FINDING YOUR
Narrative Voice Behind the scenes with
Tracey McDonald
Mark Edwards follows you home AUTHORS MAGAZINE | 1
ditor
A message from the
Should
Auld Acquaintance Well, I guess that depends on whether that acquaintance has been a positive or negative influence in your life. As we enter a brand new year filled with possibility, we find ourselves looking back at the year gone by and making changes. January is a month to remember, to reflect, and to accept the fact that we cannot change the past but we can certainly shape the future, which at this time of year is paved with good intentions! It is time to make those pesky New Year’s resolutions. Typically, the tradition of these resolutions is focused on self-improvement. Whether you want to be a better parent, learn how to cook, lose those extra pounds or land that promotion you have your heart set on, the point is that we set goals for ourselves at this time of year. Goals that we sincerely wish to meet. Personally, my resolutions never last beyond January, with the exception of my reading and writing goals, which could be argued are the most important of all. So, what does 2016 mean for me? Resolution 1: Smash out a few books. I am proud to say that I haven’t failed in this resolution 2 years running and I have no intention of letting myself down now. Like a marathon runner, I have drive, stamina, and the sheer stubbornness required to make it to the finish line. Resolution 2: My Reading Challenge. In 2015 I set myself a goal to read 70 books. I exceeded my own greatest expectations by reading 90. Some of my favourites included The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen, The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa
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Be Forgot...
Meyer, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, The Martian by Andy Weir and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. This year, I’m aiming for a round figure of 100 books and I can’t wait to get started! Reading is my guilty pleasure and I make no excuses for it. Resolution 3: Authors Magazine. In 2016, we have a stellar lineup planned for all our readers. Cover profiles will include the likes of self-publishing sensation turned Penguin Publishers’ darling, Tracey Garvis-Graves, contemporary romance writer Amanda Prowse, and acclaimed dystopian novelist, Fred Strydom. In 2016, the magazine will be bigger and better than ever before and we cannot wait to share it with you all. 2016 is bound to be a great year. After all, we have the muchanticipated Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hitting the big screens in November. Based on J.K Rowling’s book of the same name, word has it that Ms Rowling herself penned the screenplay and while it’s not exactly the Harry Potter sequel we’ve all been hoping for it’s certainly going to be the first (and probably the only) movie I will be watching on the big screen this year. My hope for you all this year is that you set positive goals for yourselves and, more so, that you achieve them. What are your 2016 resolutions? Tweet us @authorsmag and let us know. From all of ours here at Authors Magazine to all of yours, wherever you may be, we wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Melissa Delport
Contents
COVER FEATURE
04
MARK EDWARDS Follows you home
ARTICLES
PUBLISHER Lesiba Morallane ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Sardia Mustapher MANAGING EDITOR Shalate Davhana EDITOR Marion Marchand ASSISTANT EDITOR Joan Hack ADVERTISING COMMUNICATION Dineo Mahloele
10 14 16 20 22 26 32
Finished editing? NOW GET READY TO SUBMIT i.go.books Where print and distribution meet FINDING YOUR NARRATIVE VOICE The 5 Stages of going through A BOOK BREAK-UP Behind the Scenes with TRACEY MCDONALD SOMETHING BREWING FROM INDIE TO PUBLISHED - Part 6 The strange new phenomenon - The Book Blog Tour
REGULARS A Message from the Editor.........................................................02 On the Couch.....................................................................................13 Sallys Sanity......................................................................................18 Justin Fox Green’s Cape Town............................................................................28 Recommended Reads...................................................................30
LAYOUT AND DESIGN Apple Pie Graphics Tel: 079 885 4494 CONTRIBUTORS Melissa Delport Nerine Dorman Dineo Mahloele Carrie-Anne Sanders Sally Cook Tammy February Ian Tennent Justin Fox
AUTHORS MAGAZINE: PO Box 92644, Mooikloof, Pretoria East Email: team@authorsmag.com To advertise online please email team@authorsmag.com or contact Ms Dineo Mahloele on 084 299 6812 DISCLAIMER The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are intended for informational purposes only. Authors Magazine takes no responsibility for the contents for the contents of the advertising material contained herein. All efforts have been taken to verify the information contained herein, and views expressed are ont necessarily those of Authors Magazine. E&OE
AUTHORS MAGAZINE | 3
Mark Ed
Follows you Home
by Melissa Delport
Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers in which scary things happen to ordinary people and is inspired by writers such as Stephen King, Ira Levin, Ruth Rendell and Linwood Barclay.
His first solo novel, The Magpies (2013), reached the No.1 spot on Amazon UK and has sold just under 400,000 copies to date. This was followed by What You Wish For (2014), Because She Loves Me (2014) and Follow You Home (2015). These last two books also went on to become No. 1 bestsellers in the UK. In a world filled with indie authors scrambling over one another in an effort to secure a literary agent, British author, Mark Edwards was fortunate enough to land one fairly early on in his writing career. When no lucrative publishing offers were forthcoming, however, Mark and his agent parted ways. As it turns out, this was the best thing that had ever happened to him. When his self-published novel, Catch Your Death, hit the number 1 spot on the UK bestseller lists, Mark landed the agent of his dreams, and the two have worked together ever since. A best-selling author in his own right, Mark has also enjoyed much success in his writing partnership with Louise Voss. Their novels are: Killing Cupid (2011); Catch Your Death (2011); All Fall Down (2012); Forward Slash and a series featuring Detective Inspector Patrick Lennon, starting with From the Cradle (2014) and The Blissfully Dead (2015). This dynamic writing duo has released a number of best-selling thriller novels and both Mark and Louise have built up an impressive fan following.
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dwards
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Melissa Delport of Authors Magazine interviewed Mark for our first 2016 cover profile. Mark, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us. Firstly, let’s talk about your books. Which of your books ultimately launched your writing career, and why do think that was? Hi Melissa. There are two answers to this. Firstly, Killing Cupid started everything off because it was the first book that Louise and I published ourselves and the everything else that has happened can be traced back to that moment, even though KC was not as big a hit as many of the books that followed. It led to our publishing deal with HarperCollins and we thought it was going to be easy from that point. Unfortunately, the books published by Harper failed to sell as well as anyone hoped and it looked like my writing career was about to end prematurely. Which leads me to the second answer. In 2013 I self-published my first solo novel, The Magpies, wondering if I could have success again – and it took off in a way I could barely have imagined. After that, I signed with Amazon Publishing imprint Thomas & Mercer and haven’t looked back. The Magpies saved my career and I owe that book a great deal. You are extremely prolific. In 2014 alone, you published two of your own novels – Because She Loves Me and What You Wish For - as well as releasing From the Cradle, which you co-wrote with Louise. How on earth do you manage to push out so many books and still maintain that high quality that your readers have come to expect? It certainly looks like I have written, or co-written, a lot of books in a short space of time but there is some cheating
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involved! The Magpies and What You Wish For were both books that I had written back in the 1990s. I edited and updated them but that didn’t take too long. I think it’s important to work hard and get as many books out as you can, as long as quality doesn’t suffer. In fact, I am slowing down and taking longer to write each book, probably because I am pushing myself harder each time. It now takes around nine months to write each book. That’s still fast compared to some writers (Donna Tartt takes ten years). For me, most of that time is taken up working out the plot, ensuring the twists and turns work and that the story is compelling. I can get words onto the page pretty rapidly but spend a lot of time agonizing over what happens next. Speaking of your success, the popularity of your novels has enabled you to write full-time. How does it feel being able to turn your passion into a career? It’s wonderful, of course. Wonderful not to have a boss. I don’t have to go to endless meetings, or commute, or listen to people talk about ‘blue sky thinking’. Being able to tell people I’m a writer makes me feel proud. But my day-to-day life is far from glamorous. I get up, do the school run, go back to my desk and write until it’s time to pick the kids up again. It’s certainly not a hard life, and it’s great to earn a living and support my family doing the thing I love, but I think I imagined it would be a bit more exciting. I only really feel like a proper author when I go to literary festivals or have lunch with my agent or publisher. That’s always great fun. A common problem in “working from home” is finding a balance and being able to separate your professional and
your personal life. Tell us about your writing process. It is challenging. I have three children under nine. My youngest was at home all day until recently and it’s hard to write when he’s in the house. I have written chapters in the past with a toddler literally crawling on me and thrusting a copy of The Gruffalo under my nose… So I used to go out to coffee shops to work. Now that my youngest is at nursery in the mornings I get a few hours of peace each day. The upside of all this though is that I am always around and get to spend a lot of time with my kids. I think that’s good for them – and especially for me! Last month, we interviewed Tracey Fenton of THE Book Club on Facebook and discussed how much her online club does for authors. What do you think social media has done for author marketing and brand exposure in particular? The best thing about social media is that it has made it very easy for readers and writers and communicate, and that is genuinely my favourite thing about being a writer. I love hearing from readers, whether it’s a quick tweet or a long email. In the past, I think that writers were far less accessible. Perhaps you might meet your favourite author at an event, or you could write them a letter (or an email). But now you can tweet me to let me know you’ve just finished my book and I will often reply immediately. It’s really important for authors to nurture their relationship with their readers. I want them to feel they have a personal connection with me and I put a lot of effort into it because I am flattered and grateful that so many people give their precious time and money to my books.
