The Scribblers' Script - Autumn 2015

The Scribblers' Script May 2015

Writing Buddies at SO:To Speak, Southampton's Festival of Words: Authors on the Water

Authors will be on the water as they join Red Funnel Ferries' ships as they cross between Southampton and the Isle of Wight on Monday 26 October.  Writing Buddies Jacqueline Pye, James Marsh, Eileen Long, Christine Donovan, Richard Hardie and Geoff Parkes will join authors Carole Burns, Ann Victoria Roberts and Tracy Gorman on selected crossings.  Passengers will be able to join the authors as they read from their work, answer questions and sign copies of their books during the crossings.  A fun event!

Ann Victoria Roberts at Writing Buddies - 6 March 2015

Twenty three Writing Buddies came to this meeting, which was tinged with sadness as we said farewell to Karl, who has been taking notes for us for the last eighteen months.  We wish him well as he moves on to pastures new.

Good News

James Williams' new play, Who Killed Hercule Poirot? will be produced by The Dalian Players in July.

James Marsh has completed his first gangster book, and is on to the fourth chapter of his second book. He has been accepted by the Society of Authors. 

Bill has had a piece selected by a magazine for the blind. The piece was called Tea Break Brother, which he read out. 

Janet Turner has her first novella entitled Legacy Of Guilt out on Kindle. 

Lisa mentioned a publishing opportunity through Headline, for writers who are not published, or self published.  Click the submissions link.

Jacqueline mentioned ALCS (Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society), which looks after the rights of writers and ensures fair distribution of payments from the various uses of writers' work. It costs £36 PA, or free if you are a member of the Society of Authors.

Forthcoming Events

SO:To Speak, Southampton's Festival of Words, (Twitter@SOToSpeak15) runs from 23rd October to 1st November 2015, with a day for writers on 30th October. 

Scribbers' Script Update

Advertising: £3 for 50 words.

Deadline: 10 April 2015

Exercise: Write a Covering Letter

Write a cover letter to an agent or publisher:

•               Remember it would be opened first, so it is to introduce yourself. 

•               Do your research by finding out who you are sending it to, and address it personally to them, i.e. Dear Mrs. Robinson, not just the editor.

•               Give your name, and authority to write on the subject, outlining your professional qualifications and experience in the field. 

•               Focus on any good previous material you have produced, articles in trade journals, published material. 

•               Really sell yourself, think why would they WANT to read my material, talk about target audience, why it could be commercially viable. 

•               Remember to conclude courteously.

Guest Speaker - Ann Victoria Roberts: My Life As A Writer

•               Best selling author of Louisa Elliott and Liam's Story.

•               Ann was traditionally published, but now self publishes.

•               She writes up to 14 hours a day when she is coming to a deadline.

In 1995, and overcoming her fear of being hacked, she bought her first laptop, and soon realised how much easier it was than using a typewriter, and how she could do research at the click of a button. All she needed now was inspiration.  

By chance, whilst cleaning out an attic she came upon a battered old box with a skull and crossbones on the front. Inside was a collection of old photographs and a World War 1 novel. They were some of her mother's mementos. Along with that was a manilla envelope containing the diary  of a soldier. Inside, in tiny, scribbly writing, was mention of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. She realised what a precious item this diary was. The soldier was killed in 1917, but the diary survived.  Research on the writer led to her first book, Louisa Elliott, set in the 1890s. This book, and its sequel, Liam's Story were the subject of a six figure bidding war, which was won by Farago Press. 

For a housewife from a council house in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the whole experience was surreal. She appeared in The Sun, page three, next to a topless model, with the caption 'Mum makes millions from first book.'  She disputes the sum mentioned. She was interviewed on the radio by Derek Jamieson, and the irony was that the term, 'like winning the lottery' was used - actually writing the books was, in itself, a gamble. Family responsibilities keep her feet firmly on the ground. 

Ann's writing tips:

•              Be Aware - writing is hard work, particularly when deadlines are looming. 

