magazine, Carousel, and she has been delighted to be offered a post working as staff on this magazine and editing its sister, the information magazine, The Bulletin – the group enthusiastically congratulated her on this, and thought it was an example of Penny being able to stretch the working week at will! She will also contribute to their web presence. She is still working on her book Haunted Southampton, and her folklore book is due out in a couple of weeks. She has had a commission, too, to write a piece for Writers’ Forum on setting up a writing group.

There was then general discussion about various issues, including ageism in publishing. Penny had just attended a SWWJ event – she had gained a place in a recent competition and received her prize. At the meeting there was an excellent talk by Sheila Crowley, an agent with publishers Curtis Brown. She mentioned that some agents are starting to boycott arms of publishers who strike too poor a deal for authors. She told the audience that a website is a must for writers, and that Twitter and Facebook have huge marketing potential. Digital publishing is on the rise, especially with non-fiction, and e-book royalties are generally much higher than for printed work. Crime and thriller books are doing well just now. When submitting manuscripts, the advice is to find the name of the person to whom they are aimed; if the work is addressed just to the firm, it is likely to end up in the slush pile. The Buddies discussed this further, and most are already doing this.

This was a productive and motivating session, and the Buddies look forward to the next meeting on Friday June 18th at 2pm at the Art House. Everyone, as always, is welcome.