Sue Copsey's Blog, page 2
December 19, 2015
My Top 5 editing highlights of 2015
This year I got the chance to find out, when Huia asked me to edit a picture book by Patricia Grace. In fact it was a double whammy, because the subject of the book was another national treasure: the Haka. Of course, the story was beautifully written, but what a relief to find one or two things that I thought could do with a tweak. So I was able to add a final sheen, and I felt honoured to have done my bit ��� one of my editing highlights of the year.
And here, in no particular order, are the other four:
1. The Bold Ship Phenomenal, by Sarah Johnson. When it���s not really work. Sarah���s writing is lyrical, warm-hearted and funny. This is a New Zealand adventure story with a touch of magic, for 8���12-year-olds. Sarah is an indie author, and it is wonderful to see this book on the shelves of major bookshops and getting rave reviews in the likes of the New Zealand Herald. Fabulous cover and internal illustrations by Deborah Hinde, too.
2. The Prankster and the Ghost, by R.L. Stedman. Another ���not really work��� job. Funny and beautifully written, again for 8���12-year-olds. Here���s a link to a review by Christchurch Libraries��� Zac McCallum: http://bestfriendsarebooks.com/2015/10/22/the-prankster-and-the-ghost-by-r-l-stedman/
3. Lily Max: Satin, Scissors, Frock, by Jane Bloomfield. Jane asked me to read through the manuscript before sending off to her publisher, and I loved it from page 1. Lily Max is quirky, funny and warm and I predict great things (like a TV series!) for her. Then I met Jane in the (fabulous) flesh at the Tinderbox conference in Wellington and really she was just a grown-up Lily Max. Jane���s book was also deservedly featured in the NZ Herald���s Best Books for Christmas list and is flying off the bookshelves.
4. Ah yes, Tinderbox! This year, after several months of fretting (putting it mildly), I proved to myself I could stand up and talk usefully in front of a large group of people that included many Big Names ��� twice. But even more than that, Tinderbox confirmed my suspicions that if you���re a children���s writer or illustrator in NZ, you are part of possibly the nicest group of people (cue Jeremy Clarkson voice) ��� In The World.
Merry Christmas!
October 13, 2015
THE GREY LADY AND THE WALK OF TERROR
This month I was invited to write a Halloween-themed piece for Zac McCallum���s blog, BestFriendsAreBooks. Zac is the children and young adult outreach librarian in Christchurch, and his enthusiasm for NZ children���s and YA literature is the sort of thing that keeps us authors going!
Zac threw me the question, ���Why do you write ghost stories for children?��� Here is my reply.
Zac threw me the question, ���Why do you write ghost stories for children?��� Here is my reply.
August 13, 2015
Interview with children���s author Sarah Johnson
Here are my five questions for Sarah:
1 What inspired you to write The Bold Ship Phenomenal? Was it a single light-bulb moment �����maybe you saw a ship in a bottle in a shop ��� or was it an idea that took shape slowly?
���Looking back now, there were clear beginnings for my story, in my own childhood. Interestingly, I didn���t see them until I���d dispatched the book to the printers; then I had a realisation. I have always been a bit of a clutter collector. Objects interest me. I like to see the imagined other worlds in them: the story. I love the romantic and mysterious possibilities of objects, especially found ones.���
July 6, 2015
Castaway on Tiritiri Matangi
Soon after arriving in NZ, I mentioned to one of my new friends something about the supermarket at Milford, a shopping mall next to a beautiful beach with gorgeous views.
���What do you go all the way there for?��� she asked (it���s about a 15-minute drive).
���What do you go all the way there for?��� she asked (it���s about a 15-minute drive).
May 31, 2015
May 9, 2015
Interview with Chard Andrews,
author of maritime thriller Orion Rising
(Oh, and did I mention he���s a ship���s captain?)
One of the current buzzwords in self-publishing is ���discoverability���, and not without good reason. There are millions of books for sale on Amazon. MILLIONS! How will someone looking for a book just like yours actually land on your book���s Amazon page?
Some pundits say that cream will rise to the top. But will it?
Let���s say you have a well-written thriller. You���ve shelled out for a professional editor to wrangle your prose, and a top designer for your cover and internal layout. You may even have invested in a creative writing course before all that. Your product is tip top and you���re good to go.
Trouble is, you also have a demanding day job, a family with young children, and, oh yes, you���d quite like to get on and write your next book. So the time you have for marketing that well-written thriller is ��� well, none, actually.