You admit that you spend far too much time on Facebook and Twitter. How distracting are these platforms when you are working and how do you switch off and get back to the writing? I’m not as bad as I used to be but it can be very distracting because both platforms are horribly addictive. It’s hard not to keep flicking to Facebook when I’m supposed to be writing, just to see if anyone has said anything interesting. This is the downside of not working in an office. Most of my human interaction – apart from with my wife and kids – comes via a computer screen.
Mark Edwards and Louise Voss How did you and Louise meet? I was on a BBC documentary about aspiring writers and she emailed my then-agent because she was in the same situation and empathized with me. We became ‘pen pals’ for a couple of years before we actually met in the flesh. Fortunately, we got on really well. You and Louise have taken an approach that has come under scrutiny over the past few years. The infamous cowriting. Some bigger authors have taken criticism for this approach, but it seems to be working well for you and Louise. Why do you think this is? I’m not sure which authors have faced criticism for co-authoring. I guess people like James Patterson? That would be because he does very little of the actual writing. He essentially helps with the plot and editing and takes most of the money. With Louise and I – and most other writing partnerships – we do half the writing each. How on earth does one co-write a book? Do you each write a particular scene/chapter/character? Do you sit
down together and thrash it out? How does it work, for you exactly? We don’t sit down together to write. We meet occasionally to discuss ideas but most of it is done via email or Skype. We create a chapter plan and then divide up those chapters, saying ‘You write this one and I’ll write that one’. As soon as that chapter is finished, we send it to the other for comments and editing. Once we are both happy with that chapter it goes into a master document and we move on. We tend to take different characters as all our books have multiple points of view. That makes it much easier. Let’s talk about agents and publishing. You had a bad experience and opted to self-publish. What ultimately prompted this decision and would you ever change your mind and go back to the traditional publishing establishment? I started self-publishing because I was rejected by traditional publishers. But when I did get a publishing deal it didn’t work out so I went back to selfpublishing but only for one book. I’ve been with Thomas & Mercer since 2013
and they are fantastic. They work just like a traditional publisher except most of the sales are in ebook and on Amazon rather than in shops. I would still love to see my books in stores but am doing so well with Amazon at the moment that I have no plans to change course. Having said that, things can change quickly and I wouldn’t rule anything out. I like traditional publishers. They produce a lot of fantastic books. I just want to carry on making a living from it however I can. In researching this article I stumbled across another Mark Edwards, who is also an author, and I noticed that many of your readers have not realized that this man is not actually you, resulting in a few harsh reviews. How do you deal with these, particularly as they are so undeserved? Yes, he is a thorn in my side. The story is that another guy with the same name as me has written a number of books and self-published them. I believe that he has changed his covers to take advantage of my success, making his books look like mine. It leads to lots of
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readers buying his books thinking they are by me then being disappointed. I get emails saying things like ‘If I’d read this first I would never have tried one of your other books’ which drives me crazy. I wish my parents had given me an unusual name! As we head into a new year, what can we expect from Mark Edwards and/or Louise Voss in 2016? My next psychological thriller, The Devil’s Work, will be published in September 2016. It’s about colleagues from hell. This is my first solo book with a female protagonist and I think a lot of people will be able to relate to it. As with my other books, I have taken a familiar situation (in this case, working in an office) and made it terrifying. Mark Edwards currently resides in the West Midlands, England, with his wife, their three children and a ginger cat, Billie, who was named after an actress from Doctor Who. When he’s not writing or looking after children, Mark reads a lot, devours TV box sets and spends far too much time on Twitter and Facebook, where he loves chatting with readers. He also wishes he had more time to do the activity he loves most: karaoke. To find out more about Mark and download a free collection of short stories, please visit his website: www. markedwardsauthor.com
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Books written by
Mark Edw
wards
AUTHORS MAGAZINE | 9
ARTICLE
Finished editing? Now, get ready to
submit by Nerine Dorman
Nope, the submission process in the publishing industry is not about getting your kink on, but it is still one of the most vital – and often neglected – aspects of the process. If you’re aiming to snag yourself a literary agent – which is vital if you want a foot in the door with many of the traditional publishers overseas – or if you’re planning on submitting to a publisher, then you need to know how to present yourself so that the person who’s going to read your query or submission doesn’t think you’re a complete lunatic. (Here in SA we’re lucky in that authors can submit directly to most publishers.)
Trust me, there are some truly lunatic queries out there, and no, attaching a picture of your private parts as incentive for a literary agent or publisher to consider your novel is *not* going to aid your career as an illustrious, bestselling author. Nor is including a list of actors you’d like to cast for when they make the movie based on your bestseller.
