Publishing
Talk: INTERVIEW: Malorie Blackman
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Posted: 21 Oct 2018 07:45 AM PDT
Malorie Blackman, the former
Children’s Laureate and champion of children’s literature, talks to Lucy Coats
about her path to publication and the obstacles she faced as a writer of
colour.
Photo © Random House
Children’s Books
This article first appeared in the Children’s Publishing issue
of Publishing
Talk Magazine (2014). We’re republishing a slightly edited
version now to mark Marlorie Blackman’s first Doctor Who
episode, co-written with Chris Chibnall, broadcast on 21
October 2018. Malorie also previously wrote a Seventh
Doctor short story, ‘The Ripple Effect’, which you can read about in an
article called I Have Always
Loved Doctor Who on her website. JR
10 minutes to read
Almost everyone has by now heard of
Malorie Blackman, OBE – Children’s Laureate, multi-award-winning writer,
passionate champion of children’s literature for all ages, and described by The Times as ‘a national treasure’ – but it has been a long and sometimes
difficult path to today’s public recognition.
Although she can’t remember a time
when she didn’t make up stories and poems, Malorie was eight or nine before
she started actually writing them down, in her school English workbooks. A
passionate and omnivorous reader, she found it curious that there were no
stories by black writers – and certainly none featuring a black girl like her
– and it certainly never occurred to her that it was possible for her own
stories to get published. Growing up, Malorie says: “There were always too
many people ready to set my limits for me.” Told of her lifelong dream to
teach, her careers adviser wouldn’t give her a university reference, and
suggested she became a secretary instead, as “black people don’t become
teachers.” It was only the discovery of Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple in her twenties which planted the seed of the idea that “maybe,
just maybe, I too could become a writer.”
I made a deal with myself that I’d
carry on writing and sending out my work to publishers until I reached my one
thousandth rejection letter.
That process of ‘becoming a writer’
took eighty-two rejections (which represented eight books and two years of
her life), but as Malorie herself admits: “I’m very stubborn. I made up my
mind that I was going to be a writer and I wasn’t going to give up. I made a
deal with myself that I’d carry on writing and sending out my work to
publishers until I reached my one thousandth rejection letter. After which I
would sit down and have a good long think about whether or not it was ever
going to happen.”
As time went on, and the rejections
piled up, she was encouraged by the changing tone of the editors’ letters,
which became more detailed and longer. “They went from polite but unequivocal
‘not suitable for our list’ to one or two pages explaining why my stories
weren’t working. I took it as a positive sign.” Eventually her first
collection of short stories – Not So Stupid! was published in
1990 by the now defunct Women’s Press.
It took Malorie three published
books before she got her first agent – Michael Thomas at A.M.Heath – but
later she changed to Hilary
Delamere at The Agency because they also specialised in film
and TV contracts, and by then she knew she also wanted to write for TV, which
she did very successfully for Byker Grove. “My advice to unagented authors
would be to try and get recommendations regarding agents to approach,” she
says, and she believes that working with an agent you trust and respect is
incredibly important. “You need an agent who is prepared to tell it like it
is and give you a verbal kick up the backside,” as well as someone who can
“play hardball with publishers without the money aspect souring the
relationship between author and editor. A good agent is also a great sounding
board for ideas and a safety valve when you want to rant and wail.”
Malorie has worked with many editors
over the years – she had eight different publishers in the early days – and
she maintains that the editor/author relationship is a kind of negotiation
where the editor will see the potential in your ‘vision’, and help you to
realize it. However, she is very aware that publishers have other concerns,
so sometimes the relationship can also be “about compromise and knowing when
to choose your battles.” Her current editor, Annie Eaton at Random House, she
describes as “brilliant – a really lovely woman, always tactful and positive,
but still able to rein me in when a book seems to be going a little
off-the-rails.”
Since the 90s, Malorie has written
over sixty books for children of all ages, on a range of subjects from
heart-transplants to hacking, but although most of the characters in her
books are black it was not until Noughts and Crosses – which turned out to be her
breakthrough book – that she chose to address racism. “I have a fear of being
labelled – I don’t want to be ‘the X writer’. After 49 books I thought NOW
I’m going to write about it – but I’m going to do it MY way. As I writer I
have to keep pushing myself, trying new stuff – that’s how you grow.” Of the
characters in that book, she says Callum is probably the one she’s closest
to. “Things happened to me that happened to him.”
