Writing Buddies

Thursday, 23 June 2011

Writing Buddies, 10 June 2011

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 10 June to discuss writing matters. The meeting was ably chaired by Jacqueline in the absence of Penny.

Tessa received a telephone call from Caradoc King, who is a top agent from A.P. Watt, Literary Agency, www.apwatt.co.uk asking her if she would like to publish Ann Robert’s book about the Titanic. Tessa will start as soon as possible. She will need a proof reader and received some offers of help from Writing Buddies.

Janice had felt encouraged by her first visit to Writing Buddies and has been gathering together all her poems into a little book.

Mo was disappointed that, after her meetings with the American Director, despite his interest, she still has no contract or fee. She has gone back to writing her third novel and is considering writing a play. Mo recently attended a SWWJ meeting and found it very worthwhile going.

Elizabeth is still working on her second assignment for The Writers Bureau and has nearly completed a short story which she will consider entering into a competition.

Jimmy has been contacted by The History Press who are arranging signings of his book, Growing up in Wartime Southampton: Someone Else's Trousers, in Asda and Tesco. His blog, on his website, www.aloejimmy.com will be up and running in a few days. His third book of his trilogy is beginning to take shape and he is also editing previous work.

Jacqueline is working on a children’s novel. She has sent back the first free one of the books she is reviewing, (not as previously reported on 27 May) and found it interesting to see what mistakes other writers make. She is brushing up on three stories for schoolchildren and has written a short story which she is considering sending to Take a Break magazine. Jacqueline won a Toblerone chocolate bar on Twitter and has received two tweets from the author, Ian Rankin. She has not heard from Yours magazine so assumes that her article has been accepted.

John has sent some of his poems to Isaac Sigley who is putting together an event in Southsea. John continues to write reviews for the Echo and was pleased to inform the group that 86 copies of his book have been sold, 84 at the full price, in less than one year.

Vijay is writing flash fiction – mostly fantasy, but as yet he has not submitted his stories anywhere.

General discussion followed on various topics ranging from using google to ascertain a particular song's copyright, suggestions for Tessa's search for a 'shout line' and how to ration time for writing.

The next meeting will be on Friday 24 June at 2.00pm.

Friday, 10 June 2011

Writing Buddies, 27 May 2011

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 27 May to celebrate their 2^nd anniversary and welcomed Janice, Jane and Dan to the group.

Richard is a member of the Totton branch of U3A (University of the Third Age) and edits the magazine. He also runs a discussion group.

Elizabeth is still working on her second assignment for The Writers Bureau which she hopes to complete and send to her tutor by the end of next week.

Jimmy successfully launched his book and his website www.aloejimmy.com blog spot should be up and running in a short while. He will be book signing at the Above Bar branch of Waterstones on Saturday 11 June from 11.30am – 3.00pm.

Tessa brought along the first book she has published through her company, The Thorn Press, for Andrew P. Jones. The title of the book is INKTASTIC and there will be a book launch and art display at Southampton City College on Monday 20 June from 5.00pm – 9.00pm. The Echo is writing an article on him. Tessa's third book of The Dohlen Inheritance trilogy will be out in July.

Jacqueline has finished the first draft of her children’s book and following a critique she finds she has to re-write it. Jacqueline won a set of saucepans as her prize for the star letter in the June edition of Sainsbury's magazine. The sleep article Jacqueline was writing for Yours magazine has now been completed. The magazine requested Jacqueline to include the health aspect and this she has done. Jacqueline continues to review books see www.chicklit.co.uk – she reads one manuscript a month and having read five for no payment she has been paid £10 for reviewing the next book.

Veronica writes poetry and informed the group about Amnesty International's 50th birthday party. She also mentioned Bully Boy at the Nuffield Theatre.

Tony writes about local history and brought two of his books with him. He informed the group that he was surprised that the publishers had changed the title by just one word. The History Press are still sourcing illustrations and he is currently submitting a story of the Battle of Wilton to a magazine.

Dan, new to the group, is studying law and currently writing a science fiction fantasy book. He has sent a draft to a literary consultant and received a reply back and is now working at improving it. He feels he has enough to write three books.

