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Best-selling Author Fiona McArthur Talks

September 14, 2021 by mello Leave a Comment

When you have an opportunity to hear an author talk, it pays to listen. Especially if that author is successful, as in some fifty published books or more – both traditional and self-published and has won awards for her writing.

Today was such a chance for me.

Fiona McArthur is on the hustings (at least virtually in a covid environment), promoting her latest published tome, The Farmer’s Friend. Now, ‘farmer’s friend’ has a whole meaning on its own, but in this case, the story was loosely inspired by her son’s taking up of a small-town general-purpose store, the kind that sells everything from baked beans to cattle feed. The small fictional town explores the nuances of living in a small but geographically spread community, the tragedies that come from living in a relatively isolated valley, and the camaraderie when people pull together to get through tough times. And, of course, the romance and the babies!

I’ve not read the book yet so you won’t be getting any spoiler alert from me but I do know it’s now available at local and national stores for purchase as well as online. Read about the book here.

As a best-selling Australian author Fiona McArthur draws from her life as a rural midwife, and shares her love of working with women, families and health professionals in her books. In her compassionate, pacey fiction, her love of the Australian landscape meshes beautifully with warm, funny, multigenerational characters as she highlights challenges for rural and remote families, those in the city and the strength shared between women. This book steps the reader away from her rural romances in vast outback landscapes and takes the reader into a smaller world but one equally as entertaining and enjoyable. It explores what makes family.

What are the lessons gleaned from today’s talk? Here’s a sample of what I took away.

Fiona started writing seriously in her 30’s but didn’t see a completed book and success until she leant into her lived experience as a midwife and started putting her knowledge onto the page, woven with romance and stories grounded in quintessentially Australian locales. Message – use what you know – it’s more authentic.
When you start with the nub of an idea, and steep yourself into that world, the world opens up for you and your characters – follow where it leads because there are layers of experiences you can bring into your book.
Find moments that connect with the reader and be prepared to incorporate social issues such as the increasing prevalence of grandparents bringing up young ones, financial imbalances, mental health matters and so on.
Consider writing as an activity that needs attention for it to bear fruit. Fiona writes around 500-1000 words a day every day, or at least two hours. Inspiration isn’t waiting for an invitation, it’s clocked in at writing time.
Productivity meets deadlines. Fiona works at one major work and a couple of smaller books each year. That’s possibly around 200,000 words a year. Set yourself some targets even if it’s just a novella or a series of short stories. On top of writing time, remember there’s marketing, promotion, revision, edits, covers and more.
Researching an area will reveal some little known facts such as how a produce store works, is stocked and managed – something most people don’t know or need to know but enriches the reader with some inside information. Give your reader some insights.
Finally, no matter whether you have one book under your belt, or a half century of them, the more genuine and humble you are, the more readers can relate to you and the more writers are inspired by you. Fiona fits that bill. She’s one of my favourite writers, and humans.

On top of those specific points, Fiona’s talk sparked a few creative ideas which may or may not see the light of day, but they’ve been jotted down and popped into the ‘ideas’ file for when I need some inspiration.

As a reader, author talks let you dive deeper into your favurite writers and their stories and glean more from the behind-the-scenes moments. As a writer, every author appraoches writing differently and you can learn tips and technqiues that inform your quest to produce a read-worthy story.

Take advantage of the surfeit of information available in the virtual platforms at the moment and soak up as much as you can before any semblance of normal life returns and we’re whisked back into places where we have less time to indulge ourselves in these stories behind the stories. But don’t just listen: learn.

As a best-selling Australian author Fiona McArthur draws from her life as a rural midwife and shares her love of working with women, families, and health professionals in her books. Her compassionate, pacey fiction, blended with a love of the Australian landscape meshes beautifully with warm, funny, multigenerational characters as she highlights challenges for rural and remote families, those in the city, and the strength shared between women.

Check your local library for upcoming author talks. Mid North Coast Library is outstanding at snaffling writers for chats, workshops, panels, and other events. of course, at the moment those are virtual but they are even better ‘live’. MNC also has an amazingly successful series of Book Clubs throughout the region.

A Good Story Creates an Experience

December 14, 2019 by mello Leave a Comment

A good story creates an experience and puts you in it, living and feeling it as if you were there.

Jerry Cleaver

I wonder how many books you’ve read that you’ve sat alongside and said as you were reading – this is good, or, this is bad. If you’re like me, you either get pulled into a story and carried along with it, or you struggle through for a while trying to find the point when it will grab you and if it doesn’t, you give up and put it aside.