As a writer of colour in her early
days of publication, Malorie faced considerable challenges and opposition
from some editors, booksellers and librarians, who told her things like ‘no
white child will read a book with a black child on the cover’ or ‘white
children can’t relate to black issues’ or (even worse in her eyes) ‘the black
experience’. She countered by telling them that she was writing about human
issues, and to this day says that she still doesn’t know what “the one ‘black
experience’ might be”. Such comments were, of course, utter nonsense, and
more indicative of the views of the speaker than of any child.
We still need far more diversity in
the voices of those published in the UK, and in the publishing industry.
Twenty-four years later things have
improved, though Malorie still thinks there’s some way to go. “We still need
far more diversity in the voices of those published in the UK, and in the
publishing industry.” She’s right. There are almost no British-Chinese or
British-Japanese protagonists in UK children’s literature, and very few books
about disabled characters which don’t focus on the disability.
 While publishers are
keen to champion LGBT characters now, even as recently as 2010 when Malorie’s
Boys Don’t Cry was published, a gay character like
her protagonist Adam was unusual in a children’s book. She quotes Toni
Morrison, author of The Bluest Eye: “If there’s a
book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must
write it” and adds “but get out there and do your research – get your facts
straight and get it as good as you can before sending it out.” As for
children’s publishing – the fight for more diversity within its ranks is
still an ongoing battle.
If there’s a book that you want to
read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. – Toni Morrison
As with every writer, Malorie’s
‘writing process’ is unique. For her, the gestation of each book is different
– some sweep along from original idea to finish with no hiccups, others are a
bit like running in a maze, with a lot of doubling back – and there is a
whole computer file full of “ideas that not only haven’t blossomed, they
haven’t even been planted!” She lists the cycle of emotions each of her books
goes through as: “Inspiration, enthusiasm, vague unease, self-doubt, despair,
procrastination, insight, renewed vigour, light at the end of the tunnel
syndrome, jubilation, exhaustion, disappointed resignation, inspiration,
enthusiasm.” However, sometimes an idea is only 90% there. If that happens,
“no matter how many ways you twist it round and work on it, you reluctantly
have to dump it and move on.”
Malorie is a plotter rather than a
pantser, always plans out her books, and spends a great deal of time on her
characters’ mini-biographies. “If I feel I’ve really got to grips with them
and have created three-dimensional people who are real in my head, they don’t
tend to steer me down blind alleys. I trust that if they do deviate from my
initial plot idea, it’s for a very good reason.” Those essential mini-bios
ensure that she knows exactly how her characters will think, feel and act in
any given circumstances.
Malorie says she writes everywhere,
and if she’s not on her computer, she’s scribbling in a notebook, but her
favourite place to write is her attic. However, she also has an unusual way
of solving plot and character problems. “If I’m stuck with a particular
chapter or part of my book, I have been known to buy a return ticket, hop on
a train and write. Then when I get to my destination, I take the first train
home again and write. I’ve done that more than once to solve a writing
dilemma and it always works.” There’s an absolute line-in-the-sand must,
though – no interruptions. “I find that even little things throw me off my
writing stride. I like to sit at my desk and really think and feel my way
into my current story.” The distraction of a ringing phone, an email alert,
or even an offer of a cuppa can jolt her out of the story and back to
reality.
Social media is crucial to anyone
writing for children or young adults because it makes the author more
accessible.
There is, of course, also the
distracting lure of social media – although Malorie maintains that YA fiction
writers neglect that side of things at their peril, because “word of mouth
and peer review among teens count for a great deal.” She thinks that social
media has a role to play both in communicating content to a writer’s audience
and advertising the books, and feels that having a social media presence is
crucial to anyone writing for children or young adults because it makes the
author more accessible.
She does try to limit how much time
she spends on Facebook and Twitter, though. “If you’re not careful, they can
take over your writing life as the interaction with others can be addictive
because the response to whatever you write is immediate. I’d rather spend my
day writing stories and poems, not tweeting!” Author visits to schools and
libraries are another must – putting in the hard work of connecting with your
audience personally, talking about the books, is a way of getting past the
gatekeepers and getting your book directly to its intended audience. “If you
get children interested in a story,” she says, “they will go for it.”
The 2013-2015
Children’s Laureate was announced as Malorie Blackman at King’s Place in
London 04 June 2013. Photo © 2013 Tom Pilston for Booktrust.
The main thing which has taken up
most of Malorie’s time in recent years has been the Children’s Laureateship,
which makes many demands on her time. She has to factor in interviews (she’s
on radio and TV regularly), travelling, appearances in schools, libraries, at
festivals and elsewhere – and endless speeches with all the research those entail.
