Writing Spaces - from clutter to creativity

An Interview with Julienne Durber
by Michelle Newell 

This week, we talk to Julienne Durber, an aspiring YA and MG writer based in Rugby. He is represented by Gemma Cooper at the Bent Agency and received an honorary mention in the 2012 SCBWI Undiscovered Voices anthology for his novel Vengeance (previously Springpunk). He also had an honorary mention in the 2010 UV for a murder mystery Wind-up World. He co-runs the dark, dystopian Demention blog and is one of the Network Coordinators for SCBWI BI Central West. You can find out more about Julienne at dementionblog.blogspot.co.uk

You describe yourself as having “an obsession with all things dark and demented, otherworldly and odd”, and I wondered if that was just in your stories and illustrations, or if that was reflected in your environment?

That was fairly heavily to do with all the Demention stuff, and I was into all the dystopia bits and pieces. There’s bit and pieces here and there that are reasonably dark I guess. 

I was expecting to see in the background some kind of steampunkish clock hanging on your wall, or a black feature wall! 

Bear with me. (Julienne leaves the Skype screen and returns holding up an intricate model ship). This is a chariot I made out of clock parts. It’s a life size model of some characters in a book that I did before the dystopian book. This is the room of creativity. I don’t always write in it but it has creativity oozing out of it. There is a jigsaw on the wall up there that I designed for someone. And there’s more of these little models hanging up and lying around, and old sketches on pinboards. 

You seem like quite a visual person, do your characters and stories come to you more visually in pictures, and then in the models and drawings that you make? 

I’d been a graphic designer for 10 years, and I went along to SCBWI wanting to be an illustrator. Everyone at the Birmingham SCBWI was much more into the writing so I had a go at the writing. And I find that I can write better pictures than I can draw, if that makes sense. I can draw stuff, and it’s a nice realisation, but it’s not quite what was in my head. I can write down exactly what is in my head and develop it a lot further. 

So you don’t write in this room with all your inspirational, creative stuff? 

Sometimes I write in this room. But recently I’ve found a hugely useful tool is my phone. I write on my phone on the train. I get maybe 25 minutes commuting time. And it’s not proper writing but it’s notes and it flows really well, and I can then Bluetooth it to myself and write it up in the evenings. If I can, I sneak in an hour at work – at lunch time, obviously, not when I’m working (laughs) – and I try to fit things in in the evening, and I do have a life doing other things as well. It’s just any spare snap of time. 

I got the impression that you were busy from your website with your drawings and stories, and your work for the Demention blog... 

It’s a bit mad. A couple of years ago Marcus Sedgwick was at one of the SCBWI things and he talked about going to bed worrying about a problem in his writing and waking up the next morning and it would be solved, and I try to use that sort of technique. If I know there’s a plot issue or something with my writing I’ll try to think about it before I get to work, and then let it churn away, or try and think about it before I go to sleep. 

It doesn’t keep you awake? 

No, no, I just think about it. I know it’s there, and hopefully it just sorts itself out in the morning.

Will is the main character in Vengeance, the book that got you long-listed for SCBWI’s Undiscovered Voices anthology. If Will had a desk to plot the downfall of his enemies, the people who killed his sister, what would his desk look like? 

His desk would be somewhere deep in a dank, slightly falling down concrete cellar in an area called Wasteland and it would be made up of two slightly rusty oil drums which haven’t been used for ages because of the lack of fossil fuels in Will’s world, with an old door across it. On top of it would be extremely battered but carefully folded and looked after schematics and maps of the areas of the Wasteland and the rich, nice area where all the bad people live, and in one of the oil drums would be a small alcove in which he had fitted a drawer, where he would be keeping all the ammunition for his clockwork gun, which is the one thing, apart from his sister, that he loves the most. 

If you had an ideal desk, what would it look like? 

I don’t have an ideal desk. I get very jumpy. Sometimes I’ll work on my big computer on its spindly metal desk that you’re sitting on (on his laptop on Skype) at the moment, and after a while I will then hop over to my drawing board. I will then go downstairs and sit on the sofa and write down there or sit cross-legged on the floor with my laptop on my lap, so I’m very non-desky. But of anything, I think my drawing board is my ideal desk, because it’s old, and it’s a little bit rusty, and it’s very sort of 50s styling, and it’s been sanded down, and varnished and it’s multi-use and it’s got a nice little foot rest. It’s normally completely covered in stuff so I can’t get to it. But absolutely the best thing about it is that because it was a drawing board it’s got at the top a winding handle connected to a cover that you’re supposed to put over your drawings when you’ve finished drawing for the day. 

