Harry Potter Success Fuels Wannabe Writers

As people rush to buy the seventh Potter book many will reflect on how the author’s circumstances have changed. JK Rowling is now richer than the Queen - and all because she put pen to paper.

This makes the whole business of writing and trying to get published very hot and sexy right now - 46,000 people entered the Richard & Judy "How to Get Published" competition and there are literally thousands of writing groups across the country. Publisher Alan Samson says: "It seems as though in every street in Britain, someone is writing a book..."

Jane Wenham-Jones, best-selling novelist and Writing Magazine’s Agony Aunt realised that would-be writers wanted more than how-to tips, they wanted the inside information from the publishing world. For her new book, Wannabe A Writer? she interviewed over one hundred authors, agents, publishers and book sellers and the result is totally different from anything else on the market.

It contains hot tips from everyone from Jilly Cooper to Frederick Forsyth and gives practical advice on how to get noticed in the endless sea of slushpiles and wannabes, how to deal with the stress of rejection, as well as how to nab an agent and what to wear to your launch party (the book is nothing if not positive). With delicious humour it deals with the issues other books don’t mention - weight gain, excessive use of alcohol, stress and jealousy. She also explodes the myth that that you can only get published if you are a celebrity (or have slept with one)!

Jane started getting published because her son locked her in a cupboard. This event was worked into a short story which was published in a woman’s magazine and her writing career began. While she is very realistic about how tough it is, there is still lots in her story to be encouraged by. It is inspirational in an anyone-can-do-it-if-they-really-try-hard-enough sort of way, even if they may become broke, bonkers and with a very large behind in the process (the longest chapter in the book deals with Writers' Bottom.)

Jane hopes the book will help people with that dream get started and keep them going along the way.

Wannabe A Writer? is published by Accent Press Ltd, price £7.99.