Breaking up is hard to do

So, this is a difficult post to write. If you received my newsletter earlier this week, you'll know that I'm making some changes. The allisontait.com website is having a makeover next week - new look, new feel, new fun. For no other reason than that a change is as good as a holiday. I'm pretty excited about that.

One of the things I'm doing (or, actually, the lovely Kelly from Swish Design is doing... because, as we all know, I am technologically inept) is integrating my blog into the website. A little housekeeping, just to make things a bit more streamlined. Part of my whole 'work smarter, not harder' resolution for this year.

But that means, deep sigh, that the Fibro is going. Not so much a renovation, as a complete knock-down and rebuild.

When I first started blogging and had to name my blog, I thought for all of five minutes about what I would write about (life) and then thought, 'okay, that's boring, add more' (in a pink Fibro). Write what you know, they say. And it all worked out beautifully for two and a half years.

Then I moved house. And was no longer in a pink Fibro. But my reasoning was that, well, it didn't really matter - though I did confess that perhaps I should have put more thought into naming my blog.

Fast-forward another year and I've realised that it's time to let go of the Fibro. Much as I love it.

I'll still be writing about life, and writing, and ... whimsy...  but my blog will simply be part of the Allison Tait website, out there under my name, probably much as it should have been from the start. Over the next week, all the content will be migrating its way over to the new space, keeping it all together and under one roof. Cosy.

I hope you'll all still come and visit (it should all be up and running again by July 29).

I'll leave a light on for you.

Social Media for Writers #4: Google+

When I first visited Google+, I felt as though I was wandering down empty hallways, bleating to myself. It was hard to work out who to follow, who to talk to, what the whole circle thing meant and how it worked.

In essence, why would a person bother with this?

But the more I read about it, the more it seemed to me that it's worth persisting with Google+ because... Google. If you want people to find your books, your blog, your...self, it makes sense to make friendly with the biggest search engine on earth.

Around about that time, I began discovering the Google+ communities and, after a few false starts, I wandered into the Writer's Discussion Group (current membership: 13,116) and suddenly Google+ began to make sense. As a place for sharing resources, information and ideas, Google+ communities are amazing.

But can a writer best use Google+?

Who better to answer that question than John Ward, manager of the Writer's Discussion Group, as well as a community devoted to the Urban Fantasy genre. John hosts two podcasts for his communities and is a frequent guest on a third podcast devoted to self-publishing.

Will Google+ help me to sell books? How?
JW: "There are thousands of books published every year. Regardless of your genre, you are facing a lot of competition. Forget about your blurb, your cover, and whether your book is written well or not. Ask yourself this question, "What are you going to do to get someone to even be aware that your book exists?"

I'm not talking about buying your book. I'm just talking about communicating that the book is available. You can hope and trust in Amazon's algorithms if you like. Perhaps you're going to spam Twitter every half hour with a "Buy My Book" tweet. Maybe you will have a launch party on Facebook. There have been authors who have succeeded by using all of those methods.

I believe that Google+ offers a better chance of success because of the way it allows you to identify the interests of different members. Are you writing a romance novel that is similar to a book or series written by Nora Roberts? Google+ allows you to do a search for Nora Roberts. Unlike other platforms that will restrict that search to the names of individuals, Google+ will also provide you with a list of results for people who have posted about Nora Roberts. In this hypothetical situation, they would be good candidates to circle.

I don't think that Google+ will help you sell books. I do believe that Google+ can allow you to connect with a target audience who will at least give your book a chance. If you use the platform well, I believe that you can at least get people to read your book description, look at your cover art and maybe try a sample of your book.

I believe Google+ can help you overcome the discoverability obstacle that faces every author."

How exactly do I set myself up to make the most of G+?
JW: "The most important thing to do is to fill out the About section of your profile. This is the area that people read when they are trying to determine if they want to follow your profile or not. The second most important thing is to decide on a few topics and post about those topics on a regular basis. The reason this is important is because after someone has read the About section of your profile, they will then look at the type of content that you are posting. If you limit the type of material to a few topics, it allows people to quickly identify your interests. After you have done that, look for people who interest you. Start participating in their posts and take an interest in what they have to say. Google+ is different from most social media platforms in that people really value engagement and conversation."

Do I need huge numbers of friends/followers for it to work?
JW: "A huge number of followers is good, but not necessary. If you are able to connect with someone who already has a large number of followers, then that person may plug your books. Obviously, they will have to enjoy your book. Sometimes, having a stranger sing your praises is much more effective than anything you could say about your own work."

Top three tips for making the most of G+
JW: "Follow at least 250 people. The big mistake that many people make on Google+ is that they will follow only a few people. Restricting the number of people you follow will make Google+ a boring place because it doesn't provide enough variety in your stream, it limits your reach, and it doesn't expose you to the people who are really using the platform well.

Connect with other people. Choose 5 people every month and read their streams on a regular basis. Comment on their posts and really take the time to get to know them.

Search for people based off of shared interest rather than their name. Google+ really clicked for me when I realised that I didn't have to know the name of individuals that I wanted to connect with. I could just do a search for "Writer" or "Author" or whatever term I wanted to query and if that word or phrase appeared in their About section, they would show up in the search results. This is extremely powerful because it allows you to target specific groups of people. You don't have to restrict it to occupation either. You can do a search for science fiction or romance or whatever term you feel would help you identify the demographic with which you are trying to connect."

Biggest mistakes authors can make on G+
JW: "The biggest mistake I see authors make over and over again is that they don't post their content on Google+. Instead, they will simply post a link to their blog and assume that people will just visit it. That doesn't work.

If you absolutely insist on holding your content hostage on your blog, then, at least take the time to write a lengthy (300- 500 words) introduction to that blog post. This introduction should be a teaser to tempt people to click on that link to read what you have to say.

The absolute best thing to do is to simply copy and paste your full blog post into Google+ and post it here. If you do that, people will comment on your thoughts and respond to your message. The question that authors fail to ask themselves is whether they are trying to get people to be a fan of their work or a fan of their blog.

If you post your content directly on Google+, it allows people to read it who would never visit your blog. Some of those people will enjoy your message and become a fan of YOU. Once they are your fan, they may very well become a fan of your blog as well, but it has to start with being sold on you and your message. That can't happen unless they see your message. The best way to get people to see that message is to post it on Google+."

Five authors you think are doing G+ well – and why
Lacerant Plainer is a science fiction author. He uses Google+ to connect with individuals who are thrilled by the latest in science news. He has developed an enormous following of people who share his passion. Is it any wonder that many of those same individuals may be intrigued by the stories he writes based on those scientific articles?

Ben Guilfoy loves film and episodic storytelling. He channeled his love for these areas into a ten part serial he wrote called The Weirdo Company. Each installment reads like a monster movie. He uses Google+ well because he frequently shares his thoughts on movies and books that strike his fancy. People who enjoy those type of movies or books will also enjoy his series.