Janice noticed the Art Café window display advertising The Writing Buddies and was interested in what the group were about. She writes poetry and has done since school. She would like to write a book and is hoping her artistic niece will be able to illustrate it.

Jane was also attracted to the group by the window display and has written about her travels. She is not sure which direction to take yet with this.

Laurel continues to enter competitions with her short stories.

Mo visited Lisbon and had a great time. She received an email from an American Director and they met for lunch. He wants her to write her character Shindig, into his writing. The Sanctum Club asked her for 50 books to sell. Mo is currently writing her third novel.

Monica is working on a children’s novel. The author, Nik Morton, looked at it, gave her some valued suggestions and she has enlisted a 10 year old to read it. Monica mentioned that a friend has just published through Kindle and found it an easy experience. She is working on her third assignment for The Writers Bureau and has had one article published in a small local magazine.

Penny has finished The Writing Buddies anthology and it is set to be published in September 2011. She is about to sign two more book contracts for The History Press. She is to write Eastleigh: Then and Now, with publication towards the end of 2012, so as not to clash with Glen's book, Voices of Eastleigh, which will be published in April 2012. The second contract for Bloody Southampton, will be published in July 2012. Penny will be looking for anything up to WW2 and is hoping for about 30 stories.

Open discussion covered Jane's travelling experiences. Jane sold up in this country and went to New Zealand for a year to trace her family history. She found family members that she had not seen for 40 years. Mo mentioned that SWWJ were looking for travel writers and she will forward the information to Jane. Jane mentioned that a publisher is interested but she will need to put all her writing into order first before furthering this.

Penny reminisced about how she and Pam Whittington had started the group two years ago. The first meeting was held at Borders bookshop, when 10 people turned up for the first meeting. The group has grown considerably since then.

A fantastic birthday cake (chocolate, of course) was enjoyed by everyone together with a glass of wine – or two! A good time was had by all.

The next meeting will be on Friday 10 June at 2.00pm.

Thursday, 19 May 2011

Writing Buddies, 13 May 2011

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 13 May for a discussion dedicated to self publishing and welcomed Ann, Jan, Veronica and Tony to the group, who were joining for the first time.

Penny had invited author Martin Baum along, to talk to the group about self publishing, but before Martin began, James Marsh shared his experience of self publishing his Davie Collins series of books. They were published by Lulu. Jim explained that the company do not charge for publishing but take 20% of all sales. The author is expected to lay out the book in the correct manner, set the selling price, print size, paper weight and decide on the front cover. Lulu do not provide an editing service, so no proofs are sent to the author for checking. Jim's advice is that anyone thinking of self publishing with Lulu should take care to ensure they are aware what is expected of them before embarking on this route.

Martin addressed the WritingBuddies, explaining that he is a satirist and wrote a condensed Shakespeare book in modern language, for his son, to make it easier for him to understand. After failing to get his book published through an agent he decided to self publish. He did his research in depth and self published through Richard Fitt at Authors Online. The company charges £750 to set up and publish the book, and the author receives 6 free copies. Authors OnLine send proofs, which need to be thoroughly checked. The company charges to have any mistakes corrected. Martin emphasised the importance of proof reading '7, 8, 9 or however many times it takes,' to get your work accurate, and he advised involving one or two people to help.

Following publication, the author will need to do much leg work. This will involve a press release and Martin advised that 200 words maximum be used, with bold letters in red. When his book TO BE OR NOT TO BE, INNIT (www.yoofspeak.net) was released, it invoked upset amongst the Shakespeare purists. This led to interest from the press and Martin found himself giving interviews on television and newspapers, and much more.

Martin's sources of advertising included information gathered from either the Writers' Handbook or Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. He contacted television and everyone relevant with press releases, including local radio and the Bournemouth Echo.

Martin recommended contacting the library service and provided the group with the website address for libraries nationwide As librarians from each library meet and select books, it is advisable to make them aware of the release of a self published book. Royalties of 6p per book are gained each time the book is taken out of a library (and even photocopied), but it is necessary to register for Public Lending Right and also with The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society. Perseverance is needed as it is very repetitive contacting the libraries. Martin advised the group to be prepared to be asked questions. He also stresed how important it is important to put everything on your website.

