The Essence of Memory

Rewind – a Collection, is an anthology of prose and poetry spanning many styles and genres that has already proven a hit with its many readers, as noted by a slew of positive reviews on Amazon, where it is continuing to enjoy bestseller status in a number of categories, including Poetry and Short Stories.

The anthology’s contributors are members of Indie Authors Ireland, an online group set up on Facebook in 2023 by West Cork-based author Claire O’Conner, whose energy and determination sowed a seed that has germinated to create a dynamic group of like-minded creatives, and brought this eclectic collection of poetry, fiction, memoir, and essays to the world.

Claire put the anthology idea out to the group, and it wasn’t long before dozens of writers were coming out of the proverbial woodwork. A committee was put together, a theme was chosen – memory – and the process of submitting, editing, proofreading, cover design, and formatting got underway. Everyone gladly gave of their time, including professionals, and it soon became evident that while this first anthology would be nothing less than a learning process for many, it would also be a top-quality production.

From the start, everyone agreed that all proceeds would go to a deserving charity, and it wasn’t long before As I Am, Ireland’s autism charity, rose to the top of the initial list. Needless to say, we were delighted when Adam Harris, founder and CEO of As I Am, agreed to write the foreword.

Personally, I’m delighted to have one of my short stories included in the collection. While I’ve had work published elsewhere, this is special – maybe because I got to meet many of the contributors at our last convention in Ballinasloe, Galway. There’s nothing like having a chat – even a short one – to cement a connection. Also, being part of the anthology’s editorial team, I developed further connections with many of the writers involved. As an editor, it really is a wonderful privilege to see a writer’s work develop and take shape as it progresses to the publishing stage. I’m so lucky to have been in a position to experience that with Rewind.

If you buy this collection – available on Amazon Kindle and as a paperback – you will not fail to be impressed by the variety and depth as you dip into it. And that’s the beauty of Rewind – there is so much inside its covers. It is perfect to take to bed, where you can relish that half hour before sleep to savour a poem, or work through the layers of a tight short story, or, if you prefer, live through real-life recollections that will have you laughing, crying, and sometimes putting the book down to reflect on a piece that resonates so deeply, you find yourself back in another time, maybe when you were younger and freer, or with a loved one who impacted your life.

Even if you leave it on your coffee table, or on a shelf, its beautiful cover will pull anyone’s focus to it, with that ornamental steampunk clock epitomising old-time memories, which represents the collection’s inclusive theme: Memory. I have no doubt in my mind that readers of Rewind will remember it for years to come. Enjoy!

 

Getting Myself Out There

I am known as a substantive editor of novels, short stories, and memoirs, with an established fulltime presence of fifteen years, with many more in writing and critique-group trenches where I cut my critting teeth and honed my editing skills. However, I am also a writer, and thoroughly enjoy the actual act of writing, whether that’s being buried in first-draft creative fever or working through many rewriting phases at a slow and meticulous rate, developing my WIP as far as I can bring it before having one or two of my professional colleagues put it through its paces.

So, as a writer, I have many short stories – more than enough for two collections – a veritable bucketload of poetry, and three novels within clear sight of the publishing world.

‘So, why haven’t you been published?’ I hear you say.

Well, over the years, short stories and poems of mine have found a home in journals and anthologies, but not many, and that’s mainly because I rarely submit. Why? It’s a good question. I was chatting to a writer friend the other evening, and an interesting thought came up that has lingered: Is it ‘enough’ to write something, or does it have to be ‘out there’ and be read by others? While much of my writing hasn’t been published, it has been read by the likes of alpha and beta readers, as well as being worked through by editing colleagues, and the general consensus is that my material is relatively strong and engaging. The main thing for me is that I enjoy the process of writing and developing my stories, whether that be short or long form. And it’s not unknown for me to return to one I might not have seen in a while and come out of it smiling, having been taken back to a favourite character and their world, or even to who I was at the particular time it was written. A bit self-indulgent, I know, but if I don’t enjoy my own stories, what’s the point of writing them? So, because I’m a fan of my own writing, and people who’ve read it have a positive view, why haven’t I submitted them to the world at large?

