Allie Reynolds is the author of The Bay and Shiver. She’s also a former professional freestyle snowboarder who spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. Her short fiction has been published in magazines in the UK, Australia, Sweden and South Africa. Allie swapped her snowboard
There’s nothing quite like having three traditionally published books in 15 months to give you a crash course in the world of book publishing! Things I had no idea about just over a year ago are now like second nature to me. Here are my five biggest takeaways so far:
A few years ago, Michelle Upton made the life-changing decision that she wanted to be a writer. So she focused her efforts on learning about the craft and getting as much practical experience as possible. This included entering literary competitions, enrolling in the Romance Writing course at the Australian Writers’ Centre and taking part in the Centre’s Furious Fiction competition.
For veterinary nurse Madeline Te Whiu, her writing dreams started with a simple scene. As an avid reader, she thought she’d give writing a go by sketching out a few scenes for her own story. She wasn’t quite sure what to do next, but committed to writing 4000 words a week.
“After that, I really threw myself into writing. I was very strict with myself to try and reach my word count every week; I spent many of my days off at my local library in an attempt to keep myself distraction-free.”
The only thing that Jemima Parker regrets about the Writing Picture Books course is not doing it sooner! With a varied career that spanned law, communications and visual arts, Jemima knew she wanted to take a writing course ‘one day’. But it wasn’t until she was knee-deep in wedding decorations that she finally made the commitment to herself.
Welcome to part two of my short series on book distribution. If you read part one, you’ll know that distribution is an integral part of a book’s success – but it’s also an area that many emerging authors don’t know much about. Book distribution is essentially what it says on
Write the book, edit the book, market the book… there’s a lot for a new author to think about when publishing a book. But there’s something else in the mix when it comes to a book’s success. Distribution is something that most emerging writers never think about – and many
Sisters in Crime have announced the shortlist for the 30th Scarlet Stiletto Awards, and we’re so thrilled that a whopping 13 out of the 25 writers on the shortlist are AWC graduates! Here are the details from the Sisters in Crime website: Sisters in Crime Australia is proud to announce
Lucy Lever had been writing on and off for years, but could never quite finish the novel she dreamt of writing. That all changed when she discovered the Australian Writers’ Centre. “Stumbling across AWC was like discovering a treasure trove of wonderful courses, and I wanted to do them all,” Lucy told us. “I realised that I should have started rather than finished here, given that AWC offered a step-by-step guide to novel writing and many other wonderful courses with lots of workshopping along the way and highly skilled teachers.” Lucy went on to complete several courses with the AWC and her debut novel, Mystic Ridge, has now been published by HarperCollins HQ.
Middle grade books – books for children between the ages of 8 and 12 – are experiencing a surge in popularity. And children this age love them because these novels often explore themes, experiences and issues that are relevant to what middle grade readers are going through at their stage
“I sent one of my stories to Cathie and she told me that she felt that I should consider starting with the foundations first and recommended the Australian Writers’ Centre Writing Picture Books course before taking on a mentor,” Apsara told us. “It was the best advice I could have ever received. Cathie had designed the course so, in a way, I was able to learn from the best in a structured way with a group online.”
Katherine Rundell is a bestselling author whose novels for children include Rooftoppers, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer and The Good Thieves. She has won the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, amongst many others. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.
“The best time to plan a book is while you’re washing the dishes.” You don’t have to wander too far across the wild plains of the internet to discover this quote from acclaimed mystery writer Agatha Christie, and it’s one I’ve used myself in author talks for many years –
By Vikki Marmaras For the past few years I have immersed myself in the world of children’s literature. I started writing when my eldest son was born, at a time when I was looking for a change but didn’t want to commit to long term study. Naively, I thought writing
Living on a farm and juggling her responsibilities as a busy mother, Fleur Ferris always wanted to write books. And since completing the five-week online course in Writing Children’s Novels at the Australian Writers’ Centre, Fleur has landed a book deal, scored an agent and become an award-winning published author, with her
Short stories are the perfect reading solution for our time-poor era. With an average word count of 2000-7000 words, a short story encapsulates everything readers love about storytelling – compelling characters, conflict, setting, theme and plot – in a compact form that packs a wallop. This means that, for writers,
Alli was worried that she hadn’t written prose for over a decade, having been focused on screenplays. She decided to follow the novel writing path at the Australian Writers’ Centre, starting with Creative Writing Stage 1, then moving on to Novel Writing Essentials and capping it off with Write Your Novel.
“I wanted guidance, I wanted to learn and grow and be better so I could hone my craft and write a beautiful book to do justice to the story of my grandparents. The AWC had a range of courses, it was accessible and didn’t cost a fortune. I figured it was a good place to start.”
Readers of romance novels have certain expectations and success in the genre means meeting those expectations – one of which is the Happy Ever After, or HEA as it’s known. But there’s a lot of ground to cover in a relationship from the first meeting to the HEA, and romance
Crime writing in Australia is having a big moment, and the best crime novels are the ones that keep readers guessing right to the very end. My new novel The First Summer of Callie McGee is a middle-grade mystery novel set in a seaside village on the south coast of
The Ned Kelly Awards shortlist has been announced and we are so thrilled to see AWC graduate Kerryn Mayne on the list! Here are the details from the Australian Crime Writers Association website: We are proud to report that Aussie crime writing continues to grow in strength and identity, as
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