Editors’ preface

This contribution presents detailed insight into the activities of a successful working author. Ann describes the process of writing from inception to publication, and provides a fascinating overview of the links between author, publisher, libraries and readers.

Introduction

In this chapter I consider how reading influences the process of writing – from the way the stories we read as children feed into our adult experience of the narrative, through to the editing, reviewing and promotion of a finished book. I explore the development of a book from original idea to completed manuscript, using two of my crime novels as examples, and then describe how the writer must be both author and reader during the editorial process. I look at the other professionals in the publishing industry – agents, editors and publicists – and suggest that a passion for reading is as important for them as it is for the writer. I consider the importance of the public library system in developing and promoting both new and more established writers, and suggest that librarians and publishers should make more effort to understand the other's role. Writers now understand the need to engage more directly with their readers, and I explore the way some authors come together to bring their work to reading groups and festival audiences. I use the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival as an example of good practice. The range of reading groups is considered and the potential of new technology in the promotion of books is discussed. I explain that at last publishers have come to recognize the importance of the reader.

In the beginning

First of all, I'm a reader. I understand how fiction works, what makes a good story and how to get inside a character's head, because I've always been absorbed by the books I read. I don't analyse what I read from a writer's perspective; when I'm reading, I'm lost in the story like everyone else. The process of writing is instinctive and develops naturally. We all know how to structure a joke. Standing at the bar, a beer in one hand, we string our listeners along, pausing just before the tag line for dramatic effect. Nobody's taught us how to do that.