Brenton's on Tour!

Today I'm pleased to host Brenton Cullen for his current book tour for his book Ronda's Gang. Brenton has agreed to be guest blogger on Spinning Pearls, and has chosen to present this essay. (For more from me, read on at the end of Brenton's essay.)

The Writers: A Journey Through Writing Biographies

By Brenton Cullen

Brenton Cullen recently published his first non-fiction book, The Writers: A Collection of Australian Writers’ Biographies, with Lulu Publishing. A second edition was printed by I-Proclaim Press, in early April of 2008.

Putting together The Writers was a fun, and at times, difficult, process. It was also gruelling and troublesome. But nevertheless, I did indeed enjoy doing it. I first received the idea for a collection of biographies on well-known Australian children’s authors in December 2007.

I had just finished unwrapping all of my Christmas presents, and I was looking at a new book I had received for one of my presents. It was How To Self-Edit by Dianne Bates (my writing mentor). This book also proved very helpful when the editing process of my book came around.

Anyway, I turned How To Self-Edit over and read the back cover. A short excerpt, photograph of Dianne Bates, and a paragraph about her. I was sad that not much information was there about her. That had happened a lot with many of my other favourite children’s authors.

And then … it hit me! BAM! I wanted biographies on my favourite authors, why not write them myself? The first bit of writing material I did for The Writers was to make a list of the authors I would ask to be in the book.

The list looked a bit like this:

• Dianne Bates
• Libby Hathorn
• Duncan Ball
• Bill Condon
• Paul Collins
• Hazel Edwards
• Jackie French
• Sue Gough

The authors in the finished product of The Writers were all the writers above, except for Paul Collins and Sue Gough. Paul Collins because he hadn’t really written actual children’s books, but mostly YA novels, and teenager fantasy books.

I am a friend of Sue Gough’s, and met her at the 27th Annual Meanjin Writers’ Camp, and the reason she did not make it into the book was because she just was not that much of a well-known children’s author.

As soon as I had all the writers down that I wanted in my book, I sent each one of them a special email. In these emails were a list of questions, the biography request, and a request for a recent full-colour photo from each author.

After I had sent the emails to all six authors, I began to research them on Google. I typed in things like ‘Jackie French interview’ or just ‘books by Duncan Ball’. You know, general research starts.

About a week later, I checked my emails to find:
SIX NEW MESSAGES
All messages were from people by the names of: Hazel Edwards, Bill Condon, Jackie French, Libby Hathorn, Duncan Ball, and Dianne Bates.

‘Yes!’ I cried. ‘This is definitely going to be awesome!’

As a matter of fact, Bill Condon had actually been a later addition to the biography collection. He had originally not even been considered to be in The Writers: A Collection of Australian Writers’ Biographies. But when one author I had considered,
dropped out, I emailed Dianne Bates.

Bill very kindly agreed to let me write and include his bio in my book.

The Writers: A Collection of Australian Writers’ Biographies took me approximately two half months, if not three months, to complete. Those three months included writing time, research time, and also emailing the authors and waiting for them to respond time! But when that was all over, I had to add on about three and a half weeks for re-writing and editing time. So nearly about four months all together, for everything!

Self-publication had always seemed to appeal to me. ‘If I never get commercially published, then I’m doing it myself,’ is what I used to tell myself every time I got a rejection letter for a book of mine.

I first ‘dabbled’ in self-publishing when I went onto lulu.com, the website for Lulu Publishing.

After looking around Lulu Publishing’s website, I forgot about it for a couple months. But then, later on when I was trying to get The Writers published, I came back to it. I immediately got excited by the idea and uploaded my manuscript file to them right away!

I had to edit the book again, because I found a few typos that I had not noticed before. With Lulu Publishing, you were the boss, not the publisher! I got the chance to design the cover and back cover, enter information in, typeset it, etc, etc.

The whole thing was a very wonderful experience. Still, I would like my book to be published commercially, so I would appreciate any information or offers. I just checked my hits count for The Writers on lulu.com and found 253 hits. That’s in only four weeks, so far!

And after writing their autobiographies, all the authors in my book and I have become friendlier and are operating on a more personal basis, now. I have sold some few copies, so I look forward to selling quite a few more.