Where my three novels are concerned, I could easily begin the process of querying agents. Even though there are traditional publishers who accept unsolicited queries, they are few and far between, and you’ll generally stand a better chance if represented by an agent who will fight to sell your novel to the best publisher, and acquire the best deal. But what’s the reality? The fantasy of old that you’ll land a wonderful deal, along with a substantial advance, is that – a fantasy. These days, you’ll be lucky, if your agent lands a publisher, to get any advance at all, and it’s unlikely that either the agent or publisher will look at you twice if you haven’t got a sizable and active social media presence, which you will need to do much of your own marketing because the days of all that being taken care of by the publisher are long gone. Today, you’ll have your spot on the New Release shelf for a month, but then your novel will be banished to the genre shelves, or dumped on a discount table. It’s the harsh reality of trad publishing, and that’s without going into earning percentages, with your agent netting 15% or more, your publisher scooping up to 30%, and the bookshop hoovering up to 51%, leaving you with a pittance, if you’re lucky. And if you did get an advance, you wouldn’t see another cent until your sales pass that amount.

I know I could easily be accused of being somewhat cynical, and you’re right, I am because I’ve heard enough stories from trad-published writers to leave me with a sharp perspective of that route. And I use ‘route’ on purpose, because it is just that, one route through the forest of publishing. There are other ways to get your work out there, and one of them is to self-publish. Now, I’ve been around long enough to remember reading self-published novels or collections that probably weren’t taken far beyond the first draft before being dumped on the world at large. Apart from the undeveloped writing, the layout and formatting left a lot to be desired, and the level of editing was nothing short of abysmal. Now, that wasn’t the case across the board but it was evident enough to give self-publishing a bad name, which it has had to fight tooth and nail against over the last fifteen years or so. The great thing now is that, since the advent of the digital world, we no longer have to rely solely on real-life markets, car-boot sales, fetes, or side-of-the-road stalls pandering to the public to buy our books. And with that new platform came the increased perception that readers were willing to pay more attention to a writer who took pride in their work by offering a fully developed story, with professional editing, clear and clean formatting, not to mention a professionally designed cover to draw in the prospective buyer.

Many writers now budget to pay a reputable editor, cover designer, and company to format and upload their work to a publishing platform, and that combined process has raised the level of self-published work to an altogether new level. But the best thing for today’s self-published author is the fact that they are paid so much more per sold book than they would hope to be if they had gone the traditional route. With most of the middle operators out of the loop, the author can earn up to 70% of the selling price. Yes, you had to pay for an editor, cover designer, and formatter/uploader, but the sheer satisfaction of not coming out of each sale with the bare minimal, has to bring a smile. Of course, without a consistent marketing campaign, you have little hope of selling outside your family and immediate friends’ circle, so you still have to work for you. At least you’re working for you, not the vultures lurking in the shadows.

So, my plan is to put my own work out there, and while it may not be bought or seen by the multitudes, I think I’ll be content enough to have it out there with the potential of it being read. But I want to do the formatting/layout and uploading myself. Why? Because I know writer friends who do it so why shouldn’t I? Yes, I’m a bit of a Luddite but there are YouTube tutorials I can utilize and learn from, and I’ve recently discovered that one writer I know teaches the finer points of the process, no doubt including how to work with the required software. I may avail of that option because I take in things much better face to face, or on Zoom, as that seems to be the way of it these days – I use it myself with clients who benefit from a close-up chat about particular editing/rewriting fundamentals.

Just writing this has left me with a nice buzz in my belly. Of course, I should be working, but when you think about it, this is work because I’m developing my ‘getting myself out there’ strategy. Now I have it in my head, I’m going to set about starting my training program. My apologies for the cynical diatribe, but I don’t regret using you to formulate the muddle that was in my head. For too long, it has been enough to have just written something, but that is no longer the case. Now, it’s time to get my novels and short stories out there to the world at large.