Matt Stainforth
asked
John Gwynne:
Hi John, I'm making my way through your first series and I'm enjoying it immensely, and more than I've enjoyed a series in a long time. In the very first book, you break so many rules for first-time, unpublished authors--a staggering number of PoV characters, massive and complex worldbuilding, a crazy word count to name a few. What was it like searching for a publisher who believed in your story and your talent?
John Gwynne
Hi Matt,
It's great to hear from you.
I'm so pleased to hear that you're enjoying the series so far, and thank you for taking the time to let me know.
Your question is an interesting one - you're right, I did break a few 'rules' with Malice - basically because I didn't know the rules were there in the first place.
I wrote Malice as a hobby with an intended audience that I could count on my fingers - my wife and children. I had no thoughts of publication, it was just something that I was doing for myself, and Malice was my first attempt at writing.
Also, I was writing pre-twitter and I was not on Facebook, so was unaware of the online support network for writers. It was just me, my pen and my pad (and a mountain of books on Celtic and Norse mythology, ancient Europe and other assorted books I was using as research).
So, the saying 'ignorance is bliss' was really true in my case.
Fortunately I submitted to an agent who loved Malice - John Jarrold - and he submitted it to the major UK publishers. Julie Crisp, acquiring editor at Tor UK/Pan Macmillan made a wonderful offer for Malice and Valour, and that was that. :)
In hindsight I'm amazed that Malice was published, as you're right, it isn't textbook debut material - I'm told that publishers tend to look for shorter word counts, fewer POV's and so on, but I think I just got lucky.
There is a lesson, though - write from your heart, write what you love and what you want to read - that's what I did, without any kind of agenda, and things have turned out okay :)
If you're working on something I wish you every success with it :)
Hope that helps,
John
It's great to hear from you.
I'm so pleased to hear that you're enjoying the series so far, and thank you for taking the time to let me know.
Your question is an interesting one - you're right, I did break a few 'rules' with Malice - basically because I didn't know the rules were there in the first place.
I wrote Malice as a hobby with an intended audience that I could count on my fingers - my wife and children. I had no thoughts of publication, it was just something that I was doing for myself, and Malice was my first attempt at writing.
Also, I was writing pre-twitter and I was not on Facebook, so was unaware of the online support network for writers. It was just me, my pen and my pad (and a mountain of books on Celtic and Norse mythology, ancient Europe and other assorted books I was using as research).
So, the saying 'ignorance is bliss' was really true in my case.
Fortunately I submitted to an agent who loved Malice - John Jarrold - and he submitted it to the major UK publishers. Julie Crisp, acquiring editor at Tor UK/Pan Macmillan made a wonderful offer for Malice and Valour, and that was that. :)
In hindsight I'm amazed that Malice was published, as you're right, it isn't textbook debut material - I'm told that publishers tend to look for shorter word counts, fewer POV's and so on, but I think I just got lucky.
There is a lesson, though - write from your heart, write what you love and what you want to read - that's what I did, without any kind of agenda, and things have turned out okay :)
If you're working on something I wish you every success with it :)
Hope that helps,
John
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