Promotion for my books, that I did all myself, had not really been a problem much at all. I sold copies at school, advertised them, and also put notices out. And every time my dad went away for a show I went with him with a good stock of books with me! I actually sold over $250 worth of books this way. So, as you can see it turned out to be quite profitable.

But as I said, it was a wonderful experience. But I suppose it will be even more wonderful if my book is commercially published! I am now working on a kids’ health book and a YA novel.

Brenton Cullen can be contacted at author.guy@hotmail.com
His blog is ww.bjcullen.blogspot.com and he is currently finishing up a series of play scripts.

This is me, Sally, again. In the essay above, Brenton was discussing an earlier book rather than Ronda's Gang. However, much of what he says has to do with any and all books. Brenton's experience showcases the determination and proactivity needed to succeed in the writing business. And make no mistake, it IS a business.

Buy Ronda's Gang online from Lulu, and can follow Brenton's blog tour at
tips4youngwriters (18 March)
http://spinningpearls.blogspot.com/ (19 march) Here... and apologies for the late lift off!
sallymurphy.blogspot.com and
Tales I Tell (21 March)

Brenton's on Tour!

Today I'm happy to welcome young author Brenton Cullen back to Spinning Pearls as one stop on his blog tour. If you want to track Brenton's tour, check out the following stops.

Day 1, Saturday 21st Feb. http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/
Day 2, Sunday 22nd Feb. Here at Spinning Pearls.
Day 3, Monday 23rd Feb. http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com/

Brenton’s book The Writers: A Collection of Australian Writers' Biographies, can be purchased as a download or in paperback or hardcover versions from Lulu by visiting http://www.lulu.com/content/2377107

Hi, Brenton;

I’ve already done an interview with you at Spinning Pearls, but I’ve come up with some questions for the blog tour.

Q. Young writers often find themselves categorized as “different” from other kids. Is this something you accept, or even enjoy, or do you prefer to see yourself as an ordinary writer who happens to be younger than most? (Or as an ordinary teenager who happens to be a writer.)

A. Well, I am not ordinary, but very different from the other kids in my classes. But I do think that people come down a bit too much on teenage authors. Sonya Hartnett hated being referred to as "the teen writer". I feel sort of the same way, as people do not take me as seriously as they would take a 35 yr old author.

Q. You write non fiction (in your biographies of Australian writers) and also fiction. Which style of writing comes more naturally to you?

A. This is hard to say. Non-fiction is easier but I prefer fiction and fiction is harder but I prefer to not do nonfiction all the time!

Q. Do you have other creative talents, such as music or drawing?

A. I am not fond of music, except for listening to it! My drawings would, put it this way, want to make you throw them in the bin! I enjoy some art, but am terrible at it, especially painting!

Q. Do any of your peers at school like writing too?

A. Yes, my best friend and I co-wrote a novel in 6th Grade.

Q. If you could interview any writer, living or dead, and write his or her biography, which one would you pick, and why?

A. I love this question!! I would love to fly to their house and sit down for a two hour interview or something with J.K. Rowling, or, much more likely(!) my mentor, Sally Odgers.

Thanks for answering my inquisitive questions, Brenton. Good luck with the rest of your tour.

Winning the Paperback in Your Hand contest 5

Here's a fifth tip for those planning to enter the Paperback in Your Hand Contest at http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com (or any other writing contest for that matter!)

Enter a project you feel passionate about.

Sometimes, strategies of market study and technical proficiency are enough, but winners often have that little bit extra. You might call it spark, passion or X-factor. It's difficult to categorise but unmistakable to see. Care about what you're writing, whether it's a recipe book, a family history, a poetry collection or a comic novel. If you find yourself smiling, sniffling, laughing or just grinning like a harvest moon when you think of your manuscript, then you care, and that's half way to making others see the light emerging from the bushell.

How to Win the Paperback in Your Hand contest 4

Welcome everyone! Today is the fourth day of this Event. It's very informal, as you will note. Each day I'll be putting up a tip or trick to help writers make the most of contest writing... not only the Paperback in Your Hand Contest, but other competitions, too. Please be sure to read the comments for the earlier parts, as the writers had some useful tips of their own. If you plan to enter this contest, you'll find all the details at http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com .

