Before I write out this week’s writing prompts for you, a quick Q:
Are you ready with your family summer reading? If you want a good story to read with children (in person or online, grandparents/aunties/etc!), that will lead on to chatting about your faith, do hop on over to www.dernierpublishing.com, and choose something suitable. These books are brilliant conversation starters. Nothing quite like filling young minds with good things (while you’re waiting for your own story to be in print!).
And they are great research books for you, too. š
Dernier Books
*Competition* If you buy The Treasure Hunt through the Dernier website, Thereās also a competition to win a whole treasure chest of 18 fabulous books! More info here. I know this sounds a bit like an advert, but I wouldn’t want you or your loved ones to miss out. š All these books really are fun stories, that are changing lives.
ā
The Treasure Hunt
Right, on to this weekās 7 writing prompts for you, that you can do alone, or with the whole family. (Do send in photos of your childrenās work, whether they write themselves, or perhaps theyād like to illustrate your stories?)
Donāt forget, this isnāt an exam ā itās just for fun. š You can write as much or as little as you like, do just one or do them all, do them all in a big binge, or pick one for every day of the week.
So here they are: ā
Youāre holding something amazing. It starts to turn overā¦
You are in class, but in your imagination you are somewhere else…
What is in that jug (pitcher)?
You have to keep your mum safe, but itās not going to be easy…
You have a friend who has a secretā¦
The weather is against you, and youāre on a mountain
You wake up in a strange place.
ā ā
Feel free to pick one, or do all seven, and spend as much or as little time doing them as you wish.
Enjoy! And Iāll be back next week with more fun writing prompts. š
I hope you found last weekās writing tip useful, on the different publishing models; what to look for and what to avoid?
Let me know if you found it helpful, or if you have a question of your own youād like to ask. I always love to hear from you!
For the next few weeks, as itās summer holidays, I thought we could have some fun togetherā¦
Iām going to set you seven writing prompts per week, so you can write a little bit in your writing journal every day…
OR if you prefer, just pick the one you like the best and go with that!
Write as little or as much as you wish. Five minutes, or an hour ā itās up to you!
These are suitable to do with your whole family, too, so get the kids/grandkids/nephews and nieces involved, or your Sunday School.
Take a photo of your kidsā work, send it to me, and Iāll see if we canāt find a prize. š
Itās time to get creative!
So here are this weekās writing prompts:
Something really strange is growing in your gardenā¦
Your dog barks, and you realise you know what heās saying!
What brings you comfort when youāre feeling scared or stressed?
What would you like to be doing now? Best case scenario.
Itās one of those days, and everything has gone wrong. Make it up or expand on the truth!
Youāre falling, falling, fallingā¦ and then you stop…
Your pet is a superhero. Wow, look what they can do!
Enjoy!
And for those of you who would like to look at a serious topic with fellow writers, Iām running a Zoom training next Monday (31st July), on the subject of Writerās Block, and other issues that can prevent us from writing our very best work, with enthusiasm and energy! We all falter at times. Come along and be inspired. Thereās a small cost. Click here for more details.
This week I am answering a question from a writer about the different routes to publishing. The answer is quite long, but if you are starting to think about what to do with your story once you’ve finished it, Sallyās concerns in this area may well be yours, too.
So hereās the question:
Dear Janet,
A friend has suggested I contact you to see if you are able to offer me any advice please. I have written a young childrenās story which a friend has illustrated for me. I have had hybrid publishing contracts offered by 3 different publishers, ranging from Ā£1900 to Ā£1600. I looked into self publishing, but it looked complicated & still expensive. I have also had an offer of Ā£899 from a publisher, who would guide me through self publishing, but the only outlet is Amazon. Finally, there is a publisher who is not accepting new submissions until the autumn, but if a work is accepted, their offer is for the author to purchase a number of copies as their contribution. Please can you offer any advice for a way through this maze.
Grateful thanks, Sally
Firstly, congratulations, Sally, on finishing your book! Yaaayyyyy!!!!!
Many people think about writing a book, some start, but few finishā¦ So well done.
And on to the question of what to do next.
Letās first look at the basic publishing models:
Traditional, where an established publishing house turns your manuscript into a book
Self-publishing, where you do everything yourself
Hybrid, which is where a company does the work of turning your manuscript into a book, but you are expected to pay something towards the costs and/or buy books (usually several hundred)
Vanity publishing. This comes with a heavy warning.
So letās have a look at all of these in more detail.
