Jericho Writers

With the latest information from Jericho Writers:

1-year anniversary special! On 10th April 2018, we decided to do something a bit different. We re-launched our established editorial consultancy; ‘The Writers Workshop’, as ‘Jericho Writers’, with a brand-new name, website and offering. Why? So we could offer the writers we worked with more tools, opportunities and advice, for a price that was manageable. It’s been an incredible year of ups and downs, but we are so, so pleased with the results. We’re now helping more writers than ever before and that is quite literally, all down to you. So this newsletter is a bit special. It’s a celebration of everything we have achieved together this year, as well as a heartfelt ‘thank you’ from us. Here's to another amazing year!

FLASH COMPETITION: Win a FREE annual membership To celebrate our first year as Jericho Writers, we’re giving away 10 FREE annual memberships. To win, simply email info@jerichowriters.com with the opening line from your latest book or short story before this Friday 12th April. Entries will be judged by the in-house team and winners notified before the end of the month. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to acknowledge receipt on this one. Good luck!

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Spotlight – our favourite picks from our first year

FEATURE: Behind-the-scenes of a major publisher (FREE for members) How can we have a highlights email without including our ground-breaking film behind-the-scenes at Orion books? With interviews from all major departments, this is your ultimate guide to traditional publishing and shines a light on the process like never before. WATCH NOW

AGENTMATCH: US Literary Agent Listings (FREE for members) This year, we added US literary agent listings to our comprehensive database of agents, giving writers more opportunities to find the right home for their writing. SEARCH HERE

COURSE: The How To Write video course (FREE for members) A huge part of the value of Jericho Writers is in our video courses – perhaps no more so than the How To Write course. These modules contain essential tips that you can come back to book-after-book. TAKE THE COURSE

Content corner: What do you want to see from Jericho Writers? vJericho Writers was created from own needs and desires as writers. In the next year, we want to turn this power over to our members, so we can create a platform that offers you the video content, live events and opportunities to take your work to the next level and beyond. We’re already setting up further links with the US to provide more and more content from the heart of the American publishing industry, alongside what we already offer in the UK. We’re also planning on increasing our live webinars over the next year; investing in an expanding our Townhouse forum and even looking at turning Jericho Writers into a kind-of mini-publisher itself! But what do you want to see? Is there a person you wish we’d interview? Is there an opportunity you think would help you get published? Is there something we’re not even doing yet that you wish we would? Join Jericho Writers now and have your say. Here's to an exciting 2019 and beyond! Sarah J

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As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact Stephanie on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Best wishes, Sarah Juckes Author | Jericho Writers *or if you're in the US, give us a call toll free on 1-800 454 2134

Plus – don’t miss Slushpile LIVE with Hardman & Swainson (Members only) 14 May 2019. Join us and two agents from Hardman & Swainson as we read your submissions live in this exciting webinar. Members only. The Self-Edit Your Novel Day – LONDON (Discounts Available for members) 18 May 2019. Due to popular demand, we’re taking tutor-extraordinaire Debi Alper on the road to London, for an exclusive day workshop based on her bestselling course. Copy editing services (Discounts available for members) Does your prose need a little love? Our eagle-eyed copy-editors and proof-readers are on hand to check for consistency and spelling errors – perfect for anyone self-publishing.

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Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

Interesting. But why the cannibalism?

I saw my agent yesterday. Because I do so much more with self-publishing these days, and because I’ve been so busy with Jericho Writers, I’ve talked to him less over recent months than I usually would, and it was a pleasure to sit and drink coffee and talk books. Now, I may have some further tidbits from that session in later emails, but there’s one thought in particular I’d like to work with today. Although I’m busily at work on Fiona Griffiths #7 at the moment, I do have a couple of other passion projects that I’d like to bring to fruition at some point. One of these is a very quirky, literary idea, with the provisional title of The Most Excellent And Lamentable True Historie Of The Sailor, Gregorius. (Interesting fact: if that book ever sees the light of day, it’ll be my second book to have a comma in the title.) The book’s denouement involves a wee spot of cannibalism, and I mentioned this fact to my agent. Now, because the project is very quirky, and because the book is extremely short, it may or may not sell. It would actually be OK with me if it doesn’t find a buyer – I wrote the thing for fun, and never originally intended publication. But if it does sell, it would need to sell as a literary project: something with depth. Something with a meaningful and resonant theme. So yes, my agent wanted to understand what the book was. How it worked. How it was going to make sense of its Big Idea. But the next thing he said was, “Interesting. But why the cannibalism? What’s that a metaphor for?” And I was taken aback by the question. First, because it’s not something anyone has ever asked about one of my crime novels. Secondly, by the assumption that it was a metaphor for anything. And third – mostly – because I didn’t have an instant answer. A few thoughts about all this. First, if you’re writing literary fiction, you need to be able to answer questions about theme and metaphor and all that. That’s how you prove your book is a proper literary novel, not just a nicely written and interesting book. So when you write your agent query letter, talk about those themes. Say this kind of thing: “The theme of silence haunts the book – and in particular the way silences can be enriching and fertile. I came to write the book, indeed, after spending six months alone in the wilderness of [the Canadian Rockies / a Tibetan monastery / a bedsit in Crouch End].” I generally advise that a query letter should be no more than a single page of text, but there are two exceptions. Non-fiction authors may just need more time to set out their stall. And literary authors have to allow for an extra two paragraphs of yadda about themes and all that. You can’t neglect it. It’s a selling point. Secondly, I personally tend to approach themes very obliquely. I tend to think that all well-written and complex works of fiction will find themselves addressing big issues in a subtle yet forceful way. It’s like they can’t help themselves: as though the human brain just will project meaning onto any large and carefully-textured canvas. One example: I once wrote a book (Glory Boys) about aviation and Prohibition, set in 1920s America. At one level, the book was just a straightforward adventure romp. That’s why its readers bought it. At the same time, themes just crept in. As well as just the adventure stuff, the book came to be about the father-son relationship, and heroism, and the different sorts of heroism that could exist. I would never have talked about those things when I was starting the book, or even have spent much time thinking about them. But as I was editing the book into shape and saw those themes emerging, I did a little to help them on their way. To clarify them for the reader. I’ve tended to think that too direct an approach risks making things a bit crass. A bit on-the-nose. As a writing technique, maybe that’s OK. As a sales technique – and especially as a sales technique for literary work – that’s definitely not OK. So think: “what is this book about at a deep level? What bigger themes are moving under the surface?” The third point I want to make is that even if your book is a commercial rom-com, or a straightforward police procedural, or anything else, your book probably does have and should have some big themes swimming around. Think, for example, of Breaking Bad, the TV show. Yes, it’s a show about the illegal drugs trade, but it’s also about a man’s descent into evil. About his partner’s emergence into something like goodness and humanity. About the varying reactions of others to that evil, and the money it generates. That was a massive and totally commercial show, all right, but it knew damn well it had some big themes. (The central character’s name? Walter White – a massive clue that the show knew it was taking an innocent 'white' character and dirtying him up.) And last – I don’t care how commercial your work is. The simple fact is that books with depth outsell ones without. Yes, there are exceptions (hello, James Patterson!), but not all that many. Themes make a book more memorable. They echo for longer in the memory. And that echo is what means a reader is more likely to reach for your second book, and your third, and your fourth. It’ll make them more likely to post an Amazon review, or talk about your book to their friends. Themes sell. Meaning sells. Depth sells. Don’t discount those things, just because you’re writing in a commercial genre. Which brings me back to my agent’s question: why the hell was I writing about cannibalism? Why that? And on the train back from London, I thought more about that question and my rather rubbish answer. And I realised that, indeed, there was a precise and accurate reason why cannibalism featured. Because my strange tale of Gregorius the Sailor is most of all a book about story itself. The way stories feed off one another. The way stories become a part of our deepest being. And that’s cannibalism. A cannibal eats the flesh of another human, but then that other human becomes a part of the cannibal. For ever. Just as we’re a composite of all the things we’ve ever eaten, we’re also a composite of all the stories we’ve ever heard, and all those stories have fed off a million other stories. And so on. So I emailed my agent and explained myself better, and he liked the explanation. Whether he likes the book … well, that’s another matter completely. We’ll just have to see. I do now kinda hope Gregorius gets to set sail on his adventures, but he’s already done so in my head, which is where it matters most. Till soon. Harry