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Your query letter is generally the first time an agent or publisher is going to get to hear of you (unless you are lucky, and you’ve been referred by someone or you met the agent or publisher at an event, and were invited to submit). Not only that, but the person (often an intern or assistant) who’s watching the inbox for queries, may be sifting through hundreds of queries a day. You want to stand out, but by equal measure, you don’t want to give people the impression that you’re a
total douchenozzle (or that you require psychiatric evaluation). The person who’s reading your query will possibly only have a chance to scan through that email. They need to know the following at a glance: Who are you? What are you peddling? Do you have any worthwhile publishing credits? If you don’t have any publishing credits, don’t stress about not mentioning them. No mention of publishing credits is always better than listing a ream of credits for obscure, fly-by-night or now-defunct publications or the fact that you were editor of your primary school’s quarterly newsletter. Share only relevant information. For instance, if your book is a guide to growing luminous mushrooms with psychoactive properties, then by all means mention that you have a doctorate in mycology. You’ll also need to be able to write a one-page summary of your novel. Think about the information that would appear on the back of a novel – establish
the main characters, the conflict and overarching themes. You need to also tell the agent or publisher what genre you’re writing, what the word count is. Something along the lines of, “The Emperor’s Boots, a fantasy novel complete at 90 000 words, is currently available for your consideration” is perfectly acceptable and to the point. You might also want to add other titles that are similar to the book to motivate why yours would complement existing offerings by providing something slightly different to readers. One of the sites that I’ve found invaluable for research purposes when it comes to composing effective query letters is www.queryshark.blogspot. com. Take some time to read through the different examples there. It’s worth the hour or so of your life. When it comes to querying, many agents and publishers state that they don’t like simultaneous submissions (which boils down to you shopping around) however with the response time for queries varying anywhere between two hours to six months, you’ll understandably drive yourself slightly mad if you only query one at a time. A healthy attitude to take is set up a querying schedule for yourself to perhaps send off one or two queries a day for two to three months, until you either get a positive response or it becomes clear that your novel isn’t going to be snapped up. (I usually try to aim for 100 queries.) Obviously, if you do get a request for a partial or a full submission, and you happen to have the novel out elsewhere
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on a partial or full submission, it’s general courtesy to let the agent or publisher know about this. But, until then, what they don’t know can’t hurt them. The industry is very much a case of hurry up and wait, so don’t pass up opportunities where you find them. Do also keep your ear to the ground for whenever a big publisher has an open submissions period or a call for a specific type of fiction. So it’s a good idea to subscribe to newsletters or follow big publishers on social media where they’d make announcements like this. When you’re looking at an agent or publisher, I can’t underscore enough how important it is that you follow through with a background check. Unfortunately there are loads of horrible people out there, who make a living taking advantage of unsuspecting writers who don’t know much about the industry. With powerful tools like Google at your disposal, you no longer have an excuse that you didn’t know. If you’ve spent months, if not years, of your life working on your magnum opus, then you owe it to yourself to ensure that the professionals you entrust with your work are the right ones. In selecting your preferred agent or publisher, take time to look at them individually. This is another reason why I advise doing only one or two submissions a day. You can run a generalised search for the right agents for your chosen genre first on sites like www.publishersmarketplace or www. querytracker.net, but then once you’ve got a list, visit their sites individually. Ask yourself the following questions: Who are their existing authors? Do they represent or publish authors who
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are similar to you? Is there a particular agent who is looking for books in your chosen genre? Is this agent or publisher currently open for submissions (important to check)? Do they accept unsolicited queries? Lastly, and most importantly, what are their submission guidelines? Every agent or publisher will need something slightly different from you. For some it’s just a query letter. For others it’s a query letter plus synopsis and the first 10 pages. Others want the first three chapters? Some prefer snail mail. Others accept text copied into the body of the email. There are a few that have online submission forms. It varies. If in doubt, just send a query letter. Which also means that under no circumstances should you consider doing a mass-mail
bcc to the whole world and his wife. Agents and publishers hate it when people don’t follow their guidelines. It shows a blatant disrespect of the agent or publisher in question, and is pretty much a guarantee that your mail will be deleted instantly. I usually prepare a variety of files to keep on hand while I’m submitting. I have my query letter and two-page synopsis, but also prepare a file that has the first ten pages, first 50 pages and another that has the first three chapters copy/pasted and named for quick reference. That way it’s a quick open + copy + paste into the body of an email when I’m sending off a query. Or a quick attachment, whatever the requirements are. However, I make damned sure I read those query or submission guidelines.
Another important part of the querying process means keeping track of my queries and what their status is. Either write down a list in your journal or keep a spreadsheet that tells you who you’ve queried, at which company, and what the status of the query is. Spreadsheets are especially useful because it’s a quick way to make sure you don’t accidentally send duplicate queries or query more than agent at the same agency (also a no-no). A little bit of organisation can go a long way to making the querying process a helluva lot less painful. Lastly, the querying process is a lot like going to the disco and seeing whether the cute boy or girl will ask you to dance. You’ll experience nausea, clammy hands and crushing disappointment. It’s all part of the game. A healthy attitude means starting work on your next project the moment you begin querying your current manuscript. My author friends and I also play a game we affectionately call “Revenge Query”. For every rejection we receive, we immediately send out two new queries. This has the benefit of making you feel as if you’re being proactive about the entire matter. Don’t let those impersonal form rejections get you down. Realise that often an agent or publisher just isn’t right for you, or perhaps they’re not certain they can sell or market your book. That rejection is no reflection on you as a person. Remember also that having no agent or publisher is far better than having a bad agent or publisher. There are times when you’d be better served self-publishing than allowing a sub-standard or vanity publisher sink their claws into your baby. Chin up, keep calm and Revenge Query!
Couch on the
The corner couch focuses on celebrities - their reading habits and the books that have shaped their lives.
with Mokgadi Itsweng by Dineo Mahloele
Mokgadi Itsweng is the Creative Director and head chef for Lotsha Home foods, has a food feature on Radio 200 and is the former Food Editor for True Love Magazine, (2012-2015). The focus of Lotsha Home Foods is to develop food products based on African recipes. The first two products are already available in five outlets in Gauteng. She’s honed her skills in SA and NYC, participated in food festivals and continues to document her food story on www. thekitchenmartyr.blogspot.com.
I will build a food empire to last for generations to come. If I don’t I have one hell of a ride; either way, I am happy doing it everyday, all day. In January people make plans to be healthy and eat well. What advice would you give our readers to stay focused on healthy eating long after the New Year’s resolutions have been forgotten?
How has your relationship with books influenced you as a mother? Growing up, books were my escape. My mom was an English teacher who encouraged us to read. Books became my escape from reality. I was into Archie comics when I was a teenager and comic swaps with my friends were the highlight of my days. When I became a woman, I was introduced to my spirit through Iyanla Vanzant, Maya Angelo, Helen Khuzwayo and Alice walker. All these books molded me into the mother that I am today. You are a well-known chef that has achieved so much. What would you say is your greatest achievement to date? Building the Lotsha food brand is my biggest achievement ever. I imagined it, created it in my mind’s eye first and then it became a physical reality. I work on the brand everyday of my life, as it is an extension of who I am. When I get it right,
I love food, so finding a balance can be very hard. My advice is: 1. Don’t be too hard on yourself. If you have a plan and you fall off, get back up and carry on with your healthy eating plan. 2. Your plan must fit into your lifestyle and your family’s lifestyle, if it doesn’t it will become too tedious to manage. 3. Exercise for at least 30mins everyday. This can be anything, from walking up and down stairs, yoga, gardening etc. 4. Hydrate! Drinking water makes you feel fuller and less hungry. Have you ever thought of writing a book? I would love to write a book about my world food experiences as a township girl. An autobiographic food journey with recipes and awesome pictures, that capture the essence of the journey. Please share with our readers 5 books that have had an impact in your life. 1. The new Earth by Eckhart Tolle 2. 48 Laws of power by Robert Green 3. Loosing my Virginity by Richard Branson 4. Relish by Prue Leith 5. One day my soul opened up by Iyanla Vanzant
meet
Where Print & Distribution by Carrie-Anne Sanders
Self-publishing is an established trend that has completely changed the world of book publishing. Essentially, it allows writers to get their work in the hands of readers without the intervention of a publisher. It also allows the writer more control over the whole process. However, with control comes responsibility – financial as well as creative. When success is achieved, this means more independence. The writer has a greater sense of satisfaction because of their extended involvement.
against those of the big publishers. Make sure the manuscript is properly edited and proof-read.
Here’s what it takes to put together your own book:
Submit your text and cover in PDF format for printing. Make sure you follow up with your printers regularly. Supply them with a blurb on the book – this is a medium length description which will be used to hook the salespeople and readers so it’s very important. Think about the pricing of your book. Do some research on books which are similar to your own. Get a realistic perspective on what sort of reception your book will receive.