Are you sure this desk didn’t inspire you to write dystopian steampunk? 

Well, no, but my predisposition towards winding things and mechanical bits and pieces I’m sure inspired me to buy this desk rather than a nice shiny brand new drawing board. 

Here are Julienne Durber's tips for increasing your creative flow...

• Clutter is your friend - surround yourself with things you love that don't necessarily relate to what you are working on, or even to writing at all. It will give your area a safe 'nesty' feel. 

• Mood boards - the idea of gathering images/textures/detritus that relates to the work you are doing - is a real ad agency cliche, but don't think neat, spray-mounted presentations, think postcards pinned to the wall, a slideshow of images as your screensaver set to come on after a minute of not typing, piles of autumn leaves or rusty metal on your desk (in between the regular nest-clutter).   

• Whenever I'm stuck on a plot point or key event, I do the washing up. The minute my hands are in the water and I'm unable to type, the solution will pop into my head. I'll then work it through while I finish the washing up and rattle off a few hundred words as the plates drip dry.

If you find inspiration for your work in an interesting, strange or unique place, we'd love to hear from you. Please email writers@britishscbwi.org

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@michelnewel

Michelle was born and raised in a country town in Australia. She taught History at an all-girls school before moving to England a decade ago to take up the thoroughly modern job of designing new schools. 
Michelle still loves anything old, and has compulsively collected ‘junk’, as her bemused family call it, since she was a girl. Her flat in London is crammed with fluffy 1950s ball gowns, daintily painted tea sets, and well-worn children’s toys. 
The stories she imagines behind each of her vintage treasures ultimately inspired her to fulfil a long-held ambition to write novels with an historic twist for young adults.
Michelle is currently working on her first novel and is represented by Jenny Savill at Andrew Nurnberg Associates.

Matchmaking @britishscbwi.org

By Maureen Lynas

Have you ever thought that SCBWI BI is like a dating agency? SCBWI members are constantly matchmaking at events and conferences, nationally and internationally. Then there's the online dating on the yahoo group, facebook, twitter, and Words and Pictures.

WANTED: Author/illustrator/agent/publisher with GSOH. Must love trolls and pirates, and critique for cake. Contact A Wannabe. 5 Writer's Block, Little Obsessive.

Relationships have blossomed and careers have bloomed. Which is fantastic. I've been hankering after a relationship for a while now but not with an author/illustrator/agent/publisher because... I'm in love with a brilliant organisation.

OK, 'in love' is a bit strong and should be saved for things like husbands, children and chocolate. Like? Admire? Respect? Whatever it is, I was over the moon when I received an invitation to a blind date with a member of this particular organisation.

WANTED: Friendly network coordinator to help set up a SCBWI critique group. Contact Cathy Brumby, author, SCBWI member, and duty manager at Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children's Books, Newcastle.

Yay! The thought of a scoobie/Seven Stories relationship blossoming had me skipping about the room. I couldn't wait to meet Cathy and help her to gather SCBWI members in this brilliant building, so cleverly named for the seven basic plots and for the seven levels of the centre.

For those that don't know:

'Seven Stories is the National Centre for Children’s Books. We select original artwork and manuscripts - from first scribbles to finished work - to make our exhibitions, event and learning programmes' They are a charity whose mission is to 'champion children’s books as an essential part of our childhood, our national heritage and our culture. We want to inspire a love of reading across generations.'

 I emailed members in the north east and we had our first date to say hi, what shall we do, when shall we meet, who's writing, who's illustrating, who wants to come? Then we held the first critique group (with many nervous knees knocking under the table) and people shared their projects, their strengths, their weaknesses and their hopes.

They are a very lucky group, having the resources of Seven Stories available to them means members can:

Access the literary greats

Research the current market

Do a bit of historical research

And meet new friends

Great! But that's not all. Another email and another blind date!

WANTED: Friendly network coordinator to discuss planting more SCBWI @ Seven Stories relationship seeds. Large blossoms predicted. Contact Alison Gwynn, director, Seven Stories.