Martin explained that although he has written short stories for magazines and had them published, together with three plays, he had been unable to get his book accepted for publication by a main stream publisher. His view is that having short stories previously published held no sway when it came to trying to get a book published. On Martin's website he gives advice see: 60 second book break. His conclusion regarding Authors OnLine is that they are an honourable company. Martin suggested using google or flickr for pictures for a front cover of a book. Martin added that he is willing to answer any questions if you email him.

Tony, new to the group, has self published books through Authorhouse and has the impression that they are a genuine company so he can recommend them, but, just be cautious. Tony decided on the price and size of his book and found that the company gave a lot of advice. Previously, Tony had set up his own publishing company; with his son setting up a website. He visited bookshops and within two years sold his books on a sale or return basis. He used to publish other writers' books, but now prefers to have a publisher and limit himself to his own work.

Penny thanked Martin for a very informative talk and sharing his experiences with Writing Buddies. She also thanked James and Tony for sharing their self publishing experiences.

The Writing Buddies display will be arranged at the weekend, 14/15 May, in the front window of The Art House Café.

Penny will be giving a talk at Woolston Library on Friday 20 May at 7.00pm. Tickets £1.00 available from Woolston or Weston Library, or by emailing carolyn.taplin@southampton.gov.uk

The next meeting will be on 27 May 2011, when the group celebrates its second birthday.

Post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

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.

Friday, 1 April 2011

Writing Buddies 18th March 2011

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 18 March for a lively discussion to share information on writing matters.

Jacqueline has received a critique for her children’s book and taken note of the comments. She has been busy editing Talking News and is working on a short story for Take a Break magazine. She is entering a humorous poetry competition and has had a letter printed in The Echo. Jacqueline has also been asked to review a book on child abuse. She also mentioned Ether Books www.etherbooks.co.uk .

Sunida joined the group for the first time. She is in her third year at Solent University and wanted advice on how to proceed with writing about the strange experiences she has encountered in her life.

Eileen writes crime books. Her second novel is ready to go to the publishers and she is working on the third. Her first novel, Miss McGuire is Missing, is being reprinted and also being published in large print.

Gunvor is from Sweden and started writing short stories and poems. She wrote a book aimed at eight to twelve year old girls and has also written a sequel. Her third book is different and she is trying to get this one published, so needs advice on this aspect.

Elizabeth has completed the first assignment for The Writers Bureau and is working on the second. She has also been able to write more of her novel.

Jacob has been working on a variety of different things. He is editing one short story and has started another.

Mo has a new reader for her book and has been requested to do a one woman show. She has been actively blogging - see www.loudwomen.blogspot.com, www.themotiononline.couk and Mo's own blog on www.mo-foster.co.uk

Penny's activities include her launch of her book, Haunted Southampton. The evening of ghost stories Penny hosted at Waterstones was a sell out, and she is considering a repeat performance. Her talk at the Civic Centre was plagued with problems. Penny overcame these and emphasised to the group the importance of ascertaining, before-hand, that the equipment provided at a venue is compatible with your own. The page proofs and cover design for her Winchester book are now through. Haunted Southampton is currently no.1 in Waterstones book listings.

Laurel is working on a short story entry for the Bridport Prize. She is also entering a ghost story for a competition in a writing magazine.

Lisa has finished her proofs for Death And The City, books one and two. A producer, from Lymington, is looking for a script based on a female security officer and is very impressed with Death And The City and has contacted Lisa regarding this. Lisa took her book, The Terrible Zombie of Oz to be passed to Andrew Lloyd Webber for his perusal.

John has written one or two reviews and two poems as a result of his visit to Bournemouth, as mentioned at the last meeting.

A general discussion followed covering various topics including the benefits of having a blog, Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn was mentioned but this is more for professionals.