PS: Got something to tell me? Well, I am a human and … oh heck, you know the drill. PPS: If you’ve finished, or mostly finished, a novel and want help getting that novel all the way to the finishing line, I strongly recommend this one day intensive workshop with Debi Alper. If you don’t know Debi, she’s quite simply the God of Self-Editing, with an extraordinary record in helping writers like you achieve publication. The event (in London on 18 May) will sell out well before the day itself, so if you want to go along to it, book sooner rather than later. It’ll be gone if you don’t. PPPS: Next week we’ll be launching the Festival, but to email list subscribers only; the full public launch won’t be for a further week. That week’s leeway will give you the chance to see what we have going on and to have first dibs on the agents and sessions you think look tastiest. There’ll be an early-bird booking discount as well, to make things extra yummy. This Festival will, I think, be our best one ever. I’m excited by big chunks of the programming, but the two things I’m most excited about are: A huge workshops strand. Delegates have loved those workshops that have a real hands-on component – looking at writers’ novels, analysing and improving them. So in a genius twist we’re going to set aside a whole big chunk of Saturday morning to Book Labs, proper hands-on workshops. We’ll limit the amount of delegates we have in any one session to keep them intimate. And we’ll give each one a particular focus. As I say, I think the idea is brilliant. Kudos to my colleague, Annie Rose, who came up with the idea. In our industry panel, we’ve got Laura Deacon from Amazon Publishing – the first time we’ve had Amazon at the event. I know that APub’s authors absolutely love the firm … and I’ve heard it rumoured that APub authors tend to sell rather a lot of books. I’m going to be deeply interested in hearing more from the horse’s mouth. (And apologies to Laura, if you’re listening. I’m sure your mouth isn’t even a wee bit horsey.) Oh, and one thing that worries a lot of first-timers is simply, “Will it be weird if I don’t know anyone there? Will I feel lonely?” Well, I can pretty much promise that you won’t be lonely. On the contrary, you are likely to feel massively bonded and friended-up well before the end of the weekend. Because writers share a passion and are very supportive, the event just has an incredible warmth and inclusivity that is just the single best thing about the whole thing. I won’t say more now – but watch out for that email from us on Monday. It’s one not to miss. PPPPS: Hate writing? Still working on your Genius Brexit Plan? Unsubscribe to these emails now and get cracking. It’s the 29th of March and time’s a-running out.

Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

Do you write from the heart, Harry?

The subject of this week’s missive comes from an email sent to me by a writer – let’s call him Alessandro. The complete text of his email was simply this: Do you write from the heart, Harry? My answer was: Yes, I do. I think everyone should. But last week’s email centred on the challenges faced by another writer – let’s call him Zachary. He wrote one book that contained unappealing characters, and the book was rejected for that reason. So then he wrote another which was a mainstream police procedural and (at least so far) he’s had troubles placing that because it’s too safe. In his words: So I wrote another book (a police procedural) with a more mainstream feel. I currently have the book out on submission but the feedback I have had so far (where I've been lucky enough to get any) is that the market is very crowded and I need more to make the book stand out. Seems to me that I have to try and write something which is both unique and pleasingly familiar. I don't think I've found the formula yet but when I look at other books actually on sale, I'm not sure I can always identify what's unique about them either. If you’re aiming at traditional publication, many of you will have had something like this experience. (Or, if your work isn’t yet out on submission, then that pleasure quite likely lies ahead.) If you’re self-publishing, then of course you can publish whatever you damn well please … but you still have that hard limit of what readers actually want. Books about unlovable politicians? Mainstream police procedurals without a standout hook? In a way the very freedom of self-pub is also one of its bigger dangers: you could pump out three books in a series, before you realised the data proved that series readthrough rates were unsustainably low. That would be a real yikes moment in any career. So what do you do? Write from your heart? Or write for the market? And if the latter, then how the heck do you know where the market actually is? OK, well, to clarify my earlier statement that I think you 100% have to write from the heart, let me also add this: you absolutely have to write for the market. It’s insane not to. Imagine it as a big Venn diagram. The left hand circle is All The Stories You’d Love To Write. The right hand circle is All The Stories That Could Shift Some Books. The stuff you want to write is plumb in the middle of that intersection. Whatever your genre, whatever your approach to market, that’s where you want to write. Now there are two common problems that writers face here. Newer writers, especially those still engaged on their first ever novel, think, “What do you mean, all the stories I’d love to write? I love THIS project. This is my heart’s one true desire.” But you know what? That’s only because you’re new to the game. If you love telling stories, then you’ll find you can be equally gripped by a hundred other possible tales. It’s a question of relaxing your attachment to whatever your current project is and letting yourself play with the other ideas as they come to you. The more you play with and explore those ideas, the richer and more exciting they’ll seem. So: simple problem, simple solution. The other one is harder. The “what do agents / editors / readers want?” question. And, to be clear, even agents – who are professional readers of and sellers to the market – can get this wrong. An agent can take on a project, genuinely loving its chances. Then they get it out on submission and find that editors don’t agree. (Something I really loathe when it happens to our clients.) So, accepting that this is a tough question, here are some rules of thumb:

Respect the rules If you want to write a police procedural, then you need to do at least some of the basics in terms of getting police ranks correct, procedural elements not wildly off, and so on. You can be pretty lax, in all honesty – I write police procedurals and my appetite for procedural research is fairly limited, to put it mildly. But you can’t just trash the rules, not in any genre. Same but different You do offer something that stands out. Your book can’t be just another entry in a genre. It has to zing in some way. In my case, with Fiona Griffiths, the zing is simply: “Fiona is in recovery from Cotards Syndrome, a real life condition in which the sufferer believes themselves to be dead.” Boom! When we were selling the book, that line basically kicked open the door of every publisher we aimed it at. For some, the books and character were too challenging, but whether or not publishers liked the book, they couldn’t ignore it. You have to find some stand-out quality in your tale, or readers / agents / editors won’t be interested. Oh, and the stand-out ingredient has to be genuinely enticing. “The first police procedural set in Loughborough” or “the first teen romance to be set in North-Western Arkansas” won’t cut it. And just adding the wrinkles that all authors chuck into their books won’t save a lousy idea. So if you want a hard-drinking maverick cop with a some dark issues in his past – well, you can have one, but those things won’t separate you from the herd. Write well If you don’t write well, nothing will work for you. Yes, the better the concept, the worse your execution can be. But really, you need a good idea AND a strong execution. (And yes, 50 Shades, I know. And OK, Dan Brown. But still. Please. Good writing.) Know your genre A big one this, and really important. Unless you know your genre as a reader, you won’t really know what stands out and what doesn’t. Suppose for example, you had only the sketchiest acquaintance with modern crime writing and suddenly thought, “Hey, I know, wouldn’t it be cooool if I had a forensic scientist at the heart of an investigation.” And yes. Damn right. That would be cool … if this were 1990. But it isn’t. So that idea, on its own, is of zero value, zero interest. When I first got into crime writing, I knew my recent acquaintance with the genre wasn’t strong enough, so I book 20 books by 20 contemporary crime authors, read the lot, andbunged the results in a spreadsheet. (Police procedural versus private investigator. Series versus standalone. First person versus third person. Male protagonist versus female. And so on.) I didn’t let that spreadsheet tell me what to write, but the ideas I came up – and that I love – bubbled up from a real engagement with the market as it was.

So that’s it. For Alessandro: write from the heart. For Zachary: write for the market. Do both things always, write well and be happy. Easy. Harry

PS: Got something to tell me? Well, I am a human and … oh heck, you know the drill. PPS: Want to know the major types of Publishing Car Crash? Are you all at sea trying to figure out your book’s genre? Good job we’ve been busy on YouTube then: Publishing car crashes and how to avoid them. What genre is your book? PPPS: Recently received in our Agony Aunt corner: “Dear Harry, I am frustrated and upset at not being able to book tickets RIGHT NOW for your genuinely amazing Festival of Writing 2019. Can you please tell me that bookings will open really soon? Yours, Impatient of Ipswich.” “Dear Impatient of Ipswich. Yes. Bookings will open soon. Relax. Yours, Harry.” Jericho Members and past attendees will get first dibs on everything, so if you’re cheeky and want first dibs yourself, you can take out a membership right here for as little as £30 / $39. How easy is that? PPPPS: Hate writing? Appalled by this week’s lack of proper promotional PSes? Build a ship in a bottle and have done with these damn emails.

Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

What does it take to be a successful author? How can you make a living from writing books? In this newsletter, we have some brand-new content focused on how to make the switch from writing for fun, to writing for work. So, what does it take to be a successful author? Let’s hear from those who have come out the other side.

COURSE: Self-Editing Your Novel – 20% Discount Last few days to get your 20% discount on the incredible Self-Edit Your Novel Course. March dates have now sold out, but there are still places available for courses starting 11 June and 17 September 2019. An incredible 1-in-5 alumni of this course are now published, so book now to avoid disappointment! BOOK YOUR PLACE

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FEATURE: Interview with Sarah Pinborough (FREE for members) We interview New York Times bestselling author Sarah Pinborough on what it took for her to make the move from writer, to bestseller. This fun and informal chat is a real insight into that stuff writers do to make a living from their work. WATCH NOW

BLOG: Thoughts on the Ultimate Novel Writing Course Last month, we launched a course that we believe is the ultimate novel writing course. But who is this course for? And why do we think this could change your writing life? READ NOW

SNAPSHOT: Stepping through the portal in style (FREE for members) Want to introduce a fantasy element to your real-world setting? Brain Keaney shares his tips for entering other worlds in this latest Snapshot film. WATCH NOW

Content corner: How much does luck play a part in being successful? To get a literary agent, you need to write the right book, at the right time and send it to the right agent. To then get a publisher, that book still then needs to be the right book, at the right time, and hopefully find a place on a list that hasn’t already got anything similar on it. For that book to do well, it has to find its way into the right reader’s hands, or it needs to be reviewed by the right people, or it just needs to strike a key with readers at that time. For you to get another deal, your book needs to have done all of these things well enough for them to take the chance that your next books will do it all over again. So yes – publishing success has a LOT to do with luck. But I also believe that there are things you can do to create your own luck, too. Writing a brilliant book. Doing your research on the right agents. And working hard, all the way through your career, until you hopefully hit the jackpot. Sarah J

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As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact Stephanie on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Best wishes, Sarah Juckes Author | Jericho Writers *or if you're in the US, give us a call toll free on 1-800 454 2134

Plus – don’t miss Ultimate Novel Writing Course (Discounts available for members) Learn everything you need to write a publishable novel, and have top mentors at your side every step of the way. This course truly is the ‘ultimate’ of novel-writing courses. The Self-Edit Your Novel Day – LONDON (Discounts available for members) 18 May 2019. Due to popular demand, we’re taking tutor-extraordinaire Debi Alper on the road to London, for an exclusive day workshop based on her bestselling course. Opening Section Review (Discounts available for members) Want to check the opening of your book is up to scratch? Our professional editors will read the first 8,000 words of your manuscript and give you valuable feedback.

