Thought this might be of interest to WWers still battling for that first book deal (like me).

I've just interviewed three authors for Writers' Forum magazine who got deals by alternate routes to the usual approaches to agents and publishers.

Despite the initial skepticism about Macmillan New Writing, for example, this is now proving to be quite a conveyor belt of new writers (including a couple of WWers). I interviewed crime-writer Brian McGilloway, who was, of course, turned down by many publishers and agents, but is now one of Macmillan Pan's hottest prospects.

I also spoke to Miranda Dickinson, whose romance was among the first three plucked from Authonomy by a HarperCollins editor. Again, there has been a lot of flack for this new online writers' community (not least on its own blog), but Miranda confirms that the site is a decent showcase for writers, not just gifted networkers (her book never won top ranking but still got her attention and a three-book deal).

The third scheme I looked at was that run by the Romance Novelists' Assocation, which offers strong, constructive support for aspiring writers.

Anyway, if anyone's interested I've uploaded online versions of the interviews on my Suite101.com pages here.

Best regards…

Thanks, Jago, i'll go take a look.

Very interesting - thanks for posting! I really do think that having an 'in' - whether it's winning a competition or being recommended by another author - hugely ups the chances of getting your work read by agents and publishers.
Susiex