Claire and I recently attended a talk at Chippenham Library on the subject of Writing, Publishing, and the Secret of Success. Local writers Rachel Brimble, L.B. Griffin, and Jane Lark spoke and led the discussion. It was well attended, including by two of my new writer’s circle, Grant White and Sarah Miles. So did I learn anything? Yes, I did.
Firstly I learnt that there is a writer’s circle on my doorstep in Chippenham. I’ve posted previously about my search for a writer’s circle. I joined Corsham Writers, and that has been great fun, but it recently disbanded due to ill health of the organiser. Fortunately a new circle, Milktown Writers, has replaced it based in Melksham. It’s a longer drive, but well attended by twenty writers. I had of course previously asked in Chippenham Library if there are any local writer’s circles, and they didn’t know of any. I didn’t think of asking in Chippenham Museum, which is where the Chippenham Writer’s meet on the first Wednesday of the month. Unfortunately that’s when the Milktown Writers meet. I’m going to stick with Milktown, but it’s good to have a backup plan.
I also learnt that you don’t need a literary agent to be traditionally published. When I had the manuscript of The Spy who Sank the Armada ready, I worked hard on a synopsis, a submission letter, and my elevator pitch. The accepted wisdom, as I understood it, was not to even think about approaching a publisher without a literary agent. I approached six literary agents, got one rejection email, and heard nothing from the others. My editor suggested self-publishing via Amazon, and that’s the way I went.
The panel suggested Storm, Bloodhound, and Joffe, as excellent Independant publishers who don’t require authors to have a literary agent. I’ve checked them out, and they all sound great. I asked if it would be feasible to submit the fifth book in a series to such a publisher, when the first four books have been self-published on Amazon. The panel said that they love authors with a back catalogue, and that would seem to be borne out by their websites.
I confess that the gestation of book 5 of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures has been slower that the first four. This is partly because of the recent lack of lockdowns; partly because I’ve had four weighty biographies to read as research; but also because I’m in no rush to incur editing costs, cover design costs, and audiobook narration costs. So I think it’s time to get writing the manuscript and see if I can interest one of these independent publishers. I’m attending a CWA crime writer’s clinic tonight on zoom. The topic is “Why aren’t I a number one bestseller yet?” Maybe one day I will be. We can all dream, can’t we?