AD Hartley

Back in 2014 I self-published a book. It wasn't my first manuscript, but was the first I was happy enough to publish. Boy, was I wrong. With all the over confidence of a rookie writer, I set it free upon the world when it was far from ready. I made all the classic mistakes. But eventually, I resolved most of the issues my impatience created and had a book I was proud of, available to buy. And then... I forgot about it. Well, not quite, but almost. Life just sort of got in the way. I stopped marketing it, stopped checking the laughable sales figures, stopped reading the occasional reviews and allowed it to float off into the virtual world, unloved and unread. Sales dried up and I had seemingly more important things to worry about. Then, earlier this year, someone purchased it. A notification popped up that a kindle version had been downloaded. It was a surprise. But, for the first time in a decade I thought about my book again. The story, the characters, the possibilities, and all...

The new cover of Roald Dahl's classic kid's book, Charlie and Chocolate Factory, recently caused an awful lot of controversy  and you can see why. Many thought it creepy and some even found it overtly sexual in a rather  inappropriate way for a kids book. I can see why they would think this. If you try to read too much into the image you could certainly find it a little sinister. My own view is that it's simply not a very good cover, not representative of the author, the characters or the story. Penguin admitted as much themselves, saying "the cover image was not intended to represent either of female children featured in the story", which makes the choice of picture baffling. Choosing a cover that has nothing at all to do with the story, especially for a kids book, is a little strange, but it's even more so when you think that someone must have sat down and thought "This is the one for us! This is the entirely unrelated image that we want to use!...

When I first considered seriously writing a novel, many years ago, someone in publishing told me an axiom of the industry she called the 5% Rule. I have no evidence to prove how factual it is, but it's certainly believable and if taken as a parable on how difficult it is to become a successful writer, rather than as evidence itself, then it does ring true. With a lot of paraphrasing, the rule follows that: If there are many thousands of people who think they could/should/will write a book, only 5% of them will actually sit down and begin to do so. Of those who start, only 5% will complete the book. Of those that complete it, only 5% will finish it to a good standard and try to find a publisher/agent. Of those that try to find an agent/publisher, only 5% will do so. Of those that do find one, only 5% will make any money at all from their book. Of those that do make money, only 5% will make enough money to consider writing their full time job. Of those, o...