The Word Cloud

John Onceupon! I got this from Juliet Mushens, an agent at PFD, just a few moments ago:

Hi Harry,

I’ve just met John, what a nice guy! I’ve decided to sign him and am looking forward to working with him on ‘The Blackbird Effect’ so thanks so much for sending it my way!

Juliet

What can one say? Fandabadabadozy is my first effort, but I'm sure I'll get more eloquent as the beers start to flow.

More ridiculously vast and wonderful torrents of good news.

Gideon Roberton (whom some of you will remember from the Festival) has signed up with Piers Blofeld at Sheil Land. Piers will be seeking to sell Gideon's book asap. Gideon had input from WW editor, Rob Dinsdale, a little while back, came to the Festival, met Piers ... and let's hope for a tremendously positive outcome from publishers.

Geoff Gudgion has also been taken on by Sheil Land (Ian Drury is the agent). Ian took just 12 days to request the full manuscript, then just 6 to offer representation. Fabulous news. That girl Debi was Geoff's WW editor. Is it me, or does Debi seem to have a scarily good track record?

Hilton Pashley who was taken on by David Headley following the Festival has sold his work to Random House which is fabulous, fabulous news. I've read Hilton's work and he's got easily enough talent to really make a career out of hs writing. The wonderful Fay Sampson was HP's first editor and she was always a strong supporter of his work.

And then of course, I do really need to repeat-mention the lovely people who took a bow at the Getting Published day on Saturday. Gorgeous person #1: Shelley Harris, whose Jubilee is coming out on Dec 29th. Fab person #2: Dania el-Kadia, whose Summer Blast is a #1 bestseller in her native Lebanon. Wonderful person #3: Barry Kirwan whose The Eden Paradox has just launched with SF indie press, Summertime. He sold a heap of books at the GP day and hope he sells heaps more through all outlets before he's done.

Monster congratulations to WW client Ian Thornton whose Death and Life of a Grim Reaper has been bought by Simon & Shuster in Toronto. Westwood Creative Artists are currently in Frankfurt seeking to sell the book worldwide.

The book had an amazing concept – guy plays an inadvertent part in the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914, and consequently feels personally responsible for World War 1 and World War 2. Ian’s writing was always very strong and I could easily see this book doing very well internationally. Paws crossed for him. That kid has talent – and we’re proud to have played a small part in that success.

Another day, another triumph.

Following the Festival of Writing, Roger Hardy has been taken on by Peter Buckman of the Ampersand Agency. I know Peter well, and he's a top bloke, a top agent.

Monster congrats to Roger, and I hope he snares a monster deal sometime soon.

But congrats too to Roger and Debi (his editor of a many a year) for a different reason. This isn't Roger's first book; far from it. He's used a series of books to hone his craft, and each time he's got better, and each time he's used tough advice from Debi to get himself in shape.

If I'm honest, when we first started working with Roger, I didn't think he'd make it. And now he has. And he has done because he's gone about this in absolutely the right way - and it hasn't hurt that he's been working with one of our most gifted & generous editors. So major monster aerial congrats to all. Oh, and do read Debi's post of a year back about all these things.

Massively monster congratulations to Cicely Havely, whose book Mrs Vale's Special Girls has just been taken on by Piers Blofeld at Shiel Land.

Those of you who were at the Festival on Friday night will remember Cicely's triumphant reading - and the all but unanimous audience vote which saw her win that comp.

Following that success, Cicely met Piers at the Festival. They got on very well. Cicely wanted to make some changes to her MS (following, I think, some hints from a book doctor), and Piers has just seen and fallen in love with the final manuscript. Another absolutely fantastic festival success story - and one that is another triumph for wonderful, impassioned, committed writing.

Cicely is a lovely person too, so I'm double-chuffed for her. Congrats too to Tricia Wastvedt, who was Cicely's original editor with the WW.

(Also, since we're on this theme, modestly monster congrats to me too. My crime novel has just sold in France and to Random House in the US. I've never properly sold a book in the US before, so it's exciting not merely to have a sale, but to be published by such a top class publisher. More thoughts on all that in another post. Meanwhile, um, I think I need to write crime novel #2. People seem to want it ...)

To Ruth Mazet, whose Horse Talk is being acquired by the equine publishers, JA Allen. Congratulations to her - it's been a heck of a journey - and to Jane Struthers who was the WW dynamo on the project. Equine champers all round.

Oh, and if you like crime novels and you haven't yet seen my blog on crime reviewing, then don't you think it's time you did?

Congratulations again for another Festival success ... which is to say the deserved success of yet another fabulous writer.

The agent, David Headley, has taken on Gabriel's Clock by Hilton Pashley - it's a children's MS set in the deeply strange village of Hobbes End.

Hilton worked with Fay Sampson at the Writers' Workshop. She was a fan of his work from the off and, we're all delighted at this end to see HP succeed. I hope David sells the work for a properly huge amount of wonga. All power to his (and Hilton's) elbow.

A happy Easter to one n'all - and some good news.

All Festival goers were promised that three lucky people would be picked for free extra help & support by the WW. We've picked the first two of those:

• Kerry Fisher. Who won the comp on Saturday night, and got an agent very interested in her completed project ... but not quite interested enough to offer representation. That agent is, however, very keen to see Kerry's WIP, so we've promised to help Kerry with that, as soon as she's ready for us.
• Our very own John Onceupon. His MS has dangled tantalisingly close to publication standard for a while, but he's got one agent very interested in his work - and with a bit more editorial work from him and a good old shove from the WW's finest, I've every hope that he'll finally gets the success he deserves

It's been brilliant being able to pick out people for help like this. Truth is, we've already had amazing success in securing Festival-goers representation (I've got more good news to announce on that front shortly), so it's lovely to be able to give a leg-up to the almost-but-not-quite-yet people.

Kerry and John have every chance of making the grade, I'd say, and it'll be an honour for us to help em get there.

Can we all say a big cloudy Congrats to SecretSpi, who's not only won the EarlyWorks prize but got a lovely little publishing deal to boot, with Circaidy Gregory Press.

I know our not-very-Secret friend has already mentioned this on the site, but I reckon she was too modest. She won a competition! She's being published! What more do you want?

Yes: it's a small press and a small advance, but that's sort of missing the point. There are lots of really good, really small publishers who do pay peanuts and don't get monkeys. I don't know what Tindal Street offers by way of average advance, but I bet it's tiny. Yet you couldn't imagine a punchier or more successful publisher: I guess no publisher in the country has a higher ratio of prize wins/awards amongst its authors.

So by my reckoning, our less-than-entirely-Secret friend earns herself as many congratulations as anyone else who gets herself a book deal. Thanks to to WW editors John Dougherty and Susan Davis who helped her get this far.

And watch this space: agents like people who have won comps, got deals, and are breathing down the neck of bigger and better things. I reckon we haven't heard the last of this ...

More congratulations due:

To Charlotte Philipps, who also emerged from the Festival with an offer of representation. Huge, monster congratulations to her.

And to Katherine Hetzel who has just been taken on by agent Penny Luithlen. Huge monster congratulations to her ... and once again to Debi, who was fairy godmother to this successful outcome too. (Katherine wasn't at the Festival, in case you were wondering. She's been a WW client working with both Michelle Lovric and Debi Alper.)

Huge congratulations to one and all.