#144: Eleanor Anstruther – The Book Industry Rejected Me. So I Built My Own Audience on Substack; Serialising Online, Writing Literary Fiction; Being an Independent Artist, Creating Your Artist DNA

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We discuss:

Her aristocratic background and experience living in a commune
Navigating rejection and the pivot to serialising work online
The realities (and surprises) of building a paid readership on Substack
Advice for writers considering serialisation and indie publishing
How to build a creative community
Practical tips: drafting, book sales, pricing subscriptions, and more

RESOURCES & LINKS

📑Interview Transcript
The Literary Obsessive on Substack
A Perfect Explanation by Eleanor Anstruther
In Judgement of Others by Eleanor Anstruther
Contact form
Glitter Balls by Michelle Howarth
A Memoir in 65 Postcards & The Recovery Diaries by Eleanor Anstruther
Sarah Fay Substack
Ben Wakeman's Substack
Simon K Jones
Troubador Publishing

For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.

For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.

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Previous Episode

#143: Julia Cameron – How to Reignite Your Creativity Through Daily Rituals, Believing Mirrors & The Artist’s Way (From the Vault)

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way and one of the most influential voices on creativity of the last three decades, shares timeless wisdom on nurturing the artist within.

We discuss:

Morning Pages and Artist Dates as tools for creative recovery.
Why being of service is at the heart of writing.
Writing in dialogue with intuition (and the divine).
How to handle criticism, praise, and creative resistance.
Stories from a life in service of art, including poetry, musicals, and spiritual practice.

ABOUT JULIA CAMERON
Julia Cameron is the author of forty books, including her bestselling works on the creative process: The Artist’s Way, Seeking Wisdom, The Listening Path, Walking In This World and Finding Water. Her work has been translated into more than forty languages. Also a novelist, playwright, songwriter, and poet, she has multiple credits in theatre, film, and television. Her memoir Floor Sample takes behind the scenes of her extraordinary life and career as a writer and teacher.

Connect with Julia:

Twitter:@j_cameronlive

Website: juliacameronlive.com

RESOURCES & LINKS

Morning Pages
Artist's Date
Julia's musical: Avalon
Julia's poems
Julia's memoir, published in the UK: Floor Sample
All of Julia's books

For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.

For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.

FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON

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Next Episode

undefined - #145: Maggie O’Farrell — Confessions of a Novelist: Writing from Instinct, Why Revision is Essential, Facing Doubt & Finding the Story’s Heartbeat (From the Vault)

#145: Maggie O’Farrell — Confessions of a Novelist: Writing from Instinct, Why Revision is Essential, Facing Doubt & Finding the Story’s Heartbeat (From the Vault)

Award-winning and bestselling author Maggie O’Farrell Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait author takes us behind the scenes of her creative process—from the early struggles of starting out to the discipline and instinct that shape her acclaimed novels.

We explore the irresistible drive to write, the role of characters in steering a story, and how she blends history with imagination. Maggie also shares her thoughts on revision, redrafting without ego, and what it really takes to endure in the writing life.

We discuss:

The insatiable urge to write and the challenges of beginning a novel
Letting characters lead and reshaping a story mid-draft
Weaving fact and fiction in historical narratives
Why revision is where the real writing happens
Honest feedback, creative resilience, and writing for the long haul

ABOUT MAGGIE O'FARRELL

Maggie O’Farrell is the author of Hamnet (winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award) and I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death, both Sunday Times number 1 bestsellers. Her other works include The Marriage Portrait, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, After You’d Gone, The Hand That First Held Mine (winner of the Costa Novel Award), and Instructions for a Heatwave. Maggie’s work is praised for its lyrical prose, emotional depth, and its ability to bring overlooked historical figures to life.
*

RESOURCES & LINKS

📄 Transcript (unedited)
Arvon
Upcoming Arvon Courses
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell
“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning
Alessandro Allori's portrait of Lucrezia D’ Medici
Read Zoe's notes from the interview

This podcast was done in collaboration with Arvon, the UK’s leading creative writing charity. Arvon passionately believes that everyone can benefit from the transformative power of creative writing. It hosts residential, online and community-based writing courses and events, embracing over 6,000 people each year, tutored by some of the most respected writers in the UK today. Find out more at arvon.org.

This episode is brought to you by our friends at Lulu. If you're interested in self-publishing, Lulu has free resources such as helpful tutorials, templates to help you layout a book, design for print, and they have a very watchable YouTube University channel. Our community anthology is in fact published using Lulu. Check them out at lulu.com.

For show notes, transcripts and to attend our live podcasts visit: podcast.londonwriterssalon.com.

For free writing sessions, join free Writers’ Hours: writershour.com.

FOLLOW LONDON WRITERS’ SALON