Jericho Writers newsletters

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The head in the bag

Twas the Festival of Writing last weekend, with a hey and ho and a hey nonny nonny. My highlights? Everything, really. It’s just like a great big bale of fun and passion and intensity squished down into a weekend-sized pellet and washed down with a bottle of wine. (Or two, if you write crime thrillers. Or three, if you’re an agent.) If you came, then it was lovely to see you. If you didn’t, pshaw! Come next year, and we can be friends anyway. I’ll probably have a few Festival-related missives to send, but I’ll start with the one about the head in the bag. First though: I’m offering to run a free webinar or two on absolutely anything you fancy. Something about writing. Or getting published. Or self-pubbing. Whatever you want. Just tell me what you’d like to know more about, and we’ll get something sorted. Either leave a comment in Townhouse or reply to this email. Right. Nuff on that. Back to heads in bags. I was giving a workshop on how to build a crime novel, using my own This Thing of Darkness as an exemplar. The basic thrust of the class was how to build your novel up, bone by bone, and how you don’t always begin that process from the most logical starting point. In my TToD, for example, I knew I wanted a denouement at sea – Fiona Griffiths on a fishing trawler in a storm – but that’s all I knew. I didn’t know the crime. I didn’t know anything about the solution. I didn’t have anything else really nailed down. And then: I built from there. I hauled my big structural milestones into place until I was confident I had a layout that could sustain a crime novel. (The twist in that little tale of triumph? Simply that at one point I had a 130,000 word novel that felt long and boring. Whoops. I talked a bit about how I solved that issue too.) But then I threw the crime-novel problem over to the class. I wanted us to build a novel then and there, to get some sense of what could and couldn’t work. To start with, I asked for an opening crime to launch our novel. One person suggested a dead student. Apparent suicide. Whisky and pill bottle. Yadda, yadda. Now that’s a perfectly fine opening thought. And, to be clear, this was suggested ad lib, on the basis of precisely zero planning. The student setting was suggested by our own university surroundings. And, OK, we all know books that start much like that. But? There’s nothing there to suggest an angle. Nothing unique. Nothing pressing. Nothing to make an agent (or an editor or a supermarket book browser) say, “Oh wow. Want to know more.” Now that can be OK. My first Fiona Griffiths novel had a crime so boring I can hardly remember it myself. (People trafficking. A couple of people bumped off as possible informers. All very 1.01 in terms of crime premise.) But that first book of mine had something extravagantly memorable – it just wasn’t the crime. It had to do with Fiona herself; her past, her illness, her family background. And that’s fine. You need one golden line for an elevator pitch. That’s all. The element you care to emphasise can be anything at all. But still. Because we were building a crime novel in class, I drew attention to the basic dullness of that setup crime. A dead student? Looks like a suicide but we all know it wasn’t? I wanted to do better. And boom! I was running the class with an agent, Tom Witcomb at Blake Friedman, and he piped up with an alternative crime: Romantic dinner for two in Paris. Young Man proposes to His Beloved. His Beloved, tearfully, says no. Young Man, heart-broken, walks the streets of Paris, filling the Seine with his tears. He gathers his belongings, heads to the Gare Du Nord, and prepares for a life of loneliness and despair At the station, he’s pulled aside by a guard. He’s asked to open his bag. And there, blankly staring and still softly dripping, is the head of His Beloved. I hope you can see the instant improvement here. That premise is basically all set up for a book that sells to an agent, a publisher and a supermarket buyer. Yes: a million questions remain unanswered, but the basic sell is instant, strong and memorable. You can pretty much imagine the cover already. (“He proposed. She refused. And someone killed her.” “The must-read thriller that everyone’s talking about.”) Of course, a good premise is thirty good pages, nothing more. There’s a lot more to be done to complete a plausible novel. Some thoughts: Who tells this novel? Tom W saw the Parisian detective as the central character. Personally, I think this is beautifully designed to be a proper psychological thriller with Young Man as the narrator. Done that way, the book would be a did-he or didn’t-he story the whole way through, with the reader changing their minds about five times through the book. Who did kill the Beloved? A criminal gang? Some shadow from her dark past? Probably. But the marriage proposal had to be causally linked to her death. So the Beloved would still be alive if Young Man hadn’t proposed. You can’t just have the death as a random accident. Climax and Denouement. For me, the Parisian setting is important, not just a throwaway starter. So the climax probably needs a Parisian, or at least a French, setting. One delegate suggested we have a battle on top of the Eiffel Tower with some bad guy being hurled to his death. That’s probably a bit comedic, in all honesty, but the basic thought process is spot on. The hard part of this book is going to be knitting together the Beloved’s dark past with the head in the bag. I mean, yes, you could imagine scenarios where bad guys want to kill the Beloved. But why don’t the bad guys just drop Beloved into the river? Why go to all the trouble of sticking a head into Young Man’s hand luggage? You will need to find an answer to that question that’s plausible enough to carry the book. Not real, true-to-life plausible, perhaps, but something that gets you over the line. (In my The Dead House, I had a basic plausibility issue with my crime. I don’t think the crime I dealt with has ever or would ever happen, but I probably did just enough to get away with it in fictional terms. That’s all you need.) I’ve talked about all this in the context of crime, but the same kind of thinking applies no matter what your genre. Some strong selling line. Some good unity of concept and tightness of execution. Lots of trial and error when it comes to developing a given starting point. That’s plotting. That’s writing. And it’s hard! But it’s fun. Till soon Harry

PS: Want to talk about this email? Course you do. Chuff your way over to Townhouse and there we shall blather. Just check your hand luggage before you come. PPS: You do remember I said we’d have a webinar or two on anything you fancy? Yeah, well, if you don’t tell me what you’d like to talk about, then I won’t know, will I? So tell me. Hit reply or leave a comment in Townhouse. PPPS: You know our Ultimate Novel Writing Course? The one that’s expensive but amazing? Yeah, well, it’s sold out. We’re running another one in March though, and we’ve already got applications. So if learning how to write and publish an exceptional novel sounds like your kind of thing, you might want to grab a place before everyone else does. First come, first served. PPPPS: And if you don’t want the whole bells-and-whistles UNWC thang, you might well want to avail yourself of our exceptional mentoring services. Write your novel in the company of a prize-winning author with totally personalised comment and support as you go? Blimey. I think I might sign up for that myself. Info here.

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

Indie publishing secrets, revealed There’s a difference between making a book available on Amazon and self-publishing like a pro. And that difference could be thousands of book sales. In this newsletter, we highlight indie publishing secrets from the experts, so you can build a sustainable career from self-publishing.

LAST CHANCE: Ultimate Novel Writing Course - Open to all Starts 17 September 2019. This year-long course will take you from the beginning of your idea, all the way to a draft with a difference. Modeled on an MA course, but with additional focus on trad and indie markets, this course is ultimate for a reason. Last few places remaining! APPLY FOR YOUR PLACE

CONGRATULATIONS to Taranjit Mander ...winner of the 2019 Jericho / Marjacq bursary! Taranjit wins a weekend ticket with travel bursary to the Festival of Writing this September, plus additional one-to-ones with Marjacq Scripts. The standard of entry was extremely high again this year, so thank you to everyone who entered! Special shout outs also to runner’s up Aneela Sirfraz and Jenny Shippen.