Chris Reher is another science fiction author who uses Google+ to connect with like-minded individuals. However, she does so with a twist. Whereas, Lacerant shares articles and science-related news, Chris uses Google+ to connect with actual scientists and frequently taps into their collective knowledge to make her books stronger and to ensure that the ideas in her books are scientifically sound. What a great way to use this platform!

Mike Spinak is a photographer. He has self-published one book of his photographs and is working on several others. He uses Google+ well because he is very generous with his knowledge and experiences. Some people may argue that simply sharing your knowledge with others won't help you to sell books, but I believe that this attitude is short-sighted. When sharing his knowledge, Mike shares his experience. That allows him to talk about his successes and his failures. Making that knowledge available to others allows people like me to single him out as a resource for other authors. That helps him connect with people who would not otherwise find him. Once he has connected with them, he has a chance to turn that person into a fan of himself and his work.

Aaron Crocco uses G+ well because of the way he will crowdsource attention. He has an on-going series of posts devoted to the topic of Authors Helping Authors. By involving several authors in his posts about helping indies, he generates excitement and attention. This interest comes not only from the authors themselves but also from the public at large because he is able to get so many people talking about the event. This causes many people to take interest in his initiatives and as a result, it draws attention to his books.

Get to know John Ward at Google+, say hello on Twitter or check out his website.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy Social Media for Writers #1: Blogging; Social Media for Writers #2: Twitter and Social Media for Writers #3: Facebook.

Are you on Google+? How do you use it? (Say hello to me here!)

Social Media for Writers #3: Facebook

Love it or hate it, there's no doubt that Facebook is an integral part of our lives these days - which is why writers can't really afford to ignore it (much as we may wish to do so).

I've had a complicated relationship with Facebook over the years. I got on to it just to see what it was all about - and then promptly lost interest. When I started my blog, however, I received a lot of 'friend' requests from other bloggers and readers - and had to make a decision about how much I wanted to share with the world.

The answer, in my case, was 'not much'. So I made another decision (phew, so many!) to set up a page for the blog so that I could connect with my cyber-friends there and keep my profile page set to 'so private it's hard to find'. The trouble with the page, however, was that it was a Life In A Pink Fibro page... which made it hard for people who were looking for 'Allison Tait' to find it.

Cue: the Allison Tait Facebook page was born.

For several months I faffed about with both, but it became increasingly hard work. So I made one final decision (please, let it be over soon) to consolidate onto one page - Allison Tait - which was agony because I had built a lovely number of likers at the Fibro and had to, really, start all over again.

The pain.

But I'm still there at Allison Tait, feeling comfortable, loving the fact that I can 'chat' to people about all manner of things, from writing to tv shows to, well, one of my most popular comment threads ever was about washing in cold water, but we won't talk about that.

Anyhoo. To me, Facebook is about the 'club' vibe that you get when a whole lot of people come together. And I love that. But I thought I'd ask an expert about the best way for writers to use Facebook to actually, you know, sell books.

Nathan Bransford is the author of Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow (Dial, May 2011), Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe (Dial, April 2012) and Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp (Dial, February 2013). He was formerly a literary agent with Curtis Brown Ltd. and is now the social media and programming manager at CNET. He lives in Brooklyn - and, you know, knows his stuff.

Fortunately for me, he's also very friendly - and happy to answer random questions!

Will Facebook help me to sell books? How?
Nathan Bransford: "Yes, definitely. Facebook (and social media in general) isn't going to be the difference between selling zero copies and being a bestseller, but it is a very good avenue to help readers feel more connected with authors and for people to discover new books."

Do I need an author page as well as a 'profile'?
NB: "This really depends on whether you want to keep your presence as an author completely separate from your presence as an individual. Authors can either choose to have a totally separate Facebook page, which can be a little challenging because you have to get people to like it, or allow people to follow your public posts on your personal profile. I personally chose the latter. I find it easier to manage one presence.

"One thing I would recommend, however, is having a Facebook page for your individual books. When people will like these they will show up in people's list of likes, which is a good way of spreading the word about your books."

Do I need huge numbers of friends/followers for it to work?
NB: "It certainly helps, but in order to find a huge number of followers you have to start somewhere!"

What kind of content should I be posting?
NB: "This is totally up to you, but I find that the things that work best are the types of content and announcements that your friends and followers find genuinely useful. Yes, occasionally you have to self-promote to get the word out about your work, but otherwise it's better to think about what you can do for your friends and followers and not what they can do for you."

Top three tips for making the most of Facebook
1) Be authentic
2) Don't ever make people feel spammed
3) Have fun with it

Biggest mistakes authors can make on Facebook
NB: "The absolute biggest mistake is viewing it as simply a way of blasting out your books and your reviews. If all you're doing are self-serving announcements people won't find much value from your feed and they won't feel connected to you personally. Instead, look at it as a way of providing value and interacting with people."

Five authors you think are doing Facebook well – and why
1) Tahereh Mafi: She does a great job of providing a mix of behind-the-scenes looks of her tours along with great images and personal updates.

2) Cynthia Leitich Smith: Cynthia is an example of an author who provides incredible value for her followers. Her Facebook page is a mix of blog posts, events and things that any aspiring author would find valuable.

3) Gretchen Rubin: Gretchen really "gets" Facebook. She asks questions and engages with her followers with a mix of links and photos.

4) Kami Garcia: Kami does a great job of mixing it up with advice, news, photos, and much more.

5) Nicholas Kristof: Nicholas Kristof is more of a journalist than a traditional author, but he sets the gold standard for a Facebook presence. It's a terrific mix of commentary, interesting links, and glimpses into his travels.

You can find out more about Nathan and his fabulous books for kids on his website - and you should definitely say hello on Twitter and Facebook!

If you enjoyed this post, don't miss Social Media for Writers #1: Blogging and Social Media for Writers #2: Twitter.

What are your thoughts on Facebook - love or loathe?

Social Media for Writers #2: Twitter

I love Twitter. I do. And that is why it is featuring in this, the second in our series on Social Media for Writers. When I started this blog three and a half years ago, I joined Twitter almost immediately. I'd been told it was a great way to meet other bloggers and get my posts 'out there'.

So I signed up, opened it up and... ran screaming from the room. How was I ever supposed to do this? Who should I follow? How would I get anyone to talk to me? I ended up following a whole lot of celebs, most of whom tweeted inane things at me, and nobody wanted to talk to me.

So I left.

A few months later, under pressure from friends who know about these things, I went back in there. This time, I looked for people whose blogs I'd been reading. Then I looked to see who they were following and followed them. I followed people who tweeted great links about writing. I followed writers. And I, timidly at first, got involved in their conversations. I learned the lingo and I learned to love hashtags. I still love hashtags. Hashtags are a fine art.

