I'm a traditionally published author of commercial fiction - AMA

[charduck]

I was reading this thread with interest:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/what_were_reading/4342858-AIBU-to-have-had-a-gut-full-of-psychological-thrillers

And I noticed a few requests for an author to do an AMA!

So here I am!

I write psych suspense, have had three novels published, with my fourth out in a few weeks. My last book was a bestseller both here and in the US.

Happy to answer anything I'm allowed to!

@Herewearestar

If you don’t mind me asking roughly speaking how much does being an author of psychological thrillers earn you per year?

One of my friends got a six figure deal with her first historical fiction book and resigned from her job. Well when she broke it down, she was actually earning £31k per year as an author. She left a job that paid her £45k. She now wants to look at other genres as she’s struggling to pay her mortgage.

Seeing as I got outed I better not answer this question!! LOL. Although having said that, author incomes vary so greatly that it's probably not very useful information anyway. What I will say is that the majority of authors do not earn very much at all (sadly). But a few earn an awful lot. Like most creative industries.

Your friend's story is very familiar to me and common unfortunately. Hopefully she'll be able to switch genres. The more books you write, the more chance you have to earn! You really have to keep on keeping on. It's very tough though.

@wheresmymojo

What do you do in the 2 week planning stage?

What do you typically have at the end of that 2 weeks?

Not sure if that makes sense but I mean do you have the whole plot mapped out? All characters?

Where does that 2 weeks get you to?

The planning stage is my favourite bit because it's basically just daydreaming!

So I do a lot of research around my initial idea (YouTube/documentaries/the internet!), and basically staring into space and thinking, and making notes etc. I also bounce ideas off my partner, who trained as an actor so he's very good at this stuff.

By the end of it I'll have an idea of the characters, and a rough idea of the plot, and any major 'events' within it. But no, I definitely don't have the whole plot mapped out before I start writing. Some writers work like that but I'm not one of them.

I think you really have to find a method that works for you with writing, through a lot of trial and error, as everyone is different. I have author friends who would be horrified to do things my way as they need detailed Excel spreadsheets with chapter breakdowns done before they start...

@wheresmymojo

Sorry, another question!

How many ideas do you come up with for plots?

How do you decide which ideas 'have legs' and which not to pursue?

I think a little more commercially now than I used to. I try to identify 'gaps' in my genre (and my specific sub-genre, which is really parenting suspense I suppose), and then I'll see if I can think of a theme or subject that interests me within it.

I usually only have one strong idea that's calling me at any one time so I'll go with that, but it can change and also grow an awful lot in the writing. For eg my third book was completely different in concept than the finished product.

I wish I could explain it more clearly, but often it's just instinct, and a lot of the time I really don't have a clue what I'm doing. LOL.

Writing is weird.

@BoneWithTheWind

Just wanted to say - thanks for starting this thread, I found it very interesting and inspiring. Wishing you all the best with your new book xx

You're so welcome and thank you!! x

So social media has legitimised stalking has it? I like your orange chair mwah ha ha

Just read your blog 🤣🤣🤣🤣 - great thread, really interesting and congratulations to you for making a success from a passion!

@Cheermonger

So social media has legitimised stalking has it? I like your orange chair mwah ha ha

Just read your blog 🤣🤣🤣🤣 - great thread, really interesting and congratulations to you for making a success from a passion!

LOL! I think I'm a bit weird as I'm not particularly private, so never really mind people knowing about my life. I'm quite boring though!!

And thank you

Do you read all of your reviews and if so how do you deal with negative opinions? Do they stick in your mind more than the positive ones?

Do you have any recommendations for learning about all the intellectual property rights? If I actually got published, I would want to be sure I understood what I was signing.

@Faevern

Do you read all of your reviews and if so how do you deal with negative opinions? Do they stick in your mind more than the positive ones?

I read most of them. Negative reviews were really hard to begin with but now I'm quite numb to them really. Sometimes they can be really helpful, sometimes they're upsetting. Not sure they do stick in the mind more than the positive ones, unless they're hugely vicious or damning.

I do genuinely value thoughtful reviews though whether good or bad. It's basically customer feedback after all.

Not so keen on the ones where people say 'I hate this genre but I read this anyway and thought it was shit'

Fascinating thread. I’d be interested to know if you use specialised writing software such as Scrivener, or whether you stick to Word or similar.

@DaisyNGO

Do you have any recommendations for learning about all the intellectual property rights? If I actually got published, I would want to be sure I understood what I was signing.

