Category Archives: Writing insights

Remember Me To The Bees – the launch

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Remember Me To The Bees book launchI’m a great believer in doing the things on your wishlist, your bucket-list, if you get the chance. A book launch was on mine, though I hadn’t dared look it straight in the eye.

So when the opportunity came to have my short story collection, Remember Me To The Bees, published, that was exciting, but glimmering at the edge of my vision was the launch.

But I almost didn’t do. Almost lost my nerve. Almost let the idea of ‘what if no one comes’ fright me into inaction.

I pushed past the fears – started planning the night.

And one excellent piece of advice from Mike French on throwing a successful book launch made it work – plan it not as a selling exercise, but a celebration, as a party.

Here are the ingredients of my book launch

1. The venue

I thought about what I would do if money was no object and set my heart on my dream venue, The Birdcage – a coffee shop cum vintage clothes shop cum bar cum music and lit night hosts.

I had a few chats with them about what I wanted to do, and they agreed to let me have the space free of charge on a Monday night. And that was that, preparations in motion.

2. Live music

Having achieved this, I had the courage to come up with a dream list, and a pretty clear picture of the kind of tone I was going for – going with the party theme and the vibe of the venue, I was keen to have live music…

Rabbit City at Remember Me To The Bees launch

I asked around a discovered that a friend of a friend, Anders aka Rabbit City, is an extremely talented musician and singer/songwriter. I listened to some of his sets on SoundCloud and realised his music would work really well with the stories in my collection, create the vibe I was after and was exactly what I was after.

3. Original artwork

Art was always my vision for the night. Bournemouth-based artist Louise Boulter created the cover for Remember Me To The Bees and artwork for each of the twenty stories in the collection. I checked with the venue and then asked Louise if she fancied holding a one-night exhibition of her work at the Birdcage on the launch night. She was keen – so that was the décor sussed, if a way that matched the feel of the book, the music and the venue.

Louise Boulter Fishermen

4. An outfit for the author

Okay, this one may feel pretty frivolous, but for me the right clothing can help to put me in the right frame of mind, and I wanted a fancy frock. I opted for a vintage-look silky navy blue number with a wonderfully flowy skirt and lacy back, and felt like a literary princess all night long. It helped give me an extra boost of confidence, and added to the party feel for me.

Judy Darley Remember Me To The Bees launchI also wore a gold bee pendant my hubla had given me, just in case people weren’t aware this was a book of stories smattered with bees.

5. The readings

I prepared four excerpts to read at the launch, only around ten minutes in total, and just enough to whet people’s appetites. My reasoning was that a full story demanded too much attention from attendees – I wanted everyone to be intrigued by what they heard, and be left wanting more. It seemed to work!

Judy Darley reading from Remember Me To The Bees I practised diligently in the weeks before the launch so that I almost knew the snippets off by heart. It definitely helped to be so well prepared when I took to the stage and saw quite how many people had turned up!

Remember Me To The Bees launch

Which takes us to…

6. The invitations

I invited people I loved, people I liked, people I respected and people who I simply thought might be interested.

Philip at Remember Me To The Bees launch This included members of my family, local publishers, authors, journalists I’ve worked with, and just a lot of people I’ve enjoyed the company of at one time or another. The majority of the people I hoped would come did, and a few more besides. The place was packed!

7. A compère

I was happy to go up and introduce myself, but my hubla wisely pointed out that it would look far more professional if someone introduced me and then Rabbit City, and he kindly offered to take on that role, and did a grand job!

James as compere fro Remember Me To The Bees launch

8. The signings

The Birdcage is a curious l-shape, with a main room that has the bar at one end and the stage at the other. A slightly smaller space spills off this and we took over a large table in there to pile up the books onto. I sat there and signed copies of the book and chatted to my fans (!) while Rabbit City played. It was utterly exciting, but when I felt overwhelmed it definitely helped to have a friend come and sit with me, or get lovely Louise Boulter to come and sign a few books too!

9. The photography

Last but not least, the gorgeous photographs that will helped me remember this night till the end of my days. Pete Gettins turned out to be the perfect man for this – unobtrusive and keen-eyed. Pete took all the photos published in this post. He captured many moments I hadn’t seen and many that made me exclaim as I laid eyes on them for the first time. Working in low-lighting and a party atmosphere he managed to take a collection of images that feel to me part art, part reportage.

And on the night everything went swimmingly – there was a golden glow to the evening that brought to mind weddings, birthdays, the gladdest of times.

I shared excerpts from Girls in Windows, Stalagmite, On The Ledge and Singing For Seals, signed and sold a lot of copies of Remember Me To The Bees, basked in the shimmer of a job well done, saw the pride on the faces of family and friends, revelled in having my own, one-person house band, posed for photos, forgot to pose for photos (those ones turned out better, I think), made contacts, had some jolly chats, felt like a literary star, and floated home feeling like moonlight was seeping from every pore.

So this is my advice. If you publish a book, even if your publisher has no publicity budget, have a launch. It raises awareness of your work, but more importantly it marks a pretty special achievement, and you’re bound to have a fantastic night.