One of the people I met on Twitter in those (second) early days was Kerri Sackville. I could see straight away that Kerri was good at Twitter. She had a great mix of witty, pithy tweets that could be (and were) retweeted easily, along with conversation, humour and general, well, Kerri-ness. I take great pride in the fact that one of our Tweetversations led to the publishing of her first book (When My Husband Does The Dishes...).

Today, Kerri is writing her third book, along with countless columns, articles and blog posts. She is a lively speaker (we have appeared together on several panels, so I should know...), has been on the tele a lot (Sunrise, Mornings on Channel 9, The Morning Show on 7) and is currently a regular panelist on The Daily Edition (Channel Seven). She also teaches social media courses at the Australian Writers' Centre.

So, there was no-one better to ask here today to answer some questions about Twitter for Writers.

Will Twitter help me to sell books? How?
Kerri Sackville: "Yes, absolutely. It is HARD to sell books these days. It's not just enough to have a great book. There are hundreds of great books out there. You need publicity. Every author gets assigned a publicist for about six weeks for every book release (unless you're a huge name author, in which case your books sell themselves anyway). The more you can do to promote yourself the better. Developing a Twitter following helps to get you name (brand) recognition so that a) people will notice your name in a bookstore and be more likely to pick up your book, and b) people will be aware of your book from Twitter and may take steps to seek it out themselves."

Do I need huge numbers of followers for it to work?
KS: "Obviously the more followers you have the better. But no, you don't need huge numbers. Books sell by word of mouth. Even if you have a few hundred followers, they can spread the word to their friends and followers, who will spread it to theirs etc etc. It's essentially pyramid selling online."

Top three tips for making the most of Twitter
1. Be funny, interesting, opinionated, or, preferably, all three.
2. Respond to EVERYONE who engages with you.
3. Get chatting to people - break in on conversations, reply to strangers, add to conversations. It's all about the words!

Biggest mistakes authors can make on Twitter
KS: "The biggest mistake ANYONE can make on Twitter is to try to sell their product before engaging with people. It is fine to give your books a plug, but you can only do this when you already have an engaged audience. So build a loyal following THEN plug your books, not the other way around."

Five authors you think are doing Twitter well
Kylie Ladd
Anita Heiss
Tara Moss
Kate Forsyth
Caitlin Moran
Fleur McDonald

Kerri Sackville is the author of When My Husband Does The Dishes... and The Little Book of Anxiety. Find Kerri at her blog Life And Other Crises, say hello on Facebook or, of course, on Twitter!

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like Social Media for Writers #1: Blogging, and check out my list of 50 of the Best Australian Writers and Authors to follow on Twitter.

Fibro Book Club: The Rosie Project

It's fair to say that The Rosie Project is one of those word-of-mouth novels for good reason. There's a lot to talk about! For me, the book had the stamp of screenplay all over it, and not to the novel's detriment. As author Graeme Simsion revealed in his Facebook chat with the Fibro Book Club last week, the story began as a screenplay, morphed into a novel and has now been optioned as a screenplay again. Personally, I'd love to see it played out on the big screen - though we might need to have long conversations over who would play Don.

I thought the dialogue in the book was one of its absolute cornerstones. As a reader, I really enjoyed the interchanges, the different patterns of the voices, the zing of it all. As a writer, I just want to know how Graeme does it (I asked him in the chat whether he read it out loud, but, alas, he told me that after many years of screenwriting it just comes as second nature now - at which point I made a note to do a screenwriting course...)

It's a lovely, lovely book on so many levels - gentle humour, terrific pacing - but at the heart of it all is, of course, the inspired character of Don Tillman (who has his own Twitter handle if you'd like to say hello). For me, it was all driven by Don - what would he say next, what would he do next - and that made a relatively fanciful story feel real.

I'm happy to join in the general babble of happy, positive word-of-mouth that's driving this novel's success. I look forward to reading everyone else's thoughts here or over at the Fibro Club Facebook page (if you haven't joined us, come and say hello!)

PS: What do you think of this cover from the UK version of the book? 

Who do you think should play Don in the movie?

Weekend Rewind #6: Short

Well, what a week it's been. Down here on the south coast of NSW, we've experienced torrential rain, flooding, and that cold, heavy chill that permeates all your clothing. In Canberra, there's been fierce battle and political blood spilt. In Texas, Senator Wendy Davis stood on her feet for hour and hours and hours while the world watched via YouTube.

You might say it's been a long week.

Which is why the theme for this week's Rewind is: Short. A short post. A post about being short or short skirts or short haircuts or animated shorts or short tempers. Whatever works best for you.

I'm going with a short post. As a blogger, I think it's important to realise that you don't have to say everything all the time. Some of the most popular Fibro posts are just a few paragraphs long. Sentences even.

The rules of the Rewind are also relatively short, so that works well. Link up an old post for some new comment love. Visit some of the other links to share the love around. Oh, and like my Facebook page, if we're not already friends, because that's where I offer the first heads-up each week about the Rewind (Limited Edition).

Thanks, as ever, to everyone who linked up last week. I very much enjoyed reading all your posts about growth. The thing I love about the Rewind is the different approach to the theme that everyone takes. It's a great opportunity to visit new blogs and find new friends. Keep 'em coming!

Okay, that's it.

Ready, set... REWIND!

Social Media for Writers #1: Blogging

"Why do you blog?"

It's a question I get asked a lot, usually by other writers who are wondering how in the world to manage a blog amongst all their other writing commitments.

My answer has varied over the years.

As most regular readers know, I started this blog on a dare. Then I became consumed by it. Then I realised that it was cutting into my writing time in a big way. So I cut back. But I'm still here, for a variety of reasons - love, community, habit, sheer bloody-mindedness.

But it got me thinking.

These days, most writers know that they need to build a 'platform' - that elusive beast from the back of which they will launch their books and other projects to the waiting world. They must, they are told by experts, 'get into social media'. But social media can be a bewildering and unwieldy premise, and they are left trying to tweet and Facebook and Pin and Instagram and YouTube and blog and ... basically run around like headless chickens.

So I thought I'd start a new series and get a few experts in to answer some questions and... well, clear a few things up.

The first person in the hot seat is Jane Friedman, talking about blogging. Jane is the web editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, an award-winning national journal, where she leads online and digital content strategy. She also teaches digital publishing at the University of Virginia. Before joining VQR, Jane was the publisher of Writer’s Digest (F+W Media) and an assistant professor of e-media at the University of Cincinnati.

She's also very good at answering questions.

Will blogging help me to sell books? How?

Jane Friedman: When done correctly, blogging directly reaches your target readership and helps develop a community around your work. When done authentically, with good content, you'll will develop loyal fans who keep returning for more, plus generate word of mouth and reach new readers. Your blog content is rarely about directly selling books (with the exception of big launch campaigns), but about building an audience who is interested in your work for the long-term (and of course do buy your books when available).

How exactly do I set myself up to make the most of blogging as an author? What should I blog about?