She says that being the Children’s Laureate “is a great honour but it’s like
having a second full time job.” The right balance is hard to find, and she
reckons she’ll probably crack it about a month before she hands over to the
next Laureate in June 2015. Inevitably, her writing output has plummeted, and
she worries that her publisher and agent “both want to kill me!”
Every book she writes now takes her
so long to finish that she has to be absolutely sure that her whole heart and
soul are in it before she commits to it. Nevertheless, Malorie feels that the
positive far outweigh the negatives, and she has certainly brought her own
passions about literacy and reading to the role and made it very much her
own, focusing mainly on teenagers and secondary schools. “I have had the
chance to meet some amazing people and to try and encourage more children,
especially teenagers to read. I’ve already met so many wonderful children and
teens as Children’s Laureate. That’s the most rewarding part of what I do.”
Write what you feel passionate about
– because publishers don’t always know what the next trend is.
The first UK Young Adult Literature
Convention (YALC) took place in July 2014. Curated and directed by Malorie,
its huge success with over fifty authors involved is testament to just some
of her hard work in that area.
Asked to give advice for new and
aspiring writers, Malorie is very definite. Write what you feel passionate
about – because publishers don’t always know what the next trend is. “If you
have a burning desire to write something then write it,” but she is also
adamant that you must do your research and know your market. In practice,
this means going to London Book Fair, seeing what’s on the stands, finding
out what’s selling and what’s not, asking librarians and booksellers what is
popular and why, as well as collecting publishers catalogues.
Once a book is finished, she says,
you must “always get on with the next thing.” She herself is still learning
new things about her craft. “If I said I wasn’t, that could only mean a) I’m
already perfect or b) I’m not interesting in improving. I can assure you
neither of those is true!”
Malorie Blackman’s top
writing tips
1.
Be true to yourself and your vision when it comes to writing, but don’t be afraid
to take advice and to compromise where necessary.
2. Choose your editorial
battles carefully, and remember, you can’t please all the people all the time!
3. Get out there and do
your research. Get your facts straight and make your manuscript as good as you
can before sending it out.
4. Don’t be afraid to
move out of your comfort zone more than once in a while. That’s how you stretch and grow as a
writer.
5. Write from the heart as well as the head.
 MALORIE
BLACKMAN has written over sixty books and is acknowledged as one of today’s
most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers. She has been
awarded numerous prizes for her work, including the Red House Children’s Book
Award and the Fantastic Fiction Award. Malorie has also been shortlisted for
the Carnegie Medal. In 2005 she was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award
in recognition of her contribution to children’s books, and in 2008 she
received an OBE for her services to children’s literature. Malorie was the
Children’s Laureate 2013–15. To find out more, visit www.malorieblackman.co.uk or
follow her on Twitter at @malorieblackman.
The post INTERVIEW:
Malorie Blackman appeared first on Publishing Talk.
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Publishing Talk: 8 things to include in your author
social media strategy
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Posted: 18 Oct 2018 10:24 AM PDT
To develop a successful social media
presence, it pays to spend a bit of time developing a strategy first, says Jon Reed.
 4 minutes to read
Social media is one of the best ways
to connect with readers, build a large, engaged audience – and promote your
books. Whether you’re an author working on your own social media, or a
publisher developing a social media presence for one of your authors, it pays
to think strategically about what you want to achieve.
However, this is still
surprisingly rare. Book-based social media is still incredibly
prone to last-minute-ism, ‘throw stuff out and see what sticks’,
and ‘same old same old’ copycat churn. So make sure you think through
these eight elements when putting together a social media strategy, if
you really want to see results.
1. Aims and objectives. What do you want to achieve from your use of social media?
Don’t just think about book sales: think about building your online platform.
That includes follower growth, email signups, raising your profile and
positioning yourself as an expert. What are your long-term aims? To write a
column? To give a TED Talk? Think big.
2. Measures of success. How will you know when you’ve succeeded? Decide in advance what
success looks like for you – and what your ‘key performance indicators’
(KPIs) will be. These are likely to include clickthroughs, follower growth
and engagement rate (average number of reactions per post per thousand
followers, expressed as a percentage). Be specific. You might, for example,
want to double your Instagram followers before your publication date.
3. Social media audit. Where are you now? Unless you’re starting from scratch, you
probably have at least some social channels that you’ve been using – albeit
perhaps not as frequently or effectively as you would like. Which platforms
are you using? How many followers do you have on each? How does this compare
with the number of people you follow (your follower ratio)? What type of
content are you posting – and how frequently? What is your engagement rate?
