Ray Givans hails from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland but teaches English in County Down. He’s also a very gifted poet. He has published four pamphlet-length collections, most recently Going Home (2004) from Lapwing Publications. He has been awarded prizes for his poetry in Britain, the US and Australia and was the first recipient of the Jack Clemo Memorial prize for poetry. Tolstoy in Love, published by Dedalus Press, is his first full-length collection. BBC Writer in Residence Ian Sansom describes it as ‘a true poetic achievement … a work of great human value.’ I would agree with him. So after reading this interview, get the book and judge for yourselves.
Continue reading ‘Poetry: Tolstoy in Love’
Archive for the 'Publishing' Category
It used to be vanity publishing, then along came self-publishing, now the buzz word is ‘co-publishing’. What is it, and is it worth it from a writer’s perspective? The Crafty Writer investigates.
It’s not vanity publishing
Well firstly, let me say that it is not vanity publishing. In fact, since the self-publishing revolution, brought on by Print on Demand (POD) technology, the charlatans who preyed on desperate writers seem to have scurried back into their holes (although I fear, some of them may have re-emerged as ‘co-publishers’). Vanity publishers will print anything. They claim to be ‘real’ publishers but there’s no editorial input and, apart from a post on their website, no marketing or distribution either – and you of course foot the whole bill. In addition, you have to buy your own books from them, albeit at wholesale discount or ‘cost’. For more information see this article by the Society of Authors.
Continue reading ‘Co-publishing – pros and cons’
All writers struggle to ‘make it’ in the commercial world of publishing, but none more than poets. So it is always heartening to hear of publishers investing in emerging writers and new collections. Scotland’s Andrew Philip has published two poetry pamphlets with HappenStance Press – Tonguefire (2005) and Andrew Philip: A Sampler (2008) – and was chosen as a Scottish Poetry Library “New Voice” in 2006. The Ambulance Box (2009) by Salt Publishing is his first book of poems. In this interview he discusses writing as therapy, writing in Scots, the effect of the credit crunch on new poets and the business of getting your poetry into print and trying to earn money from it.
Continue reading ‘The Ambulance Box – getting your poetry in print’
What is Christian Speculative Fiction? Rather than speculating ourselves, we decided to ask Christian publisher Jeff Gerke for his views. Jeff has served as an editor for Multnomah Publishers, Strang Communications, and NavPress. While at Strang, Jeff launched Realms, an imprint of Christian speculative fiction. In October 2008 Jeff launched Marcher Lord Press, an indie publishing company specialising in Christian speculative fiction. Under the pen name Jefferson Scott he has authored six Christian novels (Operation Firebrand: Deliverance is one of the best-known) and co-authored two non-fiction books. His new non-fiction title, The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction, is available now.
TCW: What exactly is Christian speculative fiction?
JG: Christian speculative fiction is a fancy way of saying “science fiction and fantasy written from a Christian worldview.” There are many popular genres in Christian fiction, just as there are in the wider publishing arena. But unlike in secular publishing, where fantasy and science fiction are extremely popular, Christian publishing has not always appreciated the kind of fiction I affectionately call the weird stuff.
Continue reading ‘Christian Speculative Fiction – a ‘lost’ genre?’
Some visitors to The Crafty Writer who have been following the non-fiction history writing series have been asking for something similar on writing historical fiction. So we asked Ruth Downie, author of Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls (‘Medicus’ in the USA) to chat to us about writing historical crime novels. Ruth is married with two grown-up sons. She was born in North Devon and now lives in Milton Keynes. Her first book featuring Roman medic Gaius Petreius Ruso was published in 2006, and became a New York Times bestseller (albeit briefly, she reminds us!). Her second book Ruso and the Demented Doctor (‘Terra Incognita’ in the USA) is now on the shelves.
Continue reading ‘Writing historical crime novels – interview with R.S. Downie’
There’s a new writer in the world of children’s fiction and her name is Kelsey Drake. Kelsey’s first published book is Scordril, a novel for the 9 – 12 age group. It’s the story of a lair of dragons who are under attack from the sinister ‘night dragons’, wielding an ancient and dangerous magic. But what the readers of ‘Scordril’ may not realise is that Kelsey Drake is actually two people: Eleanor Patrick and Sue Brownless. The Crafty Writer asked Eleanor and Sue about their experience of co-authoring and self-publishing their first novel.
Eleanor Patrick
Sue Brownless
There are only five more places left on the Cape Town workshops, so if you want to ensure a place, book today! Remember, your place is only confirmed after you pay. I will be away on holiday from 30 August – 6 September, so if you have any queries during that time email gill at mseed dot co dot za. She will be able to give you directions to the fabulous venue in Stellenbosch and bank details to pay your workshop fees.
I’m looking forward to seeing you there!
One of The Crafty Writer readers asked me recently to give her some advice on writing a covering letter for a picture book she’d written. Well I’ve already dealt with non-fiction covering letters for books and articles previously, but I haven’t looked at fiction. Note, this can be applied to adult and children’s books alike. So here goes. Continue reading ‘The dreaded covering letter’
I recently read and enjoyed the debut novel of American author, Julie Compton, called Tell No Lies. It’s billed as a legal thriller, but, as Julie tells me, she never actually intended to write one! Nonetheless, The Crafty Writer persisted in asking her about writing (and not writing) legal thrillers and her road towards publication with Pan MacMillan. Continue reading ‘Legal thriller by name, but not by nature?’
In my job as a new writing editor for a commercial magazine I frequently get submissions from people whose basic written English is not of a publishable standard. The same can be said for some students on my creative and non-fiction writing courses. Some of these writers have English as a second language and others as a first. I try to tell them, as kindly as possible, that they are putting the cart before the horse: if they would like to write something that may one day be published they need to get the basics right first. Otherwise, it’s like a fashion designer whose shoddy sewing cheapens what could have been a sensational outfit. Continue reading ‘Do you write ‘publishable’ English?’
Welcome to The Crafty Writer, published by Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance journalist, editor, author, playwright, screenwriter and writing teacher. This site is full of information and resources to help you to become a better writer. 