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Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

The taste of ash

I want to talk dust and ashes in this email – the nice, yummy, novelistic version of ash, that is. But first up, I’ve mentioned that we’ve been working hard on building a very fancy new writing course. That course is now open for applications. I talk about it a tiny bit more in the PSes below, or you can hop straight through to the course intro page. I’ve also written a blog post about it, if you want a somewhat fuller introduction. The course definitely won’t suit everyone, but if you are looking for a super-thorough grounding in writing a novel and getting it published, I seriously doubt if you’ll find anything better anywhere. So much for that; now for the ash. You’ll be familiar, of course, with the basic notion of structuring a novel. You need some kind of status quo to open the book with. That may be basically positive (as in Pride and Prejudice, for example) or seriously negative (as in Emma Donoghue’s Room, for example), but it’s settled. It’s not in motion. Then along comes an Initiating Incident. The status quo is broken. The protagonist strives to accomplish some goal. He or she may win some battles, but they probably also lose some. Then, towards the end of the book, everything mounts up into some kind of crisis. Everything comes to be at stake. Then everything is resolved, for good or ill, tra-la. Now that’s all fine. Nothing new there. But what I want to tease open a bit more is that moment of crisis itself. In Pride and Prejudice, the crisis is precipitated by Lydia’s disastrous elopement with the rascally Wickham. Her behaviour means the family will be dishonoured, so that none of the girls will be able to make a decent marriage, which in turn means that they will all, before too long, be plunged into poverty. The bitterness of that catastrophe is particularly sharp, because Jane is now all set to be happily betrothed to the friendly-and-rich Mr Bingley, and Lizzie now has the hots for the all-round-good-guy (and spectacularly wealthy) Mr Darcy. And because we novelists have to engineer our plot twists just so, we all have a tendency to focus hard on the externals of that crisis: What event could best ruin Lizzie’s family? Where is she when she hears? How does Darcy get to hear? How is the thing resolved? Etc, etc. But the externals are just like some mechanical parts that need proper bolting into place. Yes, you have to line up the bolts correctly, but the actual mechanics aren’t overly interesting. Where it gets more fun is with the character’s internal dynamic. Now it’s pretty obvious that the character has to have a real “Oh hell!” moment. The moment where everything seems reduced to dust and ash. Where all hope dies. (And yes, that’s obvious, but it is nevertheless always worth checking that you do properly register your protagonist’s feelings. Don’t just rely on the externals being bad. You also need the reaction shot – the point at which the character realises just how shite everything now is. In a more introspective, talky sort of book, that reaction shot may extend over pages. If your writing is more at the Lee Child end of the spectrum, the reaction shot – like the character – is likely to be a little more laconic. Either way is fine; just make sure you do it.) But I wanted to raise something else too. In any really interesting book, the nature of the crisis, the nature of the character’s own history, the nature of the character’s goal and the nature of the character’s own spiritual/emotional life challenge all form a beautiful and messy knot. They’re not four separate elements; they’re different manifestations of the book’s underlying theme. So in Pride & Prejudice we have: Nature of the crisis Lydia is immature. She makes a terrible romantic choice. She chooses the man who most embodies the opposite to Darcy’s severe but upright morality. Nature of Lizzie Bennet’s own history She’s immature. She made a terrible romantic choice (without ever following through. That’s what keeps Lizzie and the book itself in play.) She came close to choosing the man who most embodies the opposite to Darcy’s severe but upright morality. Faced with a direct marriage proposal from severe-and-upright Darcy, she said no. Nature of Lizzie Bennet’s goal To make the right romantic choice. To marry a good man. (And, OK, it would be kind of nice if he was a billionaire as well.) Nature of Lizzie Bennet’s spiritual / emotional life challenge To grow up. To stop being immature. To make sober, un-prejudiced judgements of other humans. Put like that, you can instantly see that the whole “dust and ashes” moment in the book – the moment of ultimate crisis – is a device that brings ALL the themes of the book into focus at the one same time. If the “dust and ashes” moment is nothing more than “Oh shit, I’ve wandered into a trap and now the bad guy is going to kill me,” it’s more or less certain that the book will be instantly forgettable. And yes, it’s possible to make a living from efficiently engineered, but basically soulless, writing. But (A) you’ll sell more books and make more money by adding some depth to all that efficient engineering. And (B) who wants to spend their time writing basically forgettable books? Not you. Not me. That’s not why we do what we do. Oh, and although that moment of crisis brings these things into pinprick-sharp focus, in any really good book, you’ll find the same themes infiltrating things pretty much everywhere. So for example: Nature of Lizzie’s father’s journey Lizzie’s father is literate and witty and ironic. But his tragic flaw is a kind of emotional passivity. He observes, where he ought to act. He is, in fact, immature and that immaturity is what gave rise to Lydia’s disastrous elopement. Darcy’s combination of intelligent observation and willingness to take action looks even better by contrast. Nature of the Charlotte / Mr Collins subplot Charlotte is emotionally mature. She makes a sensible choice (to marry the ridiculous, but prosperous, Mr Collins.) But she marries without love and that represents a choice that the more passionate Lizzie cannot make. In short, understanding the ‘dust and ashes’ moment becomes a way to understand the deeper channels of your book itself. And when you get that understanding, you may find yourself wanting to tweak things to make the various web of connections that little bit denser and more interesting. And as for the dust and ashes moment itself – well, I have to say, writing that stuff has long given me some of my very yummiest writing experiences. Call me sadistic if you like, but I relish that ability to plunge my character into the deepest turmoil I can contrive. Enough of Mr Nice Guy. Let’s all go be mean to our protagonists. ** Evil cackle ** Harry

PS: I’m a human. Hit reply and see what happens. PPS: Interested in our super-premium writing course? It won’t be for everyone, because it’s expensive and demanding, but I can honestly say that we’ve attempted to create the very best course we could imagine. In particular, we didn’t want a course that helped you write a great book, then simply deserted you. We wanted to hold your hand every step of the way: so that we show you how to get published, how to self-publish, and how to use your author-platform to market the book when it’s out. If you are interested, then our web-page talking about the course can be found here. A full prospectus for the course can be found here. If you want my thoughts on the course, you’ll find them here. PPPS: YouTube used to be all funny cats and inexplicably popular teenage vloggers. And now, it’s cats, vloggers, and me talking about defining your genre. In other words: YouTube just got better. PPPPS: I think we’ll probably run out of places on our Getting Published Day in the course of this week. If you still want to come, then dilly ye not, nor even dally. That door is a-closing. We’ve still got places at our Self-Publishing Day. That event basically allows you to stick a hosepipe into the brains of me, David Gaughran and Rachel Abbott, and just drain us dry. I’ve got a few oil drums worth of fuel to give you. David has a tanker-full. PPPPPS: Hate writing? Prefer to learn dry-stone walling or the fine art of falconry? Then unsubscribe to this email thread now.

Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

Let’s get literary Hi, This genre is perhaps the most difficult of all genres to define. It includes languid, Booker-Prize-Winning prose, as well as commercial, page-turning reads. In this newsletter, we focus on the mysteries of writing literary / reading group fiction and how you can get it published.

EVENT: Self-Publishing Day 2019 – 9 March 2019 (Discounts available) If you’re thinking about the self-publishing route, you’ll struggle to find a more useful and inspiring event this year than the Self-Publishing Day. Join us at Regent’s College London for the genuinely useful advice you need to make a successful indie career. Not one to be missed. GET YOUR TICKET FOR THE SELF-PUBLISHING DAY

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MASTERCLASS: Literary / Reading Group Fiction Panel (FREE for members) Join a panel of literary authors and literary agents as they discuss the intricacies of writing in this genre – and how you can define your book in your query letter. WATCH NOW

BLOG: How I got a Publishing Deal – Philippa East This latest blog from Jericho Writers member, Philippa East, is about editing, re-editing – and how to stop editing! If you’re facing rejection, this is an inspirational, real tale on how to keep going. Congratulations, Philippa! READ NOW

YOUTUBE: How much money do writers make? (FREE) We've added more tutorials to the Jericho Writers YouTube Channel this week, including the particularly popular, “How much money do I actually make as a writer?”. Warning: it could very well change your mind on the worth of self-publishing! WATCH NOW

Content corner: What you learn from book groups and reviews My debut novel OUTSIDE has been out for just over a month now and I’ve had the pleasure of sitting in a few reading groups who are discussing the book, and the (often painful) pleasure of reading reviews. Interestingly, I’ve learned quite a lot about writing from this: Research is important! I’ve been asked some very surprising questions so far, about the mechanics of how certain things work, or more about some of the themes in my book, such as abuse and grief. I even have one very minor character with a brain tumour, as was asked to describe their experience. So, if you’re stuck in the research part of a novel right now, know that everything you do to learn about your book will hold you in very good stead in the future! The first five chapters are key. Reading reviews, it seems that some readers make very quick judgements on whether they will like a book – usually in the first five chapters. So ensure these chapters tell readers what kind of book they can expect to be reading. Unusual character names will be at the top of everyone’s question list. I’ve been asked a billion times how to pronounce my protagonist’s name, ‘Ele’. I think I’ll stick with the more common ones from now on! Sarah J

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Follow us on Instagram for more of our 'The Life of a Writer' cartoon series by our very talented Stephanie!

As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact Stephanie on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Best wishes, Sarah Juckes Author | Jericho Writers *or if you're in the US, give us a call toll free on 1-800 454 2134

Plus – don’t miss Complete Novel Mentoring (Discounts available for members) You might have noticed that we’ve re-named Daren King’s course to ‘mentoring’. Work one-to-one with a bestselling author as you write your draft and become the latest in a string of successes. Slushpile Live with Blake Friedmann literary agency (Exclusive for members) 25 February 18.30 GMT. Join literary agents from Blake Friedmann as they give feedback on your submissions LIVE in this exclusive webinar. Opening Section Review (Discounts available for members) Want to check the opening of your book is up to scratch? Our professional editors will read the first 8,000 words of your manuscript and give you valuable feedback.

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Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

I am writing an email, and …

Once upon a time, the vast majority of stories were told in the past tense. Novelists hardly even faced a choice. Although, in theory, a choice was available, almost no one ever chose to write in the present. If you encountered an author – Damn Runyon, say – who did write in the present, you stopped to take notice. Gosh, that Damon Runyon, eh? And then? Well, I don’t know. People just started writing in the present tense. The past tense probably still wins in sheer volume terms, but the alternative is now perfectly normal. Novelists face a choice every time they sit down to write a new book. So: which do you pick? Present or past? What’s better for you? I think the first thing to say here is that some objections to the present tense don’t hold water. So Philip Pullman once thundered: "if every sound you emit is a scream, a scream has no expressive value. What I dislike about the present-tense narrative is its limited range of expressiveness. I feel claustrophobic, always pressed up against the immediate." Now that’s a big statement. The present tense has a more limited range of expressiveness – really? And if so, why don’t publishers and readers just reject novels with that limited range of expressiveness? Who’d want them, after all? Not so fast. What I think Pullman is getting at is that the past tense is infinitely elastic. It can gather in microscopic moments and big, wide, huge ones too. So for example: Microscopic: She dropped the pin onto the table. [less than a second] Small: He took an apple from the bowl, peeled it, and ate it. [three minutes] Middling: She drove up to Scotland, stopping in Lancaster to see the castle. [A day] Large: He hated those years: the other boys, the tired lessons, the little enmities. [A few years] Huge: For a thousand years, the kings of Mercia ruled without challenge. [A millennium] The present tense, by contrast, is this little moving dot of immediacy. And some writers – some not very good writers – feel trapped by that immediacy. They write stuff like this: "I feel hungry. Feel a sudden yearning for the acid, green sweetness of an apple. I reach the apple down from the polished wooden fruit bowl and take it over to the sink. I peel it, watching the long ribbons of green fall onto the white ceramic. When I raise the apple to my mouth and bite, it feels like a taste of heaven." And, OK: it feels a bit as though Pullman is right. We feel trapped in the now-ness of the present, as though obliged to watch every damn part of that apple-eating. And not just watch it; it feels like the writer wants us to applaud, as well. (Me? I’d sooner drive cocktail sticks into the back of my hand. That kind of writing makes my eyelids shrivel.) But the issue here has nothing specifically to do with the present tense. It’s all to do with an error that gets perpetuated by the wrong kind of writing workshop. That error is: Intense observation of inner sensation = good writing So people who believe that nonsense are lured into telling us about every damn sensation that passes through their characters’ brains. And because they want to tell us about every damn sensation, and because the present tense gives them that moving dot of consciousness, the two things join up. Those writers could write their terrible fiction perfectly well in the past tense, but the present tense seems like a more natural home for them, so they choose to write that way. Worse still, that choice now has a ‘writerly’ aura to it, so perfectly good crime novelists, say, end up writing in the present tense, because they think that’s what writers do. So yes, it is perfectly possible to write badly in the present tense. Certain types of bad writer may even have a particular fondness for the present tense, because it somehow makes a useful accomplice in their crimes. But – newsflash! – it’s also perfectly possible to write well in the present tense, and with as much elasticity as you might find in the past. So if you want an un-annoying way to eat an apple, here it is: Past tense version: He took an apple from the bowl, peeled it, and ate it. Present tense version: I eat an apple. And you can be microscopic or huge, as the mood takes you: Microscopic: I drop the pin. Huge: Years pass in that place. Years of boredom and little cruelties. What’s more, you don’t have to be trapped in the present moment at all. Your character can easily reflect on the past or have feelings about their future. Here’s a paragraph from one of my Fiona Griffiths novels, in which Fiona reflects on her childhood: "I don’t know if I did draw a lot as a child. Because of the illness in my teens, my childhood seems like something viewed over the other side of a hill. Little snippets come back to me, but I don’t know where they’ve come from or if they’re true. I’ve got a story about my past more than actual functional memories of it, but for all I know, everyone is in the same position. Maybe childhoods are things we live through once, then reconstruct in fantasy. Maybe no one has the childhood they think they’ve had." You can handle the future with equal ease: I’ve put a future-oriented chunk in one of the PSes below – it’s just a bit too long for the email itself. But you’ll notice that there’s no more difficulty in handling that forward-looking moment than there was in handling a rear-view moment. In short: present tense works fine. So does past tense. Just avoid terrible writing, especially terrible writing of the sort that makes my eyelids shrivel. Oh yes: and me? What do I do ? Well, I used to write in the past tense. At the moment, I’m writing in the present tense. That works for my character because she dissociates quite a lot and when she does, that moving-dot-of-consciousness effect is quite helpful in isolating her. Cutting her off from a fluid past and future. I could achieve that effect in the past tense too – but hey, the present probably works better for this character and these stories. When I write something different, I’ll think again. Till soon Harry