Preparation! If you have high hopes for your book, invest in a team of people to assist you. Get your manuscript professionally laid out; get a great cover designed. It really is worth the investment when you see your book on the shelves and it stands up admirably
One of the unfortunate drawbacks of having a low barrier of entry into a suddenly hot market is that now everybody and their uncle and sister is an author. That means you’re dealing with a ton of competition, some of which is made up of hustlers, charlatans,
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and a bunch of people in between. The growth of independent publishing has been huge over the last couple of years. While that growth has started to level off as fewer writers have unpublished novels in their cupboards to publish, you can still expect to go up against thousands of other highly motivated indie authors. Have a clear goal for your book. This will help dictate what service you go with. For instance, if your objective is to create a book for posterity’s sake, which your friends and family can read it for all eternity, you won’t need to invest a lot of time or money to produce something that’s perfectly acceptable. However, if yours is a commercial venture with big aspirations, things get pretty tricky and can become expensive Even if it’s great, there’s a good chance your book won’t sell. If your book is really mediocre, don’t expect it to take off. But even if it’s a masterpiece, there’s a good chance it won’t fly off the shelves. In other words, quality isn’t a guarantee of success. You’ll be lucky to make your investment back, let alone have a “hit” that brings in some real
income. Don’t quit your day job yet. Niche books tend to do best. This seems to be the mantra of self-publishing. Nonfiction books with a well-defined topic and a nice hook to them can do well, especially if they have a target audience that you can focus on. Religious books are a perfect case in point. And fiction? Well, it’s tough, but some genres do better than others.
Once your book is printed, don’t just sit back and wait. Authors are their own best marketing tool. Promote your book personally to all your friends, family and colleagues. Use every available channel you can – this is where social media can be a very useful (and free!) tool for you.
Publicise your book through your kids’ schools, your book club, your spouse’s company… the more people who hear about it, the more chance you will sell more copies. You may also want to consider increasing the size of your digital footprint by having an author website. You don’t necessarily need an online store – you could link to the various outlets where your book is being sold. The name of the game is to increase your market coverage and build a fan base. Word of mouth is still the most powerful way to market. Platforms such as iGo Books demystifies the publishing process and offers independent authors access to
qualified designers, layout artists, editors and other specialists as well as high-quality digital printing. We also offer warehousing and distribution facilities as well as access to one of the best national book marketing and distribution companies. In terms of traditional marketing and publicity services we act as a consultant and can assist with promoting your book to the media, booksellers and general public via extensive email marketing and social media marketing.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, BOOK PRICING OR TO HAVE A CHAT CONTACT +27 31 701 8019 carrie-anne@pinetownprinters.co.za
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narra Finding your
There are many obstacles to overcome when writing your first book, few of which you actually realise until you put pen to paper, or fingers to keys, as we do now. As authors, we stumble, we fall, we brush ourselves off and we get back up again, because as any writer will know, we cannot silence the voice inside. Our stories need to be written.
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ative voice by Melissa Delport
When I first embarked on my writing journey three years ago I gave a lot of thought to plot and character description, to the book title and pivotal scenes that would unfold as my book progressed. Dialogue and time frame, chapter length and word count, all of these things were well-thought out and seriously deliberated. This took me at least forty five minutes. Then I sat down and started typing. Strangely enough, not once did I consider which narrative mode I should use. It never even occurred to me, and yet the story unravelled in the first person. This style came naturally to me and rather than work against it, I used it to my advantage. The main benefit in using this style of writing is that the reader feels an emotional attachment to the narrator, which in my case, is the protagonist. The internal thoughts, emotions and perceptions of the protagonist are able to be conveyed to the reader and this makes for fantastic character development. I have often wondered if I am perhaps doing my secondary characters a disservice in writing from the first-person point of view, as one of the drawbacks of this particular writing style is that it does not always allow the reader to connect with the other character’s thoughts
and feelings. It can also limit plot, as we become aware of events primarily through the narrator’s eyes. Loosely put, if it doesn’t happen to, or around your protagonist, it doesn’t happen. The thirdperson narrative is far more flexible and consequently, the most frequently used model.
Like any true writer, however, I do like to challenge myself and one of my personal writing goals was to try and complete a novel in a different narrative mode – which would obviously be the third-person narrative, given that the second should really be reserved only for song writing and “Choose
There are ways to get around these pitfalls of first-person narration. The narrator may refer to information they have heard from other characters in order to deliver a broader point of view. Memories of the past are also useful in providing insight that is reliable. I make use of secondary-character dialogue to ensure that the reader is always informed as to what is going on “behind the scenes” so to speak. A popular trend at the moment is the alternating point of view, whereby there is more than one narrator. Personally, I find that this style can become confusing and the character transitions need to be handled carefully in order that the reader doesn’t become frustrated.
your own Adventure Stories”. As a result, I completed a 4-book series written entirely in the third-person. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the freedom it afforded me in the story-telling, but I have to say, it didn’t come easily. For the first book and a half, I kept slipping back into the first person, taking the point of view of the main protagonist. The mental shift took place slowly and by the end of the first book I had found my rhythm. That being said, as I now begin an exciting new project I am letting my inner writer loose and reverting to the first person narrative. I find it works well in the romance genre, and allows me to invoke a more emotive response from the reader.
For me, I prefer to stick with what comes naturally. I like to invoke a connection between reader and protagonist, which I feel is best done when the reader can understand and identify with the main character and “live” that character during the course of reading the book. It is more emotive and if done properly, the first-person narrative can present a powerful “voice.”
Finding your voice is an exciting step in your writing journey, but I don’t think it is a conscious choice. It will come as easily as breathing and if you listen to it rather than fight it, the end result will be all the better for it.
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Sally’s Sanity Writing to survive by Sally Cook
Sally Cook is a parenting and lifestyle blogger currently residing in the UK. You can find her at somanymilesfromnormal.blogspot.co.za.
“Middle-Age Musings” I very recently turned 35. When I was 15, the thirty-plus age bracket seemed an eternity away. A category reserved for grown-ups, with proper jobs, cars, kids and stuff. I could no sooner envisage myself in this group than I could as a policewoman or a butcher. I also remember thinking that thirty-somethings must have all the answers. They’d figured out this life business. Because with age, comes wisdom, surely? That’s what they tell us. Finish school, they say. Keep your head down and work hard so you can go to university, they say. Education is key, they say. With it, the world will be your oyster, they say. I stuck it out at school (with a few well-documented wobblies) and even managed to get through university. And yet, a decade-and-some-change later, there’s still not so much wisdom. In fact, I seem to have undergone a process of reverse wisdom. When I was 18, of course I knew it all. At 20, I could’ve run the UN; I had answers to all the world’s problems. And my knowledge grew directly proportionate to the volume of wine I consumed. The older I get though; it seems I have fewer answers and a lot more questions. No matter how much
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wine I drink. And it’s a lot. The only wisdom I can remotely stand by is that life is one ever-changing rollercoaster. Where one minute you love the rush and feel somewhat like a rock-star, and the next minute you feel rather queasy and worry that you might just actually puke in the lap of the grumpy guy seated next to you. He’s well groomed with not a hair out of place, and he has all of his hair. Which clearly indicates he doesn’t have children. So he’s probably not at all familiar with being puked on. As Lennon said, life happens when you’re making other plans. As a know-itall teenager, I had a whole life mapped out that bears little resemblance to my current reality. I was going to marry Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze or Brad Pitt. One of these leading men would arrive in an F14 straight from the set of Top Gun, teach me some Dirty Dancing and take me to a place where Legends of the Fall are made. I had it all worked out. Also, I wasn’t going to get married. We’d consciously-couple and live a busy life with lots of parties. Children weren’t really a part of the scene, either. Careerwise, I’d planned on being a psychologist. Or a magazine editor. We’d reside in
the dazzling streets of Umhlanga with a white picket fence. And possibly a waterfall. I’d dress in tailored suits and wear heels. Turns out, I was happily married by 25. To a man I’d met at 17. And he’s neither a Tom, nor a Patrick, nor a Brad. He’s a Tim. By 30, we were thrilled to be pregnant with our second child. At 35, I now have three children under my belt along with a livid red c-section scar that reminds me of how my body successfully (or unsuccessfully if you’re one of those natural-birth earth-mother types) carried human beings to full-term. My physical badge of honour. Career-wise, I do did (and hope to again) work in magazines. Not as an editor though. As a publisher. We live a continent away from Durban. In a terraced house with no white picket fence. I do not own one tailored item of clothing. Also, I only wear heels for weddings. I literally own two pairs. Tom Cruise, in the meantime, came out of the Ron Hubbard cupboard screaming Scientology and got a little creepy. And he stayed rather short. Patrick Swayze danced his way to heaven – may God rest his beautiful soul. Brad Pitt is married to the epitome of female human perfection
and they have enough children together to start a school. Point is - he became very domestic, very quickly - and therefore got distracted. As to my psychological intentions, I turned out to be not such a good listener. Or very sympathetic. And I’m rather psychotic. So good miss on the psychologist gig then. I’ve discovered that editing a magazine is bloody hard work reserved for the most talented of folk. Making money on the business side is a lot easier for a slacker such as myself. Ok, so by living in the UK, we may not get the Umhlanga Lighthouse or the views across the Bay of Plenty, but Windsor Castle and The Great Park are breathtakingly beautiful. Literally millions of people flock to see these sights every year and we pass them every day. That’s pretty cool. I’ve come to realise that picket fences are pretty useless – aesthetically pleasing perhaps, but with very little actual function. Like garnish that you can’t eat. Or plastic fruit. So no big loss there either.
