Top 3 Writing Tips - Martina Devlin + Kate Beaufoy

Martina Devlin and Kate Beaufoy will be talking about writing and their new books at What Lies Beneath Readers' Day on Saturday 7th November in the new Lexicon Library in Dun Laoghaire. To mark the occasion, I asked them for their top three writing tips.

Martina Devlin

Martina Devlin

1/ Write early in the day, as soon as you rise. It doesn't have to be a 6am writing spurt, but it does have to be first thing by your body clock. 3/ Take care with your characters, even minor ones, if you want readers to go on a journey with them. They need not all be likeable. But their actions should have an internal logic, or make sense to readers. 3/ Leave a note to yourself where you meant to take the story next at the end of a writing session. It's amazing how much we forget, even in the space of a day.

Kate Beaufoy

1/ Try converting chunks of your text into a different font. That way you can read it with new, more objective eyes, and you’ll spot things you may not have noticed otherwise.

2/ Don’t advertise the fact that you’re writing a novel; you'll regret it every time someone asks you how it’s going.

3/ Find one or two readers whom you can trust to be straight with you in the nicest possible way. NEVER petition Facebook friends to read your work.

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Hear more from Kate and Martina about their books and how they write at What Lies Beneath Reader and Writers Day - Sat 7th November. Lexicon Library, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin  

Book here.

 Or ring 01 231 2929 12pm to 5pm

Kate Beaufoy

What Lies Beneath

If you’re passionate about books and love talking to other book lovers, this is the day for you. Find out how bestselling UK author, Freya North and Irish bestseller, Patricia Scanlan got their first breaks; hear how Kate Beaufoy and Kate Kerrigan researched their latest historic novels; listen to Sinead Moriarty and Claudia Carroll talk about their favourite books; discover the inspiration behind Sinead Crowley, Martina Devlin and Marita Conlon McKenna’s new novels; and hear Sinead Gleeson talk about the wealth of short story talent in Ireland, past and present, with Lia Mills and Éilís Ní Dhuibhne. A stimulating and thought-provoking day for all readers and writers.

Book here. 

Patricia Scanlan

#YAieDay - Timetable of the Day - Sat Oct 3rd

Having the Chats with Judi Curtin - It's Good to Talk!

Well done to Shelly for putting it all together - Ireland's 1st YA Day on Twitter - tune in and chat!

When: Oct 3rd

Oisin McGann

Where: #YAieDay will be an online festival taking place on the hashtag #YAieDay on Twitter.

The authors, bloggers, and publishing peeps will be chatting about topics and having the LOLs throughout the day. Anyone can join in and chat to their favourite author.

Also, lots of very cool publishers will be holding competitions where you could win books.

PLEASE JOIN IN & PLEASE DO SPREAD WORD

Remember to use the hashtag #YAieDay on Twitter

10:10  –  10:50am  Lack  of  parents in  YA  –  thoughts?

Sheena  Wilkinson and Helen Falconer

11:10  –  11:50am  Food  in  literature  –  how  do you  write  it and  is it important to have lashings of  ginger  beer?  

Lucy  Coats and Oisin McGann

11:50  –  12:10  Readers please  tweet your  thoughts to #YAieDay   on  your towering TBR pile.

12:10pm  –  1:00pm  –  Please  tell  us about your next book  –  inspiration, drafting,  editing, marketing.

Lauren James, Sarah Crossan, Sarah Webb and Brian Conaghan

Sarah Crossan

1:10  –  1:50pm  Bad  language  in  books  with young protagonists  –  thoughts? 

Sally  Nicholls, Kim Hood and R. F. Long

2:00  –  2:40pm  All  YA  need  is love  –  thoughts? 

Jennifer Niven and Catherynne  M. Valente and Sarah Rees Brennan

Readers, tweet your shelfies.

2:50  –  3:30 pm  –  Debut  authors. Please tell  us  about your  new  world  of  being  a  published author.

Simon P. Clark, Martin Stewart, Dave  Rudden

3:40  –  4:20pm  The  publishing  world- tweet your questions to these publishing peeps.

Vanessa O  Loughlin and Gráinne Clear

4.30  –  4:55 Children’s Books  Ireland  –  Book  Doctor Clinic  –  ask  the book doctor, Claire Hennessy for book recommendations.

5:00  –  5:40pm  Hosted  by book  blogger  –  Christopher  Moore,  Co-founder of  @YAfictionados  –  He  will be  asking the  authors about writing  in  the  age  of  the internet. 

Brenna  Yovanoff and Samantha Shannon

5:45  –  6:15pm Hosted  by book  blogger  –   Jenny Duffy  of  The  Books, the Art, and  Me.  Let’s talk writing practises  –  how  to ‘get it  down.’ 

