To celebrate next week’s launch of the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2014, www.writersandartists.co.uk are giving you a sneak-peek of what you can expect from this year’s edition of the indispensable guide to all areas of publishing and the media.
In this post, Neil Gaiman explains how he learned to “stop worrying” in order to become a successful crossover author.
Authors who write crossover fiction often find it more difficult to get their work published.
Traditionally, crossover books tend to be harder for publishers to market and harder for bookshops to sell. But, following the success of writers such as Gaiman, J K Rowling and Philip Pullman, crossover fiction has never had a more captive audience.
So, if you’re harbouring ambitions of writing a book that’s loved by readers of fantasy and romance alike (for example), read on!
‘You can do your best to write a book for children that adults will like (or the other way around…): you can try not to mess up the publishing end of things; you can try to bring an existing audience with you, if you have one, and a way of letting them know what you’ve done.’
‘I suppose you become a crossover author by taking risks, but they had better be the kind of risks that you enjoy taking. Don’t set out to be a crossover author. Write the books you have to write, and if you write one that crosses boundaries, that finds readers in a variety of ages and types, then do your best to get it published in a way that lets all of them know it’s out there.’
To read the article in its entirety, order the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2014 now.
(All online purchases made before 3 July 2013 will receive a 25% discount).
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