JF: Blog about what obsesses you. Blog about what makes you weird. Blog about what's fun, or what's unique about you. Most importantly, blog about something that you're passionate about and won't become boring within a few months' time. The only way to make the most of blogging is by being persistent and consistent over a very long period of time, and that requires writing about something you truly care about. If you're unsure what that is, practice literary citizenship, as outlined here by Cathy Day.

Do I need huge numbers of friends/followers for it to work?

JF: No. A small, targeted, loyal following is best (the 1,000 True Fans concept).

Top three tips for making the most of blogging as an author

JF: 1. Make sure people can subscribe via e-mail and RSS. This functionality is built in to most platforms, but not everyone uses it or makes it available to their readers. Don't expect people to keep visiting your site to see if there's new content.
2. Wherever else you're active online, be sure to point people to new blog posts.
3. Writing for online is not the same as writing for print. Your headlines have to be clear, literal and descriptive; your copy needs to be broken up for easy reading. If you're new to online writing, spend 1-2 hours reading the most popular posts at CopyBlogger to start learning best practices.

Biggest mistakes authors can make with blogging

JF: 1. Lack of focus. You blog about anything and everything. Your audience doesn't know what to expect, and you don't become known for any particular type of content. If your blog title is not self-explanatory, make sure you have a tagline that explains what your blog is all about and who it's for. If you can't express that in roughly 10-20 words, you probably need to rethink your blog.   
2. Lack of consistency. You don't have a regular schedule, regular series/categories, or regular themes.   
3. Lack of patience. It takes time to build a following. It also takes time to get good at blogging and understand what people respond to. Many authors abandon their blogs too soon or too early, before they've reached the point where blogging offers benefits and opens up opportunities.

Three authors you think are using their blogs well – and why
1. Joanna Penn. Strong focus and consistency, with multimedia elements. (AT: Read Joanna's Fibro Q&A about self-publishing here.)   
2. Chuck Wendig. Strong, unmistakable voice, not afraid to offend people who aren't part of his audience to begin with.   
3. Chris Guillebeau. He was able to develop a strong following in under a year by being super-focused on his mission and audience.

Like to know more about blogging for writers, follow Jane on Twitter (@JaneFriedman) or visit her blog for writers.

So, tell me, what do you blog about? Why do you blog?

The rhythm of (writing) life

I was going to post a blank page today, just to show you where my writing life is at, but I thought that might be a bit extreme and ... needy. So I resisted.

I am going through a pottering stage. I have finished Big Things in the not-too-distant past and have spent the last month or so crossing a whole lot of smaller things off my list. Articles, blog posts, websites, corporate projects... tick, tick, tick.

My earth, it is not shattering. But it continues to revolve and that's the rhythm of a working writer's life.

There are Big Things looming in my future. I have a manuscript awaiting redrafting. I've got another idea that won't go away and so clearly needs writing. I'm waiting on other things. Always waiting.

But for the time being, I'm happy enough to potter. Ticking things off.

How's the rhythm of your writing life?

PS: Congratulations to Cheryl M, winner of the copy of Kirsten Krauth's just_a_girl - email me your address and I'll send it out to you asap.

Fibro Q&A: Pippa Masson talks about the role of literary agents today

What do agents want? Do I need one? How do I get one? Where are they hiding?

I'm often asked these questions and my answer is usually "I have no idea" (well, not really, I point people here and here and even here, but that's not a good story opener, now is it?)

The truth is that the best way to find out what an agent is looking for is to ask them. So I invited Pippa Masson, who has been with literary agency Curtis Brown since 2001, and represents writers such as Kerri Sackville, Kylie Ladd, Hannah Kent, and many other fabulous authors, to pop in for a chat. (That's her, on the left - see how friendly she looks? Not scary at all.) Pippa represents a comprehensive client list of adult fiction and non-fiction, illustrated titles and children’s books and is currently Treasurer of the Australian Literary Agent’s Association. So she knows her stuff. 

Given the changing nature of publishing, what do you think the role of the agent is today?
Pippa Masson: "The role of an agent is constantly changing and evolving. Things are a lot more hands-on than ever before for agents and some agents are now acting as publishers themselves – this is not something Curtis Brown Australia is doing but it gives you an idea of how the agency is changing. Today we have to be more strategic than ever before, more on top of the trends than ever before and experts in all models of publishing – of which there are new ones every month it seems!"

How many manuscripts do you see a year? How many new clients do you take on?
PM: "I see probably about 100 fully completed manuscripts a year and probably take on two to three. But then I probably see more like 1,500 – 2,000 sample manuscripts a year and I’d probably only take on the same amount as the fully completed manuscripts! That, of course, doesn’t take into account the manuscripts I am reading that my existing clients are sending to me."

How long does it take you to realise you're reading something that you'd be willing to represent? What is it that speaks to you?
PM: "I know I am going to take something on if I can’t stop reading it. If I take off my professional hat and just wear my readers hat I know it’s something for me. Voice is probably the key thing for me – but also the ability to tell a great story incredibly well."

What happens if you can't place a manuscript, despite your best efforts? Has it ever happened?
PM: "Sadly it does (and has) happened. We would always encourage the writer to put the unsold manuscript aside and focus on a new one."

Will you work with a writer to get a manuscript to publishable standard if it's almost there? Or do you reject outright if it's not right?
PM: "Yes, if we see a diamond in the rough we’ll always work with an author if we think it’s nearly there! There are not many manuscripts we take on that we feel are fully formed and ready to send out straight away."

You'll find more information about Pippa here, or you can follow her on Twitter. If you'd like to know more about what Pippa is looking for at the moment, sign up for my next newsletter (out June 15).

Are you looking for an agent?

[image: Nicholas Purcell]

Pink Fibro Club: Book of the month

Thanks to everyone who participated in the discussion of our last Book Club selection, Burial Rites. Most people chose to participate through the Facebook Group, so I'm thinking that's where we'll focus our Book Club efforts from now on. I'll post the book of the month here, and will also post my thoughts here on the first of the month and we'll go from there.

This month's selection is a complete change of pace from the bleak Icelandic winter. The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion, is one of those books that has generated every author's dream - word of mouth. It was the winner of the 2012 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript and was published soon after in January 2013.

Also, I love the cover.

And in great news, Graeme has agreed to visit our Pink Fibro Club Facebook Group at 8pm on Tuesday June 25 for a live 'chat' about reading, writing and books. It's a great opportunity to ask any questions you might have about the book or about writing in general. Also, a fabulous opportunity to have a glass of wine with your fellow Fibro Club members. Like a real book club. Just saying.

Anyway, full details to come, but mark it in your diary and keep an eye on the Facebook group for further updates.

Do you judge a book by its cover? What makes a great cover?