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Spotlight

VIDEO COURSE: Self-Publishing Success (FREE for members) This is THE complete course for anyone self-publishing professionally. From the basics all the way to marketing secrets, this course will show you how to bring your writing to market. WATCH NOW

BLOG: How to write Amazon book descriptions that sell books Your Amazon book description could be the difference between a sale or a loss. This blog post reveals a simple template for making yours enticing. READ MORE

MASTERCLASS: Dean Crawford shares his story (FREE for members) Dean candidly tells his self-pub success story, with screengrabs demonstrating just how much better things have become since he took control of his own career. WATCH NOW

Content corner: How do you know if self-publishing is for you? Before I joined Jericho Writers, I worked in self-publishing. So, I get a lot of writers ask me why I chose to traditionally publish my debut, instead of join the indie revolution. There are a few reasons. The first is that I write standalone books for children, and professional self-publishing is at its best when you’re writing series books for adults (or specific genre books for young adults, such as paranormal romance.) The other is that I wanted the events career that comes with traditional publishing, because nothing makes me happier than talking to people face-to-face. That’s not to say I won’t ever self-publish, if the right book comes along. But that’s how I knew it wasn’t for me to begin with. So – how do you know which path to go down? A lot of writers seem to give the traditional route a go first and then turn to self-publishing if that doesn’t work out – but indie publishing shouldn't be a second choice. If you have that right book and the drive to learn, write and engage, then self-publishing should be your number one. So indie authors – how did you know self-publishing was for you? And if you’re still trying to make up your mind, what are the biggest barriers standing in your way? Share them in the Townhouse here. 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: The Festival of Writing (Discounts available for members) 6-8 September 2019. The highlight of the writing year is back and bigger than ever. Join us for a weekend of workshops, one-to-ones, keynotes and all-round writing fun. Complete Novel Mentoring (Discounts available for members) Get expert help from two world-leading mentors, as you write or edit your book. The entirely flexible way to create a market-leading book. Copy-editing services (Discounts available for members) Get a line-edit, copy-edit or proofread of your book before you self-publish.

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

The internal and the external

I love deadlines. You know why? Because I love that whooshing sound they make as they go by. (That’s a Douglas Adams joke, if you didn’t already know.) And that’s the subject of today’s email, because – I completely forgot it was Friday and I haven’t written one solitary word. If you were looking for loving, wise counsel on all matters writer – well, sorry, buddy, I ain’t got nothing for ya. So instead, here’s a wonderful guide to all the good things that are going on in August. If you haven’t booked for the Festival yet, then do. I’d absolutely love to meet you there. That’s it from me. I’ll do better next week – I do most solemnly swear thereto. Oh yes, and to make up: if you have a question to ask me, then just hit reply. I always say that, I know, but this time I’m saying it extra. Hit reply. Tell me what’s on your mind, on all matters writerly. Till soon, Harry

Opportunities to grab hold of this August Last chance saloon With September on the horizon, this month is your chance to enter competitions for the Festival of Writing. It’s also your last chance to join the Ultimate Novel Writing Course for 2019-2020, and learn how theme can be used in your writing in the next Tes Talk webinar. So, let’s dust off those submissions and take the bull by the horns. Only 4 places remaining for the Ultimate Novel Writing Course! The year-long Ultimate Novel Writing course commences on 17 September, and only 4 spaces remain. If you have an inkling of an idea that you would like to see transformed into a saleable novel by this time next year, then this is the ultimate course for you. Work alongside two mentors and guest tutors as you write your book, and get access to professional events, agent one-to-ones and a manuscript assessment to boot. APPLY FOR YOUR PLACE Tes Talk: No Theme, No good? 19 August 2019, 18:30 BST. Join Stanford University Lecturer Tes Noah Asfaw, as he looks at the importance of theme in your writing. Using examples from classic texts and members’ work, this webinar will ask what the value is in having a theme to unify a story. REGISTER NOW Did you miss me? Slushpile LIVE is back! We're really sorry we didn't get a Slushpile up and running for July. Festival prep had us pretty tied up. However, we're very happy to announce that we have another Slushpile for August. It's on the 21st of August and is with the incredible Marjacq (who we partner with for our Festival Bursary, if you didn't already know). FIND OUT MORE NOW Festival of Writing Competitions closing date: 20 August 2019 Friday Night Live The highlight of the Festival weekend, this competition will ask selected delegates to read from their work to a live audience and a panel of expert judges. This competition sees more winners published than any other! Best Opening Chapter Submit the first chapter of your manuscript to our literary agent judge for the chance to win a bottle of bubbly, and their attention. Pitch perfect Have you got a 50-word elevator pitch to be proud of? Submit your pitch to be read out on stage at the Festival of Writing. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THESE COMPETITIONS Still haven’t got your Festival of Writing ticket? There’s still time. Buy your weekend or day tickets this month to ensure you get your pick of workshops, Book Labs and one-to-ones. This is the highlight of the writing year for a reason! GET YOUR TICKET

PS: Meeting agents and editors is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Scrub up on your writing techniques and submissions whilst you can, to make sure you're presenting your best selves at the Festival of Writing 2019. "How do I do this?", I hear you say. Join Jericho Writers for a couple of months. You won't regret it.

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

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

The Probable & the Plausible

I watched a film on TV the other night. The film was Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario, a thriller dealing with the drugs trade on both sides of the US-Mexican border. The film was released in 2015, but drew its inspiration from a period a few years earlier, when drugs-related violence was at its height. And – The film is essentially a lie. It treats the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez much as you might deal with Baghdad or Kabul: a territory where every street corner threatens to conceal a sniper or an IED. The film also implies that the American war on drugs has become almost entirely extra-legal. That there is no longer any meaningful attempt to arrest, prosecute and convict drug-barons. It implies also that the state-level US police in those border territories are so riven with corruption, you can’t safely trust any of them. None of this is really true. Yes, Mexico has had a serious problem with gang-violence. At the same time, Juarez is a major industrial city that does massive legitimate trade with the US. And Mexico, unlike Iraq or Afghanistan, is the kind of place that a reasonable person might choose to visit for vacation. And if I lost my wallet in Tucson, I’d hardly be worried about asking a police officer for help. In short, the film has its roots in facts, but it has its trunk, leaves and branches where they should be. On Planet Fiction. The world of make-believe. It’s a combination I know well myself. My last full-length book was a modern-day police procedural about the quest for Arthur. Arthur as in King Arthur, a man whose very existence is uncertain. Yes, I took care to make sure that my lower-level facts were all true. I took care with things like my description of hillforts, ancient manuscript references to Arthur, some science on the dating – and faking – of artefacts, and so on. But I only took care with these things, because I wanted to use them as a springboard into the delights of sheer invention. When I published that book, I was a little worried at the reaction of my audience. My readers are crime readers after all and that genre, above all, is a realistic one. But – They didn’t care. No one did. My reader reviews for that book averaged a full 5.0 on Amazon.com for a long time and have since dipped to 4.8. No book of mine has done better. The simple fact is that you do need to write fiction that feels plausible. You do not need to write fiction that feels remotely probable, or even possible. How do you achieve that plausibility? Well, the full answer would probably be a rather long one, so let me offer these three thoughts: Thought the first Deploy those ‘lower level’ facts, as I’ve called them, as diligently as you can. Where your fiction touches ordinary life, make sure that you are as precise as you can be. In my case, I didn’t just invent a South Welsh hillfort. I searched around till I found one that fit the bill. Then I got in a car and visited it. The facts that I reported in the book – about evidence of jewellery making, a large number of animal bones, and so on – are all spot on. It’s not even that readers will know whether your facts are right or not. It’s that those facts will give your imagination enough security to leap without fear. The gap between truth and fiction will be invisible to the reader. Thought the second I keep coming back to this and it surprises me. But honestly, I think great descriptive writing has a huge role to play here. A rootedness in place will gives everything else you write a kind of plausibility. In Sicario, there are quite long bits of film that are just shots of landscape. That sounds dull, in a way, but add some moody music and a tense story situation, and those shots just deepen your involvement in everything else. But also, they act as a kind of guarantor of reality. “Look, these are real places. There’s nothing tricksy or staged about this filming. The story must be real, because these places clearly are.” That’s nonsense logic, of course, but humans aren’t especially logical. And by the way, this approach works no matter what kind of book you’re writing. In my case (and that of Sicario), those places are real. They’re contemporary. You can go and visit them. But the same basic point applies to any book, whether you’re dealing with the court of Catherine the Great, or some planet in a far-flung galaxy. If you can get the reader, as it were, feeling the wind on their face and the sand between their toes, you are at least halfway to convincing them of everything else. Thought the third This is the big one. The ultimate plausibility trick. In Sicario, the central character is Kate Macer, an FBI agent played by Emily Blunt. And she doesn’t really do anything. You could take her out of the film and the plot could (just about) unroll the same way. Her role is that of observer and interpreter. She witnesses the same things as we witness, but by interpreting those things through her own (pained, horrified) emotions, she explains to us what we should be feeling too. Now, I don’t really recommend turning your protagonist into an observer only. That’s not an impossible technique (the Sherlock Holmes stories are narrated by Dr Watson, after all), but it’s a tricky one. On the other hand, films are films and books are books, and that’s a bone we don’t need to worry at now. The point is simply this: In Sicario, we see and believe in Emily Blunt’s emotional journey. And she wouldn’t react that way if she wasn’t seeing real things. Ergo, the story she witnesses must be real. Boom! Case closed. Job done. Game, set and match. The way to get your stories feeling plausible, no matter how implausible they actually are, is to plant a real-feeling character in a real-feeling landscape, then watch like a hawk as his or her emotions unfold. That’s all from me for now. I’m off to enjoy the English summer (brolly in hand.) Till soon Harry