Alison filled me in on the history of Seven Stories and their exciting plans for the future - touring exhibitions, learning programmes, and their desire to have more author/illustrator involvement.

Briefly:

Alison: We want to offer authors and illustrators opportunities to meet their audiences.
Me: So do we!
Alison: We want to offer authors and illustrators opportunities to develop their creative skills.
Me: So do we!
Alison: We want to offer authors and illustrators opportunities to develop their school performances and workshops.
Me: So do we!
Alison: We want to highlight the creative process and show the development work. Not just the finished book.
Me: So do we!
Alison: We want to create online learning resources based on our archive material - 'The Seven Stories collection includes original artwork and manuscripts by around eighty authors and illustrators, including Philip Pullman, Robert Westall, Edward Ardizzone and Judith Kerr, and about 30,000 books.'
Me: Er, we're not doing that.
Alison: Maybe you'd like to be part of the beta testing?
Me: Yes! And maybe you would like to write some features for Words and Pictures to show how we can support each other.
Alison: Yes! We'd love to.

So, here's to two organisations supporting each other in their love of children's books. The seeds are now planted, we'll nurture them and see what comes up. Maybe a beanstalk?

Jack & the Beanstalk by John Shelley

Cathy's group meets on the second Thursday of each month for critiques, research, and chatting. 6pm until 8pm. If you'd like to join, please contact me on northeast@britishscbwi.org and I'll pass your details on.

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@MaureenLynas

Maureen Lynas is the SCBWI BI Network Coordinator, the north east Local Network Coordinator, the author of Action Words, the creator of The funEverse, a winner of Undiscovered Voices 2012 and a blogger on Notes from the Slushpile. She writes picture books, poems and funny stuff. You can find out more here: Maureen Lynas on SCBWI

Sshh... don't tell.

I’ve been distracted this week by preparations for youngest daughter’s 18th birthday – cooking acres of lasagne and slabs of chocolate cake while devising ingenious ways to get people to mix at the party. I’m also staring defiantly at two end of the month work deadlines and being firm about the fact that Monday and Tuesday are still April. So broadcasting Words & Pictures hasn’t received as much of my attention as it should.

sshh, 'don’t tell anyone’

Consequently, I was delighted when Candy, drew my attention to an article on Linkedin on 'how to go viral'. It suggests that the secret is ssssshhh 'don’t tell anyone’. Give people the ‘social currency’ of making them think they’re part of an exclusive group that knows this amazing thing - like a bar hidden inside a hot dog restaurant in New York. Or, let them share in an emotional life changing experience, like Susan Boyle’s first appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, for example, or indeed, Bryony's post the other week, and word of mouth will do all the hard work for you. Nicky, in her excellent marketing feature this week, agrees.

'Word of mouth', of course, only works if you have something worth talking about, if it’s remarkable in some way and sometimes, remarkable is really bad. I’m sure we can think of examples of 'really bad' that don’t need any more exposure. Remarkable, however, can also be surprising; the kind of thing that as children, would have made us whisper to our friends in the playground “you’ll never guess what…” Susan Boyle’s debut was definitely surprising.

Youngest daughter, she say no.

As children’s book creators we’re after really good, even surprisingly good, so good that children and young people will go on and on to their friends about our book and perhaps more importantly to their parents for money to buy it. Barry Cunningham, in his top tips for writing great children’s fiction says that children are not the best at giving feedback he says 'they’ll love your book, whatever it is'. He hasn’t met youngest daughter, now frighteningly adult.

This week, I loved Layn Marlow’s ‘slow evolution’ to published author/illustrator. Her banner image is sooo sweet, as are all her images – look out for Christmas Tree Bear! We asked publisher Sara O’Connor and she delivered this week, too. I think we’ve only begun to discover how much we don’t know about the publishing process. Send her your questions for next month via writers@scbwi.org or leave her a comment.

I’ve certainly begun to learn from Sheila, just how much I don’t know about social media – I hope Sheila’s posts and Nicky’s marketing expertise are useful for authors and illustrators whose publishers expect them to take on a lot of their own promotion. Click on 'Pulse' in the left hand menu for posts of especial relevance to published authors and illustrators.

I do hope that whatever stage you're at, you find Words & Pictures worth whispering about.

Now, ssshhhh…. next week...