•               Authors have to do a lot themselves, so there are positives and negatives to consider when weighing up whether to stay with a traditional publisher or to self publish.

•               Observe, use your eyes to look carefully before you are creative, and research  facts. 

•               Successful writing is usually lifted from life, because it contains essential truth. 

•               Be prepared to learn something new. 

•               History is about people, so nothing is new, but the facts can be interpreted in a new, different way. So we can take a fresh look at something, by viewing it from a different angle. 

•         Be passionate about what you write, it's often not what the readers expect. 

The next meeting is on Friday 10 April - note change of date due to Easter. 

  

  

   

A New Beginning - February 2015

Our first meeting in our new venue at the Central Library was well attended, with 24 Writing Buddies coming along at the new 2.30 start time. We have met here before in our six-year history and it felt good to be back.

The list of events for the year:

06/03/15  Ann Victoria Roberts, author, guest speaker.

10/04/15  Pam Fudge, author, guest speaker.

01/05/15  Brittany Poulin, IPR Licence, guest speaker.

12/06/15  Claire Fuller, author, guest speaker.  Note change of date.

03/07/15  Tracey Gorman, author, guest speaker.

07/08/15  Janine Pullford, novelist/journalist/publisher, guest speaker. 

04/09/15  Ian Bayley, Publisher, Sabrestorm Publishing, guest speaker.

02/10/15  To be decided

06/11/15  Elizabeth Burnett, Editor, Hampshire Life, guest speaker.

04/12/15  Merry Christmas!

New Year, New Start

The Writing Buddies will now be a membership group. The membership fee is £15 per year. There will be a £2 attendance fee.  For those who cannot commit to attending regularly throughout the year, there will be the option of attending up to three meetings a year at £5 per meeting. The first meeting will be free to all newbies. The fees will finance events, guest speakers, community events and personal liability insurance, which now means all members will have insurance to cover them at market stalls, launches and community events. This resolves a problem which persisted throughout last year. 

Jacqueline remains as Treasurer, Patricia becomes Membership Secretary and Christine will act as Assistant Treasurer. Penny gave personal thanks to all those for agreeing to these roles.

Good News

Margot attended workshops in New Milton on writing and selling features and short stories.

Josephine writes for The Voice, which is a free monthly newsletter from Wessex Writers. Robin Dynes is the editor.  To join the mailing list for this magazine, email: Robin  Dynes 

Richard continues to struggle to get any movement from the 'powers that be' on his attempts to resolve issues over his comic/horror crossover work.   

Penny showed a draft front cover of her new book, Military Wives, from World War One to Afghanistan. 

Several Writing Buddies were featured in Writers' Forum magazine this month: Simon Whaley, Barbara Dynes and Pam Whittington.

Exercise: Press Release

As part of the changes to the meetings for this year, there is now a 15 minute exercise each month.  This month, the group was challenged to write a Press Release on their latest book.

The aim was to produce an eye catching title, and to give information on, i) who (the author is, and his credentials), ii) what (the subject specifically is), iii) where (locality of the subject),  iv) when (a brief history of the subject or the time period covered e.g. from WWI to Afghanistan), v) why (reasons for the book), vi) how (it was achieved), and  highlight who the book would appeal to (target audience).  The words 'Press Release' should be used!

New Writing Buddies Magazine

The Writing Buddies will launch a new online magazine this year.

Name: The Scribblers' Script

Frequency: three editions per year.

Themes: Spring (1 May), Summer (7 August) and Winter (6 November).

Content: Diary; Top Tips for Writers; New Writers Corner; Editor's Column; competitions,Poets Corner, Reviews, Quiz (with prizes), journalism features, profiles of group members; fiction, community tie-in.

The next meeting will be on Friday 6 March.

Writing Buddies November 2014

The regular monthly meeting of Writing Buddies convened on Friday 7 November 2014, at the Mercure Dolphin Hotel, High Street, Southampton, at 2.00 pm. There were eighteen present.