Fibro Q&A: Kirsten Krauth on voice, reviews and choosing a publisher

I first met author Kirsten Krauth a few years ago via her blog Wild Colonial Girl. She had moved from Sydney to Castlemaine, Victoria, and was eager to connect with other 'treechange' bloggers. We soon discovered that we had more than distance to the Big Smoke in common - as the editor of Newswrite, the newsletter for the NSW Writers' Centre, Kirsten's work lobbed into my mailbox every month! (If you are an aspiring writer and you haven't joined your state writing centre, I heartily recommend that you do so.)

This week, she launched her first novel just_a_girl, and I invited her to the Fibro to share her thoughts on writing a teenage voice (in an adult novel), whether being so immersed in the publishing world is inspiring or intimidating for her, and why she chose to go with a traditional publisher.

 

Given that key voice in your novel is teenage girl, why is this book published as 'adult fiction' rather than YA?

Kirsten Krauth: "When I was writing just_a_girl, I never really thought about the final readership or the genre of the book. I guess, starting out, I was just enjoying exploring characters and seeing where they took me, and revelling in the chance to play with language. As I started to redraft and realised that perhaps I had a chance of publication, it was important to me that it was an adult novel. I wanted the freedom to be able to put a 14-year-old girl (Layla) in some challenging situations, to explore her sexuality, without censoring myself. 

 

There are also two other characters in the book, Margot (Layla's mother) and Tadashi (a Japanese-Australian man she encounters on the train). Their narratives are quite adult in theme: Margot is in an evangelical church, battling ongoing depression; Tadashi, too shy to initiate relationships, purchases a love doll to talk to. UWA Publishing were terrific in that they understood that it was a contemporary adult novel immediately - but this doesn't mean YA readers and teens won't be interested in reading it."

What were the biggest challenges in using a teen voice as the key voice? 

KK: "The teen voice was the one that came most naturally to me and it was always going to be the main narrative voice. I think teenagers are full of contradictions and this can be challenging to relay because the narration can jump from one opinion to another that doesn't quite match. Also, Layla is quite precocious in many respects. I understand that as I was like that myself. 

 

There is a lot of diversity when it comes to girls around 14 years. Some are keen to have quite adult relationships, others still want fluffy toys on their beds; many fall in between. I wanted to explore what it's like to be a teenage girl today - with the impact of digital technologies, how many are exploring and experimenting with sexuality in a world where the public/private divide is being eroded. The challenge is doing that in a way that doesn't patronise or talk down to girls, and yet looks at some of the issues."

Do you find your work as editor of the NSW Writer's Centre newsletter and reviewer of books for various publications to be inspiring or intimidating? 

KK: "Inspiring! Editing Newswrite is the perfect job for me right now. Commissioning authors to write articles on all aspects of writing and publishing is enormously helpful when you are embarking on your own writing career at the same time. Often as I edit the articles I have noted down tips and advice (from how to do in-depth research to how to write a love poem!). We also have a regular column, Writer on Writer, where authors choose the writer who has had the most powerful impact on them. I love these kind of articles and my favourites have been Benjamin Law on Zadie Smith and Emily Maguire on Graham Greene (there have been many others!). 

 

"I only recently did my first book reviews for Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian and, while I have been freelance writing for 15 years (and blogging on books too), I was a bit daunted. I spent a long time writing those reviews, and I got someone to double check the tone. But it's such a rush to see your articles in the paper. I recently saw James Wood speak at the Sydney Writers' Festival and I'd give anything to be a full-time literary critic (writing novels too, of course)."

Given your submersion in the publishing world, what made you choose to go with a 'traditional' publisher rather than self-publishing your book?

KK: "This is a great question. I actually had made a deal with myself. I would try for two years to get the manuscript published and if that didn't pan out, I would go the self-publishing route. Really, I wanted to hold the book in my hand. I am passionate about books and, while I'm quite happy in the digital sphere and will read ebooks too, I wanted to see my work in book format, with a cover; something I could hold. 

 

"I was lucky that Teri-ann White at UWA Publishing read a few versions of the novel, saw its potential, kept encouraging me while I fleshed it out, and then was keen to publish ... UWAP have always been terrific in promoting the work of new writers, and are not afraid to experiment a bit and take risks (increasingly rare in traditional publishing these days). 

 

"It was also really important to me, as an editor, to go through the editing process with someone else. I saw myself as a beginner (this was my first novel) and I wanted to learn more about structure and characterisation in particular, and going through an edit with a publisher gives you a crash course in that...It's also good to have someone help you with the marketing and promoting process."

Do you think it's important for an author to utilise social media? Is it something you enjoy?

KK: "Increasingly the pressure is on authors to promote their own work and most will take this on, because they want to sell their books! Sometimes I find it fun, other times it is hard slog. I blog at Wild Colonial Girl and I've really enjoyed that because I tend to write about various subjects (film, TV, motherhood, other writers, books I've loved, digital space, writing mothers series). I think if the blog was just about promoting my book and writing, I would find it exhausting and dull after a while (that said, this month, as my novel has just been published, that WILL be the focus). 

 

"I think Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Goodreads, all have their place, but as a mum of two small kids, more and more I feel like I want to focus on one thing at a time, and not be continually distracted. So I've banned myself from social media when I'm looking after my children, and try to do it all on my working days (which, of course, means limited time). 

 

"The best thing about social media and blogging is the connections you make with other people. The comments on my blog posts have always been positive and often profound, and it thrills me to find out what other people are thinking about certain issues, to connect with people who still love to read, and even meet those people in the flesh and form lasting friendships."

 

Visit Kirsten at her blog or on Facebook or Twitter. 

 

To win a copy of just_a_girl, leave a comment below sharing your favourite memory of being 14 years old (closes Friday 14 June, 2013, 5pm).

Fibro Book Club: Burial Rites

As head prefect of the Fibro Club, I now declare this meeting open. Everyone have their glass of wine and their thoughts in order? Excellent.

I've had several actual, real life conversations about our book, Burial Rites, over the past week. We all agreed that we knew from page one that it wasn't going to end well. When the book is about the last person executed in Iceland, you know you're not looking at a happily ever after. But somehow that didn't seem to matter.

The reason I chose this book as our first selection was that it is one of those books. Debut author. International two-book deal worth $1 million. This book had something going on. Everyone said so.

There is no denying that there is a lot of grim in Hannah Kent's book. A lot of cold. One of the people I spoke to this week didn't feel that there were enough words to really convey the sense of place, but I really enjoyed the sparse nature of Kent's prose. To me, the sense of place built, word by word, page by page, along with the intimacy as the inevitability of the story inched forward, revealing itself under all that snow.

"Slow" was another word that came up a lot. It is a slow tale and, yes, a bleak one in many ways, but I found it intensely interesting. Strong female characters. An otherness in the setting. Historic detail. And, always, that slowly unravelling story.

Ultimately satisfying - for me, if not for Agnes.

What did you think? Share your thoughts here or pop over to the Fibro Club Facebook page to join the discussion.

Community Service Announcement: Fibro Book Club Facebook Group

Just a short post tonight to let y'all know that the Pink Fibro Club (Books & Reading) has a new and exciting home on the web. It's here.

