118: An extraordinary journey to publication - with Amer Anwar

04/24/23 • 74 min

We're all storytellers at heart in the fiction publishing world, right? Our guest this week, thriller author Amer Anwar's personal story though is truly astonishing. Brought up in Southall in West London, Amer always assumed that someone from his background could never become a writer, until he won the coveted CWA Debut Dagger award for the opening 3000 words of a novel he'd begun writing at a creative writing workshop. Agents immediately clamoured for his signature. The only issue was, those 3000 words were all he had to offer. It would take him a further five years to finish that novel. His agent stuck by him, but couldn't find a traditional publisher to take it. So Amer published it himself, using every trick he could think of to promote the novel. It paid off, and that first book, Brothers in Blood, was picked out by both The Guardian and The Times newspapers as one of their books of the year. This is an interview you will not want to miss.

Also this week, Rebecca reflects on a busy day at the London Book Fair, and there's news of Hobeck Books new approach to judging submissions...

Amer Anwar | Author | Writing and Random Stuff

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Also this week, Rebecca reflects on a busy day at the London Book Fair, and there's news of Hobeck Books new approach to judging submissions...

Amer Anwar | Author | Writing and Random Stuff

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

117: Glasgow grit and a dentist’s dilemma - with Heleen Kist

Our guest this week is no stranger to awards recognition. Heleen Kist is the author of three published psychological thrillers, the first two of which were shortlisted for a host of major international awards. Drawing on her surroundings in her adopted home of Glasgow, and inspired by the experiences of friends, her latest novel, What I Hid From You, features Radha, a dentist whose addiction to valium drags her into the orbit of one of the city's drug gangs. As Heleen explains, the scenario is all too real.

Also this week, Adrian and Rebecca draw inspiration from a visit to Birmingham, the home of the world's longest-running continuing drama serial, The Archers ...

Heleen Kist (author) - Home

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

119: From women’s weeklies to full-scale fiction - with Jude Hayland

It's one of the sadder realities of modern publishing: the traditional market for well-told short stories is drying up with the closure of magazines all over the world. That's certainly the case in the UK, where a host of household name titles have closed down in recent years. Jude Hayland cut her teeth as an author for women's weekly magazines, enjoying a steady income and much of her work being translated for the wider world market. But that's all changed now, and Jude moved to writing full novels, with three published to date and another in the pipeline. So how do you move from writing to a 3000 words limit to full-length fiction? Jude's journey is a fascinating one, not least because she also teaches English too.

Also this week, Rebecca reveals how the organisers of London Book Fair are defending the lack of chairs at this year's event, and we discuss just what should first-time authors expect from their publishers?

Jude Hayland - Writer and Tutor

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.