Good News

Ray’s second book is due for launch on 4 December 2014, at the New Bridge Public House, Woolston. He is not fully decided on the title, but it seems logical to keep the same title as his first one, From War to an Iron Figher  but call it Volume 2. It was commented that the first book had had a successful launch at the same venue, with literally hundreds present. The group wished him well. One piece of advice was to keep the cover artwork the same, but to change its colour as this would indicate a new book in the series.

The group wished Jacqueline luck, as she is one of ten shortlisted for the Greenacre Writers writing competition for creative writers and tutors.  

Chrissie has sought advice from publishers in Cromer, Norfolk, about submitting a novel by the beginning of next year. Salt Publishing were very encouraging after her previous novella submission. She also met an agent at the University Theatre in King Alfred College in Winchester, who gave her advice.

Eileen submitted an e-book through Kindle, using Kingstar and later discovered there were margin problems, so she had to re-format. However, in the meantime, (about an hour) someone had actually bought one, so she had to apologise and send them a correct version. It was ironic because the book was based on a real life experience with a twist, about a builder who actually turned up, and came back when he said he would!

Jimmy mentioned that Aloejimmy Publishing was going from strength to strength. He has sold 53 copies of his children’s book, Jayden The Naughty Goldfish, as a Kindle e-book. (He gave a breakdown of global sales: 1 in Spain, 6 in the UK, 12 in Japan and 34 in USA). He has also sold 29 books in his Sundance Gang series. 

Jacqueline mentioned We Buy Any Books as a place to examine to buy and sell books. She put in a code for her own book, Bottles and Pots, which they were offering at £2, which is only 10% more than she is offering it at, and one of her Milly detective books at just £6, both of which she thought was good value.

Bill recently went to a talk about privately published books at Winchester Library. He recommended a visit to the Winchester Discovery Centre.  

Penny gave a talk about her book, Haunted Southampton, at the Shirley Women's Institute. 

Anne is nine chapters into her book and trying to get photographs for the cover. She has seen a style guide to formatting and is considering Smashwords and Kingstat software. Bill insists formatting software is unnecessary as it can be done through Word.

Christine went to a meeting of the new Southampton Chamber of Art, which is to support writers, authors and artistic and musical creativity. She said it may be good for offering support and networking, but it might be a case of going to several ineffectual meetings. She will monitor the group on Facebook and make a decision about whether to attend any further meetings. There was an Education Officer there who mentioned funding resources. One concept that may be of interest to the group was speed networking, where members briefly meet one to one to exchange contact details to promote their cause. It was suggested that Writing Buddies should leave some business cards with the group. Calvin warned of being beholden to the council after applying for funding, but it can raise a group's profile.

Discussions

Crowd funding in general and organisations such as Front Row and Kickstarter in particular were discussed as a way of presenting an idea and asking for funds to make it a viable project. It can cover various areas of the arts, including book publishing. As the average writer earns very little they often have to obtain public funds elsewhere. Both Terry Pratchett and Paul Kibbie have used Kickstarter in the past. Money is pledged in return for a stake in the project, should it become profitable. It was pointed out that the project could flop, so investors could lose their money. Bill mentioned drawbacks for those proposing a project, such as financial targets not being met and the time lags that can occur.

Royalty free photographs and music were discussed. Flickr is a source of royalty free images. Penny mentioned that if a picture belongs to someone else (copyright) you must seek permission to use it. Bill said he has used software (photo publishing) that turns photographs into pictures, and then it can be edited into a variety of finishes (eg. embossed, sketch, oil painting etc.)

An aspect of self-publishing comes up regularly at Writing Buddies’ meetings and this meeting was no exception. Rob said he has a basic aversion to Amazon, so for e-publishing he uses Kobo, LuLu or Barnes and Noble, but Ray said that these cost about £120 and, as e-books can sell for as little £1 each, he claimed this was very expensive.