PS: I’m a human. Hit reply and see what happens. PPS: Worried about whether and how to copyright your books? Don’t be. I’m lazier than a pygmy sloth on holiday and I do nothing at all. This YouTube video explains why you can afford to do the same. And talking about affordability, you might want to take a look at last week’s video all about what writers actually earn. That second video has had nearly a thousand views in less than a week – and I’m not surprised! PPPS: Here’s that futurey chunk. My character, Fiona, is just reintroducing a man to his daughter, years after she went missing. "I point again at the window, but I don’t need to. Neil Williams is staring in with an extraordinary, shining intensity. I don’t even know if he heard what I just told him. We watch together, then Joanne Williams pushes away from the sink and, briefly, we see the other person in the room. The back of a head only. Long dark blonde hair in a pony-tail. Something in the swish of that hair, the movement of the body beneath, says that it’s a young person. My age, or a little less. Neil Williams says, ‘Oh!’ The oh of a man in the presence of all that is holy, or might be. He stares through the window and grips the Toyota’s plasticky dashboard so hard that I hear it creak. I slip off my seat-belt. Ease my door open. Just releasing the catch, not yet opening it wide. The girl doesn’t turn, then does. A half-profile, glimpsed briefly, then lost again. ‘Oh!’ I take the car key and drop it into Williams’s pocket. ‘Go gently, Mr Williams. It’s been a long time.’ He doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t respond. But he doesn’t have to. This silence—simultaneously sacred and fearful—is his response. He’ll do this well, I think. I only hope that Bethan has the wisdom to respond in equal measure. But from what I’ve seen of her already, I think she will. I think they’ll all do fine." PPPPS: No big yadda yadda PSes this week. We’ve still got places (not many) at our Getting Published Day. We’ve still got places at our Self-Publishing Day. Both events are gonna be great. PPPPPS: Hate writing? Want to peel endless apples into endless white sinks? Then grab your paring knife and unsubscribe to this email thread now.

Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

Our life-long love affair with words Hi, Forget commercial Valentine's Day cards and plastic hearts – we're dedicating this week to our love of writing. Nothing makes us feel as giddy as a new idea, or as rejected as a lost agent. So let’s spotlight the very best advice we have to reignite the spark in your writing.

EVENT: Self-publishing Day 2019 (Discounts available for members) Following the success of last year’s pilot, our self-publishing day is back. Hear from the best in the business as they give you the genuinely useful advice you need to self-publish a book successfully on Amazon. GET YOUR TICKET

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Spotlight

FEATURE: Plot, Pace, Mood and Story (FREE for members) Join editor Emma Darwin as she looks at the four cornerstones of keeping your story moving: plot, pace, mood and story. Create a world your reader can’t help but be enveloped in. WATCH NOW

BLOG: 5 master ingredients to a great first line What makes for a great first line to a novel? What pitfalls should you avoid to make sure an agent falls deeply. and immediately in love with your book? READ NOW

SNAPSHOT: How to write paragraphs (FREE for members) Sometimes, we just need a break. Join Haydn Middleton as he delves into the secrets of writing an effective paragraph. WATCH NOW

Content corner: What makes a reader fall in love with a book? Like a lot of readers, I reserve a top shelf on my bookcase for books that I’ve fallen in love with. So, what’s the difference between a book on that shelf, and one that left me feeling cold? Well, the real answer is that there isn’t an answer to this. Like all kinds of love, this is subjective. What one reader will love, another will hate. But there are certain books that will find their way onto more top shelves than others. And you tend to find that these books have one thing in common: amazing, unique, but oh-so-relatable characters. Take Eleanor Oliphant for example. You might not like her as a character yourself, but thousands of other readers did. Eleanor might not always be likeable, but she’s interesting. Her perception is unique and at times, extremely funny. We feel sorry for her, we understand her and we root for her, long after we’ve put the book down. So, if you want a reader to fall in love with your book, consider spending time falling in love with your own character. Your reader might just follow suit. Sarah J

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Follow us on Instagram for more of our 'The Life of a Writer' cartoon series by our very talented Stephanie!

