Published inThe Writing Cooperative·PinnedMember-onlyRetreating to WriteWhat I’ve learned from twenty years of Do-It-Yourself writers’ retreats — Earlier this month, I went away with seventeen friends from my writers group on our annual writers’ retreat. Our group held our first retreat over twenty years ago, and since then, they’ve become an annual event. Typically, we hire a larger house in the countryside, for a long weekend. …Retreats9 min readRetreats9 min read
Published inThe Writing Cooperative·PinnedMember-onlyPromote Your Self-Published Book Without Breaking The BankHow to use the bargain BookBub alternatives — It all started back in January 2012, when BookBub launched. Here was a service that collected email addresses from readers keen to know of the latest cheap deals and freebies in the ebook market. …Creative Writing6 min readCreative Writing6 min read
Published inThe Writing Cooperative·PinnedMember-onlyWhat Is A Writing Competition?It’s a heat, not a minimum standard threshold — “You should enter that to a short story competition,” I advised. Her eyes widened with horror as she leaned back in the chair opposite me. “But I can’t… I’m not… good enough.” I shook my head. “Stop it. It’s the judge’s job to judge your entry, not yours. You’re the…Writing6 min readWriting6 min read
Published inWriters’ Blokke·PinnedMember-onlyCounting Words With Your Phone Is A Snap!How to calculate the right word count when pitching to a print publication article — As a freelance writer, I’m regularly pitching ideas to editors of print publications. When I do this, I make sure the idea I’m pitching is relevant to the editor’s readers, and I also try to pitch my idea to a specific slot within the publication. …Freelance Writing4 min readFreelance Writing4 min read
Published inGlobetrotters·PinnedMember-onlySustainable Snowdonia — The Centre for Alternative TechnologyThe Welsh tourist attraction that has been ‘going green’ for fifty years — “Some 80 million homes could be built from the straw that is wasted every year all around the world,” says Peter, our guide. Immediately, I think of the three little pigs’ nursery story and the big, bad wolf huffing and puffing to blow them all down. But straw houses are…UK9 min readUK9 min read
Published inThe Writing Cooperative·22 hours agoMember-onlyWhat Is a Bestselling Book?Is it a measure of writing skill or marketing skill? — Twenty years ago, in September 2003, my first book, One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human, was published by Hodder & Stoughton. It was a small, humorous gift book of barely five thousand words, but I was (and still am) proud of it. Getting a traditional publishing…Bestsellers7 min readBestsellers7 min read
Published inPetness·5 days agoMember-onlyDiary of a Dogsitter: The Television Debut(Or: How did I take that photo?) — You know when you have one of those really busy days when you get lots of things ticked off your To-Do list? Well, this was one of those days. It was almost as if Betsy and Phoebe had plotted overnight what they were going to do today: Get Simon to…Dogs4 min readDogs4 min read
Published inGlobetrotters·Sep 10Member-onlyFood, Glorious Food!Ludlow’s Food and Drink Festival — the UK’s longest-running food festival — What began in 1995 as a showcase of food locally produced from the counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Powys, has evolved to become the UK’s longest-running food festival attracting thousands of people over its three-day extravaganza, held over the second weekend in September. The Ludlow Food and Drink…Food Festival6 min readFood Festival6 min read
Published inBusiness of Writing·Sep 8Member-onlyPoetry in PerformanceCould becoming a performance poet boost your writing business? — (This article appeared in the October 2023 print issue of Writing Magazine.) The first Thursday in October is National Poetry Day. It’s an opportunity for poets to celebrate their art form and share it with friends, family, and the wider community. And poetry is important. In 2020, the National Literary…Poetry7 min readPoetry7 min read
Published inBusiness of Writing·Sep 8Member-onlyAsk the Agent — Lisa HightonSimon Whaley chats to Lisa Highton of Edinburgh-based Jenny Brown Associates Literary Agency — (This piece appeared in the October 2023 print issue of Writing Magazine.) Lisa Highton’s publishing experience spans the world. She’s been a publishing director at Doubleday, HarperCollins, and Hodder in Australia. …Literary Agents4 min readLiterary Agents4 min read