The first thing I need to say is say that publishing and printing are expensive processes. A publishing company will not just have to pay for printing, but for editing, typesetting, the cover, the inner book design, proofreading, and Illustrations if needed. They will also have to pay the author royalties. Plus there are all the other general overhead expenses that any business has ā premises, IT, stationery, PO Box, website costs, shipping, insurance, heating and lightingā¦ then thereās marketing and social media and staff costs and so it goes on. Thatās all off the top of my head, and doesnāt include taxes!
So although it doesnāt cost a lot to write a book (I know, your time is precious!), it does cost a lot (of money and time) to produce one. These days, unless you have bestselling books, itās challenging for publishers to meet costs, sometimes, let alone make a profit, especially if the market is niche, such as Christian childrenās books, and the author unknown. Therefore, if a publisher takes on your book, they are taking all the risk.
This is where the hybrid model comes in. You, as the author, take some/all of the financial risk. But they do all the hard work of producing the book for you! You do need to check exactly what they will do and what is required of you. Make sure you have all the information before you proceed, and are happy with how the company works, and your part in it.
But what about all those books you have to buy? Yikes!!!
Well, whether you are traditionally published, or not, you are going to have to get out into the world and market and sell your book yourself, so getting a few hundred books yourself at a good price (possibly up to 50% off the RRP), will mean you can make your money back, at least, and get your work out into the world and into the hands of those people you long to touch with your story.
And if you work really hard, you can end up making a nice profit!
So the hybrid model can work well. In the UK I can recommend Instant Apostle and Onwards and Upwards. I know, like and trust the people who run both of these organisations; they wonāt fleece you!
Of course, you have to have the money in the first place… eeeekkk!!!! Why not pray about it? Itās amazing what the Lord can do! You might even have the answer in your own handsā¦ maybe you could sell some unwanted items on Vinted or ebay, or do a sponsored event? š
As for self-publishing, this is a big learning curve. If youāre up for it, do go ahead. If it makes your heart sink, you might need to see if you can get someone to help you… only you can decide about that. And youāre absolutely right, itās still not cheap, if you do it properly (and whatās the point of releasing a poor product?).
However, the phrase in Sallyās email āpublisher, who would guide me through self publishingā makes me wonder if they are really a publisher at all? Iām not sure why a publisher would do this ā it raises questions in my mind. Or is this publisher a friend or fellow writer, who is happy to help guide your through the process of turning your manuscript into a book? If you donāt know the āpublisherā personally, and are happy for them to have your cash, you should be extremely wary of parting with your money.
And so on to a BIG WARNING to everyone. Avoid so called āVanity Publishersā who expect you to pay for everything. Do not get a āpublisherā to publish your book for you, who is asking you to pay them a lot of money. Sadly, many so called āpublishing companiesā are little more than thieves. They will take your money and run, often leaving you with a disappointing product, no customer service, and no sales plan. The internet is full of tragic stories of thousands of pounds lost by authors desperate to get their book out into the world, who end up with nothing. Check out independent reviews – they will make your hair curl.
In conclusion, as Sally says, itās a maze.
BUT there is always a way forward. Keep praying! If the Lord has called you to write this book, he will make the way.
Just one final thought:
Could you start with a kindle/ebook? Kindle books are reasonably straightforward to create from a simple Word document, and the process is completely free. And at a later date, you can go on to publish a physical book. This is one way you could take the learning curve one step at a time. And you can probably find a young person from your family or church to help. (Or YouTube, of course!)
Iād like to finish by saying that everything Iāve said here is merely my opinion. I know Christian authors who have done very well at self-publishing, those who have had great success with kindle/ebooks and those who have successfully published with the hybrid model. Please do consider your options carefully. Just donāt pay money to unscrupulous people. If you think Iām being harsh, do a quick search online, or ask in writers groups. You donāt have to look very far to find horror stories.
I do hope this has helped Sally, and perhaps others of you, too.
If anyone else has any wisdom to offer, please do get in touch!
And if anyone would like support as they write their books and get them out into the world, weād love you to join us in our membership group, Writers for a Reason Unite.
Hope to see you there!
Every blessing for the week ahead,
Janet
P.S. Zoom training on 31st July ā save the date!
P.P.S. I have a course in book marketing. Itās not open at the moment, but if youād like to go on a waitlist for when itās available, let me know.
Do you have this question? Itās a really good one, and worth thinking about, because itās good to get this right.
I received this email from Writer for a Reason Melanie, from South Africa. She asks:
āHope you don’t mind me asking but how many words would be considered a good number for a chapter in a book? I finally started writing my Christian Fiction inspired by my life story.ā
First of all, well done Melanie for starting ā yyyaaaayyyyy!!!!!
