Working late into the night, I’ve been doing my own version of NaNoWriMo, which I should call something like NaNoFixMo, tearing apart a novel I started years ago (no, in reality, make that decades ago) in an attempt to work out what went wrong and put it right. I’ve been watching…
A Day In the Life of a Designer/Writer/Editor
“Designer, writer, editor – what’s that all about, Henry? Can’t you make your mind up?” Even if people don’t say it out loud, I can often see it in their faces. And that’s fair enough: most people have a single day job which is simple to describe. They’re a plumber,…
Home Truths from Abroad
A week spent in Jersey has proved to be creatively refreshing, largely because I made a conscious effort to stay offline as much as possible. I checked in on Twitter a couple of times, and kept tabs on my new friends at the Alliance of Independent Authors on FB, but…
Trust Emergence
Near the end of her latest book, Business For Authors – How To Be An Author Entrepreneur , Joanna Penn reveals what she has pinned to the board next to her desk, including one scrap of paper with a cryptic two-word inscription: “Trust Emergence”. In the audiobook version, Joanna then indulges the…
New Self-Publishing Blockbuster from Joanna Penn
I was listening to the dulcet tones of self-publishing guru Joanna Penn for most of yesterday evening and way into the night – that’s some lullaby! But I don’t regret a minute of it: what a fantastic resource she has created with Business For Authors – How To Be An Author…
What Sort of Writer Do You Really Want to Be? Insights from Joanna Penn
If you are, or want to become, a professional writer, then I can give no better advice than to take yourself to The Creative Penn, home of author/entrepreneur and best-selling fiction and non-fiction writer Joanna Penn. Joanna has gained a reputation as being, if you’ll pardon the military metaphor, a one-woman…
Creating Your Own Magazine 3: Making Plans
Having looked at the “why?”, it’s time to examine the “how?”. We’ve seen how a dream, plus a combination of other factors, led me to realise that it was time for me to take the plunge into the murky waters of creating my own magazine. But there’s a big difference…
Creating Your Own Magazine 2: Why?
Why on earth would anyone in their right mind want to start their own magazine? Well, I think the answer is the same as the one I would give to the very similar question, “Why would anyone in their right mind want to write a book?” Because they have to.…
Creating Your Own Magazine 1: Introduction
Let me tell you a story. This one isn’t about a fairy princess who meets her Prince Charming. Nor, sadly, is it about the brave adventurer who went into the wilderness and discovered riches beyond his wildest dreams. It is, however, my story: the story of how, as a one-man-band,…
Self-branding: the biggest challenge?
The process of creating a new identity is always challenging – especially if the client is yourself! It would be so nice to have the time and resources to step off the treadmill and spend a couple of weeks, with no other distractions, just concentrating on creating a new face to…