You know those writers who seem to have managed effortlessly to harness the awesome power of social media to hook increasing numbers of readers into their gravitational pull?Well good for them!No but seriously, wouldn’t it be fascinating to talk to someone who’s become an actual viral sensation themselves and find out what their strategy was?(That’s your cue to stop reading and crack on with listening to this episode btw.)BUT WAIT, THESE CAPITAL LETTERS STOPPED YOU IN YOUR TRACKS DIDN’T THEY?Well that’s good, because now I can tell you all about our sponsor, the indispensable writing app: Scrivener!The writing app that you can get 20% off! by going to https://www.literatureandlatte.com/store/scrivener and using the code: failing(I promise you won’t regret it.)So there you go. How to blow up on TikTok? A chat with a lovely writer? Some great advice about not reading reviews? A discount of some amazing writing software? What more could you want?Ah you want to know how to get your hands on a copy of Autumn’s excellent romance novel?OK. Fair enough. Should have seen that coming.Just click on this link…https://www.authorautumnwoods.comWhat? You still want more? Wow… you’re in quite a demanding mood today aren’t you?Well… you’re in luck, m’friend. Cos this week in our regular Hype-Writer feature we’ve got a darkly disturbing but excellent little extract from last year’s flash fiction competition winner, Katie Holloway!She’s promised to post more of Cups of Tea at the End of the World on her substack – so keep your eyes peeled here:https://substack.com/@loseyourselfbooksRight. Ya happy now?Phew. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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S5 Ep16: FLASH FICTION COMPETITION!
Finally.I know, I know.It's that time of year we all look forward to.The leaves begin to loosen their grip. The sky is pregnant with it's autumnal offerings.Jon gets poetic.But aside from all that - it's the bloody Failing Writers Five Hundred Pound Flash Fiction Competition, in association with Scrivener!That's the bit we're really all excited about.That's when Tommy and I hunker down, curl up and bask in your beautiful little stories.(I'm not even joking here, it genuinely is a joyful experience.)So have a listen to the episode - find out everything you need to know in order to enter the competition, including the little phrase you have to include in your story... and be in with a chance of winning that 500 squids!This years judge is the delightful Sarah Lewis from writers HQ.Sign up now for a whole smorgasbord of helpful stuff. Workshops. Advice. Masterclasses. and of course the brilliant (and free!) Flash Face Off. Which we urge you to join in with - After all, it could be the thing that takes your flash piece from great to really blummin' marvellous!https://writershq.co.uk/Finally we wrap things up with an unusual but brilliant bit of poetry from the very talented free-styling-street-poet: Isaiah Frati.check him out here:Insta: @___reaverAnd finally... A GIGANTIC THANK YOU to our wonderful sponsor Scrivener yet again, for sponsoring the podcast, and the competition.If you'd like to get your hands on the writing software that really matters - get yourself to https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overviewand get 20% off with the code: failingRight.Go on then... crack on! You've got until midday October 24th. We can't wait to read your submissions!Good luck. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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S5 Ep15: Small Publishers Pt2 (From the brilliant BlueMoose Books - to those nasty scammers)
Aaaaand PART 2:This week we're looking at the extremes of the indie publishing industry.From the fantastic BlueMoose Books...https://bluemoosebooks.comWhere we speak to founder, Kevin Duffy about the highs and... well... mostly highs to be honest... of being a very successful indie publisher.Right over to the very opposite end of the spectrum, where our secondguest, Janeen, tells us about the very ugly experience she had when approachedby a 'so called publisher'.Followed by a discussion about the various publishing scams designed to part well intentioned writers from their cash - and how to avoid them.And now's a good time as any to mention that this series of The Failing Writers Podcast is sponsored very kindly by Scrivener.Fancy trying their world class writing software?Then get yourself over to https://www.literatureandlatte.com for a month's free trial.and if you use the code: failing … then hey presto, bish bash bosh, bob’s yer uncle...you'll get 20% OFF!Also, please consider supporting the writers and publishersmentioned in these 2 episodes!Here are Janeen’s links: Including a link to the book that nearly cost her a lot of money - the very same book featured on Hype-writer this week! Dot Exe.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dot-Exe-Janeen-Leese-Taylor-ebook/dp/B0DV7DZ9YLhttps://x.com/InkAndSmudge?t=QRkcSP-WtYQy3ymoVfpfow&s=09https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B0BLP33ZVYAnd here’s a couple of brilliant online resources mentioned in the ep:A list of known scammers:https://writerbeware.blog/scam-archive/Including the company that tried to scam Janeen:https://writerbeware.blog/2023/12/01/author-complaints-at-l-r-price-publications-ltd/And Jill’s Book Café, with a list of indie publishers:https://jillsbookcafe.blog/independent-publishers/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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S5 Ep14: Small Independent Publishers Pt1
