Write For Your Life

With Donna still away, Iain is joined once more by Manuela Boyle, at least, for the first two-thirds of the show anyway, before she had to nip off on a literary expedition, never to return. Topics include JK Rowling being outed as 'debut' author, Robert Galbraith, and the idea of social accountability. Are you more likely to follow through on a project if you tell people you're going to do it beforehand? Listen in to find out. Enjoy the excellent sound effects.

With Donna in Australia, Iain is joined by the marvellous Manuela Boyle to discuss abandoning books, the bestselling books of 2013 so far, and how sharing your writing ideas too early can often ruin their magic. So think before you share! It’s a bumper episode, so fill your earholes and get stuck in.

This week’s Write for Your Life podcast sees Iain and Donna talk about publishing and franchises. Should publishers still be hunting for mega-selling tentpole titles, or is there another way? Should we writers focus on series or stick to our one-off titles? In other topics, were our English teachers right? Is there really that much to read into the works of our favourite authors? That’s a lot of questions. We offer few answers, as ever. Headphones. Now. Enjoy!

This week Iain and Donna talk about the state of the poetry business and how difficult it is to get your work out there. Also, Donna’s secret letter from Seamus Heaney! Other topics include publishers and innovation (or a lack thereof), and online profiles for authors. Where are your headphones? What are they doing there? Go and get them!

In this week's episode of the Write for Your Life podcast, Iain talks about his experience performing at the Coventry Literary Festival last week. It's all good, and there is some lessons to be learned. For all writers. Then Donna takes a look at Matt Haig's recent Booktrust post - 10 reasons to not be a writer - which is very funny and not entirely inaccurate. Go and find your headphones. Come back. Get listening.

In this week’s episode, Iain and Donna talk about chimpanzees, Thomas Hardy’s grave, being creative when you’re busy, busy, busy, and innovative ways to promote your book. It’s an action-packed episode, so go and get your headphones, make yourself comfortable, maybe grab a biscuit, and get listening

Iain kicks off this week’s show by announcing a new permanent co-host in the marvellous Donna Sørensen! Other topics include the show’s move to 5by5, whether apps that make writers more productive actually work, and a look at some of the barriers to going all digital when it comes to reading. It’s the start of a new chapter folks. Book reference intended. Get your earphones on.

This week, Iain is joined by Shawn Mihalik, author of The Flute Player, a novella published by Asymmetrical Press. Topics include how to write short fiction, the difference between a novella and a novel, and how Shawn found his publisher via a slightly unusual route. Lots of good chat and interesting stuff. Go find your headphones. Then come back. Listen up.

Iain is joined by Donna Sørensen to talk about that horrid thing called author envy. You know, where we decide that everyone else has got a better book deal, website and marketing budget than we have. Of course, the grass is always greener and the challenge is in turning that envy into something exciting, positive and far more useful than sitting in your pants and getting upset. Headphones on. Get ready to go green.

This week, Iain is joined by Robert Mills to talk about how freelance writers need to think carefully about the way they present themselves online, especially if they also have a full-time job. Topics include ‘about’ pages, Twitter profiles, and that frequently used sentence, ‘All views my own, not my employers.’ Pop your seat belt on. Let’s chat!