Latest / The Book Deal / How to succeed in writing competitions, agent and publisher assessments and networking, with Tina Clark, CYA conference coordinator

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How to succeed in writing competitions, agent and publisher assessments and networking, with Tina Clark, CYA conference coordinator · The Book Deal

• 0:00
  This is the Book Deal podcast where you will discover the inspiring stories behind your favorite books.
• 0:08
  We interview seasoned and debut authors, as well as publishing industry professionals to bring you the best tips and advice on how to get that elusive book deal.
• 0:22
  So no matter what stage of writing your at.
• 0:27
  We've got you covered.
• 0:29
  I'm Tina Strachan.
• 0:30
  I'm Madeleine Cleary.
• 0:32
  And I'm Natasha Rai.
• 0:34
  And join us as we pull back the curtain of published authors one deal at a time.
• 0:42
  The Book Deal podcast acknowledges the traditional owners of the land and waters, which it's recorded on and pays respect to their elders past, present, and emerging.
• 0:56
  Tina Strachan: Hi everybody, it's Tina Strachan here, and today I'm delighted to bring you an interview with Tina Clark, the coordinator of the CYA Conference for writers and illustrators.
• 1:06
  Tina Strachan: Not only is Tina an author in her own right, but she's passionate about championing, aspiring, and emerging authors on their journey to publication.
• 1:15
  Tina Strachan: She's got a fantastic track record for success with the CYA annual conference, responsible for multiple book deals each year.
• 1:23
  Tina Strachan: In this interview, I ask Tina, or the important questions for anyone, anyone entering any writing competition, participating in an agent editor or publisher assessment, or attending a conference or bootcamp.
• 1:35
  Tina Strachan: I pick her brain on the dos and don'ts and what you can do to get the most out of your submissions and become a success story yourself.
• 1:43
  Tina Strachan: The CYA conference is held in July this year, and at the time of this episode going to air.
• 1:48
  Tina Strachan: There are still some agent editor and publisher assessments and bootcamp spots available, and the competitions are open for another few weeks.
• 1:56
  Tina Strachan: So consider this your sign to back yourself, put your work out there and submit it for the competitions or assessments today.
• 2:03
  Tina Strachan: Good luck.
• 2:09
  Tina Strachan: Tina Clark it's so great to have you here today on the book Deal podcast.
• 2:14
  Tina Clark: Thank you Tina Strachan
• 2:16
  Tina Strachan: Oh, thank you so much for, uh, for making the time in your very busy schedule because I know how busy you are.
• 2:25
  Tina Strachan: Um, but I really wanted to chat to you today and I know all our listeners will be very keen, for this, uh, episode to listen to, your advice, because I
• 2:33
  Tina Clark: dunno if they like my, but there we go.
• 2:36
  Tina Strachan: It's incredible advice.
• 2:37
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 2:38
  Tina Strachan: They'll, because a lot of our authors are aspiring authors.
• 2:41
  Tina Strachan: Oh, sorry.
• 2:41
  Tina Strachan: A lot of our listeners are aspiring authors and I actually feel like you're a little bit of an emerging writing fairy godmother.
• 2:51
  Tina Clark: I seem to have inherited that title, haven't I?
• 2:53
  Tina Clark: This was very godmother.
• 2:55
  Tina Clark: Like, I can sprinkle magic.
• 2:56
  Tina Clark: It's like, it's so, it's so true.
• 2:58
  Tina Strachan: Well, I love it.
• 3:00
  Tina Strachan: I feel like you do sprinkle lots of magic on lots of authors and, um, because without you and your hard work and your team, um, like there'd be lots of including myself, um, authors who wouldn't be, and illustrators who, who wouldn't be published today.
• 3:15
  Tina Strachan: So I really want to, yeah, have a big chat you about that and that's
• 3:18
  Tina Clark: important.
• 3:19
  Tina Clark: You said.
• 3:19
  Tina Clark: My team, I do have a amazing team behind me, obviously my beautiful husband, and then we have like the team on the day that, and often we just, you know, we all chat and stuff, which is really lovely.
• 3:29
  Tina Clark: So, you know, although, you know, it's, it's basically me makes the final decision.
• 3:35
  Tina Clark: Although Sean loves to think he does, it's like, it's always just, um, yeah, it is.