Tatum  Flynn, Judi  Curtin, Nigel Quinlan, Elizabeth R. Murray and Deirdre Sullivan

The End

Gen Z + Other Stories: What I Learned at the Children’s Con

On Monday I attended the Bookseller magazine Children’s Conference in the Barbicon, London and here is what I found out. I hope you find it interesting and/or useful.

1/ Underestimate Digital Brands at Your Peril

16% of book sales come from digital brands – Minecraft, Zoella etc

55% come from ‘traditional’ books – Harry Potter (before the movies), Jacqueline Wilson etc

14% come from tv brands

8% from film brands

7% from toy brands

(Stats from Egmont’s Cally Poplak based on Egmont’s extensive consumer research in the UK)

For many children books based on digital/tv/movies/toy brands are a way into books and reading. Most parents are happy that their children are reading at all.

All reading is to be encouraged I say!

2/ Children Have a Passion for Print

The Egmont research proves that 75% of children prefer print

I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear this. From talking to hundreds of children in schools all across Ireland I was convinced that this was the case and it was brilliant to hear that this is indeed the case in the UK.

3/ Heritage Brands are Big Business

Walker Books increased the sales of Guess How Much I Love You threefold in 2015, the 20th anniversary of Antrim man, Sam McBratney’s outstanding picture book, illustrated by Anita Jeram.

Last year they doubled sales of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.

Irish publishers should be celebrating anniversaries too – 10 years of Alice and Megan, 10 years of Artemis Fowl etc.

 3/ All Brands are Big Business

24% of book sales come from the top 20 children’s brands – Minecraft, Lego, Peppa Pig, Frozen etc

Books give voice to a brand and bring characters to life.

 4/ Information Books are on the Rise

Wide-Eyed Editions and Nosy Crow both talked about their excitement about the non-fiction market.

Wide-Eyed are all about Wonder, Discovery and Innovation – and aim to produce books that capture all three.

a/ They talked about books being immersive, tactile reading devices.

b/ They said ‘books aid mental navigation and memory retention.’  Even the spine helps a child navigate through a book – they described them as ‘mini steps through a landscape’.

c/ They said books build concentration and encourage critical thinking.

d/ Reading print discourages children to do other things (unlike reading on a tablet).

e/ Books knit families together – with shared experiences.

As you can imagine, as a print lover, I adored all this positive print-ness.

tell me and i'll forget

They also talked about involving a child in a book – using the Chinese proverb here:

 6/ Children’s Sales are On the Up and Up

There was a 8.9% growth in children’s sales in 2015 in the UK.

Children’s books are a whopping 27.8% of the UK book market.

Julia Donaldson has sold 1.2 million books to date this year – she is a consistent bestseller and not to be underestimated.

David Walliams is the biggest author in the UK at the moment (after Julia Donaldson)

 7/ German Readers Love Fantasy and Horses

There was a most interesting talk on trends around the world from Rights Manager,  Clementine Gaisman. She said German publishers are very keen on:

a/ Middle Grade (age 8/9 to 12)

b/ Fantasy adventure – Derek Landy and Eoin Colfer were both mentioned

c/ Love stories

But they do not like steam punk apparently!

Brazil is an emerging market and they like:

a/ YA books –they love John Green (who doesn’t?)

geek girl

Scout Helen Boyle said contemporary books (family/friendship dramas) are still strong but need a hook. Like Geek Girl.

She said ‘Good quality storytelling and distinctive voices are always of interest.’

According to Helen, publishers are also looking for:

a/ Magical realism – mermaids etc – middle grade

b/ Adventure with fantasy – Eoin Colfer and Derek Landy

c/ Books with horses in them (esp Germany)

 8/ Bookshops in Schools - Why Not?

Tamara MacFarlane from Tales on Moon Lane Bookshop talked about her new project – a bookshop in a school. I found this most interesting and a very exciting idea.

 9/ Snapchat is Growing Fast

Facebook is for ‘old people’ apparently, according to children and teens. (I love Facebook!)

You Tube is also growing fast and that’s where many readers go to look for book recommendations and information.

It was suggested that writers and people in the book trade should take their books where ‘teens are’ – ie You Tube.

 10/ Generation Z Loves Stories and Books

Generation Z were born between 1995 and 2000 and will drive change according to Emma Worello of Pineapple Lounge – a very savvy and well spoken young lady who has made it her business to talk to teens and young adults for years, finding out how they see the world.

She said ‘Stories are fundamental to Gen Z lifestyles’ and it’s how they engage with the world. They are fans, they follow things. And they love cool formats – collectable books – and the idea of family story hubs and family time with a home library. This is excellent news. When Gen Z become parents, they will definitely build wonderful libraries for their children, full of amazing books!

Lots of great, great news for writers, booksellers and publishers – books are here to stay and long live print!

Yours in books,

Sarah + songbird2

Sarah Webb XXX