With news, celebrations, and Nick’s blog break, here are the other treats in store:
There’s a new Writing Space from Michelle Newell – look in on Monday to find out whose.
Also on Monday, Nooo! Yes. It's true.... Maureen Lynas has been online dating, SCBWI style.
On Wednesday, Rosie Bird Hawkins has a feature choc-full of ideas on how to discover stories, launching our theme for May – can you guess what that is?
And on Friday, very quietly, it’s episode two of Amanda Lillywite’s wonderful webcomic Duck & Bear.

Pass it on...

Jan Carr

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Jan Carr is the editor of Words & Pictures. Her fiction is older middle grade, she blogs occasionally and loves to write in magenta.

Hoorah for Marchant and Meddour and Their Unusual Partners

@JMarchantAuthor

This week we celebrate two new books from a pair of unusual writing partnerships and discover how they hooked their agents.
Jackie Marchant and  Dougal Trump launch  I'm Dougal Trump...Where's My Tarantula?  and Wendy Meddour and Mina May prepare the way for Wendy Quill is a Crododile's Bottom in May. 

Dougal Trump literally dropped into Jackie Marchant’s life – at least a bin liner full of his stuff did -  when his mother  threw it out of the window  as Jackie walked by. The bag split open to reveal, amongst other things, four old plaster casts, a deflated dog-chewed football, several notes from friends and family written on homework sheets that should have been handed in, a threatening note about a creature in the shed and the start of the last will and testament of Dougal Trump.

Dougal Trump: Life in a Bin Liner

Officially that's how Jackie met Dougal Trump.  Unofficially, there's another story. Jackie's son asked her about writing a will, which led to Jackie standing  knee deep in the mess of his bedroom, tempted to throw the lot out of the window and wondering what he’d leave to whom in the  will he was thinking about. Jackie wrote 500 words of the will, called her character Dougal Trump, entered a competition and forgot all about him, until she was at the Annual Writers Conference in Winchester. Jackie was very surprised to  come second in the competition she'd forgotten all about. 

Approached by an editor Jackie was asked how much children’s writing she’d done.
‘Er . . . ' she said, '500 words.’

She was persuaded to write the rest, did so and sent it to Alice Williams at David Highams Agency. Alice took Jackie on, she says:

Jackie’s wonderfully inventive plotting and Dougal’s fresh, funny voice stood out immediately. Who would have thought there’d be such comic potential in writing a will!

But there was still a lot of work to be done before the book was taken on by a publisher, and more work before it was ready for publication. I've been in a critique group with Jackie for a long time and it's fascinating how much the book has grown  from draft to published copy - a  real testament to everyone who worked on the book. It's positively alive.

'I’m Dougal Trump . . . Where’s my Tarantula?’ was published on Thursday, 25th April by Macmillan Coincidentally, Wendy Meddour and Mina May appeared on Radio 4's Woman's Hour on the very same day discussing their new venture.

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@WendyMeddour

Mother and daughter Wendy Meddour and Mina May were already very much together before they became writer and illustrator for Wendy Quill.

They're both a bit Wendy Quill - they have the same sense of humour, love being slightly silly and are EXTREMELY close - but Mina May is 'artistic'. In other words, she works when and how she likes. If Flamenco dancing in the kitchen or practising her backwards crabs seem more urgent to her than illustrating, then the illustrations simply wait. But they've never missed a deadline and when the illustrations flow, they flow! Fortunately, Mina May draws to relax. And she likes 'relaxing'. So illustrating never has to wait long.

Wendy and Mina's working partnership began when  Mina May was three. Principally Chief Stapler, Wendy also wrote down the words as Mina May dictated them. 

Mina May was funny. Her words made me laugh. A lot. Without her, I doubt I'd have become a children's writer. 

When Mina May  was about seven, Wendy got the confidence to write some of her own words and draw some of her own pictures. Wendy's agent Penny Holroyde  didn’t hesitate about taking her on. 

Penny says...

"Wendy's approach letter was exemplary, she had been recommended by one of my authors, and her writing immediately stood out for being warm, and funny and perfectly pitched to the age group. She also told me she was committed to this career path. Then when I met her I was hooked. Here was a clearly accomplished and intelligent woman but she also had an ingenuous manner about her that was irresistible. She has such a brilliantly funny and self-deprecating narrative style when she speaks and such an elephantine memory for events of her childhood that I thought she absolutely couldn’t fail to make it as a writer for children. She talked about putting some of these childhood memories into a piece of very young fiction and as soon as I saw it, I knew she had nailed it – managed to convey her personality to the page in a truly effortless way. I was hooked again."