PS: Want to chat about this email? Get your brolly out and we’ll meet over at Jericho Townhouse. If you’re not yet a member of Townhouse, then tush and pish. You can sign up for free here. If you want to talk to me about anything else, then just hit reply. I read everything and reply to as much as I can. PPS: Last weekend, we ran a Flash Sale for the Festival of Writing and it went amazingly well. The brilliant super-great offer this week? You can purchase a Jericho Writers membership for a pocketful of diamonds. That’s an awesomely fantastic offer, and unbelievable value. If you don’t have diamonds to hand, you can take out a cancel-any-time monthly membership for just $39 / £30 / €35. The annual memberships are even crazier value. Info here.

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

Why bad reviews make me happy

August 4 2017, I got this terrific review from a reader named Anne Hill in the US. THE MOST BORING BOOK EVER WRITTEN I'm afraid this is the most boring book I have ever struggled through. Boring beyond belief. It really does not deserve any stars at all in my opinion. Although spelling and grammar were all they should be, the heroine is a most unbelievable and implausible individual ever created. What woman of 5ft 2 inches can be attacked simultaneously by four baddies and either kill or maim them without a scratch to herself. Through the book there were people mentioned without explanation as to who they were. So it did not feel as if one was reading the first book at all. Most confusing. The entire book did just not gel at all. That was savage for sure, but it wasn’t nearly as concise as this one from Mary Claude: ONE STAR Didn’t read. What I really want to know about that review, Mary, was whether you read any of it at all? I mean, was the one star an expression of bitter regret that you’d spent $0.99 on an ebook that wasn’t really your thing? Or did you read the first page and then just think, Aargh, this is terrible? I don’t know, but I love your economy of expression. My absolute all-time favourite bad review however said this (thanks, Assegai): FIONA GRIFFITHS LEAVES ME QUEASY Sorry, but when the heroine of the book starts feeling around inside the skull of an autopsied murder victem it really doesn't leave me feeling warm and fuzzy or wanting to read more or learn what makes her tick... I can deal with quirky, but Fiona Griffiths is FAR beyond quirky and well into mentally ill! I skimmed through the chapters after the night in the morgue just to see how the author resolved things. The answer is not in a particularly believeable fashion. Glad I didn't take the word of the critics and buy more than one book in the series. I found Hanibal Lecter a more understandable and sympathetic character. And look, one of the reasons why I genuinely don’t care about these terrible reviews is that they’re in a tiny minority. My first Fiona Griffiths book has an average 4.4 rating on Amazon. The latest one hits 4.8 stars. Overall, I have hundreds, even thousands, of four and five star reviews. So I’m in the nice position of not really having to care about a few negative comments. But bad reviews do something else as well. They start to segregate your audience, and that’s great. Because here’s the thing. In the bad old days, nearly all marketing was quite untargeted. My first book came out in February 2000, and it got huge posters on the London Underground and mainline rail stations, probably a few airports too. They even – this is real – had women in blue sashes handing out little three-chapter samplers of the book to passing commuters. All this was thrilling to see for a newbie author ... but the targeting behind that campaign was crazily broad. Based on the reach of some of those posters, my publisher saw my audience as “All British commuters using mainline railway stations into London.” And sure, there was an overlap between people-who-use trains and people-who-like-my-books, but there’s no marketing magic there. It’s blunderbus, not sniper’s rifle. And that wasn’t surprising. Back then, there was no alternative. The internet has changed all that, of course. The trick of marketing anything online these days is to find your audience in the most granular way you possibly can. That’s how come advertising on Facebook works so well. You don’t have to market to people-who-use-trains. You can market to people-who-read-and-enjoy-books-like-mine. That’s why email marketing works so well, because you have a direct connection to people who have positively invited your efforts to keep in touch. That’s how come Amazon itself works so well. Go to Amazon’s home page and look at the “Recommended for you” bit at the top. Now look at your sister’s version of the same page. Or your dad’s. Or your childrens’. Or your friends. Assuming they’re logged into their Amazon account, those pages will always be personalised according to what Amazon knows about your buying habits. And that’s why negative reviews can actually be helpful. Anyone who’s squeamish about my main character and the way she talks and the things she gets up to is never going to be a great reader of my books. Yes, they might buy one book on the off chance, but then never again. If that person leaves a review because they didn’t like X, then readers who are similar will move away and select a more appropriate title for them. That’s a win! Increasingly, Amazon won’t just know who might buy a single book by Harry Bingham. It’ll know who’s likely to invest in the whole series. And because selling a whole series is more profitable than just a single book, Amazon will have ever greater confidence in marketing hard to the exact right readership. It’s even the same thing with the reviewer who just said that my book was boring. That review stood alongside a zillion reviews that said it was great. So readers have to think, is this book boring or great? And, I think if you peruse the reviews in depth, an intelligent reader will figure out that my books don’t do a lot of gunfights and car chases, but do offer complex and absorbing plots led by a very complex and (I hope) absorbing character. So the gun-fight-‘n-car-chase readership will go elsewhere. My readership will flock to me. And again, that’s a win. I’d much, much rather a passionate following from a narrow segment of the reading population, than a “yeah, it’s OK” type reaction from a large segment. I’ll say more about this kind of thing in future emails: why granularity matters so much and how to exploit it for your benefit. For now though, just keep in mind the headline. Granularity matters. Passion matters. A passionate and narrow readership is worth ten times a ten times, unpassionate one. And that headline should guide everything you do, including how you write your books. So if you write a scene and think “My aunt Marge likes crime fiction, but she wouldn’t like this scene, so I’d better tone it down, you are thinking the exact wrong thing. You should think, “My aunt Marge would hate this, but my ideal reader would love it. I wonder if I can find a way to ramp things up even further.” That strategy will work for you every single time. And it’s much, much more fun. Sorry, Aunt Marge. Harry

