How to Write a Bestseller – The Secret Ingredient

On March 28, 2012 · In Festivals and Events, Rewriting and Editing, The Writing Coach, This Writer's Life

Last weekend I spoke at the Waterford Writers’ Festival. The subject of the panel discussion was How to Write a Bestseller. The chair of the session, the very able Vanessa O’Loughlin from www.writing.ie asked us to consider the key elements of fiction writing and what makes a bestselling novel: character, dialogue, plot, making your book stand out. Also on the panel were fellow popular fiction writers Monica McInerney, Sinead Moriarty and Niamh Greene.

It got me thinking about the nature of the ‘bestseller’. A ‘bestseller’ is simply a book that sells a lot of copies, a book that has thousands of happy readers, all actively recommending it to their friends and family, and on Facebook and Twitter (which I think is the way most bestsellers are created – by word of mouth).

So I thought I’d jot down some of the things that came up during the panel discussion in case they are useful. And at the very end I’ll let you in on the secret – how to write a bestseller – as yes, there is a secret!

First of all: Character

We all agreed that creating big, interesting, real, lovable yet flawed characters is the key to writing good popular fiction. Monica McInerney …

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My Predictions for the 2012 CBI/’Bisto’ Award Shortlist

On March 16, 2012 · In Children's Books

My Predictions for the 2012 Children’s Books Ireland (‘Bisto’) Award Shortlist

Last year was a good year for children’s books written and illustrated by Irish authors and illustrators (the award is given to books published in 2011), with some exciting new names joining established ones. There were less ‘Irish’ picture books published last year (after a stellar year in 2010 – culminating in Chris Haughton’s win for A Bit Lost), but it was a strong year for teen novels, with Ger Meade’s Flick a notable debut. Ger has six young children, so the fact that she’s writing at all astounds me!

This list is my own personal opinion, and it’s just for fun. Let’s see how many I get ‘right’! The actual shortlist will be announced on 20th March.

1/ A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle – my prediction for overall winner
One of my favourite books of the year – lyrical and touching, with fantastic characters.

2/ Spirit of the Titanic by Nicola Pierce – my prediction for the Eilís Dillon Award (or Ger Meade’s Flick – depending on the judges’ tastes) – a very strong historical novel about a young boy and the Titanic. May also get …

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Write That Book – Week 8 – Publishers/Getting Published

On March 6, 2012 · In Getting Published, The Writing Coach

Welcome to the final week of Write That Book. Today I will cover submitting directly to a publishing house. At a later stage I will look at self-publishing and ebooks, so look out for that soon.

Publishers

Once you are happy with your manuscript, it’s time to decide who to send it to. All of the Irish publishers (and Irish offices of the UK publishers) still accept unsolicited manuscripts, which is good news if you haven’t secured an agent. See last week’s blog – week 7 – for how to prepare your manuscript for submission (to an agent or a publisher). For most UK publishers you will need an agent – again, see week 7 for information on this and a list of recommended agents.

It is very important to match your book to the right publisher. There’s no point sending a crime novel to a children’s publisher for example. Do your research. Find out the kind of book each publisher actually publishes. Visit your local bookshop or library and have a look on the shelves. Familiarise yourself with what the various publishers actually bring out. Some of them specialize, some are more general publishers. Some publish children’s books, others …

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