sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Hallelujah!

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More Christmas goodness. The Hallelujah Chorus was a big part of my growing up. I spent two years of my life trapped in boarding school, and part of our annual speech night was the whole school massed choir. Not sure the Hallelujah Chorus was done every year, but it was pretty regular – and although I was only there for two years, I’d been attending speech nights there for 10 years or so, because my sister were there. I always felt a thrill on hearing the chorus, until of course I was one of the people who had to both learn it and sing it (although, if I’m, honest, even my 16 year old self who had to act like it was uncool, deep down was excited to be finally part of it).

Later, I bought CD versions of the Messiah, and when I was heavily pregnant with Murphlet 3, my beloved took me to see it performed at the Perth Concert Hall.

I still love it. But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a performance as good as this one. Enjoy!

Wham!

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It’s been a month since my last post, and with much to do here over the next little while, I’m not sure when I’ll write another decent post.

So rather than leave this space empty, thought I’d share some of my favourite Christmas bits and bobs.

This is the song that’s been in my Head the past few days – and the clip just made me giggle with all its glorious 80s- ishness (hey, I coined a new word!). Why this song? Not sure – definitely not a parallel to any events in my life. I thin perhaps it’s just one of those songs that sticks with me because it was tehre playing in my teen years. I was 16 when this one was released, and I do remember being delighted that there were ‘real’ (perhaps I even thought ‘grown up’, lol) songs about Christmas, instead of all those childish songs on our old records.

Anyway, here it is. Wham!

5 Reasons to Write

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This post doesn’t really need an introduction so let’s get straight to it – five reasons you (or I) should write.
1.      1.  You love words. The  sound of them, the shape of them, the way they fit together. A perfectly written sentence sends frissons of joy down your spine.
 
2.       2.   You love stories – other people’s as well as your own – and you see them wherever you go.
 
3.     3.   There are stories in your head, or your heart, or both, that only you can tell.
 
4.    4.   There is nothing else you’d rather be doing – if you’d rather be watching telly, gardening, climbing a mountain, partying, sleeping…do that instead. Write because you can’t not write.
 
5.     5.  To get published (and maybe make some money). If you want to get rich or earn a living, writing is a really hard way to do it. That’s why  it’s last on this list. If it’s all about money, go buy a lotto ticket or get a day job. 
Comments?

Mistakes I’ve Made

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Since my last couple of posts have run towards being a little bit preachy (thou shalt not submit prematurely etc  etc), I  thought  it might be a good change of pace to share  a few secrets. Instead of saying what YOU should or shouldn’t be doing, today I’m going to share a quick list of things I have done wrong over the years as I’ve tried to get published.
1.      1.  Submitting too soon. Sending a manuscript off in the afterglow of completion is a big mistake – and yet I’ve done it more than once. There is nothing as exciting as a newly written story – and nothing as horrifying as reading it a month later and seeing what’s wrong with it.  These days I try to revise and polish, and to let a manuscript rest before I send it out.
2.       2. Submitting to the wrong publisher. Yes it’s hard to know which publisher will accept a manuscript, but submitting to a publisher who doesn’t publish children’s books, or doesn’t publish (for example) picture books, or isn’t open to unsolicited submissions is simply a waste of everyone’s time – but I’ve done it. These days I only submit to publishers whose guidelines I’ve read thoroughly and who I know publish the kind of books I’m submitting.
3.       3. Taking rejection personally. I have cried over rejections. I have got angry over rejections. I have been certain that publishers just don’t know what they’re missing. And, worst of all, I’ve let rejections stop me from writing. If I’m honest I haven’t yet learnt not to get a bit upset when I get a rejection – but over time I’ve learnt some resilience. I try to remember that it is my manuscript, not ME, that is being rejected – and that it isn’t personal.
4.  4. Being too attached to a particular manuscript. Some stories are the product of so much blood, sweat and tears, or are on topics so personal, that it is really hard to accept that they might never be published. These are also the manuscripts where I am in danger of being blinded to any deficits because of that attachment. But the reality I have come to understand is that some manuscripts will never be published – for a range of reasons. It’s hard, but these days I try to recognise that an unpublished story might have still done its job for me, in developing my writing skills, or trying something new, or even just getting a story out of my system. No word is ever  wasted.
5.    5.   Trying too hard and missing out on the sheer joy of writing. I’ve done this on and off my whole writing life. Before I was published I would write with a sense of grim determination, gritting my teeth and sure that this time I’d get it right, or else I’d quit. Since I started getting published I have regularly found myself worrying, as I write, whether this story would be as good as the last. My books have won awards – so of course I need to write another award-winner, don’t I?  Yet time has shown me that the best writing I do is when I write for the love of writing, especially in the early draft stages of a story.  
So there you have it – stuff I’ve done wrong. And, if I’m honest, I’m not completely cured of some of these. But I’m working on it.
What about you? Want to share what you do wrong? Leave a comment .

