VAL PENNY

I genuinely feel that if you have put in all the work required to complete and novel (congratulations) it is a shame if it wastes away in your cupboard or on your computer. Therefore, I happily share the routes to publication with you in the hope it will help gain your book a larger audience. I previously dealt with vanity press, hybrid press and self-publishing. Now let’s look at traditional and independent publishers.               When people talk about traditional publish

Let me start at the very beginning. You will often hear people say - everyone has a book in them … This is not true. Others will tell you – I’m going to write a book when I retire … Most of them don’t. This is because writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes months of creativity, weeks of editing, time to work through the comments of beta readers and the editor and ends with continual marketing. So, if you have completed writing a novel and whatever state it is in

It has been a busy old writing year this year for me. I am beginning to find my feet in the world of Book Signings and enjoyed a successful event in Sheffield, Sugar and Spice run by the talented author C.N. Marie. I was grateful to have the assistance of fellow author A.J. Roberts at that event. I was also thrilled to be included in the line-up at Wonderland run by the Powerhouse who is author Annalee Adams. This event took place in Nottingham and fellow author Mollie Sykes

It is a great pleasure to welcome historical fiction writer Eleanor Swift-Hook back to my blog today to discuss seventeenth century England and the pirates who patrolled the waves. Thank you for your time today, Eleanor. It is lovely to be back on your blog today, Val. It is interesting how terminology changes its meanings over time. For example, today if you refer to ‘the Dunkirk spirit’ it conjures up the idea of working together, against the odds. But go back four hundred

I attended my first Book Signing in the summer of 2024. Books on the Beach was held in Blackpool and run by Lizzie James. Lizzie is a delightful human being. She is organised, patient, kind, runs exceptional author events and is a USA Today bestselling author. Of course, as this form of author celebration was new to me, I needed a great deal of support and asked many questions, all of which Lizzie asnwered with patience and a smile. What I enjoyed most about this book signing

I write two series of books and chose to write my books in series in order to develop my characters. However, I have also written stories with standalone characters and, indeed, all my books can be read in any order as standalone novels. There are certainly advatages and disadvantages to writing a series or standalones books. I want to explore those here. Advantages: For me the big draw for writing a series was the opportunity for character development because writing a serie

We are always told that we shouldn't judge a book but its cover. However, in reality is everybody does just that and covers are crucial to the success of any book. For authors it acts as a primary marketing tool because it creates the readers' first impression of the book and the story within. This is how it helps to drive sales. For the readers the book cover sets their expectations of the tale the book will tell. A strong cover conveys genre and tone, builds credibility, a

Once, many years ago when I was studying creative writing, I wrote a poem about Mary Queen of Scots. It was subsequently set to music and...

All authors strive to create interesting relatable characters. They spend a lot of time character building. This is the process of...

Writing crime fiction may not seem like an obvious way to exercise your funny bones, however You will find that a comedic phrase or...

A Fighting Chance is the second in my series of Jane Renwick Thrillers and readers have had to wait patiently for this novel to...

I'm delighted to introduce Jan Foster to the blog today to discuss writing with another author. The intricacies of co-authoring are...

In my novels that form The DI Hunter Wilson Crime Thrillers my stories are set in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Setting is very...

I am pleased to be able to introduce author C.J. Laurence to the blog today. It is always interesting to me to discover how authors come...

I have a new police procedural, A Fighting Chance, to be published by SpellBound Books Ltd. next month. The themes of that novel include...

It is a great pleasure to introduce you to author Nancy Cleaver today. I find it inspiring to learn about how authors come to their craft...

My new Jane Renwick Thriller , A Fighting Chance , will be published next month. I am excited about sharing it with you. However, unlike...

Today, I am delighted to introduce Cassidy Reyne to the blog to discuss the relationship she has with the characters in her books. I have...

Today I am thrilled to introduce author Chloe L Blyth to the blog. Chloe is an established author who has offered to try to inspire...

Today I introduce Elle M Thomas to the blog. She tackles one of the issues I struggled with when I started writing, whether or not to use...