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

The power of the list

Here are two facts about this ambition / profession of ours that can look daunting: 1. t’s damn hard to write a good book 2. It’s damn hard to sell it, once written. On point 1: well, who cares? If it weren’t hard, it wouldn’t be fun. You wouldn’t have the joy and satisfaction that comes from doing a difficult thing well. And on 2: well, yes. Good point. Gulp. It’s true that you can write a great book, get a great agent, sell to a great publisher, work hard with a great editor, and then, yes, you stand a chance of selling very well. It’s also possible that you complete those steps, but when the publisher’s sales team pitches to the supermarkets, the supermarkets just say no. And if they say no, that’s not because you’re a terrible author and you’ve written a terrible book. Those things might be true of course, but the supermarkets wouldn’t know. They haven’t read your book. To a huge and underappreciated extent, the race for supermarket sales (as far as debut or near-debut authors is concerned) is like twelve fat men running for the same door. Only one of the runners is going to make it and which one actually does is a matter of chance more than athleticism. In short, beyond a point, there’s not much you can do to influence sales through bricks and mortar retailers. You can go secure that great editor. You can work hard. You can smile sweetly at sales conferences (if you get asked) and all that stuff. But you just can’t influence those critical decisions. You aren’t even in the room, or anywhere near it. But all that doesn’t mean you can’t be highly pro-active as a modern author. Nor do you have to self-publish to reap the rewards. Here’s the thing: The most powerful way to sell on Amazon is via your own mailing list – your very own group of fans. The detail of building and using that list is relatively intricate. Not because it’s so inherently complicated, but because this is an area where detail matters. Exactly how do you solicit email addresses? What do you offer in exchange? What language should you use? How you solve those things can make a huge cumulative difference to how many emails you get (and what quality those emails are.) But that’s detail. The essence of selling via mailing list is really simple: 1. You find people who like your books 2. You offer them something that they want – probably a shortish story if you’re a novelist, something helpful if you’re writing subject-led non-fiction. 3. People sign up to get the thing they’re after. They also (knowingly and happily) sign up to get regular emails from you. 4. In those emails, you are charming, discursive, & helpful … and concentrate fiercely on the topic that brought these readers to you in the first place. 5. When you have a new book to sell, you say “Hey guys, do you want my book?” 6. They buy it But that’s not the clever bit! That’s not the bit that explodes your sales and stuffs dollars into your bank account until you fall back laughing, “Enough! Enough! Enough!” The clever bit is this: 7. Amazon notices the sales spike that your emails has generated 8. Amazon’s little marketing robots get so excited that binary starts spouting out of their sockets 9. Amazon itself starts to pump news of your book out to all the readers it thinks are most likely to love it. That’ll be via emails, via “recommended for you” banners, via Hot New Release promos, and much else. 10. A ton more people start to come across your work … and to buy it … and to discover the wonderful news that you are giving away a wonderful short story … And the whole process begins again. This is the critical motor that powers every really successful self-pub author’s career. It’s the trick that took me to six-figure sales in the US on the back of just 6 self-published books. It’s why even really advertising-competent authors (like Mark Dawson) say that the three most important things in digital bookselling are “mailing list, mailing list, mailing list.” And you can use that trick no matter whether you’re planning on a traditional publishing career, or on self-publishing, or on a hybrid of the two. I’d go so far as to say, there are almost no categories of author that shouldn’t be thinking of building and nurturing an email list. Say, for example, you are traditionally published and your publisher just messes up. You have the advance, but your book sales are disappointing, and your career looks fatally wounded. If you emerge from the wreckage with the start of a decent mailing list, then you have built an asset that will support and protect you for years and years to come. My US trad publishing career did crash and burn (thanks, Random House!), but my US publishing career just went from strength to strength. Good books + mailing list = a strategy that never fails. And two other plus points: A mailing list prompts you to write a “reader magnet”. That magnet doesn’t have to be – and shouldn’t be – a full length book. I use two magnets for my fiction, one of 7,000 words, one of 13,000. Those things are too long for short stories. They’re way too short for any publisher to want to buy and print them. But they’re fun to write! And great for readers! They feel like a holiday from work, while being absolutely core to the work you want to do. And hey: once you have a mailing list, you can do almost anything. If you’re minded to write a 25,000 word story – for which, to repeat, no traditional publisher would pay – then you can write it and sell it via your mailing list, for $0.99 if you’re feeling generous, or $2.99 if you’re not. The basic mailing list strategy will still (once your list is somewhat mature) deliver real dividends. If I had to pick just one brilliant thing about publishing in the last decade or so, I’d have to pick the rise of Amazon and the e-book. If I got to pick two, I’d pick the list-driven sales strategy every time. Nothing, but nothing, but nothing, has empowered authors more. That’s true if you’re trad. It’s true if you’re indie. It’s true if you’re an exciting hybrid of the two, with the head of a goat on the body of donkey. That’s it from me. It’s sunny. And in the cricket, England are about to start batting … Till soon Harry

PS: Want to chat about all this? Then do so on Jericho Townhouse. I’ll be at the door with a glass of prosecco and a dish of strawberries. If you have something more private to discuss, then just hit reply. PPS: If you want to know more about the how-tos of building a mailing list, then our Getting Published course has an overview. Our self-pub course has the detail. Both things available free to Jericho members, natuerlich. PPPS: You know our Ultimate Novel Writing Course, right? That’s the incredibly expensive but ludicrously excellent course that goes live from this September? Yes, well, sales have been strong and I think we’re going to sell out of places before the end of the summer, so if you were thinking of participating, then you probably want to saddle up and take action. Or, if you don’t have a saddle, you could just click here. That would work too.

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LGBT representation in literature It’s LGBT Pride month this June, so we’re celebrating with a newsletter that looks at opportunities for LGBT writers, as well as asking how we can all represent LGBT characters accurately in our writing. Happy Pride month!

BURSARY: The Jericho Marjacq Bursary for under-represented writers Closing date: 31 July 2019. Do you want a full weekend ticket to the Festival of Writing, inclusive of all accommodation, workshops and food, PLUS a full UK travel bursary and additional one-to-ones with agents at Marjacq Scripts? Of course you do. Applications for under-represented writers are open now. FIND OUT MORE

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Spotlight

FEATURE: Breaking down the walls of character (FREE for members) Join Jody Klaire as she answers questions about writing diversely and how to avoid cultural appropriation in your writing, by exploring characters as eco-systems. WATCH NOW

BLOG: Is more diversity needed in publishing? Diversity in publishing has been a hot topic in industry for some time. Despite overdue attention, little has changed. Here’s Mahsuda Snaith to tell us more. READ NOW

SNAPSHOT: Bringing characters to life (FREE for members) Want to breathe life into your LGBT characters? This Snapshot from Chris Simms teaches how sketching your characters can help bring them to life. WATCH NOW

Content corner: Opportunities for LGBT writing We all want to see a diverse world in our fiction, representative of everyday life. Here are a list of three opportunities specifically looking for LGBT rep, open now. Good luck! #SweekPride Writing contest 5,000 words max of prose or poetry representing the LGBTQ+ community. Prize: $75 Entry fee: Free Deadline: 15 August 2019 Saints and Sinners Short Story contest For original, unpublished short stories between 3,000 and 7,000 words with LGBT content on the broad theme of “Saints and Sinners.” Prize: $500 for the winner, and 2x $100 runner’s up prizes Entry fee: $20 per story Deadline: 1 October 2019 The Selkie submissions Publishing high-quality fiction, non-fiction, poetry and features from a broad range of under-represented writers, including LGBTQ+. Prize: Publication in The Selkie Entry fee: Free Deadline: Anytime We’ve opened a special Pride Month forum on the Townhouse. Join in the conversation on LGBT representation and wave the rainbow flag with us this June. Please note that this is a safe space and any unwelcoming posts will not be tolerated. 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 Tes Talks: Opening Strong (Members only) 24 June 2019 18.30 BST. Join us for the first of these Creative Writing webinars with Stanford University Lecturer, Tes Noah Asfaw. We kick things off by looking at what makes for a captivating opening. The Ultimate Novel Writing Course 17 Sept 2019. Combining the best Jericho Writers has to offer, this course offers everything you need to take an idea to publication. Includes a weekend ticket to the Festival of Writing 2020 and a full Manuscript Assessment. Manuscript Assessment (Discounts available for members) Get detailed, structural editorial feedback on your work including advice on how to address any problems raised. Plus, you’ll be able to ask your editor follow-up questions about your report.

