***NEW Special One-Day Course****

HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL AND GET IT PUBLISHED

at Wood Lane Countryside Centre, Wood Lane, Stannington, Sheffield S6 5HE

on Saturday 22nd September 2007

from 9.30am to 4.30pm (morning and afternoon session with break).

Tutor: Daniel Blythe, author of 8 books including THIS IS THE DAY.
Price: £60.00 - includes tuition and all course materials.

A one-off course aimed at all aspiring novelists, led by an experienced published writer. A chance to develop your skills in a beautiful rural setting.

Increase your writing confidence * Develop the tools and framework for completing a novel * Find out how to write query letters to publishers/agents * Learn the best way to write a synopsis * Pick up tips on character creation, dialogue, viewpointing and more * Learn how to interest a literary agent in your work* Find out what editors do and how to talk to them * Learn about the current markets for novels in the UK * Find the most useful books and websites for writers * Get extensive handouts and tip sheets on all the above and more * Benefit from the tutor’s 14 years of experience as a published writer * The chance to ask questions about all aspects of writing and publishing.

Please BOOK IN ADVANCE
email danielblythe@blueyonder.co.uk

Payment is requested in advance in order to secure a place.

Tea/coffee and biscuits included, but please bring a packed lunch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

are there concessions?

I would love to be able to offer concessions but I am not in a position to do so. I need a certain number of people attending the course at a fixed price to cover expenses and tutor fee, and if I were to offer concessions I'd worry that I might not get that. It's not like a WEA or Sheffield College course where we'd still get the funding. I don't get any external funding for these courses - it all comes out of the learner fees. At the moment.

It seems rather expensive this one day course Daniel doesnt it ?

Could I ask (genuinely) how much you would expect it to cost, and what you would expect to receive for that price?

I had several discussions with people doing similar things before setting the price. Some even thought I was pitching it too low! Even a brief internet search will turn up 1-day courses in, e.g., Business Writing, Contract Writing, Digital Production, Writing Professional Reports, etc., etc., costing anywhere between three and eight times as much as mine! Arvon Foundation courses cost £475 for six days, which works out at about 20% more. There is a typical one-day novel-writing course here:
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/experiences/novel-writing-course-info-266.html
costing almost three times as much. I could go on!

To be honest I think it would be hard to find anything offering a similar number of hours at a professional level for much less.

Is a one day course enough though, on how to write a novel. ? I suppose that is pretty cheap to hear a professional writer give a talk though.

A one-day course is not enough to learn the craft of a lifetime. Nor is a 10-week course, or a 20-week course. But it is enough to start people off, inspire them, get them thinking along the right lines and help them to avoid making the most obvious rookie mistakes.

Put it another way - if you had a kid who was OK at football, how much would you pay to have a professional footballer come and coach him for three 2-hour sessions?

It won't just be me talking "at" you either - how dull would that be? There are lots of activities designed to get people thinking.

A one-day course is not enough to learn the craft of a lifetime. Nor is a 10-week course, or a 20-week course. But it is enough to start people off, inspire them, get them thinking along the right lines and help them to avoid making the most obvious rookie mistakes.

Put it another way - if you had a kid who was OK at football, how much would you pay to have a professional footballer come and coach him for three 2-hour sessions?

It won't just be me talking "at" you either - how dull would that be? There are lots of activities designed to get people thinking.

Point taken. :) What novels have you written Daniel ?

Three original novels, two TV-tie-ins and three non-fiction books. All on my website! Link below. Or just google me!

I'd be interested to know if anyone else is put off by the price and, if so, what they'd expect to pay. It's hard to pitch this at the right level, bearing in mind it is a professional service.

Personally, I think 60 pounds is reasonable.

Personally, I think 60 pounds is reasonable.

Well with seriessix being a professional writer herself, I guess she knows. I will look Daniels books up on his link.

Take a look on amazon.co.uk

Thank you, I will .:)

With all due respect to Seriessix and pattricia, having one book printed by Lulu is not at all the same as being a "professional writer". Professional writers make their living by writing, and do that by having their books published by advance-paying publishers who have active editing, marketing, sales and distribution staff--none of which are provided by Lulu and other POD outfits.

Daniel is a real, professional writer. I've checked him out on Amazon, and a few other places, and his books are published by real, advance-paying, legitimate publishers. The fee he's asking is low, in my opinion, and I'm qualified to hold that opinion because I've attended several similar workshops over the years. And just i case you're wondering, I've written several books which have been published by those legitimate publishers; have had articles published in the national press; and have worked as an editor.

I suspect his workshop will be well worth attending.

Thanks for the vote of confidence!
My publishers, if anyone is wondering, have been: Virgin Books, Penguin, Hamish Hamilton, Capstone-Wiley and Allison & Busby. I'm represented by the agency Rupert Crew Ltd., based in London WC1.