Guest Speaker – Calvin Smith, founding member of the Friends of Portswood Library

Calvin spoke about the challenges of setting up the Friends of Portswood Library, following a chance remark by his daughter who, when they were walking back from the library one night, enquired, "Where would we go if there were no library?"

The Friends of Portswood Library now has 40 - 50 members. The aims of the group are to promote, protect and modernize the library, in order to serve the community. The group hosts a variety of events, for example, children were invited to bake a cake based on their favourite book. Other events include charity coffee mornings, Armed Forces Day displays and author book signings. It also serves as a community hub and invites guest speakers to deliver talks to the members. Penny, Jacqueline and James have all given talks to the group.  The idea of a Friends group has now spread to three other Southampton libraries.

Calvin talked about the future of Portswood library, which loans about 500 books per day. All the libraries are under pressure from possible closure, merger, reduced staff and shorter opening hours. The group is continually frustrated at never being taken into the decision-making loop. They have enlisted the support of a local journalist, and they intend to lobby the Education Services department of Southampton City Council, by claiming that "some stuff can't be done off a spreadsheet." The group does not want decisions dictated by budgets, yet the council seems to see the libraries as being frequented by undesirable people. He pointed out how few amenities for adults with learning difficulties there are, which is one area where the libraries help.  The Friends of Portswood Library want to get their Reading Club back, but they see the spectre of the Isle of Wight hanging over them. Here there is a policy where the council never supports volunteers, only librarians and professionals.  Calvin’s view was that they should top-cut management and train volunteers to do more.

In 2015, Portswood library is 100 years old. A 99-year-old library user, who has been visiting the library for 79 years, will join in the centenary celebrations.

The next Writing Buddies meeting will be on Friday 6 February 2015.  Everyone is welcome.

Writing Buddies, September 2014

The regular monthly meeting of Writing Buddies took place on Friday 5 September 2014, at the Mercure Dolphin Hotel, High Street Southampton. The meeting was introduced by a fit-again Penny.

Good News

There was a lot of good news shared at this meeting, which was great to hear. 

Josephine writes for The Voice, produced by a group of Wessex writers, whose tag-line is 'bringing writers and readers together'. At present there is no website/blog for this publication as it is sent out via personal subscription.  If anyone is interested in receiving this in pdf format, please contact via the Writing Buddies blog.

   The Writing Buddies were very pleased to hear that Josephine has had her piece 'Sunday Afternoon' accepted for publication in the annual edition of This England magazine. This England is a quarterly magazine, with a special annual edition in October. Competition to be published in this edition is fierce.

   Josephine is looking at ideas for articles, and is willing to block off a whole week to look at them without interruption.

James, maintaining his new 'gangster' image, has started work on a gangster novel and, in just ten days, has got to the fourth chapter.

   He is also pleased that his latest published book, A 1940's Childhood has reached 186 on the Amazon Best Sellers List.  The Writing Buddies congratulated him on this achievement.

   James is also trying to get a new Jayden the goldfish children’s book out, Christmas In The Pond. His team is currently producing a copy illustrated in black and white, with some colour.

Jacqueline gave a talk at Portswood library, about her life and works, with particular reference to her book Bottles and Pots. She signed copies of her books after the talk.

Jacqueline Pye book signing copies of 'Bottles and Pots'

Penny had attended the Ultimate Speaker Camp, a three-day course run by a John Lee, a self-made millionaire at 32. It was one of those American-style highly motivational speaker events, where she learnt 'how to give and receive' when public speaking.

    Penny attended the Society of Authors (SoA) lunch on 4 September, in Ferndown, Dorset. This is always a good opportunity to network. The SoA is ostensibly a Trade Union for writers, and if you have had full-length work published you are eligible to join. The fee is £95, which entitles you to discounts and preferential rates on many things, including Public Liability Insurance.

   Whilst at the lunch, she met best-selling author Pam Fudge, who has just launched a new course for writers.  