As a writer, we tend to write from within and put those thoughts on the page. Rarely do we write from the readers’ perspective. If we stopped every few sentences and checked our writing from the view of the reader, we’d take forever to finish a book. That’s what rewriting and editing are for – to enhance the readability and engagement of the story.

Next time you sit down to read, take note of what you’re subconsciously thinking as you start a book. Consider what it is about the writing that is keeping you reading. If you’re a writer, take that information and try to emulate it in your own writing. The best teacher of craft is to read good stories and apply what you learn.

Now, go create an experience for your readers.

Check out Jerry Cleaver’s book here.

Vale: Clive James, Poet

November 27, 2019 by mello Leave a Comment

Clive James.

Another literary legend lost.

His death last Sunday is punctuated by the volumes of words from this prodigious talent. A critic, intellectual, broadcaster, presenter and ever-improving poet James has left an indelible mark on Australia and the world.

The ‘kid from Kogarah’ who traversed those suburbs a couple of decades before I lived there, managed to propel himself from suburban life to being a player on a far larger stage.

There were elements of James’ personality and behaviour that rankled yet none can deny the way his words leapt into your soul like a burr in a shoe demanding to be noticed.

He was someone I’m happy to have admired from afar. I suspect had I been a dinner guest I would have been swallowed like a minnow by his gigantic mind and acerbic wit, being left as pulp to be rinsed off the dinner plate.

Above all else, poetry was his literary love.

Read some of Clive James.

Watch his videos.

Take on board his turn of phrase.

Study him.

See the effect his words have on your writing.

Make that your tribute to him.

Clive James on Poetry — credit: ABCmedia

Writing Advice from Anne Lamott

November 18, 2019 by mello Leave a Comment

I love this piece by Anne Lamott. She encapsulates the simple challenge of writing and makes it sound effortless.

Of course, it’s not.

Lamott entreats us to ignore all the reasons and excuses and procrastinatory habits stepping in the way of our intention to write.

Unless you make a conscious choice to make writing part of your regular practice, you won’t get it done. Just like tomorrow never comes.

Decide and act. It’s the only way.

“… find a desk or a table where you promise yourself, as a debt of honour, to write one page or passage or for one hour a day. (Well, let’s say five days a week.) You start somewhere, anywhere. It doesn’t matter where, because it will almost certainly go badly. It is supposed to. But maybe you can describe, badly, the place where your book takes place.

Close your eyes and see if there is a movie playing on the black screens behind your eyes. Then scribble down the details of this movie, all the colours and foliage or furnishing.

Maybe you can see one of your character’s faces: how she tucks her head when she enters a room, like a shy duck; or how he takes on the persona of a bank president, arrogant and amused and yet pretending to care, even at meetings with his child’s homeroom teacher.

Maybe you can see his child’s face — the pride she takes in her father’s potency, or the shame.

So describe that to us on paper, in words and images, imperfectly.

That’s all. One small moment, face, locale, conversation at a time …”

It doesn’t have to be a coherent piece. It doesn’t have to be linear construction of a story. It doesn’t have to be your best writing. Just write. Fix it later.

Check in with yourself right now.
– do you set aside a specific time to write?
– do you decide ahead where you will write?
– do you give yourself at least a half-hour a day to write?
– do you have an idea or a prompt to kick you into writing?
– do you really want to write or just dream about it?

No-one can do your writing for you.

Sure you can get a ghostwriter, but that’s not YOU writing and taking the pride and satisfaction of having penned your story.

Read the original advice from Anne Lamott here.

Then, go write.

Struggling to write? Get hold of Anne Lamott’s famous guide for writers, Bird by Bird. The 25th anniversary edition is out and it’s just as helpful for writers as it was when it first came out. An easy read, it will take you through starting, rotten drafts, plotting and so much more. Check it out here.

[post photo credit, Jonny Goldstein, Flickr]

Anna Featherstone: Tips on Self Publishing

November 11, 2019 by mello Leave a Comment

Self-publishing is entirely doable but it’s a hairy beast with lots of moving parts. Not everyone does it well.

When you consider the fact that Australian authors earn less than $12,000 per annum from their writing, being able to keep more of the earnings rather than sharing royalties and rights with publishing houses is appealing.

Anna Featherstone has navigated the Indie path (independent self-publishing) and gives insider information on how to self-publish.

Here are the gems of insights I gleaned from a recent presentation she gave.