marvellous and mortifying…they keep it real. Real-life beats fantasy any day I’m living proof. We have an insanely busy life and we certainly are invited to loads of parties. They just happen to be children’s party variety, where Elsa and Anna come out to play in various adaptations or Spiderman and his Superhero posse trample cake into the floor and fling themselves around on a bouncy castle until someone cries, wets themselves or pukes. Come to think of it, nowhere did happiness feature back in 1995 when I was daydreaming about life during accounting class. Grownups would harp on about happiness all the time, “Go on Sally - go forth on your journey and be happy.” I ignored the happiness part and focused on the going forth. For me, seeking happiness simply wasn’t important. Certainly not important enough to dream about. Being educated, sure! Knowing all the answers, definitely! Wearing heels and smart clothes, yes, yes, yes! But happiness? Not so much.
Sitting here now at 35, married with all of my children, my reliable car and my grownup stuff, I’m can honestly say that I am happy. I’m journeying my brains out. I’m very thankful that I never wear tailored clothes and seldom have to toddle in heels. And I genuinely couldn’t ask for more. Here’s to the next 35 years of riding the rollercoaster of life, seeking the highs, navigating the lows, sharing the journey with friendly folk, avoiding puke (mine and other’s) and hoping there’ll be some more wisdom gained along the way. But I ain’t gonna hold my breath on the last one. I’ve learnt that much. *originally posted on So Many Miles From Normal
And as far as not getting married or having children, well I’m ecstatic that I paid no heed to a silly teenage Sally and her ridiculous rules for life. I married my best friend who makes me laugh until I pee myself (it happens way too often these days…three pregnancies wreck a pelvic floor), knows me better than I know myself and who’s the rational counterbalance to my “chaotic and hysterical”. And my three children. The feral little beasts who are both
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The 5 stages of going through a
Book Break-up by Tammy February
Recently I’ve been reading (or attempting to read in this case) an urban paranormal fantasy novel.
arrogant boots? Double-check. Interesting mythology that forms the backbone of the entire story?
The book had everything I thought I was looking for in a fun, light yet action-packed novel about my favourite kind of mythological creature.
Well, I can’t say for certain, because after about 105 pages in, I finally gave up the ghost with this one (There was a creepy spider-fae queen though. That much I know).
Kick-ass heroine? Check. Snarky rockstar fairy way too big for his
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m one of those readers
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who hate giving up on a book. Sure, I like to advocate that life’s way too short to suffer through a book you’re just not connecting with, but I find that advice often hard to follow myself. Having said that, there have been a number of books and series that, over the years, I simply had to toss aside out of pure grief and frustration. The Big Book Break-up is what I like to call it. What I’ve found is that whenever I’m going through one of these breakups, there would be some emotional resistance that would form part of the process. Much like the 5 stages of grief,
here are the emotions I go through whenever I’m in the process of breaking up with a book.
1. The big book denial This is the stage when I’ve usually gotten around to the first 50 to a 100 pages or so and am convinced that while things haven’t gotten off on a great start, the story will get better. Oh the youthful optimism of this phase – it lulls me into a false sense of security every single time.
2. The “what’s wrong with me?” moment Here’s where I start blaming it on everything but the book. I go from blaming it on my mood and reading settings, to wondering whether there’s something wrong with me (I especially start doubting myself when my friends are all about the love for the book in question). See? It’s that “it’s not you, it’s me” scenario some couples like to play. Except in my case, I only come to the conclusion that it’s not me when I’ve reached the very last stage of fighting to hold on to a relationship with a book that should have ended (p)ages ago.
3. Book bargaining Ah, the point of negotiation. By now, I’ve reached a point where I’ve (usually) finally admitted to myself that the book in question may not be all that I was hoping it would be. Yet, something in me will hesitate because WHAT IF IT GETS BETTER? And what if there’s a huge plot point I could be missing out on? Fear of missing out is a huge curse for most book lovers and it’s one that rears its ugly head when I really don’t need it to. I mean, I could be reading a better book, for goodness sake. Instead, my inner dialogue chooses this moment to pipe up and talk about all
the possibilities that I could be missing out on, as opposed to the probabilities of a better book I could be focusing on instead.
4. Taking a break to read something else phase If you’re a stubborn book quitter like me, you’ll know that by now, you’ve reached a stage where your need to finish the book is overriding the desire to move on to a new book. So, instead of giving up like you should, you decided to take a break and read something else in between. In this case, the book that I decided to read, ended up being so much better than the one I’ve been relentlessly holding on to.
5. The big book chucking And that, my fellow book darlings, is the very moment I decided to finally toss the book aside. I mean really, who needs that kind of torture? You’d think I’d know this by now, but apparently I need to experience a better book every time to be reminded that a) life is way too short to read bad books and b) there are way too many books out there spend so much time trudging through a read that feels more like a chore than a brand new adventure. How about you? What kind of stages do you go through when loving, loathing or giving up on a book? Tweet us @ authorsmag and let us know! Tammy February is a journalist for one of South Africa’s largest women’s lifestyle websites, where she is fortunate enough to manage the books section. Disclaimer: This column originally appeared on Women24.com, and The Book Fairy’s Haven book blog.
AUTHORS MAGAZINE | 21
Behind
Tra
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d the scenes with
acey McDonald
by Melissa Delport
An insight into publishing and what publishers are looking for…
Tracey McDonald is a name synonymous with publishing in South Africa. Tracey, who was the sales and marketing director at a large publishing house for eleven years, opted to open her small-press publishing company in 2013 and she hasn’t looked back. Says Tracey: ‘Although I enjoyed my time in the corporate publishing world, it felt like I had read the same book for ages and it was time to find a new one to read.’ Tracey McDonald Publishers (TMP) now represents the likes of Mark Pilgrim, Jen Su, GG Alcock, Gareth Patterson and Dov Fedler, to name but a few of the bigname authors who have found a home for their books under the TMP brand. TMP publishes quality books written by people from Africa, and focuses mainly on non-fiction (although fiction is not overlooked). Tracey has also secured Jonathan Ball Publishers, one of the biggest publishing houses in South Africa, as her distributor, ensuring that her titles are available in bookstores nationwide. Tracey is also the founder of I LOVE BOOKS, a company that aims to introduce the general public to authors, and authors to the general public. It is also a platform which offers marketing advice to authors, and assists writers with self-publishing. Authors Magazine chatted to Tracey about the difficulties facing traditional publishers at the moment and found out just what publishers are looking for in a manuscript.
