Katie John Guest Post: A stern talking to my previous naive self

Feel free to eavesdrop as I beat myself repeatedly over the head – it might just help you not make the mistakes I did.

So you've got a great idea and quite a skill for writing. You've got the dedication and the passion for telling the story and that surely must be it. The secret to all of this publishing lark is surely a matter of pure talent and literary genius. Sadly not. The rejection letters are flowing like a small river through your letterbox and with each one you're convincing yourself that it doesn't matter, they just didn't get your work; that your synopsis could never hope to convey the immensity of your project.

This was where I was six months ago. Boy have I had a learning curve…no, maybe right angle might be a more accurate assessment.

Now there are those in the writing world who are as the myth goes, plucked from relative obscurity and catapulted to international success and we can all name them, and we can all name them because it is such a rarity that it's newsworthy – myth making.

Now, I have read quite a few blogs that are a little churlish at the unfairness of the publishing industry and this not only makes a writer look unprofessional and burn their possible future bridges, but it also demonstrates the slightly naive place I was in six months ago, with my romantic notions of literary discovery.

What Have I learned on my Rocky Road?

That publishing houses are businesses (and that doesn't make them evil). They have to ensure that they have a PRODUCT that is guaranteed to sell enough copies to at least make them quits from the tens of thousands of pounds they put into publishing a novel. When they are approached by a writer who has never written anything before – regardless of whether their manuscript is a potential best seller or not – they are of course going to be immediately completing a mental risk assessment. And by God was I risky.

I sent of my manuscripts for The Knight Trilogy, when in truth, although I passionately believe in my work, I had nothing to back me up.

What should I have had before even thinking about approaching a publisher?

Testimonials – Accredited testimonials, not notes from your mum and sister – send out PDF to the brilliant and varied book bloggers out there in cyberspace. If anybody is going to give you a positive wake up call about aspects of your book, it's going to be them. I can't tell you how much I have learnt and developed as a writer because of these wonderful book lovers.

Make sure you diligently copy and paste all reviews, comments and URLs of features on to word documents.

A properly edited / proofread manuscript – okay school-boy error, but at the end of the day, it costs and most of us are not rolling in cash. I should have not been quite so wrapped up in having finished writing a novel to see the woods for the trees. (I did spend at least a year doing three revisions and two months checking it – but it still had errors because you go actually go blind to your own errors.)


A fully operating and interactive website – Your website is a way to show off how much hard work you are willing to commit to your work. Also everything about it communicates your concept and you as a writer. BEWARE, an agent or publisher will have your site deconstructed and analysed within minutes. Really ensure that it is going to impact in the right way. Think BRANDING, use of consistent colour and image to genre, market and audience across all of your media platforms – this doesn't mean you can't build a diverse range of sites and platforms but think of them as a family unit, not separate projects.

Internet coverage – before most publishers even look at a manuscript, they Google you. When I did this on myself six months ago I was mortified to find the obituary of a wonderful 90 year old lady.

Think of it this way – it is your job to clutter up as much of Google's first three pages with your name and books as possible. I am currently running at three sides of Google litter = RESULT!

Create yourself – this doesn't mean to your own self be [un]true, it means get yourself an appealing photo, work on a short bio for blogs, be funny but clearly communicating your genre. Take the best, most interesting bits of you and make sure you foreground them.

Now some might disagree but I think it is a good thing to display a personal personality in social networking – it's meant to be less formal, sometimes show your playful self, your caring self, give a little (BUT not too much). Remember always YOU are your books, and the readers trust you and have slightly idealised expectations. Don't swear. Don't moan. Don't be political- unless that is specifically your bag.

Now this sounds a little like a lecture, and it is, but not to you but to myself. I only hope it helps you before you make some of the embarrassingly silly mistakes I did.

So wishing you good luck, many happy readers, satisfaction in a job well done and maybe even film rights.

Feel free to take a meander around my website http://theknighttrilogy.com which is a doorway into all the other projects. Some of the toggles in the navigation bar go to other sites which as writers you may find interesting.

About Katie John

Katie lives in Middlesex with an incredibly handsome giant, a two foot fairy (that likes muddy puddles and wrestling) and a magic rabbit that can pull conjurers out of hats. Her favourite thing, apart from pistachio macaroons, is writing.

She is the author of the highly-reviewed The Knight Trilogy. You can follow her online at www.theknighttrilogy.com