As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact Stephanie on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Best wishes, Sarah Juckes Author | Jericho Writers *or if you're in the US, give us a call toll free on 1-800 454 2134

Plus – don’t miss Getting Published Day (Discounts available for members) We’re back for another day with literary agents, editors and authors. If you’re serious about getting published this year, you’ll want to come to this one. Slushpile Live with Blake Friedmann literary agency (Exclusive for members) 25 February 18.30 GMT. Join literary agents from Blake Friedmann as they give feedback on your submissions LIVE in this exclusive webinar. Copy editing services (Discounts available for members) Does your prose need a little love? Our eagle-eyed copy-editors and proof-readers are on hand to check for consistency and spelling errors – perfect for anyone self-publishing.

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Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

So – how much money do writers make?

When we ask you guys what you want from writing, your answers fall into roughly three boxes:

I want to write something that pleases me artistically I want to write something that secures third-party approval I want to make a career out of this

Most writers, indeed, will want each of those things. (As do I; I’m no exception.) It’s certainly true, of course, that the balance will vary from writer to writer. Trad-oriented writers tend to emphasise the second element: they want the acclaim implicit in having some prestigious imprint publish their work. Nothing wrong with that. It does feel kinda nice. Writers intending to self-publish generally recognise that any acclaim is mostly going to take the form of online reader-feedback and the esteem of peers. The traditional fripperies of book reviews and festival appearances and the like are mostly closed to indies. (Which is CRAZY, but shows no real sign of changing.) But then that third element. I want to make a career out of this. That’s all very well, but is that actually a realistic goal? It’s not just that authors are poorly paid for the most part, it’s also that (in trad-land, at least) careers are unpredictable and prone to sudden collapse. And money matters. It just does. You can’t give up whatever your current work is for the dream of writing unless you can tell your other half that, yes, you seriously think this new game can work out financially. But how much are you likely to earn? What are the issues involved? And do you need to go trad or indie? Or what? Well. This is such a complicated subject, with so many variables in play, that it’s hard to give a really straightforward answer to that question. It’s not like (say) joining the police, where you can just go online and find out what the various different pay grades are. That said, I’ve done what I can to give an intelligent, data-backed answer. I’ve made a video and popped it on YouTube here: How much money do writers make? Go watch it. Beginning to end, soup to nuts. It’s stuff you need to know. You’ll notice that (a) most writers make nothing, or almost nothing, (b) some people make a perfectly decent crust, or at least an excellent contribution to a household budget, and (c) there are a handful of superstars. You will also, I think, be quite surprised at what that video tells you about who is making the most money: trad authors or indies. The simple fact is, as the video explains, there are now way more indie authors making a living from their work than there are trad authors – and that’s true, no matter where you set the bar for “making a living.” But being an indie author is as much about marketing / publishing as it is about writing. The “chuck it up on Amazon and see” strategy just doesn’t work. It never has. It never will. And as indies have professionalised and got better at every single aspect of their business, the game has just got more competitive. And because indies have got more competitive, that means the entire market has got more competitive: trad, indie, every variety of publishing in between. So my advice to writers is always the same. If you are thinking of going trad, then:

Write an incredibly excellent book. You cannot miss out this step. You cannot succeed without it. Understand the industry you are about to enter

Don’t rely on others – your agent, your editor – to steer you. Yes, they will be vital and supportive, but there are critical areas where they probably know nothing at all (eg: building and using a really strong author email list). And there may be other areas, where you will need to intervene powerfully and confidently in order to avert potentially career-ending outcomes. That sounds scary – but this is a scary industry. Sorry. If you are thinking of self-publishing, then my advice is simple:

Write an incredibly excellent book. You cannot miss out this step. You cannot succeed without it. Build your business, from the ground up, getting everything right as you go

The first part of that is, I hope, bleeding obvious. If you write a bad book, it won’t sell and doesn’t deserve to. The second part sounds obvious, but people nearly always get it wrong all the same. So, for example, everyone knows that you can advertise on Facebook to drive traffic to your Amazon page, to accumulate sales. Great. But if your cover is poor, or your book description weak, or your reviews absent or mediocre, or your pricing wrong, or your categories and keywords badly chosen, or your e-book poorly configured, or your mailing list landing page badly designed, or your welcome emails absent or badly written, or your email list nurture underwhelming, then you will not make money from Facebook ads. Of course you won’t. People end up paying good money to pour traffic into a revenue-generation system that leaks all over the place. The simple fact is you have to get the system watertight first, and generate the traffic second. Powerful as they are, Facebook and Bookbub ads are probably the last place an indie author should explore. Pretty much everything else has priority. This email – and the YouTube video here – is, I hope, a bit of a call to arms. Me, personally, I love writing. I love thinking about writing. I love messing about with my characters in my head. The business end of things never engages me quite as much, or satisfies me quite as much. But, oh boy, it matters. You can’t neglect it. If you are going to make a long-term living from your work, then you’re going to have to be a professional author, not just a damn good writer. If you want more help, the PSes offer plenty. Till soon Harry

PS: I’m a human. Hit reply and see what happens. PPS: We have two great resources for indie-oriented writers. They are: Our self-publishing course. Recently expanded and improved. New material on Amazon ads, email marketing, cross-promos, and plenty more. This course aims to be a totally comprehensive introduction for the newer indie. If you have 3-4 books out and are making $10K upwards, this material is probably not for you. If you haven’t yet hit those benchmarks, you will almost certainly get a lot of value. The course is free to members, so don’t be tempted to buy it. Just sign up as a member and get everything for free. Details. Our self-publishing day, London, March 9. We had stellar feedback from last year’s event, but – working with David Gaughran – we reshaped the event to focus relentlessly on the tools that newer indies need to get started. The aim is to let writers come away from the day with a set of tools (and a resource pack) that’s sufficient to power the first year or so of successful indie-dom. Details. The fact is that even trad authors will get a lot from these courses. It’s probably fair to say that, when it comes to selling books on Amazon, indies and other non-traditional publishers have pioneered every single major selling technique of the last 8 years. Some of those techniques won’t be cost-effective for trad authors (with their much smaller royalties) but there’s almost nothing in this ‘self-pub’ content that wouldn’t help a trad author understand their industry and navigate better within it. And the mailing list stuff? It’s golden. And most trad authors either don’t do it at all, or do it, but do it badly. There’s no excuse. PPPS: We do of course have great resources for trad-oriented writers. They are: Our getting published course. This doesn’t just tell you how to enter the industry (finding agents, putting together your submission pack, and all that.) It also tells you how the money works, how to work with publishers – and how to build and optimise your author platform. As far as we know, there’s no course as comprehensive or authoritative anywhere else. This is one of a kind. As with all our digital material, you’re way better off accessing it via a membership – it’s much cheaper that way. Details. Our getting published day, London, March 2. This event gets your first foot on the ladder. It tells you how to get agents, what those guys want, and gives you direct feedback on your work. It’s a blisteringly good event, and it’s filling up fast. Details. PPPS: Hate writing? Hate publishing even more? Learn to ululate – here, for example – and unsubscribe to this email thread now.

Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

How to write amazing dialogue Hi, Whether you’re writing fiction, non-fiction – or something between the two – most books contain dialogue in there somewhere. So how can you ensure your speech is natural and realistic to your characters?

EVENTS: Getting published / Self-Publishing Day 2019 (Discounts available) What’s your publication path? Join us at Regent’s College London for either the life-changing Getting Published Day (2nd March 2019), or the intensive Self-publishing Day (9th March 2019). Make 2019 the year you get your book out there.

GET YOUR TICKET FOR GETTING PUBLISHED GET YOUR TICKET FOR THE SELF-PUBLISHING DAY

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MASTERCLASS: Advanced dialogue – Part 1 (FREE for members) Join James Law for the first part of this advanced mini-course on writing dialogue. James takes you through how to ensure your speech is appropriate to your character, and how you can learn an awful lot from the way something is said. WATCH NOW

BLOG: The agent wish list 2019 What are literary agents looking for this year? To find out, we asked a few and recorded their answers in our latest blog. READ NOW

ORION UNCUT: Contracts (FREE for members) What does a publishing contract actually look like? And what role does the author and an agent have in negotiating one? We ask Orion the questions you want to know. WATCH NOW

Content corner: How radio plays can help you write better dialogue A few years ago, I was sitting in a creative writing class and was asked to write a scene for a radio play. Now, other than a few half-heard snippets of Radio Four, I’ve not listened to many radio plays. And as an exclusive short story and novel writer, I didn’t have a clue where to begin. Unlike TV and film, radio plays require exposition entirely through sound. Although you can add in sound effects, mainly this means you need to explain your entire story through dialogue. Think this sounds easy? Try giving it a go. I kept falling into the trap of using stage directions to explain what was going on. In the end, I took the exercise home and worked on it for weeks. Whilst doing it, I learned there’s an awful lot you can tell a reader about your character and their situation by the things they say. It’s a great way of showing-not-telling, and an interesting trick to give your characters more space to come alive on the page. So try giving this exercise a go. Write two pages of a radio play. It can be about anything at all, but you have to use dialogue to explain what is going on (whilst trying to avoid just telling the listener what that is). Hopefully you’ll learn a lot about your dialogue writing, too! Sarah J

Cartoon

Follow us on Instagram for more of our 'The Life of a Writer' cartoon series by our very talented Stephanie!

As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact Stephanie on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Best wishes, Sarah Juckes Author | Jericho Writers *or if you're in the US, give us a call toll free on 1-800 454 2134

Plus – don’t miss Picture Books Tutored Course (Discounts available for members) Starts 6 February 2019. This course will teach you how to adapt your writing to this specialist audience and how to spot opportunities for publication. Slushpile Live with Blake Friedmann literary agency (Exclusive for members) 25 February 18.30 GMT. Join literary agents from Blake Friedmann as they give feedback on your submissions LIVE in this exclusive webinar. Manuscript Assessment (Discounts available for members) This is our most popular editorial service, and for good reason. Get a detailed report on your work from a top editor, including changes you can make to improve your work.

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Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

What to look forward to this February January may be over, but we’re here to ensure you stick to those new year’s resolutions. This month, we have TWO special events on pulishing open for booking. We also have our Picture Books tutored course starting, an exciting Slushpile LIVE and another round of applications for our bursary for under-represented writers. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get stuck in.

CHOOSE YOUR PUBLICATION ROUTE Are you traditional or indie? Choose your preferred route to publication, and we’ll help make it happen:

TRAD PUBLISHING: The Getting Published Day Date: 2 March 2019; Regent’s College, London. This is the highlight of my year. Why? Because two years ago, I attended this very event and met the agent who would land me a publishing deal after twelve years of trying. The Getting Published Day is back this year with masterclasses from top authors, editors and agents. This life-changing event will teach you how to ‘wow’ with your words, land a literary agent – and even give you the opportunity to meet top agents face-to-face. If that’s not enough, you can also add on a Book Doctor appointment to get one-on-one feedback on your work from an expert. Booking now open – member discounts available. Don’t miss out! BOOK YOUR TICKET INDIE PUBLISHING: The Self-Publishing Day Date: 9 March 2019; Regent’s College, London. Following on from the success of our pilot event last year, we’re bringing the biggest names in self-publishing back to Regent’s College for a special indie author event, focusing on how you can bring your book to market in 2019. Join top independent authors and speakers as they take you through the specifics of setting an eBook up on Amazon (so it gets noticed!); creating a reader magnet and email list; designing a book cover that sells; the secrets of how Amazon really works; and how you can promote your book using email, ads and book promotion sites. By the end of the day, you’ll leave with a plan of action to take your indie author career by storm this year. It doesn’t get better than that! BOOK YOUR TICKET

OTHER THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO THIS MONTH:

TUTORED COURSE: Writing Picture Books for Children Date: 6 February 2019 This is a complete introduction to the world of writing picture books for children – a market that requires specialist skills and know-how to succeed. During this four-week online course, you’ll learn how to research, write and sell your picture books. BOOK YOUR PLACE

SLUSHPILE LIVE: With agents from Blake Friedmann Date: 25 February 2019 Slushpile LIVE is back! This month, join Tom Witcomb and Hattie Grünewald as they respond to your submissions live via this exclusive webinar for members. Submissions are read on a first-come-first-served basis, so get them in soon! REGISTER NOW

BURSARY: Applications now open to under-represented writers Closing date: 26 March 2019 Applications are now open for the next round of submissions for our unique bursary for under-represented writers. We’re offering a free, coveted place on our Self-Edit Your Novel Course, as well as a spectacular opportunity to meet agents from Greene & Heaton. APPLY NOW

As always, happy writing and remember, you can contact Stephanie on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Whatever your goals are this month, have a wonderful February, and hope to see you soon. Sarah J *Don't forget, if you're in the US, give us a call toll free on 1-800 454 2134

Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560