How to write picture books

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Author and commissioning editor Mara Bergman shares her secrets for writing successful picture books.

Although I started writing from a very young age, it was only when my three children were growing up that I thought about writing picture books. I read to the children all the time and knew what worked – for them and for me – and thought it would be fun to have a go at writing one.

It took quite a while to get my first book published though, and there was a gap of a few years between my first book and my second. Even now, after having had quite a few books published, when my editor tells me that one of my stories has made it through an acquisitions meeting and has been accepted, I’m absolutely over the moon with excitement!

oliver small but mighty coverMake your language concise, rhythmical and playful

When writing a picture book you have to remember that the language needs to appeal to young children but also to whoever is reading to them, and it should never talk down to the child or be patronising.

For me language is paramount, something which became evident when I was reading all those picture books aloud to my young children.

If I didn’t enjoy reading a certain text, if the rhythms or words were flat, I would simply reach for another book. I think it’s important for language to be concise, rhythmical and playful.

Keep your form tight and your emotions real

The picture book certainly presents many challenges. First of all, the form is extremely tight and has to encompass so much. I enjoy the economy and the challenges of working in a tight form.

The story should be about 300 words long and have a beginning, middle and end, with a climax falling about two-thirds of the way through.

It’s important to make sure pieces are targeted to the right ages, but I don’t think of a particular age of child when I write, though my work is primarily aimed at three- to six-year-olds. I think it’s important to write what comes naturally to you.

I love the simplicity of picture books, or rather the pared-down-ness of them, and how they can get to the heart of emotions.

Think of your picture books as a puzzle to solve

The picture book is often likened to a piece of theatre, with each spread a stage set and the drama occurring at the turning of the page.

I’ve also heard it compared to a hugely condensed novel! But when I’m working on a story I find it’s more like one of those puzzles made up of little tiles that you have to shift around on a square to create a picture. You often have to move many pieces to get one piece in the right place.

Changing a phrase often means reworking several lines, and when one thing is wrong, the whole story has to be rethought. I love the simplicity of picture books, or rather the pared-down-ness of them, and how they can get to the heart of emotions.

Unless you can draw, leave that side of things to the illustrator

I wish I could write and illustrate, but as I can’t I’m extremely fortunate to work with some wonderful illustrators. My publisher Anne McNeil at Hodder paired my text for Snip Snap! with Nick Maland. Lively Elizabeth, illustrated by Cassia Thomas, is a completely different sort of story and required a completely different style of artwork. Both are extremely gifted artists.

For my newest book, Best Friends, Nicola Slater’s fantastic bright, bold and slightly retro illustrations make me laugh each time I read it.

There are lots of wonderful illustrators out there and therefore publishers’ expectations for the look of a book are extremely high. And they have to be, as it’s the artwork that catches your attention and makes you pick up the book in the first place. No matter how good a text might be, if someone isn’t attracted to the illustrations they are not going to read or buy the book.

Take time to understand the picture book market place

Publishers are leaning towards commissioning series, which tend to be character- based, so this is something you may want to keep in mind. The characters have to appeal to the children being read to, and children must be able to relate to them.

The picture book market isn’t an easy one, and it’s becoming ever more difficult, but no matter what, I sincerely believe that if your work is really good it will eventually find a home.

Know the market – visit bookshops and libraries and read magazines and websites geared to children’s books.

Most importantly keep writing, and keep submitting your work, and don’t be discouraged when your stories are rejected at first: they will be. You have to be serious about your writing and develop a thick skin – and stick with it.

Mara BergmanAbout the author

Mara Bergman is Senior Commissioning Editor at Walker Books, an independent publishing house focusing on children’s books and young adult fiction. In addition, Mara writes picture books and her many books include Snip Snap! and Lively Elizabeth, both published by Hodder Children’s Books. Best Friends will be published by Hodder in July. “It’s the story of three very different dogs who are each chasing their own ball in the park, causing havoc as they run from their young owners. I hope this is a book that will be equally enjoyable for parents and children.”

How to use fiction to explore the truth

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A Room Swept White pbToday’s guest post comes from bestselling author Sophie Hannah, and explains how authors can use fiction to explore the truth behind controversial subjects, as she did for her novel A Room Swept White.

In the UK there have been several high-profile cases of mothers losing more than one child to cot death and subsequently being accused of murder: Sally Clark, Angela Cannings and Trupti Patel to name just three.

Clark lost two sons to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), and Cannings and Patel each lost three babies. The women protested their innocence, but the dominant view at the time in legal and medical circles seemed to be that it was simply too much of a coincidence for more than one infant from the same family to die an unexplained death; many people believed these babies had been murdered.

Choose a subject with the potential to consume you

One expert witness who testified against both Clark and Cannings, paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadow, said that within a single family, ‘One cot death is a tragedy, two is suspicious, three is murder’. This came to be known as ‘Meadow’s Law’.

Clark and Cannings were both convicted of the murders of their babies.  Immediately, campaigns were launched to secure their exoneration and release, on the basis that there was no concrete evidence to prove that either woman was a murderer. The only evidence of murder, supporters argued, was disputed medical evidence. Continue reading →