Would love to see you over there. It's a friendly place to talk about whatever you're reading, get some recommendations and generally hang out when you're looking to procrastinate. I'll announce the book club selection each month over there, as well as in my newsletter.

And now I must go. Need to finish, Burial Rites, so I can write my June 1 post.

Any minute now.

Dealing with The Block

Do you ever suffer from Blogger's Block? It's not a common thing for me, but when it hits, it hits hard. To the point where my mind looks something like this: [                                 ]. Not pretty is it?

There are a few tricks I use when The Block rears its ugly head. One is to simply start writing. About anything.

To whit, the opening line of this post.

Usually, if I'm working on a book or an article or some other form of writing, I simply switch projects. My good friend Allison Dobell is currently working on her second novel, and I find that to be a nice distraction when a heavy, research-based feature story, for instance, is not coming together.

Blogging is somehow different. It doesn't seem to matter what I distract myself with, the blink-blink-blink of the cursor remains. Perhaps it is because blogging is so personal. If your brain is blank and you're essentially writing about yourself, you know you've got problems.

Another trick I try is a good, long walk. This has the benefit of both clearing my mind and shrinking my butt. Walking around the block usually clears The Block. (As does weeding, but we won't bring out my gardening/writing metaphors today.)

I'd like to be one of those bloggers who has a list of ideas at the ready at all times. But the truth is that I generally sit down with little to no idea of what I'm going to post that day (unless it's a Q&A, of course... have I ever mentioned how much I love Q&As?). This leaves me to be all footloose and freewheeling on a good day.

And leaves me stuck in quicksand on the bad ones.

Like now.

Time to put my shoes on for a walk...

How do you deal with Blogger's Block?

Fibro Q&A: Liane Moriarty on inspiration, secrets and writing 'funny'

 Liane Moriarty is one of those rare people who can write 'internationally best-selling author' after her name. Her warm, family-centric novels have staked a claim to some prime real estate on my bookshelf, and her book What Alice Forgot has been optioned by Fox Pictures. In short, she gives great novel.

So I was thrilled when she accepted my invitation to pop into the Fibro for a chat. Liane's fifth book The Husband's Secret was published recently, opening the door for conversation about inspiration, family and managing social media as an author.

I love the inspiration behind The Husband's Secret – an article about deathbed confessions. Are you the kind of writer who always knows what her next book will be about, even as she's writing the current one, or do you wait for the quiet time, once a book's finished, to flail about with a net for inspiration?
Liane Moriarty: "I normally have a few ideas at the back of my head, and sometimes I’m positive that I know what my next book is going to be about ... until I sit down to write it. I put aside another idea to write The Husband’s Secret, and actually, I’ve just shelved that same idea yet again. I don’t know why it keeps getting shelved, because it’s an extremely brilliant idea involving a suffragette, a pole dancer and ... look, it may be one of those ideas that only sound brilliant when they remain in your head. That particular character might have to stay at the back of my mind forever, pole dancing sadly away."

When you began your writing career, social media was almost non-existent – now it seems that authors must be 'engaging' at all turns. How do you feel about that aspect of being an author today? Are you active on social media?
LM: "Yes! You’re right! There was no Facebook! And we all survived, didn’t we? In one respect I can’t stand social media, because I’m very bad at it. I only went on Facebook at the insistence of my publisher and I am always behind answering comments, and I rarely do status updates, and I never update my blog, and I whinge constantly about the expectations, and how I don’t have time for this because I only have such short periods of child-free time to work.

"On the other hand, I also LOVE it, because I receive such lovely, generous comments from readers, and that precious feedback is available so quickly after a book is released.  I greatly admire authors who do social media properly, twirling effortlessly about the Internet, linking and tweeting. One day I will be just like them. And one day I will be very thin and punctual, too."

You experienced almost instant success with your first novel Three Wishes - do you think that made it easier or more difficult for you as a writer? Do you feel a weight of expectation with each book?
LM: "The Husband’s Secret is my fifth novel, and although you are kind to say I experienced almost instant success with Three Wishes, it was quite modest, manageable success if you know what I mean. It was published around the world, which was fantastic, because it meant I could become a full-time writer, but sales weren’t quite up there with 50 Shades of Grey. So I haven’t really felt that huge weight of expectation that I know some authors feel.  I feel like my readership has been growing at a nice steady rate but I don’t feel any pressure to stick to a certain formula. I just feel very lucky each time I have a new publishing contract."   

Two of your sisters (Jaclyn and Nicola) also write. Are you competitive with each other? Inspired by each other?
LM: "We are very competitive when it comes to material. For example, there was much outrage when I announced that I’d made use of a beloved family anecdote in The Husband’s Secret. I’m the eldest, so as I was here first I obviously enjoy first right of refusal on everything that has ever happened in the history of the Moriarty family...

"I am definitely inspired by both my sisters. I always say that I would never have published my first book if I wasn’t inspired by Jaci’s success with her brilliant YA novel, Feeling Sorry for Celia.  My sister Nicola, is one of the authors I mentioned above; she is very adept with social media, so much so that she and her graphic designer husband are my social media consultants. They set up my website, Facebook page etc. and answer my moronic questions, and I am eternally grateful to them."

People often praise the humour in your books. I saw it described in a review as "so delightful, it's wicked and empathetic and intelligent and smiley and it just nails it, every time". Do you set  out to write 'funny', do the characters drive your humour, or is it just a part of your natural voice?
LM: "Who wrote that review? I love and adore that person. I definitely don’t set out to ‘write funny’.  I think you’re right that it’s normally the characters and the situations driving the humour. Humour is such an odd, subjective thing.  Some people don’t find my books funny at all. I’ve seen some reviewers write, ‘What? This book wasn’t funny at all! I never laughed once!”  Which always makes me laugh, for some reason."

Visit Liane at her website or say hello on Facebook. In joyous news, I'll be giving away a signed copy of The Husband's Secret via my next newsletter, out on May 15. Sign up (via the box on this blog) for your chance to win - and to find out exactly how Liane writes about family without upsetting her own family members.

Ghost of Christmas (story) past

Today I did a year's worth of filing. It was about as inspiring as it sounds. But...

My filing unearthed a 'Christmas story' that was rejected by the English Women's Weekly about five years ago (Lord only knows why it was still hanging around the 'to be filed' file). The title was terrible - Icing on the Christmas Cookie - dear God.

Surely it got better?

I read it with great interest for, by now, it reads as though it were written by someone else entirely. Why did they reject it, I wondered, as I perused the opening lines?

It was all okay. Which was probably the problem. Okay, as in, not terrible but not outstanding in any way.


Until I got to this bit.

"Wrapping paper littered the room like confetti, the Christmas tree had given up its load of presents like Papa Penguin sending off his eggs to hatch, and Amanda had taken another 50 photographs to add to the 1000 unprinted images on her computer's hard drive."