Sunida was given advice on how to write about her experiences and it was suggested that whether it is written as fact or fiction, is dependent on how much material she has. Another suggestion was a plan for both fiction and non fiction. It was generally agreed that thorough research was needed.

Gunvor is having difficulty placing the two fantasy children’s books she has written, aimed at girls from age 8 – 12. She has been working her way through agents and now contacting publishers. Penny advised her to go straight to a publisher and research those who accept unsolicited manuscripts. Penny stressed the importance of the accuracy of a covering letter and synopsis when sending to a publisher.

Penny confirmed that she will organise a meeting solely about self publishing after Easter. The publication of Wordfall, The Writing Buddies Anthology, is postponed until September.

The date for the group's advertising in The Art House Café window has now been confirmed as being from 15^th May to 24^th June.

More suggestions for display included:

· Book marks

· Flyers

· Banner

· Flip-chart (stories/articles)

· Book-covers

The meeting concluded with Lisa showing members her E Touch Android Tablet, which is a book reader, not storing as many books as a Kindle, but costing less.

Post written by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Writing Buddies, 4 March 2011

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 4 March to share information and discuss writing matters.

Jacob is still working on his board game. He is writing a poem and also considering entering a short story he wrote a while ago, and put on line, into a competition. Penny advised him to look at the competition rules as they usually state that entries must not have been previously published, in any form. He mentioned a short story competition with THE POINT, Eastleigh. www.thepointeastleigh.co.uk

Penny mentioned that Martin Hodges of Poetry 24 is actively looking for poetry. http://poetry-24.blogspot.com/

Tessa is editing the third draft of the third book of her 'Dohlen' trilogy.

Laurel has written a short story and submitted it to the Write Space competition. She has written two poems for Moving Voices and is downloading details of competitions closing in March with a view to entering her work.

Jimmy has completed the first chapter of his new book. He has visited Waterstones regarding signings of his book, Growing up in Wartime Southampton: Someone Else’s Trousers and the book launch will be held at The Riverside Club, above St Deny's Rowing Club, Priory Road, St Deny's on Sunday 8 May, 2 – 5.00pm.

Elizabeth is working on her first assignment for The Writers Bureau and hopes to complete this by the next meeting.

Lisa's book The Terrible Zombie of Oz is being sold by Amazon all around the world and is also available through Barnes & Noble. She researched e book prices and it is being marketed at £3.50. Penny confirmed that Lisa's book will be put up on the Writing Buddies bookcase on the blog site. See www.createspace.com/

John has written two reviews and five poems. He performed two poems at Moving Voices and went to Freeway Poets in Bournemouth. He will be hosting an open mic at Petersfield.

Penny's book Voices of Southampton is now finished and with the publisher. She has been accepted into The Society of Authors. The magazines she was working, Carousel and The Bulletin on have now gone to press. Her current book, Haunted Southampton is no. 11 at Waterstones, Above Bar, Southampton, in their best-seller listing.

Penny will be launching Haunted Southampton on Sunday 13 March book launch for Haunted Southampton at The Station Pub, Bitterne, 3.00 – 5.00pm. .

On Wednesday 16 March Penny is hosting an evening of ghost stories at Waterstones, Above Bar starting at 7.00pm.

Penny was particularly pleased to receive a review for Haunted Southampton on Amazon. She is thinking of possibly writing another ghost book as there are plenty of stories to be investigated.

A general discussion followed covering various topics including the closures of bookshops and the increasing popularity of e books.

Laurel expressed her frustration at not being able to get her work published. Penny advised her to write directly to a publisher rather than trying to get an agent and also encouraged her to set up her own web site. Amanda Hocking was mentioned. She is a 26 year old American author having great success with her self published books. See www.authorsonshow.com

John suggested having a guest columnist on the Writing Buddies blog, perhaps commencing with Penny. If this is to be initiated the member would need to forward their piece to Penny and she would then put it up on the blog. The blog is quite high on the wiki league. Advertising on the site was also mentioned but was felt to be time consuming and generally members agreed against this.

The next Writing Buddies meeting will be on Friday 18 March at 2pm at The Art House Cafe, Above Bar, Southampton. Everyone is welcome.