Sunday 8 June 2014

The Festival, Pinterest, Wattpad and so much more!

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I shared a post about the first ever Harper Impulse online Romance Fair that was taking place this weekend?

Well, Saturday the 7th was marked as 'author day', a professional development day for authors at any stage of their career. Needless to say I was pretty excited to be given the opportunity to access a plethora of industry professionals and I certainly made the most of it!


My afternoon began on Facebook and a conversation with Anoushka Knight and Fionnuala Kearney. They were sharing their very different paths to publication and answered a number of questions, including mine.I asked them about confidence issues and mustering the courage to share my writing with the world. Their response was unanimous - go for it! Submit! Their replies were positive and encouraging to everyone who got in touch. A timely reminder of just how supportive women writers are! Thank you both so much.

At 3pm I switched over to Twitter and chatting with the lovely Lucy Gilmour from Carina. There were two questions I was burning to ask and fortunately she answered both.

Firstly I asked whether she considered it necessary for a new author to opt for a professional edit before submitting. Her answer was no, an editor will be will able to spot raw talent and see through any typos / rambling. A huge relief to any budding author who is looking to submit to Carina and finds the cost of such services prohibitive.

Secondly I asked what was Carina's view of receiving scripts that were uploaded to Wattpad and other such websites. She said 'No problem at all. In fact we love that your story already has a fan base!' Her final words were' 'Go and write! And submit!'

As you can imagine much whooping followed along with a little cork popping! I make no secret of the fact that I adore the cracking Carina covers and am now more determined than ever to see my name on one!

Just when I thought the afternoon couldn't get any better the Festival shared Ten Ways Authors can use Pinterest and How to use Wattpad with author Monica Sanz.

Needless to say I now have a Pinterest account and have created an inspirational board called The Cherry Tree Cafe to keep me on the straight and narrow as I continue editing. (I have posted a link to Pinterest with the Facebook and Twitter link). I have also created a Wattpad account and plan to upload chapters from the end of June.

Such exciting prospects on the horizon and all down to the wonderful people at Harper Impulse who have put together such an inspirational and welcome online festival. Thank you all so much. I can't wait to find out what today brings!

6 comments:

  1. Haven't you submitted yet?

    Saturday's are my crazy chauffeuring kids everywhere day but I was able to catch a lot of my editor, Anna Baggeley's posts on YA at 2pm and then caught up with Lucy's posts when I got back from swimming. If it wasn't revisions deadline day tomorrow I would have taken far more time to join in the Romance Festival.

    Glad you found it so motivating; no go and write. Abd submit! ;-)

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    1. Ugh. But don't rely on your phone to type #facepalm #typos

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    2. Thanks Aurelia! I'm working my way through the MS again with the RNA NWS critique by my side. The report flagged things up that need addressing so I'm sorting them before submission. Determined to give The Cherry Tree Cafe the best possible chance I can!

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    3. Get the first three chapters polished then send it over with a synopsis. Work on the rest while you wait.

      I only had the first three chapters written when I subbed - talk about a shock when it got signed - and lots of late nights thrashing out a full first draft. The content editors are brilliant and help hone and shape your story, even giving feedback at the synopsis stage.

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  2. Oh Aurelia! I love having you on my team! The first 9 chapters and synopsis are polished now so I guess I could put a package together...

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