Cathy Glass - About Writing and How to Publish

Damaged

Hidden

Cut

The Saddest Girl in the World

Happy Kids

The Girl in the Mirror

I Miss Mummy

Mummy Told Me Not to Tell

My Dad’s a Policeman (a Quick Reads novel)

Run, Mummy, Run

The Night the Angels Came

Happy Adults

A Baby’s Cry

Happy Mealtimes for Kids

Another Forgotten Child

Please Don’t Take My Baby

Will You Love Me?

Cover

Title Page

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Author

SECTION ONE: ABOUT WRITING

Why Write?

Writing Routine

Revising Your Work

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

Computer Skills

Layout and Structure

Editing Agencies

Creative Writing Courses

Writing Groups

SECTION TWO: WHAT TO WRITE?

Articles

Poetry

Short Stories

Diaries

Memoirs

Biography

Non-Fiction

Novels

Plays

Children’s Books

Ghostwriting

SECTION THREE: PUBLISHING

Agents and Publishers

Submission Guidelines: General

Submission Guidelines: Specific Genres

Promoting Your Book

SECTION FOUR: SELF-PUBLISHING

Independent Presses

Print on Demand (POD)

E-books

Distribution, Marketing and Promotion

SAMPLE PROPOSAL

Useful Resources

Cathy Glass

Copyright

About the Publisher

A big thank-you to my readers for insisting that I write this book. It is one I have wanted to write for some years, but it took my readers’ encouragement to make me find the time.

My thanks – as always – to my editor Holly, my literary agent Andrew and to Carole, Vicky, Laura, Hannah, Virginia and all the team at HarperCollins. I certainly couldn’t have done it without you!

I receive many emails asking for advice on writing, and many of those I’ve helped have gone on to publish their work. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to help everyone who contacts me asking for advice, so I’ve written this book, which I think will help all you budding writers. But first, a few words about me – the author.

I have been a writer for as long as I can remember. To begin with, I published poems and short articles in the school magazine, and also kept a detailed diary. In my teens I progressed to writing short stories, newspaper articles and a few radio plays, and began to enter writing competitions. Then, in my early twenties, I wrote a full-length book. So writing has always been there in my life. However, for me, as for many, it was initially a hobby; something I did in my spare time while I earned a living and then later fitted around being a mother and foster carer. It wasn’t until I wrote my first bestseller – an inspirational memoir – that I began to claim time for writing, although even now, seventeen books later, my writing time is still early in the morning so that it doesn’t impact on my family commitments. It is also the only time the house is quiet and my thoughts uncluttered. I have three grown-up children, and many of my books have become international bestsellers. For more about me and my work, please visit my website: www.cathyglass.co.uk.

The simple answer is that you write because you want to; because you have a compulsion, a desire – often a burning desire – to share your thoughts, ideas and experiences through writing. It’s like an itch that won’t go away and will only be relieved when you put pen to paper or start typing. If you are thinking of writing to make a fortune, forget it. While top journalists and a few bestselling authors make a good living – with a lot of hard graft – from their writing, the majority do not. Less than 1 per cent of published authors earn the minimum wage; that is, enough to live on.

Most authors, therefore, write for reasons other than money – although of course it’s nice to be paid, and if you have a piece of work published then you should be paid. With so little chance of receiving reasonable remuneration for their work, why do people write? Depending on the genre you choose (genre meaning the category your writing fits into; for example, a memoir or novel), the reasons for writing vary. These may include:

A wish to share experience; for example, by writing a true-life story.

To entertain others with novels, plays, sketches and short stories.

To educate, warn or inform others through writing general non-fiction.

To raise public awareness; for example, by writing articles on subjects you feel strongly about.

To promote a good cause; for example, by writing and producing campaign literature.

To heal yourself through diary or memoir writing.

To share and preserve a person’s history through biographical writing.

To express deep feelings and emotions through poetry.

Regardless of which genre you are writing in, you will find the creative process truly amazing as notions, thoughts, settings, characters and descriptions miraculously rise from your subconscious and materialize into words. I am still amazed by the creative process, even after thirty years of writing. It’s as though someone else takes over and guides my hand, which in a way they do – that someone is my subconscious. But more on that later. Let’s get started with that important first step and start writing.

Many of the emails I receive from those seeking help and advice about writing ask: ‘How do I begin?’ The person has the desire to write, they have done any necessary research and their ideas have reached fruition, but they just can’t seem to get started. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. As writers, we’ve all been there. You can think of any number of reasons why you shouldn’t start writing, from changing a light bulb to washing the car or clearing out the cellar. Everything seems more urgent than sitting down to write. This is largely due to being afraid of writing and failing. While your thoughts are safely in your head they are marvellous, original and like nothing else anyone has ever written before, but as you set them down on paper they become less wonderful. Maybe even insipid and uninspiring. Surely everyone else’s writing is better than yours? Do you really have a story to tell? Who would want to read this? You lose faith in your ability to write and tear up your work, or press the delete key and start all over again, often with the same result. Sometimes, overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, we don’t start at all and our masterpieces remain firmly in our heads. As Steven Wright, the American comic and writer, said: ‘I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.’ All writers have experienced ‘writer’s block’, as it’s referred to. Don’t worry; it can be unblocked.