Wendy  was supposed to illustrate Wendy Quill.  The book actually went to auction with Wendy as the named author/illustrator. Then Mina passed Wendy some character sketches she'd done on the family iPad. With a pang, Wendy realised they were vastly better than hers.  What would her agent think?

Here's Penny again...

"I was excited to submit Wendy Quill is a Crocodile’s Bottom and was on the verge of doing so when Wendy sent an email with an attachment that were her daughter’s illustrations. Mina was 10. Not only that, but that she really did want me to submit them with the text – she wanted me to submit them as a mother and daughter team. I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a bit of a heart sinker. It’s a little bit tantamount to saying your mum loved it plus everyone knows that publishers don’t want to be dictated to about illustration style. So it was with some trepidation that I clicked on that PDF.  However there, writ large, stood Wendy Quill Wheezy Bird. And Miss Pinch. And the Girly Gang getting scared by Kevin. And, of course, Wendy Quill as a crocodile’s bottom. Again I was hooked.
I made the submission and within the hour Jasmine Richards from OUP was on the phone…."

Oxford University Press wooed them with hand-written felt tip scrolls, a hilarious puppet video of a crocodile, some home made cookies and an AMAZING  offer for a series. How could they resist? 

Ah I love a happy ending - hoorah for unusual partnerships: passersby and untidy boys; mothers and daughters;  crocodiles and bottoms !

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Kathy Evans is Celebrations Editor for Words & Pictures. She is South East Network Coordinator with Mariam Vossough and is represented by Sophie Hicks at Ed Victor.

FEATURED ILLUSTRATOR - Layn Marlow: A Slow Evolution

Layn and Rufus,

photo © Tom Greenwood

Layn Marlow is the new Featured Illustrator. 
Check out her work on the Showcase site. 

Layn talks about her background as an illustrator and how her style gradually evolved.


My first image is from How Many Sleeps?, written by Amber Stewart, published by Oxford University Press in 2005, and again in 2011.

It was the first book I illustrated, but after I’d collaborated on five more with the same author using a different technique, OUP commissioned me to illustrate this new version, in keeping with the others.

Amber Stewart / Layn Marlow books for OUP

Here’s the original version and, published the same year, The Witch with a Twitch - my first as an author! 

How many Sleeps? (OUP 2005)
author Amber Stewart, illustrations © Layn Marlow and
The Witch With a Twitch (Little Tiger Press 2005)
author Layn Marlow, illustrations © Joelle Dreidemy

It was a joy to see Joelle Dreidemy’s amazing illustrations for my witch story – quite unlike anything I might have done myself. After so long hoping for publication, 2005 was a fantastic year, but my next goal would be publication for my own words and pictures together. That took several more years though…

PATH TO PUBLICATION

Inspiration

As a child I lived next door to an elderly, childless couple, who possessed endless patience, a faithful dog and a fabulous garden backing onto fields, where I was allowed to play. My interest in nature stems from those early years.

Mr. and Mrs. P Mayes with Kim in their garden. Essex, c 1970

The only picture books I remember from that period were read on children’s television, but I soon learned to read the few books we had lying around at home. I especially loved Ernest Shepard’s illustrations of A A Milne’s poetry. Later I got hold of the Pooh stories and bought all Michael Bond’s Paddington books.

Books from my childhood

I was always fascinated by words and pictures, which led to a degree in History of Art. I liked figurative art that served a purpose, whether narrative, like Early Renaissance altarpieces, or decorative, like the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Golden Lily designed by John Henry Dearle
for William Morris & Co, 1899

(William Morris & Co clearly inspired the way I painted the end papers of those six Amber Stewart books, using details of flora and fauna I’d depicted in the stories. )

End papers from I Love my Cloth (OUP, 2007)
author Amber Stewart, illustrations © Layn Marlow

When I started working in libraries in 1989, I finally discovered and fell in love with picture books. Perhaps it was my own vivid memories of early childhood, which drew me to this combination of words and pictures, as a perfect way of communicating. I even found this helpful book to get me started!