• 3:41
  Tina Clark: It is, it is good.
• 3:42
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 3:42
  Tina Clark: And I, I do appreciate my team a lot.
• 3:44
  Tina Clark: Uh, I do love them.
• 3:45
  Tina Strachan: Yes, they do work very hard and that's what I love.
• 3:48
  Tina Strachan: Um, so obviously, uh, you are, you know, the lead organizer of the CYA conference, uh, each year or the C conference.
• 3:55
  Tina Strachan: So it's it's authors and illustrators conference.
• 3:58
  Tina Strachan: So very big, very important.
• 4:00
  Tina Strachan: A lot of work goes into it, which we're gonna get into.
• 4:02
  Tina Strachan: But yes, definitely your team is incredible.
• 4:04
  Tina Strachan: Also a lot of volunteers that are helping on this as as well.
• 4:08
  Tina Strachan: Yes,
• 4:09
  Tina Clark: yes.
• 4:09
  Tina Clark: It couldn't happen if, if it if wasn't volunteer time, it just, it would not happen.
• 4:14
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 4:14
  Tina Clark: So I think that's a, a big thing with, um, with, with the writing industry and, and that it is volunteer time is what makes.
• 4:21
  Tina Clark: Things like CYA happen.
• 4:23
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 4:23
  Tina Strachan: It's because we're all so passionate, aren't we?
• 4:25
  Tina Strachan: And writers are author awesome.
• 4:28
  Tina Clark: I think we're a nice bunch.
• 4:29
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, we're pretty cool.
• 4:30
  Tina Strachan: So, but it's not just the CYO conference that you run though, Tina, you also run The Writers at Sea, which is a cruise for writers, which you've actually only just returned from.
• 4:40
  Tina Clark: I did.
• 4:41
  Tina Clark: I did.
• 4:42
  Tina Clark: And it's, it is for all my sons I know.
• 4:45
  Tina Clark: We, we, we decided to do that.
• 4:47
  Tina Clark: So one of my really good friends, Ali and Claire and myself, we, um, were chatting the one day and we both love cruising.
• 4:53
  Tina Clark: We were saying how much we wanted to do something on ships and riders at Sea got born.
• 4:57
  Tina Clark: And I'm one who always takes ideas and runs with them.
• 5:01
  Tina Clark: And so we, we run it at sea as well, which is really, really nice.
• 5:05
  Tina Clark: You know, you get a little bit of, um, peace and quiet while you actually can dedicate your time to writing, which is very, very important.
• 5:14
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, it is very important and it's sort of, you're very much sort of trapped from the daily distractions when you're on a cruise ship, aren't you?
• 5:20
  Tina Strachan: I
• 5:20
  Tina Clark: know.
• 5:21
  Tina Clark: It's actually awesome.
• 5:22
  Tina Clark: You don't cook, you don't clean, you don't have to do your washing.
• 5:25
  Tina Clark: It's the
• 5:25
  Tina Strachan: best part.
• 5:26
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, it's, so is that also then how the Read Your Readers and Writers African retreat happens as well?
• 5:33
  Tina Strachan: Because you also run that?
• 5:35
  Tina Clark: It's, it's sort of like that, like, um, there was a lot of people, I, you know, I go to talks and libraries and I go to like, you know, like talks with book launches and everyone always says, oh, I wanna go to Africa.
• 5:45
  Tina Clark: But I, you know, I just, I don't know, you know, I don't wanna go alone.
• 5:48
  Tina Clark: So, you know, one day I'll make a tour.
• 5:50
  Tina Clark: So I did start a tour off for this year, and it's actually not gonna happen this year because hubby's work got rearranged.
• 5:58
  Tina Clark: So now it'll be next year.
• 5:59
  Tina Clark: So it'll be the same time September, October next year.
• 6:01
  Tina Clark: But we will hopefully be able to do that next year.
• 6:04
  Tina Clark: And it's a readers and writers for, for that one.
• 6:07
  Tina Clark: So just, um, you know, just showing readers and, and writers a little bit of, a little bit.
• 6:13
  Tina Clark: Home Africa as well as, um, you know, if they, if they're in such amazing place, they can write
• 6:20
  Tina Strachan: mm-hmm.
• 6:20
  Tina Strachan: I'm sure it's hugely inspirational for them to be in areas like that.