And this is such an excellent question.
So, here goes:
The answer isā¦.. it depends! š
Here are some things it depends on:
The age group of your readership
The length of your book
When you have a great place to make a chapter break
Your own style.
So, letās go through these in a bit more detail.
If you are writing for 6-8s, your chapters will need to be short, because their attention span will be short.
For older children, your story will be longer, so your chapters will probably be longer, too.
For young adults, your chapters can be just as long as for adult fiction.
But great places for chapter breaks have to be kept in mind! If you come to a place with a natural cliffhanger, you may well want to end your chapter thenā¦
So some chapters will naturally be a bit longer/shorter than others.
Your own story/style will dictate your chapter lengths, too, to some extent.
The Only Way, by Gareth Rowe, is also split up into three parts, which equate to different periods in the protagonistās life, but there arenāt chapters as such; there are 55 āsectionsā; some of these are no more than a page long. This makes this book brilliant for reluctant readers. You can buy a copy here.
So there are lots of options.
Here are my three top tips for deciding how long your chapters should be:
1. Do some research. Find successful books similar to the one you will be writing, with a similar length, that your target readers love. How many chapters do these books have? How long are they? Itās always good to copy what is successful! You want to make sure that the chapter lengths are just right for your readers.
2. Do YOU. What would work best for YOUR novel? You donāt have to follow the crowd (but keep your readers in mind at all times).
3. A tip from author of The Dove Stone, Pam Daunton: if you are writing for use in schools, consider how long the chapters take to read aloud ā and try to make them all around the same length!
Hope that helps, Melanie, and everyone else, too. If you have any further questions or queries, please donāt hesitate to get in touch.
Your book launch shoud be a wonderful celebration of all that you have achieved. Yaaayyyy!!!! Real books in real boxes! (Or real ebooks ready to be sold.)
After all that hard work and hours spent agonising over every scene, every character, every word…
It’s only right that you should celebrate!
It’s also a time to thank everyone who has had a part in helping you in your writing journey, as well as giving you a massive pat on the back for actually getting your book into print! An amazing achievement, and worthy of a big party.
But your book launch should be sooo much more than that, because you didn’t write for yourself, you were writing with a reason.
Now it’s a time to start getting as many books into as many young people’s hands as you can.
After all, a seed can yield 30, 60 or 90 times what was sown.
The launch is in some ways a celebration of the end of the writing and publishing phase of your book.. but it’s also a time for those seeds to begin to be planted in the ground.
Most of us, as writers, are naturally drawn towards being alone.
Perhaps we’re not party animals.
So we’re thinking SMALL when it comes to launches.
We don’t want to make a fuss, we don’t want to bother people, we don’t want to be looked at and we cringe from being the centre of attention (as well as terrified that people won’t like our book and that people will find out that we were never really a writer at all – which is the imposter syndrome talking…).
BUT our book launch is the start of getting our book, with its message of good news, into as many young hands as possible.
So it’s important that we think of our launch in terms of:
How can I get as many books as pssible out there?
I have loads of launch tips for you, to help you achieve this aim, as well as thinking BIG, at the Zoom masterclass this evening.
Do come if you can.
As I said last week, there will be opportunity to ask questions, and it will be fun – we always have a good time!
I have a very quick writing tip for you for this week ā well, itās not so much a tip as a reminder…
This summer, make a determined effort to read books that your own target audience enjoy.
Whether you are writing for young adults or a younger age range, check out whatās latest and new; popular authors and the books that are trending.
These books will teach you so much about what your audience are enjoying reading right now. Genre, style, length, characters, plots, narrative voiceā¦ reading a selection of these books will give you lots of ideas for your own writing.
While youāre reading, jot down notes. What is it about this book that makes it so successful? What is the opening like? How does it draw you in? What is the pace like? How does the author create tension? What is it about the characters that engages you? How has the author brought in lighter moments/humour? How is the final conflict dealt with? How is the book concluded?
So thereās a summer reading task for you ā one to enjoy. š
Let me know what you think of the books you read!
And Iāll see you again next week.
Every blessing,
Janet
P.S. Donāt forget the training on Book Launches, coming up next Monday (26th). It should be good! Hope to see you there.
I had some interesting feedback from a previous writing tip, about book launches (thank you for your time – always love to hear from you). I had been thinking about what topic to cover for the next Zoom training, and I have decided to go ahead and look at the whole subject of book launches.
This is an exciting topic!
Not anything like ready to launch your book?
It doesn’t matter – this is your chance to start getting organised for that future date!