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

New York gets Daunted

Usually, on Thursday afternoon or so, I start pondering what I’m going to write about on Friday. This week: no pondering. There’s only one thing I could possibly write about. The biggest book-related newsflash this week – or this year – is that Barnes and Noble is changing ownership. The ins and outs are a little complex (and everything is not quite settled), but if all goes according to plan: An investment firm, Elliott Advisers, is to buy Barnes and Noble, in a deal which values that business (including its debts) at about $700 million. That sounds like a lot of money, but given that B&N’s sales are $3.6 billion, the pricing actually feels pretty cheap – reflecting the dismal state of B&N. Elliott is also the 100% owner of Waterstones, the British equivalent of B&N. Both those chains are proper bookshops, appealing to proper book lovers. In that sense, the chains are distinct from the supermarkets, who just sell a lot of books but don’t care about them, or the British High Street & travel operator, WH Smith, which is as much a stationer and a newsagent as an actual book store. Waterstones was rescued from impending financial disaster by CEO James Daunt. It was Daunt who negotiated the sale of the firm to Elliott. Daunt will now act as CEO to both firms – B&N and Waterstones – and will divide his time between London and New York. As it happens, Daunt also owns and runs his own mini-chain of high-end London bookstores. It was his experience at those stores which won him the position at Waterstones. So, assuming that all goes according to plan, James Daunt will be the book world’s second most powerful human, after Jeff Bezos. So what does that mean – for readers? For writers? For publishers? For anyone? Well. It’s a big and important move. James Daunt has a huge reputation in the UK and it’s probably deserved. His secret sauce for success? Quite simply this: there is no secret sauce. In the UK, Daunt simply took everything back to basics. He turned bookselling into a proper career. (Albeit, inevitably, a badly paid one.) He retained staff who cared passionately about books and waved good-bye to the rest, perhaps a third of them. He cut costs. He made his stores prettier. And, in a move so radical that it shook British publishing to its core, he let each store manager select their own inventory. So, yes of course, every store was expected to stock major bestsellers of the moment. But beyond that, what stores sold was guided by local passion and local knowledge. From a reader’s point of view, stores got better. There was more energy, more passion, more commitment. But publishers, for a while, didn’t know what to do. In the past, publishing worked like this: Publishers paid Waterstones a big chunk of cash to get into a 3-for-2 front-of-store promotion. So Waterstones was actually retailing its shelf-space. It wasn’t really curating its own retail offering. Some of those 3-for-2s did really well, and became huge bestsellers. Others didn’t, and the volume of returns was enormous (often 20% of total stock.) Publishers pulped those returns, ditched those authors and just made money from their mega-successes That was check-book publishing and check-book retail. Daunt killed that, and terrified publishers. How could they market books if the key step wasn’t just throwing bundles of money at retailers? Well, they solved that problem … kinda. But all they really did was turn their attentions (even more than before) to the supermarkets and other mass retailers. Waterstones’ local stores are great and feel like real bookshops … but they can’t build a bestseller as they did in the old days, because each store chooses its stock according to its own tastes. Daunt’s path in the US is likely to follow the exact same route. He’s commented that one of the issues he feels on entering a typical B&N store is quite simply “too many books.” Too much stock. Too little curation and guidance. Not enough knowledge from the booksellers. An atmosphere so flat, you could swap it for cigarette paper. He’ll cut stock. Reduce staff, but retain the best and most passionate members. Eliminate central promotions. Get better terms from publishers. Sharply reduce stock returns. Do the basics, but do them right. The impacts, positive and negative? The positive: Elliott’s cash plus Daunt’s knowhow should save specialist physical book retail in the US. That’s massive. It’s the difference between a US publishing industry that operates much as it does now and one that would be almost wholly slave to Amazon. That also means that trad publishing is likely to survive in roughly its current shape and size, rather than being sidelined by the growth of digital-first publishers (notably self-pubbers and Amazon itself.) The negative: US publishers will have to learn the lessons already absorbed by the Brits. If B&N no longer operates national promotion systems as in the past, publishers can’t make a bestseller just by buying space. Yes, they’ll go on seeing what they can do on social media and all that stuff. But, as in the UK, they’ll be even more dependent on supermarkets. The make-or-break of a book will be not “Is this wonderful writing?” but “did we get enough retail space in enough supermarkets at a sufficiently attractive price?” I know any number of authors where Book A did incredibly well, Book B did poorly … and Book B was better than Book A. The difference, in every case, was that the supermarkets backed A and not B, and there’s damn all a trad publisher can do once the supermarkets have said no. Oh yes, and supermarkets don’t really give a damn about the quality of writing. They don’t know about the quality of the writing. They just buy on the basis of past sales (if you’re John Grisham) or a pretty cover (if you’re a debut.) Of course, they’d say their selection is a damn sight more careful than that, and it probably is. But that’s still “careful by the standards of people who mostly sell tinned beans and dog food for a living.” That’s not the same thing as actually being careful. That sounds like a fairly downbeat conclusion, but the Elliott-saves-B&N news is still a real big plus for anyone who loves traditional stores, print books and traditional publishing. It’s the single biggest win I can remember over the past few years. What that win won’t do, however, is weaken the hold of supermarkets and Amazon over book retail. Those two forces are still huge. They’re still central. And of course, talking about print books has its slightly quaint side. Me, I prefer print. I hardly ever read ebooks. I just spend enough time on screens as it is. But print books constitute less than 30% of all adult fiction sales, and online print sales accounts for a big chunk of that 30%. In other words, all those B&N stores up and down the US are still only attacking 23% or so of the total adult fiction market. However well Daunt does, that 23% figure isn’t about to change radically. (Or not in the direction he wants, anyway.) But, just for now, to hell with realism. Let’s remember the magic of a beautiful bookstore. Daunt does. Here are some comments of his from 2017: “[there is a sense that] a book bought from a bookshop is a better book.... When a book comes through a letter box or when a book is bought in a supermarket, it's not vested with the authority and the excitement that comes from buying it in a bookshop. …Price is irrelevant if the customer likes the shop. The book is never an expensive item, [particularly for the many customers who] we know are quite happy to go into a café and spend dramatically more on a cup of coffee." Quite right, buddy. Now go sell some books. The readers need you. Till soon Harry

PS: Want to chat about all this? Then do so on Jericho Townhouse here. I’ll be at the door to take your coat and hand you a raspberry macaroon. If you have something more private to discuss, then just hit reply. If you have a question about any of our services, including whether they’re right for you, then just use the info@jerichowriters.com address. Our customer service folk will look after you brilliantly. (And, by the way, all our staff are instructed never to sell a service if they don’t think it’s right for you. We don’t employ a single salesman. We don’t pay anyone on commission. And pretty much everyone on our team is a serious writer. Like you.) PPS: Hey, what about this: Would you like a literary agent to review and comment on your work? Would you like to get that feedback from the comfort of your own living room? Would you like an agent to request your full manuscript, if they like the sample they’ve reviewed? For a lot of you, the answer is probably yes. In which case, you’d probably like to know that Jericho members get free access to our regular Slushpile Live webinars – where we stick your work in front of an agent and ask them to comment. We film them as they’re commenting and stream the whole thing live. If you have questions, you can just type in your questions and we’ll ask the agent on your behalf. And yes, if agents love your stuff, they’ll ask for the whole damn manuscript. All that, as I say, is for Jericho members only – that’s the bad news. The good news is: you can take out a JW membership here, for considerably less than the price of a limited edition Lamborghini. (And yes, I know, I’ve got the best sales patter in marketing.) PPPS: OK, you’re not at the stage of seeking an agent. Or maybe you want to self-publish, in which case: literary agents and you – not a match made in heaven. But maybe you’d like to engage with one of the world’s top creative writing tutors live online? A guy called Tes Noah. He works with Stanford University students on their Oxford University program. (And yes, that’s two of the top universities in the world, so beat that.) And Tes is also just a really, really good and interesting tutor with vibrantly interesting things to say about both genre and lit fic. But, hey, you’re not a Stanford University student, so you probably have to miss out, right? Shucks. Uh, well not actually. We’re running a webinar series with Tes called the TES Talks. You can find out more about the first one of those here. But though you don’t have to be a Stanford student to get access, you do have to be a Jericho Writers member. Sign up here or … heck, you could just watch daytime TV and look out at the rain. That’s good too.

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

Turning draft 1 into draft 2 You’ve finished the first draft of your book! Pop the champagne and treat yourself to something decadent. Because now begins the task of turning that rough starting point into something unputdownable. But where do you start?