How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books and Get Them Published (Quarto Publishing 1988) Treld Pelkey Bicknell and Felicity Trotman

So, after some years living abroad with my husband and young children, I became a student again in 2001. With a first class degree in illustration under my belt, I felt more confident about approaching the world of publishing…but only slightly. Here’s how I did it:

I let the animals do the talking

Detail from Knock Knock Pig booklet © Layn Marlow

I sent this small, sixteen-page booklet to about ten picture book editors. It showed that I could draw my little character in various attitudes throughout a narrative, and – bless his tiny trotters – he did the trick!

Layout of Knock Knock Pig booklet © Layn Marlow

I secured meetings to show my portfolio to OUP, Little Tiger Press, and a couple of others, leading eventually to those first two published picture books in 2005. How Many Sleeps? also brought an approach from my wonderful literary agent, Nancy Miles.

WORKING PROCESS

Nancy had liked these thumbnails for How Many Sleeps? 2005. I always enjoy that early planning stage, before moving on to full-sized roughs.

Thumbnails for How Many Sleeps? (OUP, 2005)
author Amber Stewart, illustrator © Layn Marlow.

Then, alongside things like research for botanical accuracy, comes my favourite bit:

Character

I often start by drawing animals from life, then simplify form and add gesture to develop the character. I imagine how a character feels and sometimes act it out, to try to depict genuine emotion. I’ve gradually learned that less is more, and a small gesture might convey a character’s attitude better than an exaggerated facial expression. 

“I’m an extremely brave lion. I’ll ask it what it is.”
Spread from A Very Strange Creature (Orchard Books, 2009)
author Ronda Armitage, illustrations © Layn Marlow.
Shortlisted for the Red House Book Award 2010
Winner of Coventry Inspirations Book Award 2013

While this is happening, I’ll be considering what materials to use.

Technical issues

I used to hate watercolour paper! I was constantly nervous about ruining it, so for my first eight books, I used acrylic paint on a smooth mountboard surface. The first How Many Sleeps? was painted over a ground of thinned maroon paint, working from dark to light, using sepia brown pencils for outlines.  

 “Toast woke early one morning.”
Sample for How Many Sleeps? (OUP, 2005)
author Amber Stewart, illustrations © Layn Marlow.

For subsequent books my publisher suggested a gentler approach, so I worked from light to dark, applying thin layers of acrylic to the white or cream board, over outlines made using a dip pen and brown ink.

“Bean was big enough to go dandelion picking”
Vignette from I Love my Cloth (OUP, 2007)
author Amber Stewart, illustrations © Layn Marlow

 This quieter, more naturalistic treatment of animal characters in a countryside setting, was more successful. I Love My Cloth sold co-editions in over twenty countries, which must have helped OUP in their decision to publish Hurry up and Slow Down in 2009. Here at last was a chance for me to illustrate my own text. Its central message about taking your time seemed apt!

Hurry up and Slow down (OUP, 2009)
text and illustrations © Layn Marlow.
Winner of Leespluim van der Maand, Netherlands, March 2009
Winner of Coventry Inspirations Book Award UK, 2010
Shortlisted for the Maine Chickadee Award, USA, 2011

Bug and Bear by Ann Bonwill (OUP, 2011), demanded a different approach. Brown kraftboard and chalky gouache seemed to suit a world, in which sleepy Bear thinks her ‘brown thoughts’.

“Bear leaned against a tree thinking brown thoughts.”
Spread from Bug and Bear (OUP, 2011)
author Ann Bonwill, illustrations © Layn Marlow

But my seventh collaboration with Amber Stewart was where I really conquered my technical ‘issues’. Too Small for my Big Bed focuses on the relationship between a mother tiger and her cub. Dr. Ph.Martins inks on watercolour paper provided a vivid orange, to contrast with the deep ultramarine of the night sky. I overcame my fear of ruining the paper by printing parts of my drawing directly onto it, before soaking and stretching. I then felt liberated to use whatever medium I wanted to build the ‘scenery’: coloured pencil, watercolour, acrylic paint, and collage. 