Tracey, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us. You spent 11 years at one of the biggest publishing houses in the world. What do you remember most about your time spent there?
work of fiction. And for a small publisher like me I don’t have the liberty to take many chances – in order for my business to survive each book that I publish needs to contribute to the bottom line.
Every day was an adventure – different authors, different books, different sales strategies, different marketing and publicity plans. I was so green when I started out, I remember making notes when colleagues were talking and I would nod sagely and the minute I got back to my desk I would Google the publishing terms that everyone bandied about. I didn’t even know what an ISBN was!
There are so many authors out there trying to land themselves a publishing contract. How many submissions do you receive a month?
Do you have any regrets about leaving and branching out on your own? A lot of anxiety, but not a single regret. Your imprint publishes predominantly non-fiction books and memoirs/ biographies as opposed to fiction. Why is this? Unfortunately most novels written by South Africans don’t sell in big enough volumes to cover the cost of acquiring the
I receive at least ten manuscripts a week, so that’s about forty a month. The big South African publishers receive in excess of 150 submissions a month. Do you read all of them yourself? I wish I had the time to dip into each manuscript, but unfortunately I don’t. What advice can you give an aspiring author on preparing their manuscript for submission? Read it through one more time from start to finish – you, personally. And make sure that it is as clean as you can possibly make it. • Don’t leave track changes on the script
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• Check your chapter numbering to make sure it’s sequential
A person who has taken the time and effort to perfect their pitch (five intriguing lines that grab my attention) and who has perfected their presentation (the synopsis) will open the front door.
•
If you’re sending hard copy, don’t scribble over a line that’s suddenly struck you as wrong and write the better sentence above it or in the margin. Print out a clean page with your corrections and rewriting already incorporated.
•
Number the pages. Some editors and agents still read hard copy and if your manuscript falls off a desk or is dropped on the ground in a car park on a gusty day …
I want to read in their covering letter answers to these four fundamental questions: Why am I writing? Who is my audience? What are my hopes for my writing? What are my expectations?
•
Don’t send off one version and then sit down and rewrite it in a panic and follow it up with frantic ‘Please read this version instead’ email
I want to see a brief biographical piece in their covering material. If they’re a nonfiction author, particularly in an area of specialization or competition, they must list their credentials. For example, if the book is about post-traumatic stress disorder in conflict areas of Africa, it would be important to know how come they’re qualified to write about this.
• Try to avoid a sans serif font. It’s not that comfortable to read, especially for fiction. •
Double spacing might mean more pages, but it’s easier to read (and to make notes on) than single spacing at this manuscript stage. Use 1.5 spacing at least.
•
Don’t think you need to be a typesetter or book designer and attempt to make the pages look exactly like you imagine they’ll look when the book is published. Just submit it in a simple Word document.
•
Don’t send off three ‘representative’ random chapters. If the publisher’s or agent’s requirements say submit a synopsis and three chapters, take it that they mean the first three chapters. Don’t send Chapters 7, 10 and 15 “because that’s when the story really gets interesting”.
Now for the million dollar question... What do you look for in a manuscript? What ultimately sways you in favour of either signing an author’s book or rejecting it?
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For a synopsis, longer than three or four pages is too long, but one paragraph is under cooking it (it’s quite okay to reveal the plot in the synopsis!).
world that will allow them to share their ideas, collect followers, engage in conversation and essentially grow an audience hungry for more. That hunger is the very thing that sells books, be they printed or electronic. When a writer does their submission proposal to a publisher, being able to say that he has 3 650 fans on Facebook, that 2 000 people follow him on Twitter, and that his website, where he blogs often (and is visited often), has been running for the past 18 months, goes a long way in persuading a publisher to take a chance on a writer. Where to even begin? There is a bewildering array of options in the social media toolbox, but these are essential: • Create a Facebook author page • Open a Twitter account • Create an author website (that has a blogging functionality)
And I want to know how ‘connected’ a person is. Have they put in the hours to make sure that they are discoverable?
• If the aspiring author has a book that is visually compelling (such as a cookbook author) then Instagram is a must
What do you mean about discoverability? Is it not enough for the author just to produce something brilliant?
Have you ever had any negative responses or been “attacked” by an author whose work you have declined?
Unfortunately, not anymore. The days of bookshops buying hundreds of copies of a book are gone – this is only enjoyed by a few authors whose names are recognised, household brands. For other writers, and there are over 300 000 books published every year, the process of publishing has undergone a major change.
I’ve had one WhatsApp message that sent chills down my spine. In short it was death threat with incredibly ‘colourful’ language.
An author’s first job is to write something brilliant. And their second job is to connect with the masses and the media. In a nutshell, they need to make themself, and their works, DISCOVERABLE. How do they do this? Every author needs to build themself a platform in the online
What advice do you have for aspiring authors? Never, never give up! Be inspired by these successful writers’ rejection stories: Stephen King If it hadn't been for Stephen King's wife, Tabitha, the iconic image of a young girl in a prom dress covered in pig's blood would not exist. King received 30 rejections for his story of a tormented
girl with telekinetic powers, and then he threw it in the trash. Tabitha fished it out. King sent his story around again and, eventually, Carrie was published. The novel became a classic in the horror genre and has enjoyed film and TV adaptations as well. Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen Within a month of submitting the first manuscript to publishing houses, the creative team behind this multimillion dollar series got turned down 33 consecutive times. Publishers claimed that "anthologies don't sell" and the book was "too positive”. Total number of rejections? 140. Then, in 1993, the president of Health Communications took a chance on the collection of poems, stories, and titbits of encouragement. Today, the 65-title series has sold more than 80 million copies in 37 languages. Margaret Mitchell
Who Came in From the Cold, one of the publishers sent it along to a colleague, with this message: “You’re welcome to le Carré – he hasn’t got any future.”
As we head into the new year, what are you most excited about for 2016? Any specific projects that TMP has coming up that we can look forward to?
Anne Frank
I am very excited about my lead book for 2016. It is Joost van der Westhuizen’s story - an intimate portrayal of his rugby career, his retirement from the game, his Motor Neuron Disease diagnosis, his living with MND, information about MND, his campaign awareness efforts of the disease, and his determination to live.
Fifteen publishers rejected The Diary of Anne Frank. According to one publisher, The Diary of Anne Frank was scarcely worth reading: “The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the 'curiosity' level.” George Orwell One publisher rejected Mr Orwell's submission, Animal Farm, with these words: “It is impossible to sell animal stories in the USA.”
For more information please visit TMP’s website at traceymcdonaldpublishers. com or www.ilovebooks.
J.K. Rowling Harry Potter was rejected by a dozen publishers, including biggies like Penguin and HarperCollins. Bloomsbury, a small London publisher, only took it on at the behest of the CEO’s eight-year old daughter, who begged her father to print the book.