EDITORIAL: Manuscript Assessment (Discounts available for members) Sometimes, we need a kick in the right direction from an expert in order to make our books the best they can be. With a Manuscript Assessment, we’ll hook you up with a world-class editor who will read your entire book and give you a comprehensive advice on how you can take it to the next level. FIND OUT MORE

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NEW on Jericho Writers

MASTERCLASS: Self-Edit Your Novel – part 2 (FREE for members) Join Debi Alper for the second part of this mini-course, focusing on how you can turn that first draft into something brilliant. Based on the bestselling tutored course. WATCH NOW

BLOG: The Different Types of Editing Structural editing, copyediting, line editing... what do they all mean? And which one is right for you and your book (if any at all)? This latest blog explains all. READ NOW

SNAPSHOT: How to inject pace into your writing (FREE for members) Keep readers turning pages in this latest Snapshot film. We look at climatic scenes and the things you can do to raise tension and inject pace. WATCH NOW

Content corner: Edit as you go along, or leave it to the end? Some writers like to edit their writing as they go along. In fact, I know writers who have spent years perfecting just one scene in their novel, without even having written the rest. I used to do that. Until I got to the end of the book, realised that I actually didn't need half those scenes and then had the agony of having to delete them. Now, I might read the last page I wrote to familiarise myself with the voice and story before I get stuck back in to writing, but as a whole, I leave all my editing to the end. Of course, that has its own problems. I end up with a 60k substandard words and then have to begin the long process of re-structuring, re-writing, line editing and copyediting. But for me, it makes sense to give myself space to be imperfect until I have a clear idea where I am going. So, which do you think is best? Do you edit as you go along, or do you leave it until the end like me? Share your experiences in the Townhouse, here! 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 Tes Talks – Opening Strong (Free for members) 24 June, 18:30 BST. Join Stanford University Creative Writing Lecturer, Tes Noah Asfaw, as he asks what a strong beginning of a novel tells your readers about what to expect. The Ultimate Novel Writing Course Enrolling now for 17 Sept 2019. Start with a glimmer of an idea, and finish the year with a saleable draft in this king of writing courses. It’s Ultimate for a reason. Copy-editing (Discounts available for members) Whether you need line-editing, copy-editing or proofreading, our expert editors have got you covered.

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Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560 Our top Festival picks for you We’ve created the Festival of Writing this year to cater to all writers – whether you’re just starting out, or have already been published; are looking for an agent, or self-publishing; writing gritty crime, or for children. Here are the sessions we’re most excited about this year. Which ones will you choose? SEE THE FULL PROGRAMME Build your perfect Festival Book Lab: Agent Submission Pack Builder with Sarah Hornsley Work on perfecting your agent submission pack... with a literary agent! This intimate class is limited to just twenty writers, so book now to avoid disappointment! What better way to hone your query letter and synopsis? Workshop: Dig Yourself Free - My six tried and tested tips for when I'm stuck with Patrice Lawrence Join award-winning author Patrice Lawrence for this workshop based on her own experiences of writing. She’ll reveal her six tried and tested tips for when she’s literally lost the plot and don't know where to go next. These are six tips she uses to inspire and spur her on. Industry Keynote: Two commissioning editors + Amazon What do you get when you put two Commissioning Editors on a panel with the Editorial Director at Amazon Publishing UK? A ruddy good panel! Join us for this afternoon panel discussing the viability of the self-publishing option – there promises to be fireworks. One-to-One: Lucy Morris, Literary Agent We have over twenty agents and publishers available for one-to-ones this weekend, including Lucy Morris. Lucy is an associate agent at Curtis Brown, where she is building a list of upmarket commercial and book club fiction, narrative non-fiction and memoir. Who will you choose? With all of this plus exciting competitions, mini-courses and networking – this is could be the weekend your turbo-charge your writing career. BOOK YOUR FESTIVAL TICKETS We’d love to see you there! The Jericho Writers Team Copyright © 2018 Jericho Writers, All rights reserved. Jericho Writers Belsyre Court 57 Woodstock Road Oxford, OX2 6HJ United Kingdom +44 (0) 345 459 9560

Fractals, scenes and the bones of the fallen

I’ve been reading a terrific guest post on our blog by our Craig Taylor. (And actually, “guest post” doesn’t feel like quite the right term, if I’m honest. Craig’s a buddy, not a guest.) The post is on how to write a scene and, in it, Craig asks: “If the theme of your work, say, is unrequited love, does your scene angle in to that theme? Does it demonstrate a circumstance or a feeling which is associated with unrequited love? Or does it demonstrate a circumstance or a feeling about requited love, so as to throw into relief the experience that one of your characters will have about unrequited love?” And those are interesting questions, aren’t they? I, for one, don’t write a book thinking that every scene I write has to “angle in” to my major theme. But what if that’s wrong? What if, in a well-constructed book, pretty much everything angles in to the one same issue? (Or, rather, cluster of issues, because a book that is rich thematically can never be too neatly categorised.) And here’s another thought: What if you don’t especially think about these things as you build your story? What if you do concentrate on good writing (nice prose, strong characters, a well-knitted plot), but don’t overthink the thematic stuff? What happens then? Is the result strong? Or will it never reach the kind of thematic depth and congruence that Craig is hinting at? Hey, ho. Interesting questions. So I thought I’d take a look at my own work and see what’s actually happened there. So my last book, The Deepest Grave, has a cluster of themes that include: Ancient history, specifically post-Roman Britain and the shade of Arthur Treasure and fakery Death (because this is a murder mystery, but it is also a book about Fiona Griffiths, whose attitudes to life and death are deep and complicated.) But then, I only have to write those themes down on the page here – something I’ve never done before; I don’t plan my thematic stuff – and I realise this: that those themes absolutely and necessarily contain their opposites. So a book that is about fakery and death is also, essentially, a book about: Authenticity Life – or, more specifically in Fiona’s case, the whole knotty business of how to be a human; how to establish and maintain an identity in the face of her over awareness of death. OK. So those, broadly, are my themes. Let’s now look at whether my various scenes tend to hammer away at those things, or not. Are themes something that appear via a few strong, bold story strokes? Or are they there, fractal-like, in every detail too? And, just to repeat, those aren’t questions I consciously think about much as I write. Yes, a bit, sometimes, but I certainly don’t go through the disciplined thought process that Craig mentions in his post. And blow me down, but what I find is that, yes, those themes infest the book. The book never long pulls away from them at all. So, aside from a place and date stamp at the top of chapter 1, the first words in the book are these: “Jon Breakell has just completed his chef d’oeuvre, his masterpiece. The Mona Lisa of office art. The masterpiece in question is a dinosaur made of bulldog clips, twisted biro innards and a line of erasers that Jon has carved into spikes.” That’s a nod towards ancient history. It’s a nod towards authenticity (the Mona Lisa) and fakery (a dinosaur that is definitely not a real dinosaur.) It’s also, perhaps, a little nod towards death, because in a way the most famous thing about dinosaurs is that they’re extinct. It goes on. The mini-scene that opens the book concludes with Fiona demolishing her friend’s dinosaur and the two of them bending down to clear up the mess. Fiona says, “that’s how we are—me, Jon, the bones of the fallen—when Dennis Jackson comes in.” That phrase, the bones of the fallen, puts death explicitly on the page and in a way which alludes forward to the whole Arthurian battle theme that will emerge later. That’s one example and – I swear, vow & promise – I didn’t plan those links out in my head prior to writing. I just wrote what felt natural for the book that was to come. But the themes keep on coming. To use Craig’s word, all of the most glittering scenes and moments and images in the book keep on angling in to my little collection of themes. There’s a big mid-book art heist and hostage drama. Is there a whiff of something ancient there? Something faked and something real? Of course. The heist is fake and real, both at the same time. The crime that sits at the heart of the book has fakery at its core. But then Fiona start doubling up on the fakery – she’s faking a fake, in effect – but in the process, it turns out, she has created something authentic. And the authenticity of that thing plays a key role in the book’s final denouement. Another example. Fiona’s father plays an important role in this book. He’s not a complicated or introspective man. He doesn’t battle, the way his daughter does, for a sense of identity. But what happens in the book? This big, modern, uncomplicated man morphs, somehow, into something like a modern Arthur. That identity shift again plays a critical role in the final, decisive dramas. But it echoes around the rest of the book too. Here’s one example: “Dad drives a silver Range Rover, the car Arthur would have chosen. It hums as it drives, transfiguring the tarmac beneath its wheels into something finer, silvered, noble. A wash of rain. Sunlight on a hill. Our slow paced Welsh roads.” That’s playful, of course, and I had originally intended just to quote that first line, about the Range Rover. But when I opened up the text, I found the sentences that followed. That one about “transfiguring the tarmac” is about that process of transformation from something ordinary to something more like treasure, something noble. And then even the bits that follow that – the wash of rain, the sunlight on the hill – don’t those things somehow attach to the “finer, silvered, noble” phrase we’ve just left? It’s as though the authenticity of the man driving the Range Rover transforms these ordinary things into something treasured. Something with the whisper of anciency and value. I could go on, obviously, but this email would turn into a very, very long one if I did. And look: Yet again, I’ve got to the end of a long piece on writing without a real “how to” lesson to close it off. Craig’s blog post says, among many other good things, that you should ask whether or not your scene angles in to your themes. But I don’t do that. Not consciously, not consistently. And – damn my eyes and boil my boots – I discover that the themes get in there anyway. Yoo-hoo, here we are. Uninvited, but always welcome. So the moral of all this is - ? Well, I don’t know. I think that, yes, if you’re stuck with a scene, or if it’s just feeling a little awkward or wrong, then working through Craig’s list of scene-checks will sort you out 99% of the time. A conscious, almost mechanical, attention to those things will eliminate problems. But if you’re not the conscious mechanic sort, then having a floaty awareness of the issues touched on in this email will probably work as well. If you maintain that rather unfocused awareness of your themes, you’ll find yourself naturally gravitating towards phrases and scenes and metaphors and moments that reliably support the structure you’re building. And that works, I think. The final construction will have both coherence and a kind of unforced naturalness. And for me, it’s one of the biggest pleasures of being an author. That looking back at a text and finding stuff in it that you never consciously put there. Damn my eyes and boil my boots. Till soon Harry