Thanks for the vote of confidence!
My publishers, if anyone is wondering, have been: Virgin Books, Penguin, Hamish Hamilton, Capstone-Wiley and Allison & Busby. I'm represented by the agency Rupert Crew Ltd., based in London WC1.

Thanks Daniel. Didnt realise you were so famous. We should be honoured to have you on SF.

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

No problem, Daniel. The cheque's in the post, right?

No problem, Daniel. The cheque's in the post, right?

Ah, a writer's favourite words.

I wouldn't have said i was desperately famous in writing terms. I'm what they used to call "solid mid-list", when such a thing existed properly...

Gave myself away again.

Mid-list used to be a nice place to be. Now it's scary. I have a few friends there whose books sold well, even earned out--but didn't sell enough to warrant their publishers investing in their third, fourth or fifth books. It's not a problem I've faced yet (I was published a while ago, and mostly in non-fiction, which is different), but it's an added worry. Don't know why I do it.

With all due respect to Seriessix and pattricia, having one book printed by Lulu is not at all the same as being a "professional writer". Professional writers make their living by writing, and do that by having their books published by advance-paying publishers who have active editing, marketing, sales and distribution staff--none of which are provided by Lulu and other POD outfits.

Daniel is a real, professional writer. I've checked him out on Amazon, and a few other places, and his books are published by real, advance-paying, legitimate publishers. The fee he's asking is low, in my opinion, and I'm qualified to hold that opinion because I've attended several similar workshops over the years. And just i case you're wondering, I've written several books which have been published by those legitimate publishers; have had articles published in the national press; and have worked as an editor.

I suspect his workshop will be well worth attending.

I totally agree.

And once again, sixty pounds is a good price. Professional training in technical subjects can cost twenty times that for one day in a class.

The Guardian Unlimited book pages currently have an interesting discussion going about the way publishing is today versus the way it used to be. There's a real live editor contributing!
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/08/publishing_never_had_a_golden.html

I havent yet looked Daniels books up yet on the link, but intent to do so tonight.

Looking at Daniels website, he also does a Secrets For Writers pack,which looks very interesting for prospective writers. Daniel is only 38 so has done extraordinary well to write the books he has already.

It looks really interesting and it is something that I would attend, but its my partners birthday on the given date; (venue already booked) so I cannot make it. If any of you attend can you put feedback on the forum and possibly share the experience?
I would be extremely grateful.

It looks really interesting and it is something that I would attend, but its my partners birthday on the given date; (venue already booked) so I cannot make it. If any of you attend can you put feedback on the forum and possibly share the experience?
I would be extremely grateful.

Daniel sells a Secrets For Writers pack on his website.

Daniel sells a Secrets For Writers pack on his website.

Have you met my new publicist? :hihi:

Have you met my new publicist? :hihi:

Well I dont think people on SF realise who they have got on their site. :hihi::hihi:

I was on Radio Sheffield with Rony today, talking about the new novel and my writing and inspiration generally - if anyone's interested, you can hear it on Listen Again for the next 24 hours, at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/community/radio_sheffield/index.shtml

Enjoy!
I was trying hard not to cringe when he asked me about writing raunchy stuff...

Intriguing. I started a thread only today asking if anybody had any tips for aspiring writers. This has really caught my attention and I am sorely tempted to rinse my credit card to come along to this event.

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=246544

As you will see on the thread I started, I just want to write a book that draws from my own life experiences. I have no interest in becoming a professional writer, and I don't for one moment expect my book to even be published, let alone be successful. But it would be nice to know I am doing it justice, rather than just doing it without putting in the effort.

Would this course be of use to me?

I have to be honest and say it's for people who want to be published, ultimately! And yes, for people who have some interest, however slight, in doing it professionally one day.

I think I worded that badly. Perhaps I need to go on a writing course! ;)

What I mean is that I do not expect that many people to be interested in the subject of my book. Of course I would like it to be published, and I would like it to be successful, but that is not my overall objective. I'm doing this purely because it is something I have always wanted to do. If it were to be successful, that would just be a bonus.

If I do decide to come along, When is the latest I would need to book up by Daniel?

I need to be able to let the venue know final numbers two weeks before, which in practice means Fri 7th Sept.

I need to guarantee 5 people to be able to run it - no cheques will be banked until then. If I get only 4 who have booked and paid, I will return cheques.

Just going to bump this, as I only need two more people and I can definitely run this one-day course.

Details above - please email danielblythe@blueyonder.co.uk to enrol.

I'm pleased to say that this course went very well in the end - I got 8 participants, who all enjoyed the day and gave me some very useful evaluations at the end.

I will be running the day again, this time in the S10/S11 area, and probably in mid-to-late November. if you'd be interested please let me know: danielblythe@blueyonder.co.uk

Again a certain number of advance bookings will be necessary before I can guarantee the event.

The links on the Moonfruit web page look really helpful....well its a start. Thanks Daniel