• 6:23
  Tina Strachan: And they've probably read a lot of your books, which, because the other thing is is you also write books, Tina, oh, I do.
• 6:28
  Tina Strachan: Yourself.
• 6:29
  Tina Strachan: You know, you have a whole series, the Shadows of Africa Book series and also picture books because you know, clearly you are one of those people that like to keep busy.
• 6:38
  Tina Clark: No, but it's, it's funny because I actually was published before I started the CYA conference.
• 6:43
  Tina Clark: So we were, um, we were a Yahoo group and we sort of like, you know, we're all talking and these other two beautiful ladies, Sharon Norris.
• 6:52
  Tina Clark: And they came up with the idea and I said, you know, they said, Hey, you know, will you join us and make this conference?
• 6:58
  Tina Clark: I went, yeah, sure, why not?
• 6:59
  Tina Clark: You know?
• 6:59
  Tina Clark: 'cause it had been so hard to get that information, you know, you're talking like, you know, 26, 2004, 2005.
• 7:08
  Tina Clark: So, yeah, so my first book came out in 2005.
• 7:11
  Tina Clark: So yeah, so that sort of timeframe, and it was very different to what it is now.
• 7:15
  Tina Clark: So, yeah.
• 7:16
  Tina Clark: And then, you know, the three of us took it on and that both of them got sick and, and you know, I was left hand, you know, holding, holding the baby.
• 7:24
  Tina Clark: So, yeah.
• 7:25
  Tina Clark: So I decided.
• 7:26
  Tina Clark: Well, Sean and I decided that yes, I would continue with this baby because I'd put so much work into it and we just, yeah.
• 7:32
  Tina Clark: And I would not have imagined in my thirties that, you know, 25, however many years later we are.
• 7:39
  Tina Clark: So I think to see is what, 21 this year?
• 7:41
  Tina Clark: 21 years there.
• 7:42
  Tina Clark: Yes.
• 7:43
  Tina Strachan: cause it was the 20th anniversary celebration.
• 7:46
  Tina Clark: So 21 years this year.
• 7:47
  Tina Clark: So, hey, we get key to the door.
• 7:49
  Tina Strachan: Oh yeah, absolutely.
• 7:51
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 7:51
  Tina Strachan: And it has keep growing and we'll get into that, shortly.
• 7:53
  Tina Strachan: 'cause it is, there's so much to it.
• 7:55
  Tina Strachan: Like, it sounds like when I first found out about the conference, I, I thought it was oh, a, a conference, like a one day conference, but Oh no, it is not.
• 8:02
  Tina Strachan: It is, it is a beast, Tina, but it's, and it's an incredible beast.
• 8:06
  Tina Strachan: But, but speaking of your writing, did I see that there's a new book coming out soon in your series?
• 8:11
  Tina Strachan: I haven't prepped you for this, but I'm gonna hit you up and I'll, can you tell us a little bit about your series and a little bit about the new book coming out?
• 8:20
  Tina Clark: Okay, so the series Shadows of Africa series is basically because I write, um.
• 8:25
  Tina Clark: Contemporary novels and I write, um, action adventure, some of them more on the thriller line, some of them more just on the action adventure, but all of them have, um, they all just have like the African theme across them, and it's, and it's that Africa where it's based, um, my Africa is what I like to call it.
• 8:44
  Tina Clark: So, um, it's really just, so a lot of them, you can read them out of order.
• 8:48
  Tina Clark: You, you know, they're all independent novels except this last one I've just written.
• 8:52
  Tina Clark: So it can be read independently as well, but if you read the two stories before it, then, then it makes more sense.
• 8:58
  Tina Clark: And so it's just, um, there's a lot.
• 9:02
  Tina Clark: You know, there's Easter eggs and all of them where some of the characters appear in other books and stuff like that.
• 9:07
  Tina Clark: So, but yes, for all my sins, I think this is number eight in my, in my adult writing.
• 9:12
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 9:12
  Tina Clark: Which is, um, yes.
• 9:14
  Tina Clark: And it's Daughter of Africa will be out and it's sort of like the sequel to Child of Africa.
• 9:20
  Tina Clark: So, um, yes, it was, it was very exciting to return to these characters after so many years.
