Where I Write by Louise Marley

As I found out last month, I don’t need a room of my own in which to write. I can write anywhere. It doesn’t mean I have to like it though! I love having my own study – and it is definitely a study – ‘office’ sounds far too much like work. Writing can be very hard work but it’s also the best job in the world. Make stuff up for a living? What’s not to love?

So, welcome to my world! I’ve not written much here yet, as I’ve been too busy moving house. I don’t close the door, unless the writing is going badly. I’m incredibly nosy and I like to know what is going on elsewhere in the house. Having said that, I always listen to music while I work, to drown out background noise. I create playlists to help me get into the right (write?) frame of mind and I also have mood boards on Pinterest – but you can read more about my actual writing process here.

I write on a laptop. It enables me to work anywhere. I can touch-type as fast as I can talk – and believe me, I can talk very fast. If pushed, I can also write using paper and pen, although my handwriting is appalling – even I have trouble reading it back.

The box on the left of my desk contains recent issues of trade magazines – Writing Magazine, The Author, Romance Matters and The Bookseller. The red box is my ‘pending’ tray. The action figure perched on the edge of the pending tray is Reno, my good luck charm. Reno is a character from a video game called Final Fantasy but he’s also a character in one of my favourite books, Fire and Ice by Anne Stuart. I won him in one of her competitions.

I am a terrible hoarder and hate throwing anything away. I collect mugs, and when they get broken I reuse them to store my pens. The white one with the crest on it is from Hampshire Constabulary, where I used to work as a civilian admin officer – this is why my characters are often police officers.

Unfortunately I don’t have room in my study for all my books – they live in plastic crates elsewhere in the house. This is probably a good thing; I’m the kind of person who can’t be trusted to be left alone with a book. The only books on my study shelves are there for reference.

I also rely heavily on my Kindle Fire for work. I edit on it when I’m out and about, and I use it for catching up with emails, social networking and blogging. It also contains over 1,000 books. I know because I counted them – and yes, I have read most of them! So if I should suddenly go quiet, I’m sure you’ll be able to guess what I’m up to …

Read More:

A Room of One’s Own

My Writing Process

Keeping it (Un)real
Writers Write (What I Really Do All Day)

Where I write by Valerie-Anne Baglietto

The bossy Novelista, Valerie-Anne Baglietto, is next up to show us where she works and to spill the beans on a few of her writing habits... 

Imagine the scene... 

It's 8.30 and the kids have been dispatched to school. I haven't completely emptied the dishwasher yet or put the washing machine on, but I have got dressed in my comfiest jogging pants and T-shirt. One of the things I love about being a writer is the fact I haven't got to slap on make-up, comb my frizz or squeeze into a power suit.

So first things first. Coffee to get my brain in gear. It might sound like a cliche, but it honestly does help me focus and gives my imagination a boost. It also keeps me awake because, after all, juggling the demands of three kids of fourteen and under can be a wee bit tiring. 

I thought it would be easier the older they got. 

Favourite mug!

Hahaha.... *feeble laughter* 

No. 

No, it isn't. That's a myth to keep parents going through the early years. 

So, where do I actually write? 

That's what you really want to know or you wouldn't be reading this. Well, the answer is 'all over the place'. When I'm being good and taking care of my poor neck, I'm upstairs at my desk with my ergonomic keyboard. Because of lack of space, though, this room is also my eldest son's den, so I can only use it when he's at school or out with his friends. Thankfully this is quite often. Here's a photo of it looking neat and organised. I have to tidy daily because my son is a) male and b) a teenager, and apparently not a control freak like me.

When I'm being naughty...

My good posture suffers and I take the laptop downstairs to the lounge. Sometimes I need a change of scene. I recently bought this coffee table on eBay from a local seller. I love a bargain and I wanted a nice solid oak table where I could slot in some large baskets for storage and also spread out my paraphernalia on top. (Disclaimer: I do not endorse this writing position, it will leave you with a stiff neck and aching shoulders and possibly harm your long-term writing career.)

I tend to make all my notes in long-hand but when I'm deep in writing mode I have to bash out everything electronically. I can touch type quickly, so it feels as if my thoughts flow automatically on to the screen. I also don't print anything out to edit these days. I change my work as I go along, as I can't do the first-draft-in-one-go thing. It just isn't the way I produce my best writing. When I'm on a second/third draft I transfer my story to my Kindle to read through it again. It truly is amazing, the errors and discrepancies that pop up when you change the font and the layout of your work. Also, it saves a fortune on ink and paper and stops my printer from blowing up. 

When I'm reading work through on my Kindle I like to curl up in the conservatory, but at the moment my conservatory looks something like this:

We've had to build a new one as the previous timber construction was rotting and leaking. My imagination is coming in handy right now, as I can see myself stretched out on a squashy sofa with my Kindle and mug of coffee, making editorial notes or watching wispy clouds drift across the sky through the glass roof... There are all sorts of fairy tales up there, waiting for me to grab them.