All of the above apply to the subject of this week���s interview: Chard Andrews, author of the futuristic maritime thriller Orion Rising. Chard is a terrific writer AND a ship���s captain. Then there���s that family with young children. He deserves to be discovered ��� get to it, readers! (Well, read the interview first, then get to it.) And if you���re an author thinking of going the indie route yourself, make sure you read Chard���s inspiring advice at the end of the interview.
Some pundits say that cream will rise to the top. But will it?
Let���s say you have a well-written thriller. You���ve shelled out for a professional editor to wrangle your prose, and a top designer for your cover and internal layout. You may even have invested in a creative writing course before all that. Your product is tip top and you���re good to go.
Trouble is, you also have a demanding day job, a family with young children, and, oh yes, you���d quite like to get on and write your next book. So the time you have for marketing that well-written thriller is ��� well, none, actually.
All of the above apply to the subject of this week���s interview: Chard Andrews, author of the futuristic maritime thriller Orion Rising. Chard is a terrific writer AND a ship���s captain. Then there���s that family with young children. He deserves to be discovered ��� get to it, readers! (Well, read the interview first, then get to it.) And if you���re an author thinking of going the indie route yourself, make sure you read Chard���s inspiring advice at the end of the interview.
Interview with Chard Andrews,
author of maritime thriller Orion Rising
(Oh, and did I mention he’s a ship’s captain?)
One of the current buzzwords in self-publishing is ‘discoverability’, and not without good reason. There are millions of books for sale on Amazon. MILLIONS! How will someone looking for a book just like yours actually land on your book’s Amazon page?
Some pundits say that cream will rise to the top. But will it?
Let’s say you have a well-written thriller. You’ve shelled out for a professional editor to wrangle your prose, and a top designer for your cover and internal layout. You may even have invested in a creative writing course before all that. Your product is tip top and you’re good to go.
Trouble is, you also have a demanding day job, a family with young children, and, oh yes, you’d quite like to get on and write your next book. So the time you have for marketing that well-written thriller is … well, none, actually.
All of the above apply to the subject of this week’s interview: Chard Andrews, author of the futuristic maritime thriller Orion Rising. Chard is a terrific writer AND a ship’s captain. Then there’s that family with young children. He deserves to be discovered – get to it, readers! (Well, read the interview first, then get to it.) And if you’re an author thinking of going the indie route yourself, make sure you read Chard’s inspiring advice at the end of the interview.
Some pundits say that cream will rise to the top. But will it?
Let’s say you have a well-written thriller. You’ve shelled out for a professional editor to wrangle your prose, and a top designer for your cover and internal layout. You may even have invested in a creative writing course before all that. Your product is tip top and you’re good to go.
Trouble is, you also have a demanding day job, a family with young children, and, oh yes, you’d quite like to get on and write your next book. So the time you have for marketing that well-written thriller is … well, none, actually.
All of the above apply to the subject of this week’s interview: Chard Andrews, author of the futuristic maritime thriller Orion Rising. Chard is a terrific writer AND a ship’s captain. Then there’s that family with young children. He deserves to be discovered – get to it, readers! (Well, read the interview first, then get to it.) And if you’re an author thinking of going the indie route yourself, make sure you read Chard’s inspiring advice at the end of the interview.
April 17, 2015
Interview with Rachael Craw, author of Spark
I first ‘met’ Rachael when she joined a Facebook group I’m in. At the time, the overriding mood in the group (NZ children’s and YA authors) could probably be summed up as gloom. Publishers closing down, pitiful royalties, the usual suspects. Rachael burst into the group like an enthusiastic puppy, ‘liking’ everything, writing fun comments into threads – sometimes a few words, sometimes just a LOL and several exclamation marks. YA author? Of course (eye roll).
March 27, 2015
Look who���s coming to my blog!
So goodbye, New Zealand summer. Sigh. It���s been a golden one; a procession of hot and sunny days meaning that weekends should not be spent at the computer. This is my excuse for an unseemly gap between blog posts. You did notice, didn���t you?
You may also have spotted, if you follow my blog, that every now and again I try to give some of the New Zealand authors I work with a bit of a plug, especially those who are publicity shy. I���ve discovered that it���s no use telling authors they need to be tweeting and instagramming and pinteresting and nagging people to feature them on their blogs if they���d rather run naked through the local mall. To some, there is little difference. Many physically shudder when I mention Twitter. I can gently suggest they might actually enjoy this or that social media, and they just need to give it a try, but more often than not a hunted look will appear in their eyes and they���ll change the subject.
