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How NOT To Pitch Agents: 21 Tips For Writers

How Not to Pitch Agents If you want to pitch agents, you have come to the right place. One of the most oft-hit articles on B2W is 29 Ways NOT To Submit To An Agent by BFLA’s Carole Blake. So, with LondonSWF around the corner, I thought now was a good time to invite another agent to give her tips … So please welcome Jennifer Johnson-Blalock! Jennifer is a lit agent in New York and is offering her top tips on how NOT to pitch at conferences and pitchfests. There’s some stellar advice here on how to pitch agents, so… Read More »How NOT To Pitch Agents: 21 Tips For Writers

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5 Reasons To Write **Where** You Know

Everyone’s familiar with the writing adage “Write WHAT You Know”, but not everyone thinks about how WHERE they know can help their writing, too. So when Richard suggested looking at storyworld in this way, I jumped at the chance for a guest post … Over to you, Richard! Reason Number 1: The setting is your story’s principal supporting character Traditional writing wisdom says writers should write **what** they know. ‘What’ you know informs the storyline of what you write. But that maxim overlooks the fact that the action (and the inaction) of any story occurs in a setting. That setting often… Read More »5 Reasons To Write **Where** You Know

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A Look In The Spec Pile: 12 #Twisted50 Thoughts

So, the first round of Create50’s Twisted: 50 Vol 1 reading is done and judging is well underway … I read approximately 120 stories of the 500 (approx) that were submitted to Twisted:50 initiative, so here are some thoughts from reading them: 1) The Boring Stuff First up, the boring stuff like punctuation, grammar, spelling etc: I’m happy to report this was mostly very good. There were some obvious typos here and there, plus a couple of the Non-native english speaking writer made classic errors this ex-TEFL teacher spotted. But overall, I saw very few stories that were absolute shockers on… Read More »A Look In The Spec Pile: 12 #Twisted50 Thoughts

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I’ve Written A Book, Now What? (Indie Versus Traditional Publishing)

Updated Following the runaway success of the rebooted “I’ve Written A Screenplay, Now What?” page, lots of Bang2writers requested a similar one for book writing and publishing. So without further ado, here’s Luke with a short and sweet rundown of the basics. There’s plenty of great linkage too. Enjoy everyone! So, you’ve written a book Congrats! Go out and celebrate. Pat yourself on the back. Pat yourself all over. Eat a cake. Eat two. Writing a book is hard, so you should celebrate it. However, writing is only the first step in publishing a book, because that’s the ultimate goal… Read More »I’ve Written A Book, Now What? (Indie Versus Traditional Publishing)

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How NOT To Write A Novel: 5 Mistakes Writers Make

Too many writers attempt to write a novel, but go wrong somewhere down the line … and aren’t even sure where, or why. Here’s 5 clangers to think about in advance, so you can avoid them! 1) Writing Occasionally Writing is not at ALL like it’s shown on movies or TV serials (coughCASTLEcough). Writing is a full time job that requires patience and a lot of labor. Motivation is the only factor that keeps writers glued to their work. If you want to write a really good novel, you have to learn to write every day and as much as… Read More »How NOT To Write A Novel: 5 Mistakes Writers Make

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Authors & Book Rights: 5 Key Truths

I became aware of  @Tom_Chalmers on Twitter via his publishing company @Legend_Press, who are currently running the Self Published Book Of The Month initiative with The Guardian Newspaper. I thought this sounded such a great idea, I Skyped with Tom recently; he told me all about his other company, IPRLicense and how understanding licenses can benefit Indie Authors in going after lucrative deals, so I asked him to write this guest post for us as part of B2W’s Indie Authors Week. Enjoy! There’s a famous exchange in a court room which continues to be one of the most quotable scenes in… Read More »Authors & Book Rights: 5 Key Truths

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3 Ways To Transform From “Self Publisher” to “Indie Author”

   Self-publisher. Vanity Press. Independent Author. You say tomater, I say tomato, right? Not at all. Unless you’ve been locked in Christian Grey’s Red Room of Pleasure for the past few years, you’ll be aware of the self-publishing revolution. The success stories are fifty shades of publishing folklore – but it isn’t universally good news. Now that any muppet with opposable thumbs can become a published author, it’s incredibly hard to make your work stand out. Assuming you haven’t chosen traditional publishing – or it hasn’t chosen you – there are broadly three ways to get your book out there:… Read More »3 Ways To Transform From “Self Publisher” to “Indie Author”

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5 Reasons Bullying Happens At School

Today, my youngest ever Bang2writer, Harri (just 12 years old!) is talking about his new book and why he thinks kids get bullied at school and how bullies are created … This is a great opportunity for adult writers to see school from a kid’s perspective – I found number 5 particularly useful, I’d never thought of this being a useful way of avoiding bullies! So make sure you check out the post and Harri’s sites and profiles — and buy his book! Enjoy! It’s About Being “Different” … 1) Talents For example, if you’re particularly good at something like… Read More »5 Reasons Bullying Happens At School

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Starting NOW: Lizzie’s Diary, on Twitter & Facebook

So … in case you’ve been hiding under a rock or visiting Outer Space in the last few weeks, you’ll know I have a novel out, called THE DECISION: LIZZIE’S STORY, which was published yesterday and is now available on Amazon. It’s the first in The Decision Book Series, in which a female protagonist is faced with a dilemma and ALL its possible consequences. The second in the series, JASMINE’S STORY will be out later in the year. In LIZZIE’S STORY, teenager Lizzie will have to deal with an unexpected pregnancy and will live through ALL its potential outcomes in… Read More »Starting NOW: Lizzie’s Diary, on Twitter & Facebook

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11 Expositional Clichés That Will Kill Your Story

Exposition: it’s a cheeky little b*****. Whether novelist or screenwriter, we all need it: too little background info will mean no one has a clue what’s going on … But equally, how much is TOO MUCH? Well, check out these expositional superclangers from the spec novels and screenplays I read: 11) Random Flashback … [… Pssssst Screenwriters! See also: dream sequence; intercut; plus all about montages].  Do you really need this? REALLY? Now, look. Flashback (and indeed flashforward) – when used correctly – is a brilliant device for novels and screenplays. It can be dramatic and intriguing. But when used badly, it… Read More »11 Expositional Clichés That Will Kill Your Story

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6 Reasons NOT To Have A Prologue In Your Novel

So I’ve been reading a lot of spec novels via the Bang2write script reading service and downloading various free self published works for my Kindle app on my shiny new iPad (why the hell didn’t I get one years ago? Oh yeah, no money and the whole technophobia thing). Anyway, of the many spec or self published works that have crossed my radar in recent weeks, I’ve noticed some similar issues, all relating to prologues. Here are my thoughts on  NOT having one and why: 6. Your story starts too early. All too often, prologues in spec novels are boring… Read More »6 Reasons NOT To Have A Prologue In Your Novel

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8 Ways To Jump Start Your Novel’s Description

All About Novel Description The quality of your novel’s description can make or break your book. Novel description is one of the most important elements to be judged when you send it to an agent or publisher (or direct with a reader if you’re self publishing). Yes, yes we all *know* this … Yet STILL all too often writers do not invest in their novel description adequately. As a result authors drop a multitude of description clangers. This serves only to dissuade agents, publishers or readers from engaging with the story in front of them. So what to do? Don’t… Read More »8 Ways To Jump Start Your Novel’s Description

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