Yes the Society of Authors would be able to help with this:

www2.societyofauthors.org/

But really, that's what an agent is for - worth their weight in gold!

@TorporGirl

Fascinating thread. I’d be interested to know if you use specialised writing software such as Scrivener, or whether you stick to Word or similar.

I do use Scrivener and I can't recommend it highly enough. I HATE working in Word (have to do my structural edits in Word because that's what my publisher uses and I find it absolutely awful!).

@ANameChangeAgain has your daughter heard of Popshot magazine? My brother subscribes and I have a sneaky read when I visit, lovely mag full of short stories, your dd should send off some of her work x

Thanks OP.

You did the Faber Academy Course, would you recommend to a newbie?

@Herewearestar

You did the Faber Academy Course, would you recommend to a newbie?

The one I did isn't for total newbies but they offer lots of different courses at varying levels. Would 100% recommend them as an organisation.

I wrote a blog post about my course here:

www.charlotteduckworth.com/blog-2/faber-academy-writing-novel-course

Thanks @charduck!

Really interesting thread
I tend to listen to audiobooks now as my eyes are too tired to read by the end of the day working on a computer..... I find the narrator makes all the difference and can really enhance the book (currently reading a Liane Moriaty and tbh it's not her strongest but it's the narrator who has me hooked! She is fabulous!)
Do you have a say over the narrator? If you do, how do you choose & how do they charge? Does it decrease your profit?

Sorry that's a lot of questions! I can see there's an audio option available on The Perfect Father so I will make it my next purchase (although I have a subscription.....)

This is the most interesting ama I've read in a long time!

I don't have a specific question as my brain is jelly right now, and I'm afraid I haven't read your books(although will do, now) but thank you for taking the time for this q&a

Really interesting AMA. I used to be a big big reader but these past few years I really struggle to lose myself enough to immerse myself. When I do read a book that does capture me I know it has something special . Off to see if I can find one of your books.

Reading used to be such an escape for me but rarely does it offer me that now. Makes me sad.

@HumourReplacementTherapy

Really interesting thread I tend to listen to audiobooks now as my eyes are too tired to read by the end of the day working on a computer..... I find the narrator makes all the difference and can really enhance the book (currently reading a Liane Moriaty and tbh it's not her strongest but it's the narrator who has me hooked! She is fabulous!) Do you have a say over the narrator? If you do, how do you choose & how do they charge? Does it decrease your profit?

Sorry that's a lot of questions! I can see there's an audio option available on The Perfect Father so I will make it my next purchase (although I have a subscription.....)

I love audiobooks too!!

We do get a say over the narrators yes. My publisher sends me a shortlist of actors who record extracts from the book for us and we decide together who's right for the character - the voices are quite clear in my head so I can usually tell if someone isn't right for it. It's a surreal experience!

In my case, my publisher pays the actors and all costs associated with producing the audiobook. Audio rights are separate from your other rights (similar to ebooks) and accounted differently, which actually increases your earnings as it's another way to sell the same product. My last book has done pretty well in audiobook which is great - the actors were brilliant! I also sold the audiobook rights to my second novel to a specialist American audiobook publisher who paid me a separate advance. But for my other books my UK publisher has the audio rights.

Like I said, author finances are super complicated!

I do think some novels lend themselves better to audiobooks than others - and my fourth book I'm a bit nervous about because it has an anonymous character in whose gender you're not aware of until the reveal, so that's going to be a challenge for the actor!

@Tibby99

This is the most interesting ama I've read in a long time!

I don't have a specific question as my brain is jelly right now, and I'm afraid I haven't read your books(although will do, now) but thank you for taking the time for this q&a

Ah thanks and you're very welcome, glad it was interesting!

@jewel1968

Really interesting AMA. I used to be a big big reader but these past few years I really struggle to lose myself enough to immerse myself. When I do read a book that does capture me I know it has something special . Off to see if I can find one of your books.

Reading used to be such an escape for me but rarely does it offer me that now. Makes me sad.

It's hard these days, there's so much going on in the world and so much to distract us. I'm a really slow reader, which is really embarrassing for a writer, so it takes me an age to read a novel. Hopefully you'll find a book that keeps you hooked in again soon!

Are you Madeleine wickham?

@teaandtoastwithmarmite

Are you Madeleine wickham?

No, but true story - she taught me when I was a kid. Her mum was the headmistress of my primary school!