So I���m trying a different tactic ��� author interviews. Yes yes, I know it���s not exactly ground-breakingly original. The author blogosphere has lately become a never-ending circle of authors interviewing other authors. I suspect that only the authors��� mums may be reading half of them.
How can I make mine different? Well, I���ll be coming at the profiles from a ���What would I as a reader, not a writer, want to know about this person?��� angle. And trying to wheedle out some interesting stuff that you mightn���t discover simply by going to their author website.
I���ll be featuring a mix of established authors and new authors; mostly authors I���ve worked with, but some I haven���t. The criteria for selection is that the person must be interesting! Just look at this tasty line-up ��� my first five:
You may also have spotted, if you follow my blog, that every now and again I try to give some of the New Zealand authors I work with a bit of a plug, especially those who are publicity shy. I���ve discovered that it���s no use telling authors they need to be tweeting and instagramming and pinteresting and nagging people to feature them on their blogs if they���d rather run naked through the local mall. To some, there is little difference. Many physically shudder when I mention Twitter. I can gently suggest they might actually enjoy this or that social media, and they just need to give it a try, but more often than not a hunted look will appear in their eyes and they���ll change the subject.
So I���m trying a different tactic ��� author interviews. Yes yes, I know it���s not exactly ground-breakingly original. The author blogosphere has lately become a never-ending circle of authors interviewing other authors. I suspect that only the authors��� mums may be reading half of them.
How can I make mine different? Well, I���ll be coming at the profiles from a ���What would I as a reader, not a writer, want to know about this person?��� angle. And trying to wheedle out some interesting stuff that you mightn���t discover simply by going to their author website.
I���ll be featuring a mix of established authors and new authors; mostly authors I���ve worked with, but some I haven���t. The criteria for selection is that the person must be interesting! Just look at this tasty line-up ��� my first five:
Look who’s coming to my blog!
So goodbye, New Zealand summer. Sigh. It’s been a golden one; a procession of hot and sunny days meaning that weekends should not be spent at the computer. This is my excuse for an unseemly gap between blog posts. You did notice, didn’t you?
You may also have spotted, if you follow my blog, that every now and again I try to give some of the New Zealand authors I work with a bit of a plug, especially those who are publicity shy. I’ve discovered that it’s no use telling authors they need to be tweeting and instagramming and pinteresting and nagging people to feature them on their blogs if they’d rather run naked through the local mall. To some, there is little difference. Many physically shudder when I mention Twitter. I can gently suggest they might actually enjoy this or that social media, and they just need to give it a try, but more often than not a hunted look will appear in their eyes and they’ll change the subject.
So I’m trying a different tactic – author interviews. Yes yes, I know it’s not exactly ground-breakingly original. The author blogosphere has lately become a never-ending circle of authors interviewing other authors. I suspect that only the authors’ mums may be reading half of them.
How can I make mine different? Well, I’ll be coming at the profiles from a “What would I as a reader, not a writer, want to know about this person?” angle. And trying to wheedle out some interesting stuff that you mightn’t discover simply by going to their author website.
I’ll be featuring a mix of established authors and new authors; mostly authors I’ve worked with, but some I haven’t. The criteria for selection is that the person must be interesting! Just look at this tasty line-up – my first five:
You may also have spotted, if you follow my blog, that every now and again I try to give some of the New Zealand authors I work with a bit of a plug, especially those who are publicity shy. I’ve discovered that it’s no use telling authors they need to be tweeting and instagramming and pinteresting and nagging people to feature them on their blogs if they’d rather run naked through the local mall. To some, there is little difference. Many physically shudder when I mention Twitter. I can gently suggest they might actually enjoy this or that social media, and they just need to give it a try, but more often than not a hunted look will appear in their eyes and they’ll change the subject.
So I’m trying a different tactic – author interviews. Yes yes, I know it’s not exactly ground-breakingly original. The author blogosphere has lately become a never-ending circle of authors interviewing other authors. I suspect that only the authors’ mums may be reading half of them.
How can I make mine different? Well, I’ll be coming at the profiles from a “What would I as a reader, not a writer, want to know about this person?” angle. And trying to wheedle out some interesting stuff that you mightn’t discover simply by going to their author website.
I’ll be featuring a mix of established authors and new authors; mostly authors I’ve worked with, but some I haven’t. The criteria for selection is that the person must be interesting! Just look at this tasty line-up – my first five:
