Play the game, below, to find a title for your memoir. I knew the title of my first memoir, My Beautiful Psychosis, before I started writing it. I didn’t even have to think of one because it just came to me and stuck. It contained the word ‘psychosis’ which is especially useful for improving SEO. It also surprises people with… Read more →
What is the Secret to being an Amazon Best Seller – without spending ANY money or doing ANY extra promotional work? First you need a well written book that has a good title and an eye catching cover…obviously. Once you have that… …the SECRET is to put it in the RIGHT category. By ‘right’ I don’t mean the most appropriate… Read more →
Eight years ago I went to see a psychic. Don’t judge me. I needed some reassurance at the time. This is what the psychic medium Dorothy Chitty said: I started writing when I was first discharged from hospital way back in 1996. But, like psychic Dorothy said, I put it aside. It sounded self pitying and nothing I could feel… Read more →
Hybrid publishing is controversial. My memoir My Beautiful Psychosis; Making Sense of Madness has been offered three publishing deals. I not jumping up and down with glee because they are hybrid publishing deals. What is hybrid publishing? In traditional publishing the writer gets an advance and receives a small percentage of the book’s profit. A traditional publisher pays the author… Read more →
A professional editor bridges the gap between the writer and the reader, a gap that the writer, may not be aware of. Once you have finished editing your manuscript yourself, a professional editor is essential. But should you spend money on a professional editor? The short answer is, if you want to get it published, whether through a traditional publisher… Read more →
After 6 months of sending out proposals to agents, looking for someone else to believe in me, and receiving either rejections or worse still, no response at all, I’m feeling despair.
I sent a total of 34 proposals out: 18 of which received rejections and 16 I never heard back from. The standard response went something like this:
“Thank you for sending us this material, but I’m afraid it isn’t suitable for us. I’m sorry to disappoint, and wish you luck with your future writing.”
Only one agent gave me feedback as to why they didn’t go for it:
“Thanks so much for contacting us. I’ve read the sample material with interest. While I liked the chapters I wasn’t sufficiently swept along by the narrative to know that I’d be the best advocate for the book. Sorry! Best of luck elsewhere.”
The email I cherished the most, which I devoured like a drop of rain in the desert, came from Cara at the HHB Agency:
“Dear Emma, Thank you for your submission to HHB. I enjoyed reading your work, you write well, with intensity and style. However, as a small agency we are only ever able to take on a limited number of authors and I am afraid in this instance, we were not able to take you work further. I wish you all the best. All best, Cara”
One of the reasons I wanted to find a publisher was because I felt I wanted support to get the book out into the world. It is an entirely different process from writing the actual thing and requires very different skills. I’ve come to accept that I’m going to have to climb that particular mountain alone.
Thankfully there is help online at every step of the way.
The first thing I’ve done is to learn about cover design. I had a meeting with a graphic designer friend who very humbly said she wasn’t up for the job. I found a designer online, called Derek Murphy, who shared the secrets to designing a bestselling book cover. I’ve talked with bookshop assistants to find out what they think. I’ve played with different ideas and now, with a drum roll, I unveil the cover of my first book.
A huge thanks goes to artist Adriane Vinter from Norway for permission to use her image ‘Straight Jacket’.
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