“Piper was already fast asleep, spread out like a small star.”
Spread from Too Small for my Big Bed (OUP, 2013)
author Amber Stewart, illustrations © Layn Marlow

I’ve used a similar approach, with a lighter palette, for You Make Me Smile, to be published by OUP later this year. This will be the second book that I’ve both written and illustrated. And here’s evolution for you – my characters are now human beings!

“Today is the special day”
Spread from You Make Me Smile (OUP, to be published October 2013)
Text and illustrations © Layn Marlow

Discover what you’re good at and focus on doing it well. Then you can build on that core to tackle new challenges. This may sound obvious, but it can be hard to see your strengths and easy to get distracted. My trusted SCBWI critique group has been invaluable - and not only in helping me to move my own projects forward. It’s a privilege seeing other peoples’ work evolve, and in trying to help others, you begin to see what they respond to in you. It’s a great way of discovering where your own strengths lie. 

Find out more about Layn on her website here
and on Facebook

Network News: Wales

By Gill James

Holly

Wales is an interesting region. I’ve lived there and I know that it is often easier to go into England and then back into Wales that actually cross it. There are mountains in the way! It’s a region that has its own language, yet what is spoken in the north is considerably different from what is spoken in the south. So as a region with a network it can be a challenge.   

So it is great that we have Holly Ireland looking after folk generally and organizing the monthly get together in the south.

The Cardiff group meets the first Thursday of the month at 7:30 pm, upstairs in A Shot In The Dark on City Road. The group is friendly, Holly assures us, and members are invited to bring work along for feedback. Contact Holly on scbwi (dot) wales (at) gmail.com for more information.          

Wales is an area rich in literature and folklore. There are the tales of the Mabinogi, an inspiration for many children’s writers and there are stories set in Wales such Alan Garner’s Owl Service. There are numerous literary events at all times of the year, including ones for children and children’s writers, with the added spice that often we’re talking about dual-language books.

I’d be intrigued to hear from any SCBWI members living in Wales who use any of the new technology to stay in touch. I’ve studied at the University of Wales, an institution that was pioneering in its use of video-conferencing; it had to be if it was to stay as one institution – it was too time-consuming for all concerned to make frequent trips through the mountains. Is there a place for SCBWI members to mirror this and is it useful to employ Skype, e-critique and Face Time?

I certainly feel a great affinity for this region. I first became a children’s writer myself because of some mountains that tickled their feet in the sea, just like the ones in North Wales.

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Gill James writes fiction for children and young adults. Because of her contribution to Welsh literature she is a full honorary member of Literature Wales – formerly Academí, normally reserved for the Welsh and those who live in Wales. Gill has a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Wales, Bangor.                       

Marketing Part One: It’s not rocket science, is it?

by Nicky Schmidt

Ask any author what they’d like to know more about, and one of the responses is inevitably “marketing”. This is far less about a desire for a career change, and far more about the need to make a living as a writer.

As the publishing world changes, so authors have increasing responsibility to raise their sales figures in the hope of not just improving their living, but also ensuring future publishing contracts.

Understanding the Basics

For most authors, however, writing and marketing are uneasy bedfellows. Many see marketing as distasteful - all self-promotion and being in the limelight - when really, they’d rather be lurking in their shed writing The Next Big Thing. The irony is if you wrote The Next Big Thing, you wouldn’t have to worry about marketing – but we’ll get to that.

Unfortunately, given publishers’ business strategies (most of which seem to be about rights’ management), most authors are going to have to get used to the concept of marketing themselves. To be successful, an author has to start seeing his/herself as a small FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) company – researching, manufacturing and marketing products - and leveraging opportunities. Considered this way, one soon realises that every author has to have a marketing plan.

Before you run screaming to the hills, let me assure you that marketing isn’t rocket science – it’s psychology, common sense, confidence – and knowing who you are. You don’t need a complex 100 page document. Richard Branson is famously known for writing a business plan on the back of a beer mat, and for saying, “If something can’t be explained off the back of an envelope, it’s rubbish.” Keep your marketing strategy simple and focused.

Marketing - it's psychology, common sense, confidence, - and knowing who you are.

Through this series you will hopefully come to understand some of the fundamentals of marketing. But there’s a proviso: you have chosen to work in a tough and competitive industry which is threatened by change and difficult economic conditions. The only thing that is certain is uncertainty, and there is no sure thing. While marketing isn’t rocket science, in today’s world rocket science may well be an easier alternative to a career as a writer!