PS: Want to chat about all this? Then do so on Jericho Townhouse here. I’ll be there with tea and biscuits. If you’re not yet a member, then sign up is superfast and easy, and you get one extra biscuit as a reward for your toil. If you have something more private to discuss, then just hit reply. I read everything and answer as much as I can. PPS: One of the questions I’m asked most in those emails is, “How do I know if now is the right time to get an editorial assessment?” And my incredibly helpful answer is always – well, I dunno. I’m not you, am I? But as a rough guide, you want to self-edit as hard as you can and to keep going until you recognise that you’re going round in circles, or are totally confused, or if you’re just not achieving anything much of real value any more. At that point, you have two choices. You can send your stuff out to 10-12 literary agents, and just see. If your work is strong enough to be marketed, then boom! You didn’t need that editorial assessment. If agents don’t take you on, then you can get the assessment confident that you do in fact need it. That it’s worth the investment. Alternatively, if you have a sneaky feeling that your work isn’t yet agent-ready, then it almost certainly isn’t. In which case, a manuscript assessment beckons. It is and has always been the gold standard way to improve your work. It’s always worked for me. It always will. View our editorial services here. PPPS: And if you think, “but I’m self-publishing and you’ve just implied that the only path to publication is via literary agents,” – well, no. That’s not the only path to publication and for some authors the trad route is certainly not the best one. But if you’re self-publishing, then – sorry – you just have to get that manuscript assessment. Your book is your product and you have to make that product as strong as you can. That means pro editorial advice from a pro editor. Nothing else works as well, and this is one corner that cannot be cut. (Your cover design is another. Text and cover just have to be right.) Editorial info here. And since we’re on the subject of self-publishing, then we’ve had some incredibly nice feedback recently from Jericho Writers members who have taken our self-pub course. Karen followed our advice and is now making £2400 a month from her work. (Her income should only go upwards from there.) Barry Kirwan did the same, reverting some rights from a small publisher, and now, “After a slow start, I’m not selling 80-100 e-books a day, and the first one is occupying a best seller category on Amazon UK.” That success prompted an four-book audio deal from WF Howes. A huge, brilliant result. And look. There are some well-known, excellent self-publishing courses that cost upwards of $500. Some of them are good. Some of them are very good. But we have an excellent self-pub course too, and it’s free to members. And you get a ton of masterclasses too. And a bunch of other video course. And a ton of films. And webinars. And more. And you get all that for as little as £30/$39 a month, with annual membership offering even better value. That’s insane value. But we like writers, so we’ll stay insane, thank you very much. Membership info here.

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

There’s much to look forward to this month We’re kicking off the summer by expanding our webinar offering with some extra-special Creative Writing tutorials from a lecturer at Stanford University. The first of these ‘Tes Talks’ comes up later this month, focusing on what makes for a strong story opening – and we can’t WAIT. We also have another Slushpile Live and a reminder that places are going fast for our September tutored courses.

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11th June 2019

CONVERSATIONS: Slushpile LIVE with Davinia Andrew-Lynch (FREE for members) 18.30 BST. We’re back for another Slushpile LIVE. Join us and agent Davinia Andrew-Lynch as she responds to your submissions live in this webinar. Davinia is actively looking for commercial adult fiction and children’s/YA - so get your submissions in soon! REGISTER NOW

24th June 2019

CONVERSATIONS: Tes Talks – Opening Strong (FREE for members) 18.30 BST. You told us that you wanted more traditional creative writing classes – and we listened. Introducing ‘Tes Talks’ - a monthly webinar focusing on creative writing. Stanford University Lecturer Tes Noah Asfaw will pick apart classic and contemporary texts to show you why they work so well, and how you can replicate it in your own writing. There will also be the chance to submit your own work for review during the webinar. The first session focuses on story openings and is for members only. REGISTER NOW

SEPTEMBER COURSES: Booking up fast! Places are flying off the shelves for our September tutored courses. If you are considering kicking off your academic year with an intimate and professional tutored course, then we’d recommend booking sooner rather than later. All dates and details are below:

How to write a novel course – 16 September 2019 Working with a top tutor and literary agent, you’ll learn to master the techniques that underpin every great story in this six-week course. FIND OUT MORE Self-edit your novel course – 17 September 2019 Final place remaining! This extraordinarily-successful six-week course will teach you to edit your book and keep a reader hooked from start to finish. FIND OUT MORE The ultimate novel writing course – 17 September 2019 Booking fast! Learn everything you need to write a publishable novel, and have top mentors at your side every step of the way, in this extra-special year-long course. FIND OUT MORE Picture books course – 25 September 2019 Your highly-experienced tutor will show you the essentials you need to write a saleable book for ages two to seven, in this four-week course. FIND OUT MORE

Whatever your June has in store, we hope you have a sunny and productive month and hope to see you soon. Remember, you can contact Stephanie on +44 (0) 345 459 9560* or info@jerichowriters.com for any writing-related advice. Best wishes, The Jericho writers Team *or 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