Here's the fourth tip.

If your entry is fiction, make sure the plot has plenty of highs and lows.

Most readers prefer a story where there is plenty of action, but which allows for some quieter and more reflective passages that allow them to get to know the characters. It is also better to show characters who have shades of grey in behaviour, emotion and luck. You can test this by plotting your protagonist's emotional journey on a graph, If the emotional journey appears to be flatlining, so, probably, is the story.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to check in tomorrow for the fifth tip.

How to Win the Paperback in Your Hand Contest 3

Welcome everyone! Today is the third day of this Event. It's very informal, as you will note. Each day I'll be putting up a tip or trick to help writers make the most of contest writing... not only the Paperback in Your Hand Contest, but other competitions, too. Please be sure to read the comments for Parts 1 and 2, as the writers had some useful tips of their own. If you plan to enter this contest, you'll find all the details at http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com .

Here's tip 3.

Consider your style, genre and target readership.

You probably have considered these already, but have you looked at them as a whole? Writing style is closely tied to readership and to genre. The style that is perfect for a category romance won't suit a hard-boiled thriller. The chatty first-person style that fits a chapter book might be quite wrong in a detective story. One of the most common errors I see is a style that fights with the genre, or with the age group. For example, there are very few science fiction stories for very young readers. This is because such young readers don't know the conventions of sci fi, and so need a lot explained. A lot of explanation in a short book overshadows the action and character.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to come back tomorrow for another winning tip. Any comments will be welcome.

How to Win the Paperback in Your Hand Contest 2

Welcome everyone! Today is the second day of this Event. It's very informal, as you will note. Each day I'll be putting up a tip or trick to help writers make the most of contest writing... not only the Paperback in Your Hand Contest, but other competitions, too. Please be sure to read the comments for Part 1, as the writers had some useful tips of their own. If you plan to enter this contest, you'll find all the details at http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com .

My second tip is simple.


Submit a manuscript of the right length.

The rules call for a manuscript of 25,000 words or under. This can be short stories, a novella, a short story or a chapter book, poems, a biography, a cook book... well, just about anything! Technically, a story with five words in it or a haiku poem would fall within the rules, but remember, this is a Paperback in Your Hand contest. How many paperbacks have you seen with one or two pages? A book of ten poems would probably have fewer words than a chapter book, but it would cover several pages because poetry is traditionally displayed in short lines with plenty of white space. A recipe book would likewise take up more pages than the word count would suggest. A chapter book would cover more pages than a short story of the same word count. A children's picture book would take up the traditional 32 pages... but since this particular contest cannot provide for coloured illustrations, any pictures would be black and white, and, additionally, will need to be provided by the author.

All these matters need to be taken into account by entrants in this contest. When planning your entry, visualise it as a paperback. How will it look? Will it be impossibly slim? Will it need saddlestitching, or will it be perfect bound? If you can't "see" a proper book, then maybe you should reconsider your entry.

Comments? Questions? Come back tomorrow for another tip.

How to Win the Paperback in Your Hand Contest 1

Welcome everyone! Today is the first day of this Event. It's very informal, as you will note. Each day I'll be putting up a tip or trick to help writers make the most of contest writing... not only the Paperback in Your Hand Contest, but other competitions, too.

First up... if you want to enter the contest, check out the rules at http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com .

Now, here comes the first tip. It might be self-evident to some people, but it obviously isn't to others.

Obey the contest rules.

Rules are there for a number of reasons. Some rules make sure there's a level playing field for entrants. Others make life easier for the judge(s). Still others are there to help weed out entries. If you're unsure about the meaning of a rule, you should contact the contest organiser(s) and ask. For example, the Paperback in Your Hand contest asks for manuscripts of 25,000 words or under. As it happens, the contest will accept mss of up to 26,000 words, simply because editing will often remove this many from the finished product. However, this is not always so. Some contests are strict about the word count, and you may be disqualified if you overshoot the mark.

If you have any comments or questions, send us a comment. Then tune in tomorrow for the next tip.