Consider doing a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,
Threats). It can really give an honest picture of what’s going on and why.
4. Audience and competition. Who are you trying to reach? Where can you find them online?
Think about the main market you want to reach, and any secondary markets.
What platforms do they use, and what sort of accounts do they already follow?
Look for similar accounts to your own – and follow their followers. This can
be a great way of building your own follower numbers. Think about key
influencers too – follow, like and retweet them. It’s not rocket science, but
it takes time and grunt work. You can’t just assume ‘build it and they will
come.’
5. Social media platforms. Which platforms will you use? Blog, podcast, Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn? You don’t need to use everything –
start small and focus on one or two that you will actually use. Your audience
analysis will guide you as to which will be best for reaching your readers –
but think too about what you are comfortable with and have time for. Write a
one-page strategy for each, including platform demographics, content types
you will post, your ‘calls to action’ and measures of success.
6. Content strategy. What types of content will you post? For example: quote cards
(images overlaid with quotations, tips or facts from your book); ‘behind the
scenes’ posts of the writer’s life; news and announcements; links to relevant
blog posts and articles; and any specific promotions that you will run, such
as hashtag contests. Put together a spreadsheet, with rows for each platform
and columns for content types, frequency, calls to action and measures of
success. Yes, it’s an extra layer of work. But if you want to be truly
strategic, you need to do it.
7. Editorial timeline. When will you post this content? Some of your content
will be ‘evergreen’ and can be posted anytime; some will be tied to critical
dates, seasons – or even hashtag trends. You don’t need to plan this in
excessive detail, but draw up a spreadsheet with months in the first column –
from today until beyond your publication date. Include any important events,
such as book festivals, launches or conferences. Then add a column for each
platform you’re using, and specify what the focus of your content will be for
each month.
8. Email strategy. Yes, this is a social media strategy. But I always include a
section on email marketing. You need to build up your follower numbers – but
you also need to build your email list. Email tends to be a more effective
sales medium than, say, Twitter. Give people an incentive to sign up to your
list – such as a sample chapter or free ebook – then promote it on social
media. Make sure you collect the necessary consents for email marketing.
These are stricter since the introduction of the EU’s General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018.
I tend to put together a document of
up to 20pp, depending on the number of platforms – plus a couple of
spreadsheets: a content strategy and a timeline. But you don’t necessarily
need a huge amount of documentation in advance, or to launch into using every
platform listed in your strategy at once. Your strategy is a living document
that will evolve as your needs change over time. But one thing is sure: you
do need one. Otherwise you can waste an awful lot of time and energy simply
adding to the noise.
This post first appeared on FutureBook
on 10 Sep 2018.
The post 8 things to
include in your author social media strategy appeared first on
Publishing Talk.
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Publishing Talk:
EVENT: How to Get Published – Saturday 9th February 2019, London
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Posted: 09 Oct 2018 05:16 AM PDT
Want to get published? Know someone
who does? It’s just four months to our How to Get
Published event at Foyles bookshop in London.
How To Get Published
A one-day masterclass
for writers
Saturday 9th February 2019 –
Foyles, Charing Cross, London
Do you want to get published? Have
you written a book but have no idea how to take the next steps? Brought to
you by Publishing Talk, the How to Get
Published masterclass is an essential day for all authors
starting out – whether traditional or indie.
Meet bestselling authors, literary
agents, publishers and self-publishing experts as they explain the publishing
landscape, the various routes to publication and equip you for career
success. Expect no-nonsense, practical advice to motivate you to write that
book – and get it published!
Join us at the iconic Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross
Road, London for a packed day of great speakers, panels, discussions and
plenty of time for networking with fellow writers.
 We’re also giving away
a FREE copy of Write a Bestseller by
literary agent Jacq Burns (one of our speakers) to all delegates – so you’ll
have no excuse not to get on and pursue your publishing ambitions!
What you can expect to
learn:
§ How to get an agent
§ What publishers are
looking for
§ How traditional
publishing works
§ Alternatives to
traditional publishing
§ How to build your
platform online
Confirmed speakers
include:
§ Debbie Young, self-published
author and Author Advice Center Manager, The Alliance of Independent
Authors (ALLi)
Limited earlybird
tickets available now.
Hope to see you there!
The post EVENT: How to
Get Published – Saturday 9th February 2019, London appeared
first on Publishing Talk.
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