Most books sell less than 1,000 copies. Earning a rate of $1 per book in royalties from traditional publishers doesn’t compare to earning $10-20 per book after costs when you self-publish. A compelling argument financially though you do need to work to generate sales.
As an Indie, you retain the rights to your work which gives you flexibility in how you present that work – you can repackage it eg as an audiobook to give more earning options.
Ingram Spark is a good option to have your book printed and they have a printing facility in Melbourne making print-on-demand (POD) viable for Australian authors.
Libraries are an important marketing arm for writers. Go direct with your book or use a library supplier like James Bennett or Australian Library Services.
Having your books in libraries also gives you access to Education Lending Rights and Public Lending Rights – a government program to compensate authors for multiple use of their books.
Trove lets you know which library stocks your books and how many are there.
Approach bookstore distributors and bookstores directly to stock your book. If you have a professionally-designed, appealing cover, it will be easier to get picked up.
Market your book through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), Kindle, your website. Watch the conditions of each.
Consider producing an audiobook version of your book. You will need a professional voice-over artist to read the book and a noise-free environment with decent recording equipment if you DIY.
Distribution of audiobooks from Australia is a challenge so consider somewhere like Authors Republic.
Write your own media release and send it as a ready-to-print article for the media to publish – this method may increase your chance of getting into print.
The ASA (Australian Society of Authors) hold a Virtual Literary Speed Dating event where you can pitch to publishers.
Learn to write for magazines. Being able to get articles published can add to your credibility. Target magazines aligned with your writing genre. Try places like Rachel’s List, Freelance Jungle and Telum Media Alerts to find opportunities.

The key thing to remember about being an independent publisher is: you are responsible for everything. There is a learning curve and the space is constantly changing so you need to keep up.

For those who don’t want to worry about all this and prefer to just write, beware of a burgeoning industry of people and ‘businesses’ ready to help you. Some are genuine but many are just seeing you as a business opportunity to earn money.

Traditional publishers do not charge you anything. They are hard to get into and they expect you to have a marketing platform but they pay for editing, covers, marketing. Vanity publishers will charge you for everything and there’s no guarantee of their distribution reach outside of Kindle or POD etc – which you can do yourself.

Indie publishing is a rewarding process. Financial success relies on your marketing, distributing and selling your books well. You’ll need to invest in a decent book cover, professional editing and formatting and you will need to keep an eye on all facets of the publishing process.

The actual steps to publishing will be our next post.

Anna Featherstone and Her Writing Journey

November 4, 2019 by mello Leave a Comment

Raised in a family of 5 children, money was in short supply. To entertain the children, Anna’s father created a make-believe world and made up stories. He invited the kids to name an object or element and he would weave a story to include that element.

Combine that imagination with the discipline and skill involved in having a long-term penpal, and you have a ripe start for a budding writer.

Anna went on to manage hotels and resorts. To overcome the boredom of quiet evenings she signed up for a correspondence course to learn writing. The final assignment required students to submit a book proposal to a publisher. It was an experience that led to a contract and Anna’s (and her husband’s) first published book.

Following on from her initial success, Anna gained mentorship from ScreenNSW to work on a documentary.

Then came a decision to own a farm. In that journey, Anna realised there were no books around on how to prepare children for the future world they would inhabit and so Honeycomb Kids was born. Sadly, it didn’t get selected by publishers so Anna decided to self-publish. It was later picked up by a U.S. distributor and also published in Turkey and Korea.

Anna Featherstone

Running a successful, sustainable farm growing edible trees and plants along with a focus on bees saw 12,000 visitors a year and hundreds of wwoofers. Anna spotted another book opportunity. Small Farm Success was designed to share how other small farmers could build a profitable business. (It has now been selected by TAFE as a required text). The book was structured through interviewing farmers around Australia – a conscious decision to help sales distribution.

Anna self-published Small Farm Success and knew as a niche topic it would sell and be easily marketed. She had also written a memoir, Honey Farm Dreaming, and realised it would be a harder book to market. What to do? Release them both at the same time and let the farming book pull the dreaming book along with it. That was a successful approach and often the two books sold together.

Lessons learned?

do writing courses and purpose-driven groups – two of Anna’s books came about as a consequence of being engaged with writing classes and groups. They make demands of you which you may not ask of yourself and they hold you accountable for your actions and results
self-publishing is hard because you are totally responsible for marketing and distribution of your book but you also retain the rights and can repackage that book any way you like’
think about your book structure and whether you can include content eg interviews that has a wider reach than your own area to help book sales
ideas are all around you. Anna’s books have come from her experiences and she has written and published books directly sourced from her life and knowledge. You just have to put it down on paper.
tip – note the categories Honey Farm Dreaming is listed under on Amazon. Hint: it’s not memoir.

If you want to learn how to write non-fiction in an engaging way, read Anna’s works. She is an excellent writer as well as marketer.

Here’s a sample from her farming book:

Check out Anna’s books here …

Note: Anna has also written under Anna M. Campbell