PART 1… it’s double-bill time!It suddenly occurred to us that we didn’t know much about independent publishers. And that doesn’t sit well with us - Not knowing stuff about the world of writing. So we reached out to our lovely online writer friends, and found a few people happy to talk about their experience of being published by a small press.And what we found out was very eye opening!About the pros and cons… How different publishers work with their writers… How widely they publish… What to expect from the relationship and why you might want to consider approaching a small press yourself!Massive thanks to Scrivener for sponsoring the podcast.Don’t forget you can get 20% off this glorious writing software at https://www.literatureandlatte.com by using our sneaky, little secret code: failingHere are the details of the excellent people we waffled with:We talked to Chris W McGuinness:https://chriswmcguinness.wordpress.comhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellbound-Bastards-Chris-W-McGuinness/dp/B0F2HY8DRMhttps://alienbuddhapress.wordpress.comhttps://cloakedpress.com/Then we had a natter with flash maven Kathryn Aldridge-Morris:https://www.kamwords.com/about-mehttps://www.dahliapublishing.co.uk/product/cold-toastFollowed by YA writer Luke Palmer:https://lukepalmerwriting.comhttps://fireflypress.co.ukAnd last but undoubtedly not least: Genevieve Marenghi-Dalyhttps://genevievemarenghi.comKeep an eye out for her debut released on October 10th 2025…https://www.burtonmayersbooks.comAnd don’t forget… next week we continue our investigation into indie publication – when we chat with Kevin Duffy of BlueMoose Books.Then…. go digging into the darker side of publishing… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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S5 Ep13: Doug Naylor on Red Dwarf & Writing for Children
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Bbbrrbuummmbbbb....Lift off...fffwwoooooooooshhhhhhh.This week we launch into a good ole' natter with the brilliant Doug Naylor, co-creator & writer of Red Dwarf.We talk about his excellent new children's book, and its space-ship based iterations.We talk more generally about writing children's stories.We talk about how Doug learned the craft of writing comedy.We talk about how many times he and Rob pitched Red Dwarf unsuccessfully.We talk about they went about developing an episode.We talk about the abortive US version of Red DwarfWe find out if it's likely there'll be another series of Red Dwarfand we talk about persistence and 'actually finishing things' (which simultaneously inspires and upsets us.)All very interesting and useful stuff from an actual real-life legend - we think you'll agree!Buy his excellent book hither:https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/sin-bin-island-the-unmissable-brand-new-adventure-from-red-dwarf-co-creator-and-sunday-times-bestselling-doug-naylor-doug-naylor/7955180?ean=9781788453707Binge Red Dwarf here:https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b008ncn6/red-dwarfaaaand probably don't watch this TOTP version of The Chicken Song, unless you want to spend the entire evening (and an entire sleepless night) with it rolling around and around in your head. (Yes. That happened.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OiZNGYmvg8Also... you'll be wanting a link to Scrivener, won't you? So that you can get 20% off their popular and amazing writing software?Well you can do that here: by using the code: failinghttps://www.literatureandlatte.com/I know. We're very very good to you.But hey, you deserve it, for being discerning enough to listen to The Failing Writers Podcast.Well that just about wraps it up... other than to say: check out Hype Writer this week and the talented Solomon Atkinson-PadmoreThis is his website... there's all kinds of goodies here so don't forget to check it out:https://artofsolomon.com/Thanks for listening, and being part of our little community!See ya next time.Jon & Tom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Join these success-starved wordwranglers as they stumble towards their shared ambition: to become proper writers!Learning from guests like bestselling authors and BAFTA-winning writers. Setting themselves writing tasks and trying to improve their craft. Discussing how to get past all the things that stop us writing. And hopefully taking you on a journey with them to become successful writers! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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