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heart on a business card — This is something I genuinely wonder about – if author business cards are a worthwhile investment. I assume you have all seen these tiny rectangles of card that people in suits hand to each other. You might even have thought that it might be a good idea to have your […]

Do business cards matter for authors?

10th March 2020 in Business tagged business cards / self-promotion / sell more books by Matthew Brown

According to the theguardian.com, independent bookshops are thriving despite an overall downturn in book sales. After decades of decline, the sector has recorded three years of expansion. Alison Flood, ‘People are so happy we exist’: indie bookshops grow despite retail slump While this growth is good news, the article does […]

Indie bookshops are thriving

13th January 2020 in Business tagged bookshops / good news by Matthew Brown

What is your ideal writing space like? Is all you need a room with a lock on the door and a hot meal inside you? I’m asking this question because the 90th anniversary of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own is fast approaching. There is a large scale poll […]

Your ideal writing room?

6th April 2019 in Writer News tagged dreams / poll / The Royal Society of Literature / writing room by Matthew Brown

H G Wells — The HG Wells Short Story Competition has been announced for 2019 and the theme, this year is “time“. The HG Wells Short Story Competition closes Monday 8th July 2019. Which is the date us regular writers need to have entered by and the date those of us with a Tardis […]

HG Wells Short Story Competition 2019

14th February 2019 in Competitions tagged Competitions / H. G. Wells / short stories by Matthew Brown

money — There is a worrying trend in the UK where publishers have started to demand that authors hand over all moral rights to a work. Your moral rights include the right to be known as the author of your work. Writer Joanne Harris points out on her Tumblr blog that the […]

The worrying trend of selling your moral rights

7th August 2018 in Business tagged David Vaver / income / Joanne Harris / moral rights / Oxford University Press / Patsy Collins / publisher / rights / Tara Westgate / TI Media / Woman's Weekly by Matthew Brown

Back in April the BBC told us that some authors are going “audio only”. Is audio only publishing something more authors should do or is it just a fad? What is audio only publishing? Audio only is exactly what you think. Publishing only in audiobook format. Traditionally when we talk […]

Is it worth going audio only?

1st June 2018 in Business tagged audiobooks / Chris Fox / income / self-publishing by Matthew Brown

In an office writing — Calls for submissions are where a lot of writers pick up paid work. While some calls pay very poorly others can be quite generous. On the whole, the more a publication is willing to pay the higher the standard of work they produce. For example, a site offering £5 an […]

Calls For Submissions: A Round Up

9th March 2018 in Competitions tagged BBC / Call for Submissions / income / paid work / prizes by Matthew Brown

British Pounds — As a writer, you need to respect yourself and your work by demanding fair payment. The world of writing is already horribly underpaid. The last thing you should be doing is accepting commisions that drive it any further into the ground. If a publisher likes your work, they should be willing […]

Respect yourself and your work: Expect fair payment

21st January 2018 in Advice / Business tagged earnings / income / payment / self-respect by Matthew Brown

British Pounds — There is an alternative funding model for authors. We are all familiar with the standard author funding model. Write a book, promote the book, sell books… But that is not the only game in town. The alternative funding model takes a little outside of the box thinking and is not […]

An alternative funding model for authors

15th December 2017 in Business / Self-Publishing tagged fans / income / money / self-publishing by Matthew Brown

Authors vs Universal Credit — At Author Buzz UK, we tend to stay away from matters of politics but Universal Credit is one of those topics that cuts to the heart of what it means to be an author. Being a full-time writer is hard already This is something we have covered before. Earning a […]

The Danger of Universal Credit

28th September 2017 in Business by Matthew Brown

H. G. Wells. c.1890 — The 2017 H. G. Wells Short Story Competition shortlist has been announced. The Short Story Competition shortlists were posted Thursday 21 September, H. G. Wells’ Birthday. There are two prizes on offer. The Junior Competition with the Margaret and Reg Turnill Prize of £1000 The Senior Competition with The Grand […]

2017 H. G. Wells shortlist announced

22nd September 2017 in Competitions tagged Competitions / Folkestone / H. G. Wells / Shortlist by Matthew Brown

British Pounds — Only 11.5% of Authors earn their income through writing alone. It is not easy to be a professional writer. With the pay gap in author earnings growing between the best sellers and the rest of us, being a professional writer is getting harder all the time. You should not believe everything […]

The shocking truth about author earnings

2nd June 2017 in Business tagged Author / earnings / income / money / writers by Matthew Brown