Karen Returns!

Last week, I interviewed my good writing friend, Karen Philips. She's back today to talk a little more about writing conferences and the publishing world in the UK.

1. You went to last year's Swanwick Writer's Conference. Tell us about it!
Oh, yes. The Swanwick Writers’ Summer School is in Derbyshire, UK. The annual conference lasts a whole week in August. Over 600 writers, published and pre-published, plus agents, famous authors, (yes, I’ve stood in the bar with Iain Banks), all sharing meals, talks on the lawn and generally hanging out. Pretty mind-blowing if you’ve never been to anything like that. Jealous!

I didn’t know many writers beforehand and wrongly assumed the place would be full of introverts, who prefer reading to talking to people! Couldn’t have been more wrong. Which just shows what I know!

Everyone was very friendly. The excellent back-to-back lectures covered everything from self-editing to Sci Fi writing, and you could dip in and out as you wanted. I also had two agent one-to-one sessions. One with John Jarrold (Iain Banks’ top agent) and one with Benjamin Scott (a YA writer, teacher, SCBWI organiser-person). They both went through my chapter one and gave very insightful feedback. I think that was a turning point for me. Their positive encouragement, as professionals in the industry, made me realise that perhaps I could actually do this writing lark, and be good at it.

Of course you can, silly!

One of the best bits of the course was being immersed with other people like me! All talking about plotting, character development, book recommendations, and wanting to discuss the writing problems they needed to find solutions to. I loved it! Welcome to Planet Writer. It’s a blast.

Love the "Planet Writer" phrase. I need to use that one more often.

2. What differences have you noticed between the U.S. and U.K. publishing markets?
That’s a really good question. There are some big differences as far as I can see. And it’s swings and roundabouts for writers in either country.

My understanding of the U.S. market, especially in my genre, YA, is that it’s bigger and much more established. There are ten times as many agents representing YA, so you have more to submit to. Here in the U.K. there are perhaps twelve agencies that I can/want to query. Once I’ve gone through all twelve, I’m stuck. 

However, on the plus side for the U.K., we’re in an expanding market. YA is only just getting going, and all the U.K. agents are open for submissions from British writers. 

The other lucky thing about being a U.K. writer is that the submission process to agents is easier than in the U.S. We are required to send an email query letter, a one page synopsis and the first chapter/three chapters depending on the agency. So we get to send them our work, before being rejected! You guys sometimes only get to send the query letter without being able to send any of the actual work, until it’s requested. That’s tough.

But, hey, you guys have better weather and cool language. So you can’t complain. Meanwhile, it’s peeing down here in England.  It is June, after all. ;-))

Haha, noted.

Good luck with the writing!

Thanks again for the great insights, Karen, and for generally being all kinds of awesome.

Writer Spotlight: Karen Phillips

Hi all, I want to treat you to a Q&A today from my friend Karen across the pond. She’s got some fantastic insights about writing resources and a passion for YA.

Take it away, Karen!

Tell us about the first time you knew you wanted to be a writer.
I guess it was when I was recuperating from being pretty ill. I’d come out of the hospital and needed to rest a lot. So I was listening to BBC Radio 4 plays, comedy sketches and dramas. I read 120 novels in one year. The following year, I read 130. Whoa! And I rediscovered the joy of storytelling, and how writing allows the author to connect with readers, at a profound level. That’s very powerful. How you, as a reader, can be taken into another world, fall in love with characters and feel strong emotions. I get very excited about that!

What type of projects are you working on right now?
I’m currently working on my next YA novel. I love YA stories. There’s something very immediate, different and energetic in YA writing. You can push boundaries and explore so much more. I’m having a lot of fun writing my current ms. I’m trying something new, learning how to do it better ,and the cast of characters are people I’m really happy spending time with. They make me laugh every day!

What are your top one or two tips for other writers out there?
Tip number one:  Get yourself a brilliant and supportive writing mentor/buddy. I found mine through the Nathan Bransford forums. She’d written some excellent feedback on other peoples’ work. I totally agreed with her editorial comments and her high challenge, high support style. Luckily for me, she was open to striking up a friendship, and she’s since taught me heck of a lot. Here’s lookin’ at you, kid. ;-))

Aww, thanks Karen! *blush*

Tip number two:  Read. Read. Read. Read everything. Read novels in your chosen genre. Read work outside your genre. Read other writer’s work at critique groups. Read about the publishing industry. Read relevant agent’s blogs, twitter feeds and articles. You get the message.

What is the most helpful writing lesson you’ve learned?
Ooo, tough one. There are so many. Probably the old ‘show don’t tell’ lesson. It’s a tough one that takes a while to get right. And I still have to challenge myself on it. But once you do crack it, it takes your writing to a much deeper level.

Any mentors you want to give a shout out to?
I’m really very lucky in that I have an A-Team of three readers (friends) who read through my drafts and give me their thoughts. I’m also part of an online YA novel critique group via my membership of SCBWI. It’s good to share your work with trusted friends who can keep you going, especially when the going gets tough. Writing can be lonely, and sometimes you need the sanity check. 

What have been your biggest challenges along the way?
One of my biggest challenges is trying to remain focused, sane and not procrastinate by chatting on Facebook/Twitter, when I should be re-reading the ms for the hundredth time. Editing can be tough. Don’t get me wrong, it can be fun to see your novel take shape. But re-reading something that you know inside and out, to try and spot where you can improve it, is crazy-making.

Chocolate helps. So true!

How have you overcome those?
Be telling myself to shut up and get on with it. A good stern talking to never hurt anyone.

Do you have any fun resources, contacts or web links you want to share?
I think Nathan Bransford’s website/blog/forums are brilliant. Lots of excellent info, plenty of opportunities to connect with other writers in the same boat and you feel like you’re getting the inside scoop on the writing world!

I’d also recommend Donald Maass’ Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. Makes you want to weep over it as you realise just how much work you still have to do on your ms, but worth the effort.

SCBWI membership is another excellent way to connect with other writers. Everyone (published or pre-published) is very friendly and supportive.

Thanks again, Karen!

She'll be back next week to talk about the Swanwick Writer's Conference and some differences in US/UK publishing markets. If you want to catch up with her in the meantime, find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.