In London, the Dulwich Picture Gallery (est. 1817) is running a competition. It claims to be displaying 269 genuine paintings by such Masters as Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin... It is also displaying one known fake painting, commissioned by the Gallery itself. The game is to spot which is the fake. One has to assume that the …
The Legend NASA invested millions of dollars developing a ball-point pen that would work in micro-gravity. The ink flows only if there is sufficient gravity pulling it towards the tip. To test this, try writing on your ceiling and see how many pages of "War and Peace" you manage. The Russians solved this …
I have decided to exercise regularly in 2015. The treadmill in the den is too easy to walk away from when inspiration strikes. Not so with swimming - once you're in the water it's hard to walk away and immediately start typing. Oh, and in the cause of precision, when I say "regularly", I should …
Last time, I praised the opportunities for unpublished writers offered by submitting to Anthologies and Contests. So where do you start in your search for Anthologies and Contests seeking submissions? Today, I list a good number of links below, to get you started. And please note that I in no way endorse any of these …
I hope at least a few of my readers noticed I've been away for a few weeks 😉 Between family issues, travel to internet-free zones (yes, they do exist - welcome to the 21st century!), laptop failure (I smugly take full backups daily) and various other distractions, I have had to let my blog simmer …
Today's post is a departure - a guest post from I.O. Kirkwood - but still within my "How to get Published" series theme. IO is a rising writer with a refreshing viewpoint. She, too was an unpublished writer until recently. Now read on... WRITE, DARE, SUBMIT Write Since the age of 12, in almost 32 years, I …
Last time, I covered the need for an unpublished author to demonstrate a large Following for his/her as-yet-unpublished work and ended with the tantalising hint of a Quick Fix... Remember, you need a big Following to catch the eye of a publisher and encourage that eye to glance at your life's work manuscript, currently sitting …
How To Impress Publishers With A Huge Following Last time, we saw that an aspiring author needs a big Following to get the attention of a publisher. So how to achieve that? Tricky. Without any published work, the newcomer has little to share about his work. All he can do is to show the world …
Last time, I considered "Failing To Spot A Winner" in the entertainment industry. Now, let's look at the reverse of the coin. How To Spot "Potential Success" Today, a publisher will assess the potential of an unknown author's manuscript by checking "Social Network Following", before glancing at the work. The assumption is that a huge …
. The traditional publishing industry does not exactly have 100% record of identifying books carrying the stamp of massive popularity and commercial success. Consider this list of best-sellers from various genres and their initial rejection totals (source: "How Stuff Works"): Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (38) Dune by Frank Herbert (20) Carrie by Stephen King (30) Dubliners …
Andy McKell, Speculative Fiction Author 
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