Lessons Learnt: Advice to New Writers

Here are some things that I have learned over the years – they are in no particular order, but the first lesson is the most valuable:

o   Be more tenacious and persevere longer than anyone else: it certainly pays dividends
o   Study markets; know which publisher is publishing what. To do this, subscribe to industry magazines and constantly read book reviews
o   Write every day; read every day
o   Be ruthless when self-editing
o   Submit manuscripts as often as you can and keep track of where they go and when they are replied to. After six months assume that no answer is the answer
o   Always be on the lookout for publishing opportunities; as soon as an opportunity presents itself, submit
o   Don’t spend more time networking than you do writing
o   Always have at least one project on the go
o   Belong to a weekly writers’ workshop group where you trust everyone’s opinions
o   Don’t believe what a publisher says until the contract is exchanged
o   Be loyal to publishers who support you and your career
o   Share what you know with others
Over the past 30 years, Dianne (Di) Bates has published 120+ books, mostly for young readers. Her next book is a junior novel, A Game of Keeps (Celapene Press, August 2014). Di has two blogs, Writing for Children, http://diannedibates.blogspot.com.au and Australian Children’s Poetry http://wwww.australianchildrenspoetry.com.au
Di offers courses for those wishing to write for children as well as junior novel and picture book manuscript assessments. Her website is http://www.enterprisingwords.com.au