Roz Morris's Blog, page 36

Building readership: a quiet rebellion against three pieces of conventional marketing wisdom

I’ll readily admit that book marketing is not my expertise, but some commonly accepted maxims really chafe for me. Indeed, my gut tells me I should do the opposite. So here they are, for better or perverse. Rebellion 1: Social media – use pictures and videos for greater engagement We all know the equation. A […]

A plea to authors – please speak out about piracy

I’ve had a worrying experience with a local book club. I’m not sure it is as it appears, so I won’t name names. But either way, it raises worrying questions about the way authors’ work is valued. Recently, a book club invited me to make a presentation about Lifeform Three. The club voted to read […]

Feel the fear and put yourself out there – advice for shy authors

A while ago I was at an author event about book publicity. Finding magazines, blogs and broadcast media that will review our book or interview us. How do we do that? The first thing to do, said my friend Ben Cameron of Cameron PR, is to get the right mindset. Think of it as creative. […]

What I wish I’d known at school: two instructions for making a creative life

A few weeks ago I posted about exercise and my ineptitude at school sports. In the far warrens of the internet, somebody at my old school pricked up her ears and wrote me an email. We love hearing what alumnae are up to. Would you write a few words for our magazine, with words of […]

Five tips for writing good prose

How do we learn to write good prose? Indeed, what is it? How do we develop our use of language, play our literary instrument with more elan and flair? We were probably all encouraged at school to use difficult words instead of simple ones. I see plenty of work that still seems in thrall to […]

Thinking on your feet: writing and my love-hate relationship with exercise

At school I loathed exercise. I had all the left feet possible. I couldn’t catch a ball and I couldn’t see balls anyway without specs. All creatures know when they are disliked, and I sensed how the games teachers loathed me. By the same token, they surely knew I did not hold their subject in […]

Umming and ermine – how to avoid getting in a right royal mess

Originally posted on Nail Your Novel:
Thank you, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, for the pic If the little wedding in London is sending your head awhirl with thoughts of court and nobility, you might like to know how to get your royals right First of all, there’s a general hierarchy. Emperor beats king; king beats…

Movements, movers and shakers: publishers and authors as literary citizens .. an interview

This week I’m interviewing Laura Stanfill, author, founder of the literary imprint Forest Avenue Pressin Portland, Oregon. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. This is the final instalment. Find her on Twitter as @ForestAvePress Roz How much do you consider an author’s platform when deciding whether to offer on […]

A week in the life of a small press .. an interview

This week I’m interviewing Laura Stanfill, author, all-round literary citizen and founder of the quirky literary imprint Forest Avenue Press in Portland, Oregon. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. This is Part 3. Find her on Twitter as @ForestAvePress Roz Do you have staff? Laura I don’t have a staff, but I have […]

Marketing literary fiction – ‘There are readers who need these stories…’ an interview

This week I’m interviewing Laura Stanfill, author, all-round literary citizen and founder of the quirky literary imprint Forest Avenue Press. Part 1 is here. This is Part 2. Find her on Twitter as @ForestAvePress Roz There’s no getting away from the fact that literary fiction is trickiest to market. Laura Oh it’s so hard! Every […]