Oh, I love my job. I really, really do! Even on those days when my writing is rubbish and no one in their right mind will ever read it. 

Anyway, I think I've said enough, and I feel an urgent coffee break coming on. If anyone has any questions I'm happy to answer them, just leave a comment below and I'll get back to you.

(That's me being bossy, by the way. Apparently that's what I do best!) 

www.valerie-annebaglietto.com
Twitter: @VABaglietto
Facebook: Valerie-Anne Baglietto Author

How I Became a Bestseller on Kindle by Juliet Greenwood

When I heard, several weeks ago, that We That are Left was going to be a 99p Kindle Daily Deal, I never imagined for one moment that it would get into the top 100, let alone to the dizzy heights of number #4 in the Kindle store.

We That are Left

At first I told myself there was nothing I could do to prepare. I couldn’t tell anyone until the day itself, and it was just one day. I’m with a small press, the incomparable Honno Press, and I’m not a big name. Besides, like most writers, trying to balance the day job, writing, editing and promotion (plus a life) means that choices have to be made.

But no one ever got anywhere by looking a gift horse in the mouth. So I took the risk, put everything else on the back burner for a couple of weeks, and went for it. I’m so glad I did.

Preparation

Juliet Greenwood

I couldn’t publicise the Daily Deal in advance, so I focussed on upping my profile. I increased my number of blog posts during those weeks, both on my own blog and on that of the wonderful and supportive Novelistas Ink, and publicised them as much as I could on Facebook and Twitter. Twitter is an amazingly supportive place. I made a real effort to use it more efficiently, following people back, tweeting blog posts, and retweeting publicity. Along the way, I grew my numbers of followers and learnt so much about really interacting, instead of just popping in now and again – plus I met some great people and made new friends along the way!

The day itself

I had decided to set aside the whole day to focus on networking and publicity. Which was just as well, as it turned out, because apart from a short dog walk and a few cups of tea in the sun, it was nonstop all day. I put a blog post publicising the deal at around 6.30am, and hit the social networks. It’s no good just shouting ‘buy me!’, so much of the time was the usual tweeting of information and other people’s blogs, and lots of retweeting, interspersed with a quick wave.

#2 in Sagas (Amazon UK)

It was all quite sedate for a while. I didn’t realise (until fellow Novelista Louise Marley told me) that it takes a few hours for Amazon’s figures to show, and what I was actually looking at were sales figures from several hours before. It was great being in the top 500, and definitely higher than I had ever been. There was just a small niggle that was thinking of all that work I’d put in over the past weeks, but I told myself to be philosophical. I was nervously looking at the figures, holding my breath and taking screen shots (work out how to do them before the day!) as a record.

Just before lunchtime I found one of my screenshots was blurred and dived back in without thinking. And there it was. We That Are Left had jumped to #61 in the Kindle store. Top 100. (Luckily I have very understanding neighbours, who nod sagely at the odd wild squeal and don’t call the men in white coats.) That’s when I knew all that work had paid off, and from that point on, until I finally collapsed at midnight when the promotion ended, it was one rollercoaster of a ride, up to number 2 in three saga categories, and number 4 in the overall Kindle store. Still pinching myself.

#4 in the Bestseller Chart (Amazon UK)

What have I learnt? That writers are the most generous and supportive bunch on the planet. That social networking really does work. Facebook and Twitter are amazingly supportive. That all the blog posts I’ve done over the past six months also helped to make the book familiar: I’ve done it myself, remembered a post and a cover of an author I don’t know and thought ‘that sounds interesting’, but done nothing about it until it appears in a charity shop or at 99p! That it is possible to get to #4 in the Amazon charts with a small publisher.

Top Tips:

1. Do your preparation – network, blog, make yourself as visible as can be. Keep on doing it - you never know when the chance might come your way.
2. Support other authors. Not just before you need them, but all the time. We’re all in this together.
3. Love your readers. They are your best advocates, and hopefully feel just as passionately about your book as you do.
4. Set aside the day. It’s a promotional opportunity, make the most of it. It’s only one day. The sun will be there tomorrow.
5. Be prepared for things to happen both slowly and very fast.
6. Take screen shots each time there’s a change, it might be your only chance! I made a folder on my desktop, so I could label each one and shove it in there out of the way until I had time to sort them out.
7. Share your excitement. I loved sharing the journey with my Twitter and Facebook friends, it was part of the blast, and it definitely helped to spread the buzz.
8. Forget about healthy eating, head for the chocolate. I was a nervous wreck by lunchtime, in need of the hard stuff (i.e. sugar).
9. Write the best book you can, straight from the heart. Listen to what your editor tells you, however much you want to sulk. She’s right. And if you believe passionately in your book, it’s not just about me, me, me, it’s about the book. You’ll fight to the ends of the earth to get your baby out there to take her place in the sun - and believe it or not, that’s catching.
10. Whatever happens, it’s only a day. Who knows what might happen tomorrow? Enjoy!