Phoebe Morgan's Blog, page 3

October 28, 2018

To agent or not to agent

One of the things people sometimes email me about is getting a literary agent, and whether or not they should. Nowadays, with so many new publishers doing exciting things and the self-publishing industry booming too, I can completely understand why you might feel as though you don’t need an agent. However – and this is just from a personal perspective and might not be applicable to your own experience – I do think a good agent is very much worth your time (and their % of your earnings!)

A goo...

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Published on October 28, 2018 09:55

October 26, 2018

Win a free copy of my book!

Hi everyone,

I have finally managed to get my act together enough to make a newsletter, and you can be the first to sign up here!

By joining my newsletter, you agree to receive occasional emails from me with all my up-to-date book news, giveaways, book recommendations, publishing industry insights, and writing tips. You can unsubscribe at any time, and you will never, ever receive spam.

The first 10 people to sign up will receive a free copy of my debut novel The Doll House so be speedy!

Ph...

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Published on October 26, 2018 08:19

October 10, 2018

The Girl Next Door

I am finally able to reveal the cover for my second book, The Girl Next Door! I love this jacket so much – the designer Anna Sikorska has done an amazing job. It’s always so nerve-wracking seeing your cover for your book (and this was actually not the first one I was shown) but I’m so happy that it’s finally out there!

The book publishes on 21st February 2019 and it’s available to pre-order now. I think I prefer this one to my debut – I suppose the idea is that writers get better with each bo...

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Published on October 10, 2018 03:00

September 22, 2018

Writing a Psychological Thriller

I did a workshop a couple of weeks ago at the lovely Chiswick Book Festival (which if you’ve never been I’d really recommend, it happens every September I think and there’s a huge range of brilliant talks – everything from cookery demonstrations to author panels and discussions) – anyway, my workshop was on how to write a psychological thriller and I thought I would share some of my tips on here as I had quite a lot of people asking me about it who couldn’t be there on the day.

1. Have a simp...

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Published on September 22, 2018 07:29

August 4, 2018

Upcoming book events!

I am speaking at a couple of literary festivals this summer which I’m very excited about! I am also running a workshop on writing a psychological thriller on September 15th at the Chiswick Book Festival, so if you think you have a novel in you, please do come along! Tickets here (booking advisable).

For those who are interested, you can buy tickets on the links below. There are lots of other far more exciting people also talking so if you’re interested in books and writing, have a look!

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Published on August 04, 2018 01:27

July 31, 2018

A day in the life of an Editorial Assistant

This week, I am pleased to bring you a second ‘day in the life of’ post, this time featuring the lovely Molly Walker-Sharp, editorial assistant at Avon HarperCollins. Being an editorial assistant really is such a vital job – she holds our team together – and it’s the first step on the ladder for lots of people wanting to enter the publishing industry. Read on for her advice…

1. Please describe your job – what does it involve?
My role is essentially split into two parts – the editorial bit and...

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Published on July 31, 2018 03:26

June 27, 2018

A day in the life of: Sabah Khan

Today I am speaking to Sabah Khan, Publicity Manager at HarperCollins. Below she shares some insight into what being a book publicist is really like, and some tips on how to secure a job in publicity.

1. Please describe your job – what does it involve?

The role of a publicist is really varied! Essentially I manage all the authors on our list, as well as every title they publish – so it ranges from writing and selling in acquisition announcements when we first sign the contract, working close...

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Published on June 27, 2018 06:21

May 31, 2018

Two more books!

One of my dreams came true this week, which was to be able to tell everyone that I have signed up for two new books with the fabulous HQ Stories, a commercial division of HarperCollins.

You can read the release in The Bookseller here, and The Girl Next Door will be published on April 4th, 2019 followed by another psychological thriller the year after that.

Thank you so much to everyone that bought my debut, The Doll House – you have all got me to this point and I cannot wait to see what eve...

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Published on May 31, 2018 08:03

March 25, 2018

Getting a job in publishing

This week has been super busy with publishing events, speaking on a panel for The Printing Charity on Tuesday and giving a keynote speech at the lovely Roehampton University Creative Writing Soiree on Wednesday. Both events got me thinking about careers as there were lots of students wanting to know more about publishing and specifically how to get into it, so I thought it might be useful to do a round-up blog post with some of the things I’ve been talking about.

Publishing can be a competit...

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Published on March 25, 2018 09:06

March 13, 2018

Why reviews are so important for authors

My favourite review I’ve ever received from anyone was from a lady named Margaret, who gave The Doll House one star because ‘she hadn’t read it yet.’ While it did make me laugh, reviews like this are surprisingly common and of course they’re frustrating for authors because they can pull down your star rating. In my case, this did actually disappear – I’m not sure whether Amazon took it down or the author did – but I know it’s a common problem so anyone reading this, please don’t review a book...

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Published on March 13, 2018 10:42