Papa Penguin? Methinks someone had been watching too much David Attenborough at the time of writing.

That's the thing with writing. So much of it is impacted by what's going on in your life at the time.

Just another reason to put manuscripts away in a drawer for a while before going back to edit them.

Are you sometimes surprised by things you've written in the past?

Why I don't like book clubs - and yet I'm starting one (allegedly)

Sometimes it doesn't pay to be on Twitter. There I was, minding my own business, sending out pithy (to me) tweets about this and that, when suddenly I found myself inveigled in a conversation about book clubs.

I don't like book clubs. I get that people love them, and I must say that I did have an enjoyable time in one a few years ago - but that had nothing to do with books. Mostly we got together, drank beers and talked about men. Even so, because I am a nerdy wordgirl, I had to endure reading many, many books that I did not like at all. Because they had been set as the text for that month and I am nothing if not diligent when it comes to doing my homework.

So I'd wade through someone else's choice of literature, feeling physically itchy about it at times, and then turn up on the night to find that I was the only one who had. Even the person who had set the book hadn't read it. Or, if they had, they wanted to tell us that they 'liked it' or 'didn't like it' and then move on to beers and men.

Leaving me there, alone, with my carefully prepared thoughts on theme and narrative devices.

Hmmmph.

Anyhoo, back to that fateful Twitter conversation. Somehow, thanks to @ClaireyHewitt, I have found myself head prefect of a newly formed online book club. Only I'm not going to call it a book club, I'm going old school, with Reading Club. Much more refined.

Despite my best efforts to delegate the whole exercise to @HelloMaxabella (you can't say that without hearing Seinfeld sneer "hello Newman", now can you?), here I am. With my Fibro Reading Club. Membership of one.

The Rules of Fibro Club:

1. You do NOT talk about Fibro Club (okay, not really, but how could I resist?)

2. The book for each month will be announced in my newsletter on the 15th of each month. The Fibro Club post regarding that book will go up on the first day of the following month. That gives us about two weeks to read the book. Long enough?

3. If you want to participate in the discussion, it would be great if you read the book. But if you don't like the look of the book, feel free to simply bypass that month and pop back another time. Or read something else and tell us what you think of that instead.

4. No shirts, no shoes. Pyjamas and beers are, however, perfectly acceptable.

At this stage, I'm still deciding the best place to hold our discussion. We can just do it in the comments here. Or we can shift to Twitter. Or I could even get all excited and start a Facebook page. All suggestions welcome. 

There you have it. My prefect badge is all shined up and ready for the announcement of the first book in next week's newsletter. Feel free to sign up if you'd like to join in!

Have you ever been in a book club? Tell me what you love and/or hate about them so that we can avoid the same mistakes?

image: a small portion of my current to-be-read pile

Fibro Q&A: Kylie Ladd on why the writing shouldn't get any easier

Kylie Ladd, one of my very favourite 'acclaimed Australian authors', launched her third book Into My Arms this week. I met Kylie on Twitter in my very earliest weeks, and she was and is all of the good things: smart, funny, engaging, friendly. I read her first book After The Fall soon after, and was hooked.

Last time she visited the Fibro, we talked about characters and voice and lots of other good writing stuff. This time, well ... read on.

Now that you have your third book, do you think that the writing gets easier or more difficult as you go along?
Kylie Ladd: "It should be easier, and in some ways it is, because I have the psychological crutch of knowing that I have done this before, a number of times now, and thus there’s no reason I can’t do it again. But really, every book is different, and every book should be harder if you’re also pushing for it to be better than your last (and if you aren’t, why not?), so the short answer is no, not at all. They’re all their own individual forms of hell."

Do you finish each book with an idea of what the next one might be about?
Kylie Ladd: "Thankfully I do. It’s never a clear, fully-formed idea, but usually as I come into the final 20 or 30,000 words of whatever I’m working on I can sense something glimmering out of the corner of my eye. The trick is not to look at it directly - for one, I might scare it away. More importantly, though, it’s not a time for playing with new ideas - I need to keep my eyes on the horizon so I can steer the story I’m telling into shore.

"It is a comfort to have it there though. I’m not one of those writers who has a thousand ideas before bed each day - usually I only have one every few years, and then I have to make sure I can make it last the length of a book. I’m at the 75,000 word mark of my next (hopefully, fourth) novel now, and I can just feel something beginning to take shape at the edges of my brain. I really hope it’s a new novel, and not a migraine."

Relationships of one form or another are at the heart of all your books – what's the most difficult thing about writing about relationships?
Kylie Ladd: "Keeping them real. Having my characters do and say things that real people do, and not what I want them do to move the plot along or work in a nice piece of exposition or what have you. I also get a bit nervous about writing male characters, in case I get the voice wrong, but hopefully I’m getting over that. At the end of the day we’re all people first and foremost."

You're an author who doesn't blog, FB, pin or all the rest – though you do Tweet. Do you agree with Charlotte Wood that 'branding is junk'? Or is there another reason you don't get too involved?
Kylie Ladd: "Oooh, I didn’t know Charlotte said that. I like her even more now! I can definitely see the importance of branding to some extent, but I’m not sure it would be worth it for me. I don’t really think I’m all that interesting… but hopefully my novels are, so that’s what I’d rather work on and put my effort into.

"The other reason I don’t get too involved, as you say, is time (see next question!) and, to be honest, that thing I mentioned above about my general dearth of ideas. I have blogged in the past in a paid position (I know! But not paid much) and while I enjoyed it and am proud of what I produced in that year I found that it didn’t leave much in my tank for my fiction; that I was using insights and ideas and quandaries that I normally would’ve explored or addressed in a novel in my weekly column instead, and then I wasn’t much interested in them anymore or felt I couldn’t go over them again. Also, the pressure to always have something fresh and new and well-punctuated coming along did my head in. (NB. I do actually Facebook. Clearly not that well though!)"

How in the world do you fit being a successful author around being a parent AND a part-time job as a neuropsychologist?
Kylie Ladd: "By not blogging. Seriously though, it’s about discipline- it’s about setting aside time to write and refusing to let myself be talked into going out to lunch or seeing a private patient or even meeting for coffee on those days. It’s about keeping them so sacrosanct that one of my kids would have to be in the ER before I got up from the desk. It’s about allowing myself a bit of time to muck around on Twitter but then unplugging my computer and going to work in the kitchen or backyard if necessary so I can get something done without being lured astray by the siren song of the internet. (We don’t have wireless so I can accomplish this. My children believe we are living in the stone age.)

"Reading back, this all sounds a bit obsessive, but something I always say to my creative writing students is that the first rule of being a  writer is to write. They all look at me like I’m nuts (Write. I paid money for this?), but it’s true. When you can write - and for most of us, that time is limited - the writing must come first."


Visit Kylie at her website, or say hello on Twitter (or, apparently, on Facebook!). You can buy Into My Arms here or - wait for it - you can enter the Fibro competition to WIN a signed copy! 