   Penny gave her personal thanks to both Jacqueline and James for stepping in to run Writing Buddies’ meetings while she was recovering from the accident she suffered in July.

Welcome to Newcomers

Hazel is just beginning her writing journey and her genre is memoir and family stories.

Helen is drawing upon her experiences in property to produce Property Developing for Blondes. She has plenty of ideas but admitted that she is just starting and needs a push. The Writing Buddies will be happy to oblige!

A warm welcome was extended to them both.

General News

Bill mentioned that the new local television station, That’s Solent will soon be available on Freeview TV (re-tune to Channel 8), which means we will have access to local broadcasting. This could be an opportunity to contact the wider population.

Writing Buddies have access to an internal email information loop and Jacqueline reminded those present of her regular listing of the many competitions available to enter. She asked if it was of use and was assured that it was. Several members regularly enter competitions.

Josephine offered a review service for Writing Buddies work, which was immediately taken up by members.

Discussions

- Competition

• You want a pay-off of some kind (even an entry in an anthology)
•  Adhering to all the criteria is essential.
• Understand the theme and the audience, and researching the publication will give you many of clues to this. A magazines target audience doesn't change overnight (or month to month).
• Do adhere to all restrictions (e.g. If maximum 800 words, do not exceed that)
• It is best to use standard spacing - double line more pleasing on the eye, and easier to read.
• Keep a log of what you enter, and although the odds are often long, remember somebody will win. 

Penny mentioned that when she recently judged a competition, a quarter did not follow the guidelines and so were rejected. The winner followed all the criteria.

Advice Sought

Helen had sent out copies of her unfinished property book to readers for feedback. She was told to re-jig it, chop it up and cut sections. She had been told to put it into two sections, i) background and experiences, ii) how to succeed. As the book was still unfinished, she was not happy with the feedback she has received.

   She was advised to 'get it out of her head', and onto paper or a computer screen. She should stop editing what she had written and finish the book (so you keep the flow), then re-visit in whole structure and edit it. She should then re-read the complete manuscript, whilst reminding herself of her mission statement – have you achieved what you set at to do?

Useful website for writers: 

Bubblecow 

Penny Legg was the guest speaker, on Photography for Writers.

• You do not have to be a professional photographer to sell photos
• With a little thought you can produce good results an editor will be delighted with
• Always fill your viewfinder with the subject
• Take a deep breath, or breathe out, before you take the shot
• Be prepared to take several shots to get the right one and make sure that you have a data card big enough for the days shooting            
• To allow your photograph to be seen clearly and sharply as possible, no matter what the picture size, take them at 300 dpi (dots per square inch) or higher
• If you set your camera to the highest resolution, you will take fewer shots, but they will be better quality
•  Most software will allow you to save images in a variety of formats and so check with your editor which format he uses.
• Useful books: The Digital Photography Handbook by Doug Harman (Quereus, 2012) and Photography for Writers by Simon Whaley (Compass Books, 2014).

The next meeting will be on Friday 3 October at the Mercure Dolphin Hotel, Southampton, at 2pm. The speaker will be Martin Pavey, Central Librarian, Southampton Library Service. Everyone is welcome.

 

 

Writing Buddies August 2014

The Writing Buddies met on Friday 1 August 2014, at The Mercure Dolphin Hotel, High Street, Southampton. James Marsh led the discussion.

Good News

Jacqueline’s interview with Josephine appeared in The Voice, and she is one of five joint winners of a flash fiction competition for a 200-word story. Although there was no tangible prize, there was an interview on their blog, the story on their website, and a badge for her blog, which has created some new followers on twitter, as well as impressing her granddaughters! 

Penny was hoping to take up her invitation to book sign at the War and Peace Show in Folkstone, but had an accident the evening before and so could not attend.

James took his books to the War and Peace Show, with his son. He is working currently on his new gangster image and a book in the same vein.  He is busy with AloeJimmy Publishing and is also editing a book.