The only book that Margaret Mitchell ever published, Gone With The Wind, won her a Pulitzer Prize in 1937. The story of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler, set in the South during the Civil War, was rejected by 38 publishers before it was printed. The 1939 movie made of Mitchell's love story, which starred Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, is the highest grossing Hollywood film of all time (adjusted for inflation). William Golding Lord of the Flies was rejected by 20 publishers. One denounced the future classic with these words: “An absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull.” John le Carré After he submitted his first novel, The Spy
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Something As the old year makes way for the new, with discordant strains of Auld Lang Syne still ringing in my ears, I am reminded of how much I love craft beer. So much so that that I now brew my own. If not quite with the arcane artistry of the brewing adept then certainly with all the craftiness of the alehouse enthusiast. After bottling my last batch of American Pale Ale, it struck me how alike the craft of brewing beer is to the craft of writing. They may even be cousins. Although, like cousins, they should probably be encouraged not to flirt with one another. But the point I’m making is not so much that they mix well – generally they don’t - but how similar they are in their composition. Indulge me awhile: The fundamental element of all good books lies in Character. And so it is with an honest brew. Now, you can make beer with Jungle Oats and cane sugar if you wish, it shouldn’t kill you. It will undoubtedly get you talking Cantonese, if that’s your objective. However, just as a good book hangs its success on good Characters, so too a good brew hangs its success on the characters of the grains, hops, sugars and yeast used in its composition. From the sinister richness of chocolate malts like Carafa 1; the aromatic caramel of Caramunich 2 and the lingering smoke of Beechwood Smoked malt, to the spice and citrus flavours imparted by seductive hops such as Styrian Goldings, Amarillo, Crystal, Green bullet, Falconer’s Flight – the list is infinite, the combinations infinitely more. Next to Character, the second element of a good book is Plot. To the brewer
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brewing
concocting his magic potion, this is akin to the recipe. Without a plot, your characters ramble and roam wild, crash into one another, hiss, spit and scratch. There is no harmony, no chorus, no crescendo. Without a recipe, your homebrew, even with the best ingredients, can quickly degenerate into pigswill.
A point to note at this stage is that a perfect plot melded with memorable characters is still no guarantee of an acceptable union. Sometimes, for reasons inexplicable, the whole concoction blunders and behaves poorly. If this happens to you while writing a novel, where your artistically created adversarial characters refuse to stick to the meticulously researched plot, preferring instead to get sozzled together in the local pub, there is a recourse. Simple yet effective. In the immortal words of Chris Baty, ‘Just add ninjas!’ That’s right. Ninjas! Never fails! Send a squad of brawling ninjas into that pub and watch your protagonist and antagonist put their dukes up and join in the melee on opposite sides. Likewise, on brew day, hops are your Ninjas! Whole flower-hops or dry pellet hops, it matters not. When all else fails, and your malty concoction neither smells nor tastes like it should, hop that brew till it begs for mercy, then grit your teeth and hop it some more! Now, armed with your characters and your plot, before you venture any further, just like a novel, your homebrew needs a hero: a protagonist. Enter the yeast! King of the ring! Yup, without these
by Ian Tennent
little yeasty-beasties your sugars will not magically morph into alcohol and your beer will be little more than glorified tea. Like heroes, yeasts also have their own character. Some are aggressive, some quiet, some need a slap upside the head to get them moving, but all are essential. So then, our protagonist sorted, who then, is our villain? The equivalent of our literary antagonist? None other than… wait for it… bacteria! That’s okay. Easy now, it’s okay to be scared. Terrified even. The heinous evil of bacterial infection is well documented in brewing circles and has most of us homebrewers sweating over our fermenters. But fear not. Your yeast, carefully trained, is more than a match for the most insidious of infections and his repugnant army of offensive odours and foul flavours. And, what’s more, he’s hungry for the fight.
To the next common element between our two crafts then: the crucible. What is this thing, I hear you ask. In scientific terms a crucible is a vessel capable of withstanding extreme heat; think of the cauldron used in iron-smelting. In literary parlance the crucible is that which prevents the characters, especially the protagonist and antagonist, from escaping each other’s influence as events heat up. It can be a place or a desire or a relationship (the lifeboat in Life of Pi; the courtroom in A Few Good Men; the ring in Lord of the Rings; the blossoming love in Romeo and Juliet etc). In brewing terms the crucible is firstly the brew kettle where the malts and hops combine, followed by the fermenting vessel where yeast battles
infection for ultimate supremacy over the wort (the liquid tapestry that arises from the skilful blending of your lesser characters: the malt, hops and water). So then, after numerous trials and tribulations the war is won. Your brew has survived. Good (yeast) has triumphed over evil (infection) and all manner of pitfalls in-between, ranging from extreme temperature fluctuations to Krausen explosions to eviction notices served by olfactory impaired spouses. Now what? Time to get it into consumable form. I’m alluding to publishing here, bottling being the brewing equivalent. But you can’t bottle your liquid gold until your bottles are sterilised. Enter the editor. And this is crucial. Your beautiful golden brew can still sour in a bottle that hasn’t been disinfected properly. So be diligent, be cautious, be precise. Let the disinfectant (the editor) do their job. Bottling complete, the next step is marketing – giving your hooch a name, designing and producing the label, and an enticing blurb on the back (if your ale is a 10% skull-splitter then a PG rating is also advised). And finally then to the ultimate prize, cracking the crown-top on your perfectly chilled homebrew, hearing the satisfying shwickk it makes moments before the bottle-top dances a jig on the barcounter. Pouring it slowly, watching diamonds condense on the tilted glass, admiring the creamy bubbles that frolic to the surface and settle in a plush bed of luxurious froth. Handing the glass to friend, living their first shlurp with them, noting the raised eyebrows, the gentle nods, the chuckles of appreciation… ahhh!
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TRAVEL
Over the course of half a century, Lawrence Green recorded every corner of South Africa in a series of travel books rich in anecdote. Tavern of the Seas (1947) is his best-known work. As in all his writing, it is the past that informs the present and reading Green thus becomes a journey into history. His writing is typical of the mid-century canon of which he is a part. Within the greater travel-writing tradition, the post-war era saw a particular form of the genre that was sensible, stoic, largely British and harked back to a previous era when the world was simpler and travel was still exotic. The finest writers of this no-nonsense, Englishman-abroad style were the likes of Eric Newby, Wilfred Thesiger and Norman Lewis. In South Africa, a similar form was current. The writing was informative,
historically anchored, nostalgic and lacking in affectation. There was little or no experimentation with style or genre. Our best local exponents were probably Lawrence Green and TV Bulpin.
and, of course, the Clock Tower (built in 1833 as a signal station).
Being a sailor, Green often dwelt on things maritime in his writing. It’s not surprising that Tavern of the Seas pays so much attention to harbours, the coastline and nautical history. ‘Corners of Table Bay remain very much as they were when I was a schoolboy with a bicycle,’ he writes.
Green recalls the fishing boats of yore, especially whalers. These squarerigged ‘spouters’ from Nantucket and New Bedford made a home in Table Bay. Their sails were darkened by blubber smoke and their masts stumpy, but they carried swift harpooning boats. Every summer, an armada left Cape Town and crowds would line the waterfront to watch the black fleet sail for what the Norwegians called the ‘south ice’.
Go down to the V&A Waterfront today and you may find it difficult to picture the bustling Victorian port he describes, but hints are everywhere if you know where to look: cannons cemented into the wharf, vestiges at the South African Maritime Museum
The construction of Cape Town’s Foreshore buried many of Green’s childhood haunts under a layer of concrete. Rogge Bay, the landing place for generations of fishermen, was transformed into an zone of skyscrapers and parking lots. ‘There,
Green’s
Cape Town
Lawrence Green’s bestselling book about Cape Town, Tavern of the Seas, is a piece of Africana. Justin Fox explores the Mother City through the eyes of Green.
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for 200 years at least, the boats rested in a neat crescent, bows pointing seawards,’ writes Green. It’s not easy to find the soul of old Cape Town, but if you’re serious in your quest, Green suggests a stroll up Adderley Street late at night. ‘When all the traffic has faded out, you may well find the ghosts of the Heerengracht returning … the crinolines and sedan chairs. Long after midnight the canal may flow again and there will be thatched roofs and stoeps all down the street.’ Tavern of the Seas deals not only with the city, but also the peninsula. The reader is treated to a scenic meander down the Atlantic seaboard. The author recalls the time when Green Point Common was a racecourse, with the track marked out by Dutch cannons planted in the ground.
