Good News / Bad News
Tia Fisher graduated from the MA in Writing for Young People in 2023. Somewhat ironically, he
r teen verse novel Crossing the Line was published by Hot Key Books while she was still in the middle of the ‘Contemporary Children’s Publishing’ module on the MA course. Here, she gives some advice to debut authors.
You can contact Tia via her linktr.ee
I was in the slightly unusual situation of starting the MA on the very day my teen verse novel Crossing the Line was acquired by Hot Key Books, and it launched when I was halfway through the publishing module. Now, while that module is brilliantly informative and will stand you in very good stead, it can't cover absolutely everything. So I thought I’d share some insights from my debut year.
There’s good news and bad news. Let’s start with the good.
When you join the MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa, you’re being adopted into the most amazing multi-generational family. Make the most of it. Reach out within and beyond your cohort, and stay in touch with everybody for as long as you can. It was an MA alumnus who invited me into my cosy, supportive ‘debut Twitter group’: a group of authors who launched their debuts in the same year. By the time you read this, of course, Twitter might be completely ‘ex’ – see what I did there? – but I'm sure something similar will exist somewhere. It’s so helpful to chat with others going through the same process, and what goes on in the debut group stays in the debut group. We boost, cheer, commiserate, answer queries and have the odd meet-up. It’s been a lifeline.
Another wonderful writing community is the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCWBI). I learnt so much in their amazing ‘debut bootcamp’ online weekend; about how to publicise your launch, prepare and deliver school visits, make author videos and generally promote your book. I also belong to our ‘trade union’, the Society of Authors, which offers many events and benefits, not least free advice on contracts and bookkeeping.
The bad news? You’ll need all the help you can get, because you and your book are now a business. It was a steep learning curve!
As wonderful as school visits are, they’re scary (why did I write for Year 9?) and take a lot of preparation. I’ve learned to keep spreadsheets of visits, had guidance on how much to charge, what to bring with me and what I should include in my politely-worded template describing what I will – and will not – do for the money. (By the way, your carefully-planned technology will fail. Trust me on this).
To help with ideas, why not go to festival events and watch other authors do their stuff to your target readership? Consider approaching a local school and asking if they have any author visits coming up that you could watch (with permission of the author, of course). Would a school let you practise on them for free?
If the school you are visiting doesn’t want to buy in from a local bookseller, it’s well worth purchasing author-discount copies from your publisher to sell yourself (invest in a card reader). The sale of books can be leveraged against a lower fee and you can offer the schools a discount if that feels appropriate. Why not offer to donate a book to the school library for every ten books sold? I've printed postcards so that students who can’t buy a book can still have something signed. Postcards are useful to leave on bookseller’s counters too.
Talking of booksellers: support your local indies by directing readers to them. Waterstones? You’re either in or you’re out . . . you may be on a table in every store, but there’s also a good chance you won’t. Try not to cry. If they stock you, do pop in and chat to the booksellers; leave some merchandise, take a photo for the socials. You might not get your book on a table, but books are sold by people. Help them put a friendly face to a name on a spine.
Presales matter. Reviews matter. Do as you would be done by and support fellow authors by buying, promoting and reviewing their books before publication if you can.
I've spent so much time since I was published doing some very non-writing things. I've learned how to make 3D versions of my book cover, grapple with Instagram, build a website and run a Twitter giveaway. I’ve created comprehensive school resources for Crossing the Line. I’ve filmed more excruciating videos than I care to count, given interviews, answered Q&As, written masses of blog posts and articles and papers, appeared on conference panels and reached out on social media to make friends with educators, librarians and other authors. I’m exhausted!
In summary then, your debut year is blooming hard, sometimes scary work that will definitely keep you away from your writing.
But remember . . . You’re never alone. Reach out. We’ve got you.