Lisa is publishing on many platforms, including Createspace, but she said there are no benefits in publishing other people’s books. She noted that it can be difficult to get some people to realise that they have to pay to download books, and they are not free copies.

Richard (Hardie) told us about the success he is having with his Temporal Detective Agency series, (published by Crooked Cat Publishing), whose basis is time travel between the time of Camelot and the twenty-first century. He passed around copies of his two latest books, Leap Of Faith, and Trouble With Swords. There were to be (full costume) themed book-signing days at the bookshop in Lee–on-Solent and at Calliope Gifts, 12 Westbrook Walk, Alton in August.

Josephine mentioned her review in Forester Magazine for a book called 25 Ways To Lose Customers, which she called a good mixture of humour, common-sense and courtesy.

Events

On 9 October between 6.30 and 9.30 pm, the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth, are hosting a poetry slam evening for visitors (poets and poetry appreciators) to come along to the museum and be inspired by their newly opened HMS – Hear My Story galleries. Attendees will be invited to create their own poetry for the event, on the theme of war, remembrance, and reconciliation through the stories and experiences of those who actually served through conflicts. These will then be read (performed) and the winner will be announced at the end of the evening. More details here.

  

James is giving another reading of his work at Bitterne library and for the Southampton Writers Circle.

Discussions

- The difficulties with getting an agent:

·      many agents will only take one or two new writers a year,

·      a one in three chance of getting published,

·      one in 1,500 chance of it becoming a viable proposition.

- The importance of getting material online, using Facebook and twitter, and other social network sites.

- Characterisation:

·      Characters take on their own personalities

·      Some advocated characters first, then plot.

·      Readers aren't always sympathetic to well rounded, all action hero types, but like downtrodden characters, who sometimes get it wrong.

·      Don’t make it too complicated.

- The difficulties of producing front covers for books published on Amazon.

Guest Speaker: Josephine Shaw on ‘How To Produce A Perfect Manuscript.’

·      Think of the end result. What is the writer trying to achieve? Have they done it? What does it do to the image of the writer?

·      Did the reader get what they wanted from the book?

·      Put the manuscript away for a while, and then come back to it as a reader.

Editing and proofreading are the cogs that push your book through various processes and stages.

Editing

·      Checking for grammatical and spelling errors, and word repetition

·      Ask does it sound right?

·      Is it complicated or confusing?

·      It should not be monotonous, nor should it have to be re-read to be understood.

·      Use the opening words of the first chapter to start the journey – you need to get the reader engaged quickly. The writer has the obligation to write it in a such a way that it is easily understood, however the reader has no contract to 'stick with it', if it is hard to follow.

·      Are the characters 'real'? Do they act in character - unless acting out of character forms part of the story?

·      Remember your genre. If you leave the manuscript for a while, re-read what was written previously, and continue in the same vein.

·      Are sentences too long or too short, and are there too many?

·      Cut any superfluous material. Avoid verbosity.

·      Can you make it sharper, slicker, easy flowing?

·      Does it need a contents page or an index? (non-fiction).

Question from the audience, is there a strategy to stop editing?  Answer: If you still love it continue, if you hate it, then it's probably ready.

Proofreading

·      Punctuation – is it correct? Use a reliable reference source.

·      Check for missing words, duplicated words, spelling errors, typing errors.

·      Re-read yourself, or preferably get someone else to proofread.

·      Does there need to be a change in the physical sentence construction.

·      Avoid 'Americanisms'

Remember: What You See Is What You Get

·      pay attention to chapter and paragraph sizes.

- Are they consistently laid out?

                     - Check indentations and font.

- Consistent headings?

·      be aware that spell (grammar) check, although useful will not do it all.

·      It is easier to proofread from a printed page, but to have it printed may incur costs.

The standard of your manuscripts also impacts on your image, which is portrayed to influential people. 

The next meeting will be Friday 5 September, at the same venue. The Guest Speaker will be Penny Legg on photography for writers.