Dear Enise,

What a lovely thing to say! Thank you very much for taking the time to let me know the book – and the acknowledgement- has made a positive difference to you. Another reader mentioned that line to me a few months ago, but she wasn’t so happy about it. Sadly, women’s rights, it seems, are not held in such high regard by all members of our gender. I hope you enjoy future books in the series too.

All the best
Fiona

Hi Tally,

Thanks for stopping by. In answer to your question I didn’t self-publish in order to be discovered by an agent. That was never my intention. I self-published in order to get my books to an audience. They attracted the attention of two publishers – children’s and adults – and I was then made an offer. I had to then weigh up whether it was worth going with the publishers and stopping self-publishing. I decided it was as although I felt I did a good job self-publishing, it was a huge amount of work and I would rather spend that time writing. So I accepted both offers. All of this without an agent. I had tried for years to get an agent and – after endless rejections – finally gave up on it. As it turned out I didn’t need an agent to get a publishing deal (actually two publishing deals). However, I have now reached a point in my career where I believe an agent will be beneficial to me. Not to get me that first publishing deal – I’ve already got that – but to take me to the next level. Agents can usually negotiate better deals than you can yourself. Also, agents can maximise the potential of your work by selling it to multiple markets – audio, foreign, large print etc. So, with my track record of already being published with two mainstream publishers, I approached an agent and she agreed to work with me. We’ve been together 7 months now and I’m pleased with the progress she is making on behalf of me and my books. (NB she only represents my adult books, I still represent myself for my children’s books). So in short, yes I am very pleased to now have an agent. My tip to you is to carry on looking for an agent, but don’t believe that you cannot be published without one. Some publishers do take un-agented work. Seek them out and submit your work to them. I would suggest you do this in tandem: submit to publishers and agents. See which door opens.

Hello Eric! The new book is being launched tomorrow night at Blackwells Bookshop on Pilgrim Street if you’d like to come along. 6pm! Will be lovely to see you.

Hello Jin. The first two courses were run earlier this year. Hopefully they will run again next year, but this still has to be discussed with the library. If it does run again it is likely to start in March. Keep an eye on the Newcastle Library website and sign up to their newsletter. https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/leisure-libraries-and-tourism/libraries