However near or far away your book launch, this is your opportunity to open a file on your computer or start a new page in your writing journal, and get dreaming and planning. As time goes on, you can add new things to your list, like where/how to get a cake with your book cover as the icing topper, who to invite, a game to play with children who will be present, dressing up ideasā¦ then put them all into practice, one at a time, when the time is right.
This masterclass will take place on Zoom on 26th June, at 7pm UK time. And you’re invited!
This is going to be a very practical training. Iāve asked experienced writers for their very best book launch advice, and will be including many great ideas, so you will be able to make your book launch the best ever. š
If you already have a book launch or two under your belt, do get in touch with your top tips, so I can include those, too. We’re all in this together!
I look forward to hearing from you, and will be inviting you to register when I have all the right technology in place. š
Every blessing for the week ahead, and keep writing, because if you have been called to write a story, someone’s waiting for it.
I hope you found last week’s writing tip, about big picture editing, useful.
This week we’re doing a quantum leap… from editing, to planning your book launch!
But what if you havenāt finished your story? Seems a bit premature to be planning the launch, doesnāt it?
It’s never too early to begin thinking about your book launch!
Where you will have it, who you will invite, what you will do…
I would like to submit two reasons why itās great to begin planning well in advance:
1. The brain can be a strange thingā¦ thereās something deep within us that works harder when we have a concrete aim. And what better concrete aim, than your book launch? I would like to suggest that if you have begun to plan your launch in advance, thereās something in you which will help you to keep writing when the time gets tough ā because you have this goal in mind! Can you see how this would work for you? Do you think it would help you to keep writing with energy and enthusiasm, if you have begun to jot down some ideas for your launch?
2. Time zips past at an alarming rate. All of a sudden, summer is here! You know how it seems ages to a holiday, or a birthday, or Christmasā¦ then suddenly itās upon you and it catches you unawares? It certainly does for me! Well, if you already have the bones of your launch in place well in advance, you wonāt be running around like crazy, trying to get everything done at the last minute, and possibly leaving something out because you ran out of time.
What do you think? Do you agree with both points?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Janet
P.S. Would you please share this with a friend? Sharing is caring!
Did you watch the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday? Lots to glean there if you’re planning any kind of British pomp and ceremony in your story!
āThere have been many television programmes about King Charles over the last few months, telling his story, from a boy growing up, to all his commitments as Prince of Wales, culminating in his coronation this weekend.
All would have been carefully crafted by expert storytellers, so we are engaged with this quite remarkable story.
We need to carefully craft our stories, too, so we engage our readers!
Here are some ‘Big Picture’ things worth thinking about as we finish our first main draft (we looked at these in our training on editing):
ā
Is the length right?
Is it good for the age group/target readers?
Does it flow well, with description, narrative, dialogue and action?
Does the fictional world ‘work’?
Is there anything confusing: is there anything you need to add or remove?
Does your theme come over?
Is the story gripping enough – is there the right amount of suspense/tension? (or is it boring – yikes!)
Has anything old-fashioned crept in? Like the word yikes! š
Have you done any necessary research?
Are you happy with it?
ā
All these things can help with big picture editing.
Hope that helps as you think about your story!
Have a lovely week, and I’ll be back again soon.
ā
Every blessing,
ā
Janet
P.S. Quick reminder: we have so many Bank Holidays this month, I won’t be running a Masterclass in May, but am planning one for June, at 7pm on 26th (UK time). Get the date in your diary, and I’ll send you more details in due course. š
Hello! And welcome to May ā wow, this year certainly is zipping by at a rate of knots. Do you think so, too, or is it just because Iām getting older?
Apologies that you didnāt get a writing tip yesterday ā we had a Bank Holiday here in the UK, so I was scrubbing the patio instead of sitting at my computer!
For those of you who were with us for the Masterclass in editing last month, you will remember this slide, when we were talking about changing everyday words to something more descriptive:
He put the book in his bag, took an apple and set off.
He tossed the book in his bag, grabbed an apple and raced out of the front door.
He sneaked the book into his bag, stole an apple and crept out of the front door.
Mull over those three sentences for a minute.
Word choice really does make a difference, doesn’t it?
So hereās your writing tip for this week: get the bones of the story down as fast as you can in your first draft.
BUT when you come to edit, spend your time mulling over some fabulous words, to add meaning and atmosphere to grip your readers.
Send me your edits ā Iād love to see them!
Every blessing to you all,
Janet
P.S. As we have so many Bank Holidays this month, I won’t be running a Masterclass in May, but am planning one for June, at 7pm on 26th. Pop the date in your diary, and I’ll send you more details in due course.