All you have to do is to leave a comment below, by 5pm Sunday May 12, answering this question: Have you ever fallen in love at first sight? Winner will be most creative answer, as judged by me, and announced on Monday May 13.

Tips for writing features #12: A question of good questions

I was talking to an editor friend of mine today who was gnashing her teeth over a story that had been submitted to her. It was a Q&A piece and it just wasn't working.

"The answers are just not quite right," she said to me.

"No," I said to her. "The questions aren't quite right."

Whatever style of article you're working on, be it general feature or Q&A, the key to getting the information you want, the great quotes you need, and the right angle for the piece is to ask the right questions. I have written before about interviews (specifically, one that went wrong).

About the importance of asking dumb questions.

About how to interview 'real people' for case studies.

And the importance of asking one final question when you find someone you think is a 'good interview'.

So now I'm just going to lay out my four top tips for asking the right questions to get the great quotes you need.

1. Be prepared, but not too prepared
Some of the worst interviews I've ever conducted have been with a) people about whom I'd read everything ever written or b) experts in a subject that I'd researched to the point where I felt I knew as much as the experts. It makes for a boring interview and a boring interview will always bring boring quotes.

When I feel as though I'm learning something as I ask my questions, my interest is piqued, my questions are more spontaneous, and my eyes are bright and shiny. People respond to that. They want to tell me more. We get to cover areas of a subject that we might never have touched on if I'd left no room for them.

2. Listen for the little bell
Having said that, I always go into an interview with a prepared list of questions. I think long and hard about the brief, what I want to know about a subject and what the readers of the particular publication for which I'm writing the story will want to know. I ask those questions and I listen for the little bell that goes off in my head every single time I hear a quote I know I will use in the story. Sometimes it's the quote on which I will build the story. When I hear that bell, I take that particular line of questioning just a bit further if I can.

3. Ask open-ended questions
Unless you're after a definitive answer on whether Kevin Rudd will run for PM again (just as an example), don't ask questions that are easily answered with a 'yes' or 'no'. These leave you with nightmares when it comes to writing your story. What you want are nice, juicy sentences. A bit of waffle, even. Waffle can be edited. Boring answers can be dealt with by writing interesting words around them. But turning a 'yes' into a paragraph in your 1500 word story is not easy. Give yourself something to work with.

4. Actually, listen in general
It's easy as a journalist to go into automatic mode when it comes to interviews, particularly phone interviews. You can be so busy trying to get the words down (if you type them) or so confident in the ability of your recording device to catch every word that you can forget to listen to what the interviewee is saying, zoning out into la-la land, planning the story in your head. Later, you'll read over your notes and think 'damn, why didn't I ask that?' because you will, without a doubt, have missed something.

When you really listen to the interview, you won't miss the opportunity to ask the right questions.

As an interviewer, nothing gives me a bigger thrill than when someone says to me 'those were great questions'. It means I've asked them something that's made them think, and that will hopefully give me the material to make readers think. Win/win.

Tell me about the best (or worst) interview situation you've ever been in - either asking the questions or answering them.

image: Eleaf via photopin cc

Fibro Q&A: Fleur McDonald on the Rural Romance phenomenon

I first met Fleur McDonald about four years ago, not long after the publication of her second novel Blue Skies. She was then working on her third novel Purple Roads, and if anyone was following the maxim to 'write what you know' it was Fleur, who lives on an isolated 8000 acres on the south-east coast of WA, with her family, 400 angus cows, and 7000 breeding ewes, and writes big stories where the setting is almost its own character.

Today, her outback novels are devoured by readers around the country (Fleur was voted in the top 50 in Booktopia's Australia's Favourite Novelist poll) and she has ridden the wave of the popularity of 'rural romance' or Farm Lit from the beginning (Fleur's fourth novel Silver Clouds is out now). So I was thrilled when I was able to coax her into the Fibro to answer a few questions about her genre and the reality of 'rural romance'.

Rural romance or Farm Lit has emerged as a definite genre in Australian publishing – why do you think it's so popular?
Fleur McDonald: "So many people ask this question and I really don’t know the answer to it. What I believe is that most Australian have a love of their history and a fascination with our land. Most Australians know of Banjo Paterson, Henry Lawson, The Man from Snowy River and, more recently, McLeod's Daughters and Wild Boys. The recent TV programs have done incredibly well, so there must be a deep love of our bush heritage, and this translates over into the written word as well. When there is a bit of fun to be had, wonderful sunsets and a sexy farmer, well, then, who could resist?!"

Beyond the romance factor, you explore a lot of the reality of farm life in your books – and it's not always romantic. Is it difficult to marry those two things?
FM: "No, I can honestly say that farming or any type of life on the land is not romantic. Of course it has its moments – when the sun is setting and your bloke gives you a kiss … But, to me, the romance is more with the land – it’s beauty, history and stories. And that’s actually how I see my stories – not as a romance, but as a story from the land - and when I look at it like that, no it’s not hard to marry the two together.

"I like to tell it how it is, which is much more realistic, too. If people recognise themselves or things things have happened on their farms, then I’ve done my job."

Is the setting as important as the story in your novels? How do you go about bringing it to life?
FM: "Yes, the setting, I hope, is what paints my picture. I live it so I believe I can write with authenticity about the way we live, our animals and the land. I love showing people how incredible this life is, people who wouldn’t otherwise get to know about the little things; the way the wind indicates change in weather, the way the native Christmas Trees flower, the way the sheep graze into the wind. So I watch carefully.

"When I’m writing I shut my eyes and remember what happened to me when I was last doing the job I’m writing about. I see a mini movie in my head and just write what I see in that movie. With my latest novel, Silver Clouds, I took photos when I was last crossing the Nullarbor, so I had a visual to refer back to."

You live the life you write about, living on an isolated property in WA. Does the isolation help or hinder your writing career?
FM: "I think it’s both. I find that it’s difficult for me to get away from the farm for tours and so forth, but the isolation also helps me sit down and write. The biggest distraction (which I think is the same for most of the writers I know!) is the bloody internet!

"But it’s a necessary evil, because it’s the internet that makes it possible for me to have interaction with my readers (I always answer every message I get) and to be in constant contact with my editors and publisher."

Any tips for writers who'd like to have a crack at this genre?
FM: "Hmm. Well, my first thought is the market is already very crowded and that's impacting on both advances and sales. Personally, I would try another genre, because this one, as popular as it is at the moment, is likely to take a nosedive any day now.

"However, if you really think this is what you are born to do, then get your skates on, make sure your manuscript has a distinctive voice and a unique story, then cross your fingers and hang on."

You can visit Fleur McDonald at her website or say hello on Twitter or Facebook. Plus I have a signed copy of her latest novel Silver Clouds to give away. Sign up for my newsletter before Monday for full details - you'll also get to read Fleur's answer to this extra, thorny question: How do you find time to write?