Authors’ Honest Insights: The truth about the book writer’s journey from idea to publication

IWF UK Board member, Jeanette Cowley was in conversation with three published authors, Alison Maitland, Christine Brown-Quinn and Alla Bashenko on Wednesday 9^th September. It was fascinating to hear what inspired each author to write; how they hone their writing skills over time; the importance of understanding your potential audience; contracting with co-authors, translators and illustrators; how to actually start writing and the amount of effort writers need to put into rewriting material.

The panel also explored feedback and peer review; the fact that authors are expected to promote and market their work; and how to deal with the plethora of publishing options available. These range from traditional publishing houses to self-publishing with various hybrid models along the way. As usual at IWF events, we had some excellent input from the audience including questions about dealing with the imposter syndrome, how to measure success and how writers juggle time!

IWF UK Member comments included:

“It was an empowering and liberating experience listening to the panel”

“Fabulous event. Thank you all for being so open and to Jeanette for all her work bringing this together and keeping the questions coming.”

“Brilliant example of sharing the talents of our own IWF UK members. We have so much to learn from each other!

Find out more about all 3 author’s work here:

Alison Maitland - you can find her book here

Christine Brown Quinn – you can find her book here

Alla Bashenko https://allabashenko.com/biography/

To watch a recording of this event click here to be directed to the Members only section of the website and find it within the event write up in Members News (Rightside menu bar)

Clockwise from top left: Alison Maitland; Jeanette Cowley; Christine Brown-Quinn; Alla Bashenko