Late nights and leakages

I had plans for today, plans that involved some interesting and actually useful work. But – Our boiler sprang a leak. Even with the mains water turned off, it went on leaking through the night. Finding an engineer who could come out today (for a non-insane price) took the first half hour this morning. The engineer is coming at 3.30, and that’ll eat the last part of the day. And – I have a vast number of kids: four, in theory, but most days it seems like a lot more than that. And one of them, Lulu, spent most of the last couple of nights not very well at all. So – Not masses of sleep. And today’s interesting work plans have been kicked into next week. Which bring us to – You. Life. Books. Writing. The fact is that even if you’re a pro author, life gets in the way of writing all the time. Because writing isn’t an office-based job, almost no writer I know keeps completely clean boundaries between work stuff and life stuff. Life intrudes all the time. Indeed, I know one author – a multiple Sunday Times top ten bestseller – whose office-based partner always just assumes that she’ll be the one to fix boilers, attend to puking children, etc, etc, just because she’s at home and not under any immediate (today, next day) deadline pressure. And that’s a top ten bestseller we’re talking about. Most of you aren’t in that position. You’re still looking for that first book deal. The first cheque that says, “Hey, this is a job, not just a hobby.” So Life vs Work? Life is going to win, most of the time. And it’ll win hands down. The broken boiler version of life intrusion is only one form of the syndrome though. There’s one more specific to writers. Here’s the not-yet-pro-author version of the syndrome, in one of its many variants: You have one book out on submission with agents. You keep picking at it editorially and checking your emails 100 times a day. But you also have 20,000 words of book #2 on your computer and though, in theory, you have time to write, you’re accomplishing nothing. You’re just stuck. That feels like only aspiring authors should suffer that kind of thing, right? But noooooooo! Pro authors get the same thing in a million different flavours, courtesy of their publishers. Your editor quits. Your new editor, “really wants to take a fresh look at your work, so as soon as she’s back from holiday and got a couple of big projects off her desk …”. Or your agent is just starting new contract negotiations with your editor, and you are hearing alarmingly little for some reason. Or you know that your rom-com career is on its last legs, so you’re looking to migrate to domestic noir, but you don’t know if your agent / editor / anyone is that keen on the stuff you now write. Or … Well, there are a million ors, and it feels like in my career I’ve experienced most of them. The simple fact is that creative work is done best with a lack of significant distractions and no emotional angst embedded in the work itself. Yet the publishing merry-go-round seems intent on jamming as much angst in there as it can manage, compounded, very often, by sloppy, slow or just plain untruthful communications. So the solution is …? Um. Uh. I don’t know. Sorry. The fact is, these things are just hard and unavoidable. Priorities do get shifted. You can’t avoid it. The emotional strains of being-a-writer – that is, having a competitive and insecure job in an industry which, weirdly, doesn’t value you very highly – are going to be present whether you like them or not. There have been entire months, sometimes, when I should have been writing, but accomplished nothing useful because of some publishing drama, which just needed resolution. No one else cared much about that drama, or at least nothing close to the amount I did, with the result that those things often don’t resolve fast. Your comfort and shelter against those storms? Well, like I say, I don’t have any magical answers but, here, for what it’s worth, are some things which may help:

Gin. Or cheap wine. Or whatever works. I favour beers from this fine brewery or really cheap Australian plonk. The kind you can thin paints with. Changing your priorities for a bit. So if you really needed to clear out the garage or redecorate the nursery, then do those things in the time you had thought you’d be writing. You’re not losing time; you’re just switching things around. Addressing any emotional/practical issues as fast and practically as you can. So let’s say you have book #1 out on submission, you can help yourself by getting the best version of that book out (getting our excellent editorial advice upfront if you need to.) You can make sure you go to a minimum of 10 agents, and probably more like 12-15. You can make sure those agents are intelligently chosen, and that your query letter / synopsis are all in great shape. (see the PSes for a bit more on this.) You can write yourself a day planner, that gives some structure to the waiting process: “X agents queried on 1 May. Eight weeks later is 26 June. At that point, I (a) have an agent, (b) send more queries, (c) get an editor to look at my text, or (d) switch full-steam to the new manuscript.” If you plan things like that upfront, you don’t have to waste a bazillion hours crawling over the same questions in your head. Accepting the reality. It’s just nicer accepting when things are blocked or too busy or too fraught. The reality is the same, but the lived experience is nicer. So be kind to yourself. Find community. Yes, your partner is beautiful and adorable and the joy of your life. But he/she isn’t a writer. So he/she doesn’t understand you. Join a community (like ours). Make friends. Share a moan with people who know exactly what you mean. That matters. It makes a difference. Enjoy writing. This is the big one, in fact. The writers who most struggle with their vocation are the ones who like having written something, but don’t actually enjoy writing it. And I have to say, I’ve never understood that. My happiest work times have nearly always been when I’m throwing words down on a page, or editing words I’ve already put there. And that pleasure means you keep on coming back to your manuscript whenever you can. And that means it gets written. And edited. And out to agents or uploaded to KDP and sold.

Of those six, then cultivating that happiness is the single biggest gift you can give yourselves. And the gin, obviously. Harry

PS: Want to chat about all this? Then do so on Jericho Townhouse here. Signup is fast, free and easy – and will give you the community you need. If you have something more private to discuss, then just hit reply. I read everything and answer as much as I can. PPS: If you want help with all that agent submission stuff, then our Getting Published video course covers absolutely everything you could possibly need. It just takes all the uncertainty and should-I/shouldn’t-I out of the whole process. Because we’ve helped hundreds and hundreds of writers find agents and publication, there’s no issue you have that we haven’t encountered before. The best way to access our Getting Published course is via a Jericho Writers membership. Info on all that here. PPPS: We are slowly but surely filling up all the places on our Ultimate Novel Writing Course. This is a new venture for us, but our aim was, quite simply, to make this the best novel writing course in the world. Way more focused on publication than any university BA / MA / MFA. Way more in depth than any other commercial course we could find. Details here. We’d love to have you sign up. It’s gonna be great.

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

Using dialogue to show, not tell I really struggle with dialogue. Sometimes, my characters can chat away naturally like they really are sitting in a room together. And sometimes I will cringe as I’m writing it. When done properly, dialogue can be the ultimate tool to ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’, and add realism to your writing. In this newsletter, we find out how to do it properly.

CONVERSATION: Slushpile Live with Davinia Andrew-Lynch (Members only) 11 June 2019. Join agent Davinia Andrew-Lynch as she reads members’ work LIVE in this webinar. Davinia is actively trying to build her list of children’s and commercial adult fiction, so don’t miss out! FIND OUT MORE

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NEW on Jericho Writers

MASTERCLASS: Advanced Dialogue Mini-Course Part 2 (FREE for members) Filmed live at the Festival of Writing 2018, the second part of James Law’s engaging mini-course looks into how we can show backstory through dialogue rather than relying on ‘telling’. WATCH NOW

BLOG: 5 reasons you might fear writing, by Peg Cheng Peg Cheng reveals the 5 things that were stopping her from putting pen to paper, and reveals how you can conquer your own fears and keep writing, too. READ NOW

SNAPSHOT: How to write a striking voice (FREE for members) What is ‘voice’? And how can you find a good one for your novel, whether you are writing in first or third person? I share my tips in this latest Snapshot. WATCH NOW

Content corner: Why ‘said’ is perfectly fine I remember a specific lesson at school that focused on all the different words you could use in your creative writing instead of ‘said’. This was a great way of learning about language, and how one word can change an entire sentence. Unfortunately, it also meant that my dialogue read a bit like this for the next decade: “What are you talking about?” Sam hissed. “You know,” Mary shouted. “I don’t,” Sam whispered. “Don’t play dumb with me,” Mary retorted. There’s a whole lot wrong with this example, but focusing on those verbs – they get tiresome pretty quickly, don’t they? In fact, I’d suggest completely ignoring that school lesson and writing entirely in ‘said’s, bar perhaps a couple of ‘whispers’ here and there if needed. What lessons do you remember from school that you’ve now chosen to ignore as an adult writer? Share them in the Townhouse, here! 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 The Festival of Writing 6-8 September 2019. The highlight of the writing year is back and bigger than ever. Join us for a weekend of workshops, one-to-ones, keynotes and all-round writing fun. The Ultimate Novel Writing Course Enrolling now for 17 Sept 2019. Start with a glimmer of an idea, and finish the year with a saleable draft in this king of writing courses. It’s Ultimate for a reason. Children’s Manuscript Review (Discounts available for members) An in-depth constructive editorial report on your children’s manuscript. Our editors will read, digest and absorb your work, then they’ll tell you how to improve it. It’s as simple as that.

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