Beat the Baby!
2008 Feb 21 Oh ho ho. Well, I may as well start with a bad joke.
What am I going to put here?
A sporadic diary of my writing progress, my journey from dabbler to novelist.
I've written three novels, one of which I'm quite pleased with and two of which I wish were written by somebody else.
Now, I've started the first of a trilogy which looks like it might be a reasonably decent effort. I'm two thirds in but I'm also two thirds pregnant. Will I manage to finish my novel before baby arrives and my brain is fried for ever? Only time will tell!
Check my blog for thrilling weekly updates on progress... or whinging about being blocked... and one day, hopefully, you can check my store for the novel.
Why am I here?
Er just answered that one I guess. I write humorous fantasy fiction. That means that unless I am Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Jasper Fforde or some similar genius the likelihood of my being published through normal channels - without actually knowing anyone in the publishing industry that is - is remote.
I also write poetry. That's funny too.
Any readers of the Writer's and Artist's Yearbook, or similar, will know how popular poetry, humour and fantasy fiction are. These are the three genres which tended to be listed with the word "no" before at the end of pretty much most agent and publisher's entries. Well... I like a challenge.
I also gather that those three types of writing are the hardest thing to market... and therefore ever more of a gamble for publishers. In a world where it is fast becoming essential that you achieve fame for something else, first, if you want to be published, it's definitely a difficult thing to pitch. Although one in 10 books sold is by Terry Pratchett apparently...
Ah to be like Terry.
So, writing the things I enjoy writing is not smart if I want to get anywhere down usual publishing channels... because it's too much of a financial risk for them. I'm a good writer but I'm no genius and good isn't enough for commercial publication in the genre I've chosen. Oh yeh and despite being lucky in many important ways, I don't have those sold-my-soul-to-the-devil levels of the right kind of jammy luck to get published either.
Yeh, of course I'd like it if one in 10 books sold was by me, who wouldn't? However, despite that, at ground level all I have ever wanted is to finish a piece of work I can be really proud of and present it in a usable format to anyone else who wants read it.
That wasn't possible before.
Now it is.
God bless Lulu and all who sail in her!
A bientot!
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