Maldives! Where girls are flogged, and sometimes jailed, for being sexually abused if they cannot dig up four witnesses; on the bright side, dogs are banned so the daily road-cleaning ladies never have to wrangle dog-shit. From research, I believe I am only the second person to write about living in the Maldives (apart from … Continue reading Book Submission – My Muslims: Killing it in Maldives Insha’Allah
Category: Publish or be Canned
Found articles and a few I wrote.
Dear Literary Agent [a Query Letter]
Dear Literary Agent I am seeking representation for My Muslims: Killing It in Maldives Insha’Allah, a memoir of 85,000 words. The Maldives: where girls are flogged and jailed for being sexually abused if they cannot dig up four witnesses. On the bright side, dogs are banned so the daily road-sweeping ladies never have to wrangle … Continue reading Dear Literary Agent [a Query Letter]
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HOW TO FIND A LITERARY AGENT FOR NON-FICTION [BY JERICHO WRITERS]
NB I have put the link to the full article (and the site) at the end if you wish to read the rest of this article; the site is a real find! HOW TO FIND A LITERARY AGENT FOR NON-FICTION (by Jericho Writers) "Here’s how to find non-fiction literary agents, what kinds of non-fiction … Continue reading HOW TO FIND A LITERARY AGENT FOR NON-FICTION [BY JERICHO WRITERS]
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What I learned self publishing 9 books (is self publishing dead?) by Yann Girard
[I am re-blogging this post by Yann Girard via link below.] http://yanngirard.typepad.com/yanns_blog/2017/03/what-i-learned-self-publishing-9-books.html I've self published 9 books over the past four years. I know. Self publishing isn't anything special anymore. Still, I wanted to talk a little bit about my experience. Simply because you only hear about the people who have a hell lot of success self publishing books. You … Continue reading What I learned self publishing 9 books (is self publishing dead?) by Yann Girard
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A Response to: “Why I Gave Up the Dream of Getting Published” by Jessica Davidson
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/59652826/posts/13232 My post below is in response to the above-named (see link also). I thought this article demonstrated tremendous insight. I know nothing of your novel-writing but I too have been studying the (new) publishing world for about five years. I realised a while ago that my query letter was rubbish; there were no spelling … Continue reading A Response to: “Why I Gave Up the Dream of Getting Published” by Jessica Davidson
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Memoir and Voice and Why You Need to Sharpen Up
Whilst Frank McCourt [Angela's Ashes] and Augusten Burroughs [Running With Scissors; A Wolf at the Table] survived accusations of inaccuracies in their memoirs, James Frey's highly successful A Million Little Pieces, 2002 [featured on Oprah's Book Club] did not help the genre when it was later revealed he made up 70 per cent. However, the truly … Continue reading Memoir and Voice and Why You Need to Sharpen Up
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The Worst Book Review Ever But It Stops Me Being Deluded!
This post is a bit long but I hope it is worthwhile trawling through to the bitter end (!). Following is a terrible review I received about some chapters I released from my Maldives journal (at that time called I Can Laugh - NOW). I was very clear that it was my journal and not a … Continue reading The Worst Book Review Ever But It Stops Me Being Deluded!
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Listen, Drongo, You Are Not Elizabeth Gilbert and You Never Will Be
Writers Week (7-12 March) was part of the 2014 New Zealand Festival in Wellington (21 Feb- 16 March). I attended some seminars from the Writers Week, one of which was Life After Eat, Pray, Love [EPL] with Elizabeth Gilbert [EG]. EG said she vowed as a young woman to be published and was not at all deterred by SIX … Continue reading Listen, Drongo, You Are Not Elizabeth Gilbert and You Never Will Be
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If Professional Authors Need a Promotional Plan So Do You
These days it is up to new authors to come up with their own marketing and promotional plans because it is all about platform and making yourself stand out in the various marketplaces. The following is an abbreviated article taken from the Bookseller site and illustrates how even the most famous of authors - in this … Continue reading If Professional Authors Need a Promotional Plan So Do You
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Identify Your Target Audience by Joanna Penn
Writers: 5 Tips on How to Identify Your Target Audience by Joanna Penn [June 13, 2013] http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/06/13/identify-your-target-audience/One of the most difficult questions for an author is figuring out ‘who are your target audience?’ If you’ve tried to pitch an agent or publisher, you will have been asked about ‘comps’ or comparison authors which is just one … Continue reading Identify Your Target Audience by Joanna Penn
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How Not to Be a Writer by KM Weiland
Ever wonder if you’re doing this whole writing thing wrong? We have a bad writing session. The words are all glomming up in the back of our minds and refusing to flow across the page. Our editor hits us with a tough critique, in which he offers the humble suggestion that we change, well, pretty … Continue reading How Not to Be a Writer by KM Weiland
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Advice to Aspiring Writers from PD James
27 May 2012 PD James' memoir, Time to be in Earnest (1997, London: Faber & Faber) reminds me greatly of the writing style of Elizabeth Jane Howard in her memoir, Slipstream, in that they can both make the most mundane of daily activities quite mesmerizing. Nary a redundant phrase to be had. James' memoir is a diary … Continue reading Advice to Aspiring Writers from PD James
My Muslims 