‘Clifton was an almost bare hillside … although I have found an undated note of an old Dutch homestead which was swept away one winter by an avalanche of mud,’ he writes. The billionaire piles of today are a far cry from that little sliver of paradise far from the hubbub of the city. Some time ago, I was asked to compile an anthology of writing about the Mother City, Cape Town Calling. I’ve had a complicated relationship with my hometown and often felt the need to escape. It was in Green that I found many of the things I sensed were latent in my own relationship with Cape Town. Reading him helped me articulate my complicated love for the city. I identified with his restlessness, but also his need to return there. I noted the things he held in high regard and found that they
were not only dear to me, but part of me. Like the irascible Atlantic on a winter’s day, the sound of the adhaan echoing across Bo-Kaap, the whales of Kalk Bay or the booming of Green Point’s foghorn. Green evokes a Cape Town that is in many respects no more. He recalls going on shooting parties just beyond the city limits, or waking in a cave at Cape Point to find that baboons had stolen his catch in the night. But his reminiscences do throw light on the present and add to the patchwork of narratives that cling to this town at the tip of a continent. For, as Green well understood and I have grown to understand, it is only through its past that you can truly know this city.
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Reads recommended
Title: Zululand Gold Author: Ian Tennent Teen, Folktales & Myths Description: A schoolboy. His recent brush with death should have doused Craig’s adventurous spirit. So why does he feel so restless? A 100 year old legend. Gold! Tons of it. Steeped in history and shrouded in mystery. Too incredible to believe in but too tantalizing to resist! And the visions that haunt him still. Memories of reptilian eyes, murderous men and the lingering taste of cheap brandy. Memories that cling with black talons to the torn canvas of his dreams. Memories that have no place inhabiting an idyllic weekend beach-camp. And yet, beneath a moonlit sky, a half forgotten fragrance disturbs the balmy Zululand breeze and sets Craig’s heart pounding … the sickly sweet smell of cherry tobacco....
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Title: Cinder Author: Marissa Meyer YA, Science Fiction & Fantasy Description: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
Title: Cross Justice Author: James Patterson Suspense Thriller Description: Alex Cross left his hometown, and some awful family tragedies, for a better life with Nana Mama in Washington, DC. He hasn’t looked back.
Title: Reader on the 6.27 Author: Jean-Paul Didierlaurent Contemporary Literary Fiction Description: An irresistible French sensation - Mr Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore meets Amélie - The Reader on the 6.27 explores the power of books through the lives of the people they save. It is sure to capture the hearts of book lovers everywhere. Guylain Vignolles lives on the edge of existence. Working at a book pulping factory in a job he hates, he has but one pleasure in life . . . Sitting on the 6.27 train each day, Guylain recites aloud from pages he has saved from the jaws of his monstrous pulping machine. And it’s this release of words into the world that starts our hero on a journey that will finally bring meaning into his life. For one morning, Guylain discovers the diary of a lonely young woman: Julie. A woman who feels as lost in the world as he does. As he reads from these pages to a rapt audience, Guylain finds himself falling hopelessly in love with their enchanting author . . .
Now his cousin Stefan has been accused of a horrible, unthinkable murder, and Cross drives south with Bree, Nana Mama, Jannie, and Ali to Starksville, North Carolina, for the first time in thirty-five years. Back home, he discovers a once proud community down on its luck, and local residents who don’t welcome him with open arms. As Cross steps into his family home, the horrors of his childhood flood back--and he learns that they’re not really over. He brings all his skill to finding out the truth about his cousin’s case. But truth is hard to come by in a town where no one feels safe to speak. Chasing his ghosts takes Cross all the way down to the sugarcane fields of Florida, where he gets pulled into a case that has local cops needing his kind of expertise: a string of socialite murders with ever more grisly settings. He’s chasing too many loose ends--a brutal killer, the truth about his own past, and justice for his cousin--and any one of the answers might be fatal. In Cross Justice, Alex Cross confronts the deadliest--and most personal--case of his career. It’s a propulsive, edgeof-your-seat thrill ride that proves you can go home again-but it just might kill you.
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ARTICLE
FROM INDIE TO PUBLISHED: Part 6
The strange new phenomenon -
The Book Blog
The new phenomenon of the virtual book tour is proving a very effective promotional tool in creating book awareness and boosting book sales, particularly in the ebook market, so long as the execution lives up to the concept.
recommendations and interact with their favourite authors. Book bloggers bridge the gap between reader and writer, and can single-handedly bump a book’s sales rank by thousands of places.
Nobody can dispute the power of social media. The digital age is well and truly upon us, and anyone who digs their heels in and clings to the old ways will be left “holding the bag”. But where to start? Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr...the list is endless and can be very daunting, particularly for those of us who are not exactly “techno-savvy.”
A book tour is even more successful, and involves a number of blog stops over a period of time. Tour stops may consist of an author interview, Q&A, a character interview, book review, author guest blog – the possibilities are endless. Almost all of the work is done in advance, when the tour schedule is being put together. The author will prepare material ahead of time and then “show up” on the allocated day, to interact with any visitors and respond to any comments.
In the publishing world, physical book tours are expensive, time-consuming and sadly, too often just not worth it. This is tragic, because as an author, there is nothing better than being able to interact with your readers. Virtual book tours enable you to do this, without the disadvantages presented by their “physical” counterparts. Virtual book tours are a valuable promotional tool for authors to connect with readers via well-read book blogs and speciality blogs. In my opinion – Bloggers are the new “Oprah.” In the same way that a new mum would subscribe to a “baby” blog site to gain helpful tips and enter online competitions, so do readers flock to these book blogs, to get book
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A virtual book tour is not restricted by time or place, and an international, world-wide tour can be co-ordinated from your PC. Even if it involves the author waking up at 2 am to attend a tour stop, as a result of different time zones. Book bloggers expect no financial compensation for hosting you on their site, although they prefer to promote work that they have reviewed and would recommend, in order that they do not lose credibility. Due to the rise in popularity of book blog tours, many of these hosts are inundated with
requests. They do it simply because they love to read, and the one perk of being a tour host is that they receive advanced reading copies, enabling them to indulge in their favourite past time at no cost.
g Tour by Melissa Delport
Setting up a tour is no easy feat. It is a logistical nightmare and requires a lot of planning. Most of the work is done in advance. Here are 6 “easy” steps to setting up a successful tour: 1. Decide on tour dates. Tours can be anything from 1 week to 3 months. Give yourself enough time to secure tour hosts and prepare information – you don’t want to have empty slots in your tour schedule. 2. Secure tour hosts: Contact bloggers and ask if they would be prepared to host a spot on your tour. Be sure to research their blog sites and take note of the genre they prefer. A reader of romance is not likely to enjoy your “horror” novel. Always follow their submission guidelines and always be polite. 3. Set up a tour schedule: Once you have bloggers on board, you can prepare your tour schedule. Think of this as an itinerary, showing where you will be on what date, and what sort of post is scheduled. 4. Attend to all pre-tour material: Bloggers will advise you what they would like to feature, whether it is a book trailer, author interview, character interview, book excerpt, etc. They will send you their questionnaires and requests for material. Attend to each and confirm they have received everything. 5. Promote your tour: Promote your tour through your own social media channels, and invite guests to follow the tour as it progresses. 6. Show up and interact: Make sure you visit your scheduled hosts during the duration of your tour, to interact with any readers and thank your host. Remember, you may want to make use their services again in the future.
Until next time, Happy writing!
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AUTHORS
MAGAZINE
FEBRUARY 2016
Author of "On The Island"
TRACEY GARVIS GRAVES