As a novice marketer there are a few basics you need to understand. They are known as the 4 P's and underpin every marketing endeavour.

Product ~ Price ~ Place ~ Promotion

In other words:

Your novel ~ How much it costs ~ Where it's sold ~ What makes it sell

You might also add three more P's:

Purchaser ~ Positioning ~ Purpose



This means: Knowing and connecting with your target market ~ Your brand and how you put it into the world ~ Why you're doing what you're doing

 ...research what your target market is reading - and most importantly - enjoying.

Unless you are self-publishing*, price and place (distribution) will be out of your hands. Even your product may be shaped by what publishers and booksellers deem will sell. But whether you are self-publishing or being traditionally published, promotion is increasingly going to be left in your hands. Before you can start promoting yourself and your work, you have to have written the very best novel you can, and then you’ll need to create a brand and get that brand out there.

Looking at it in marketing terms, and without wishing to sound trite, the most critical thing you must do is produce the best, must-have product you can – i.e. write the best novel you can. And, if you don’t want to have to end up marketing it, make sure it’s a novel that speaks to universal themes that everyone will love - in other words the infamous Next Big Thing.

If you’re going to approach your writing as a business (which you should do if you want to make a living from your writing) you’ll have to leave the writing shed and get analytical. Do your market research and understand the themes and plots that create a bestseller. Then, and this is critical, research what your target market is reading - and most importantly - enjoying. Link these elements to what publishers are putting into the market place – accepting that publishers don’t really know what they want until they see it. Also think about how you can gain maximum leverage from your novel – can it become an app, go multimedia, be turned into a film or game, spawn merchandise? Remember, there is more than one way to tell a story. Think about all these things so that they inform how and what you write. And then finally, artistic integrity and literary inclinations notwithstanding sit down and write a novel with commercial appeal.

If you're going to approach your writing as a business... you'll have to leave the writing shed and get analytical.

Now here’s the curious thing – write the novel with commercial appeal, hopefully that Next Big Thing, and you’ll discover that the very best form of marketing is word of mouth. And what’s great is that it’s powerful and costs nothing. As US literary agent, Donald Maass** says, “Success does not come from agents, advances, editors or promotion… It comes from word of mouth.” This is further borne out by Amazon’s recent purchase of GoodReads. In the Washington Post’s “Wonkblog”, Jordan Weissman says, “Barnes and Noble’s in-store displays don’t rule the book business like they used to… Instead, the business model is moving further towards word of mouth.” Readers are increasingly responsible for book recommendations. Let’s face it, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter didn’t become a success because some Bloomsbury marketing manager dreamed up a cunning marketing strategy. The first Harry Potters were a hit because people were talking about and recommending them to their friends. It was only after sales took off that marketing people piled onto the bandwagon. Marketing people love easy-sells (and long lunches).

Write the novel with commercial appeal, hopefully that Next Big Thing, and you'll discover that the very best form of marketing is word of mouth.

If you’ve not written the Next Big Thing, the problem you have is how to be noticed in the crowd. And the truth is, in today’s overcrowded market place where you are in competition with other novels, movies, TV, games and apps, standing out - as any midlist author will tell you - is painfully difficult. It can be done but it takes time and hard work, and the way forward is two-fold. Firstly, never give up. Brute determination and a thick skin are your allies. Secondly, having written the best novel you can, start building a strong brand for yourself and getting your name into the public domain. The reason why some publishers bang on about author platforms is because if you’re out there on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr etc., you’re already marketing yourself, which makes their job a little easier. Once you have your brand and some kind of platform, start connecting with your target market (your purchasers) in a way that is human, accessible and interactive. Brand, positioning and customer loyalty are the key elements in leveraging your writing career, and if you can do it well, you can start to make a living as a writer – or you can join an FMCG as a marketing manager!

Next in the series: Brands

*this series of articles looks at marketing from the perspective of traditionally published authors, for self-published authors wanting marketing insights, there are a host of resources available on the internet, including interviews with self-published authors on my blog, Absolute Vanilla.
** Donald Maass is also author of “Writing the Breakout Novel – insider advice for taking your fiction to the next level”.

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As well as being a regular feature writer for Words & Pictures, Nicky also runs the SCBWI_BI YA E-Critique group.  She blogs at Absolute Vanilla