Hello

My name is Karina. I am currently studying for a degree in English and Creative Writing. My own interests lie in short fiction and particularly poetry.

I wondered if anyone could help me. I am currently researching writer's publishing experiences as part of my degree. I am preparing a brief questionnaire to approach published writers to advise on their own experiences. As a result of my research I will prepare a reflective essay on my findings. I am hoping that this essay may become of some use to young writers in the future.

Would any of you be willing to assist me? I apologise for adding myself to this forum when in fact I am not a professional writer, but I felt it would be an ideal source for me to contact practising writers.

If you are prepared to spend a few minutes completing a questionnaire or simply sending me an email with a summary of your thoughts and experiences on publishing my email address is

mellodge@ntlworld.co.uk

Thank you very much for your time

Hello, Karina, and welcome to WW.

Very few of us are professional in the sense that we earn a living from writing, but most of us approach our writing in a professional way. So don’t worry about not being a professional yourself.

I’ll be happy to complete your questionnaire, so I’ll email you. However, you might get answers to more general questions if you post them on here.

Dee

Karina, welcome to WW.

Alison Baverstock has been putting together a book for aspiring writers about the experience of being published called Have You Got a Book in You?. It's listed on Amazon but not published till (I think) June. She teaches CW at Kingston Uni., I think.

She had a similar questionnaire for published authors back in the autumn, to gather material for the book. I don't think I can really post her questions without permission, but she has a website and is very nice, so she might well be worth getting in touch with.

Meanwhile, do WW mail me if you'd like some answers from me, and I'm sure Dee's right that you'll get answers to questions more generally if you post them here.

Emma

Hi Karen! I answered Alison's questionnaire and will be included in her book, but from what I recall of the questions her subject matter ranged over a wide area. Experience with publishers, in fact, seemed a fairly minor part of it, and rightly so, as it could be a very sensitive, not to say litigious area. If your paper is not for publication I would be happy to answer a questionnaire.


Sheila

Sheila, you remember more of Alison B's questions than I do then, but looking back, you're right. I think the questions I answered were the more personal ones to me.

Emma

Emma, I don't have a copy of the questionnaire any longer, so my memory may be playing tricks. I got the idea that Alsion was interested in sociological aspects of writers' experiences. Welcome as an expose of publishers might be, it's a project too risky for the average writer's resources. On the other hand, as I say, I may be wrong and the book even more interesting than I thought.

Sheila

Karina, I emailed that link you posted but my message was returned as undeliverable. Is there a problem?

Dee

Sheila, I've just dug it out of an email, and it seems mostly to be about how being published feels - was it always a goal, dealing with rejection, seeing your first book in the flesh, etc. Fairly safe stuff, I think.

Should be an interesting book; I know her aim was to tell-it-like-it-is, partly in order to put people off who don't realise how tough it is. I hope it bridges the gap between the how-to-write-your-bestseller (just join the dots and you'll make a fortune) and the Creative Writing world which is warm and encouraging and creative and not always a good preparation for the nasty harsh world out there.

Emma

It is a tough business and there are quite a few books to 'tell' you how to write, Most of these have an inherent suggestion that 'success' is just around the corner if you follow the recipe.

Most of this kind of book is not intended to put people off but to encourage them to keep on trying. It is refreshing to hear of any publication that gives the plain, cold, hard truths. The writer of this kind of factual material must expect lower sales for people - and particularly aspiring writers - prefer to hear about success.

One of the best 'schools' is Membership of WW with member's own experiences, struggles, successes - and failures that are shared.

Len

It's not as tough for some as for others, though. Most of you won't be subscribers to 'The Oldie' so will have missed Miles Kingston's piece in the March edition. Entitled 'My wife's wonderful book...', it made me gasp when I read the following:

'The she finished it, sent it off to an agent she didn't know, had the agent ring up and say she would like to try it on several publishers, and had one of the publishers ring up the same week and say they really liked it. Anyone who has had anything to do with publishing will know that for all that to happen in less than a fortnight is impossible. Yet it did happen, and I looked at my wife with a new respect and envy, and the position we are now in is that my wife is having a first novel called A Tangled Summer published next by Orion next July.'

So there you are!

Sheila

<Added>

Sorry about the muddle at the end. I've just been instructed on how to use the brackets but I forgot the closure. Omit the first next, too.