5 Ways to Increase Your Chances of Getting Published

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Yesterday I talked about some realities of publishers existing to make money, rather than existing just to publish your book/s.  But if you’re a writer, what you want is for a publisher to want to make that money from publishing your book. So I thought it might be useful to share some simple ways you can increase your chances of getting published.  So, here goes:
1.   1. Write. A lot. If you have written one draft of one book and are putting all your energies in to getting it published, you are probably on the wrong track.  You need to write and keep writing. Multiple drafts of every story, and definitely more than one. And lots of stuff that will never be published but helps you refine your writing.
2.     2.  Before you submit your work to a publisher make sure it is the best it can be. Write, rewrite, critique, rewrite again. This should happen before you start submitting – not after it is rejected. Let it rest before you send it out so you can reread and be really sure it’s as good as you can make it.
3.  3.  Seek and listen to feedback on your writing – from reputable sources. NB – your friends, your parents, your children and your next door neighbour’s children, and especially your spouse are NOT reputable sources, even if they are very nice people.  A reputable source is someone else who knows stuff about writing – a critique partner, perhaps a paid manuscript appraiser, a writing tutor. Note though that this feedback is for you – not for the publisher. Saying n your cover letter “My critique buddy thinks this is great” will not help your cause.
4.     4.  Constantly improve your craft. Musicians practise away from the stage. Athletes train away from the arena. Writers must work to improve their skills by learning and by experimenting. Take a course, read a book, learn online, have fun with writing exercises.
5.   5.   Lastly, know the industry and the market. Don’t submit to a publisher you haven’t taken the time to learn about. Don’t just google ‘publisher; and then submit to the first name that comes up.  Before you submit your bookbaby to a publisher you should know what sort of books that publisher publishes, why they are a good match for your story and what their submission guidelines are. 
Getting published is hard. Very hard. But  submitting the right, well written, well-polished story to the right publisher will increased your chances of getting published immeasurably.

5 Quick Truths About Publishers

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Yesterday I read a comment on Twitter that said something like: “Publishers do not exist to make your dreams come true”. I wish I’d  made note of who tweeted it, but was busy nodding my head in agreement, and doing a dozen other things.
Anyway, as my weekend progressed I found this little quote kept coming back to me.  And while I can’t remember who said it, it resonated with me so much that I wanted to blog today on a similar vein. So, here goes – five quick home truths about publishers.
1.     1.  Publishers want to make money. They are businesses and, like every business, a publishing house aims to sell goods and make a profit.
2.      2.  Publishers want to publish books. Good books which sell well (see number one above – if their books sell well, their profits increase).
3.  3.   Publishers have staff whose job it is to select, polish, publish and promote books. Books which they hope will sell well (see number one above).
4.   4.    Publishers DO occasionally make mistakes (just like the rest of us). For example, a publisher may reject a book which goes on to be published by another publisher and sell well, making publisher B a lot of money, but publisher A no money.  (The most quoted example is the innumerable articles, comments blah blah blah that quote the publishers which rejected the first Harry Potter book and must have lived to regret it. BUT, what is often overlooked is that the publishers who rejected Rowling may not have had the right blend of staff, or branding, or whatever to make that series the big seller it was. And there are probably many more untold stories of  books which were rejected by one publisher, and published by another and flopping. ) But back to my point – publishers do sometimes make mistakes, but that is something outside your control as a writer.  And in the end, the decisions the publishers make are based on their desire to publish the best possible books for their list – and hence make money (see number one above).
5.   5.    You want your book published so it can make money. Publishers want to publish books to make money. You are on the same page, really. You both want the same thing, except you are convinced YOUR book is the best one and the publisher may disagree.  But in the end there is no plot to keep you from being published, no secret club, no ulterior motive. Even though sometimes it feels like it. A lot.
Tomorrow  I’ll say some things about what you can do to increase your chances of getting published. In the meantime I’d love to hear your reactions to what I’ve said here. Agree? Disagree? Talk to me.
sallymurphy.com.au