Ten-Minute Blog Break - 21st May

It started as a bit of a slow week in the SCBWI blogosphere, with a lot of people clearly still recovering from the SCBWI retreat! Luckily some great posts have popped up in the last couple of days, so I do have plenty to discuss...

Ask A Publisher - Q&A with Sara O'Connor, Editorial Director at Hot Key Books

Welcome to our regular Ask A Publisher feature, hosted by Sara O'Connor, Editorial Director, Print and Digital at Hot Key Books.

This week Sara answers your questions about sales and marketing for debut authors. She'll be answering your other questions (about graphic novels, her editing process and second books) next month.

Social Sheila Video: get your head around hashtags

By Sheila Averbuch 

If you're new to Twitter, hashtags (the # symbols) can be one of the most off-putting idiosyncracies. But once you understand that the symbols merely flag up an important concept in the tweet, you'll realise how helpful they can be in building your network and deepening your understanding of the industry.

Die Hard meets Rainbow Fairies for a Young Adult Audience

Ok, the title of this post has nothing to do with what's coming up, but did it get your attention?  Rebecca Frazer from Orchard Books was a little excited by it at the writers' retreat at Dunford House. If anyone's inspired, go ahead.
I had an emotionally charged, cake-filled weekend but did I manage to find some headspace? In the end, yes. It took a couple of days, but a one to one with Rebecca and the prospect of the Sunday night ‘pyjama party’, where we read something we’d written that weekend, forced me to face the fact that the WIP was too unwieldy. It was time to start again. I wrote 750 words before dinner on Sunday that have set me on a much better trajectory. The challenge now is to find the headspace to keep up my 750 word daily target and I’m falling behind already. Help.

What Are They Drinking in the North East?

Something is afoot up North - this week we have inspirational stories from Kate Pankhurst and Rebecca Colby and Sam Zuppardi and guess where they're all from?