• 9:26
  Tina Clark: 'cause Child of Africa came out, I think in 2015, I think maybe it might have even been before that.
• 9:35
  Tina Clark: So yeah, to return to that world and.
• 9:37
  Tina Clark: Mens myself back into that sort of, that story was, was quite an interesting, you know, when, when I started it I went, oh, you know, it'll be easy to just return, but you know, I had to totally reread the other book and, and just find what, where my head was at that time.
• 9:53
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 9:53
  Tina Clark: So,
• 9:54
  Tina Strachan: yes.
• 9:55
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, that's, that's difficult.
• 9:56
  Tina Strachan: But it, you know, that is fun to go back to a world.
• 9:58
  Tina Strachan: 'cause it is sad when you leave those worlds as
• 10:00
  Tina Clark: well when you leave it.
• 10:00
  Tina Clark: Yes.
• 10:01
  Tina Clark: And when you leave the characters and, you know, to, to go back to them and be able to carry on their story was quite incredible.
• 10:06
  Tina Clark: And it was something which I hadn't really thought I would ever be very open to, but then when I did it, it was like, it was, it was really, really lovely.
• 10:14
  Tina Clark: And I loved going back to those characters.
• 10:16
  Tina Clark: I absolutely loved it.
• 10:18
  Tina Clark: Um, yeah, a lot of, a lot of.
• 10:21
  Tina Clark: Oh, how do, how do you say this?
• 10:23
  Tina Clark: Nostalgia, I guess when you go back into, into those, into that world again and, and open that, that door.
• 10:29
  Tina Clark: And it's amazing as a writer what your mind actually still remembers and yeah.
• 10:35
  Tina Clark: And it's also amazing that, um, by then I had learned to keep my characters and my line, my timelines and my characters all in a spreadsheet.
• 10:43
  Tina Clark: So it was easy to return to that world.
• 10:46
  Tina Clark: So writers that always do that, keep your timeline, keep your character, everything from your books, put it, make, put it in.
• 10:54
  Tina Clark: I call them a z file, which means they're over with and they go to the bottom of, of the list on, on my, and I just, I call it a Z file.
• 11:02
  Tina Clark: So yeah, keep those Z files.
• 11:04
  Tina Clark: 'cause you never know when you're gonna actually need them.
• 11:07
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, it's so true.
• 11:08
  Tina Strachan: And, and the thought of probably going back and having to remap that and work into it because you do forget, Even at the time of writing, like I'm doing edits on something at the moment, you forget what you plotted before or after so quickly.
• 11:21
  Tina Strachan: But you know that there was a thought process and probably a deep thought process that went into all of that.
• 11:25
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 11:25
  Tina Strachan: So keeping notes is really important.
• 11:27
  Tina Strachan: I love your Excel spreadsheet.
• 11:28
  Tina Strachan: It's.
• 11:28
  Tina Strachan: Widely known that I do love the, the math of storytelling because it's a thing.
• 11:33
  Tina Strachan: It's a big
• 11:33
  Tina Clark: thing.
• 11:34
  Tina Clark: It's
• 11:34
  Tina Strachan: a thing.
• 11:34
  Tina Strachan: It's a thing.
• 11:34
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 11:35
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 11:35
  Tina Clark: You don't have to be ex, you don't have to use Excel.
• 11:37
  Tina Clark: But that's, you know, that's what I use Notebook.
• 11:39
  Tina Clark: I just have, yeah.
• 11:40
  Tina Clark: I just have, oh, I, I'm terrible with notebooks.
• 11:42
  Tina Clark: I've got a whole shelf of notebooks and I keep going.
• 11:44
  Tina Clark: I really should just, you know, scan these and then get rid of them, but I go, if I scan them, I'm never gonna be able to find the stuff quickly.
• 11:52
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 11:52
  Tina Clark: So,
• 11:53
  Tina Strachan: yes.
• 11:54
  Tina Strachan: I see what you mean.
• 11:55
  Tina Strachan: Sorry, I'm just thinking because I have the same, I have, I'm the same too.
• 11:57
  Tina Strachan: I have so many notebooks, but I also forget which one's in what.
• 12:00
  Tina Strachan: And anyway, notebooks are great.
• 12:01
  Tina Strachan: I
• 12:02
  Tina Clark: went through and wrote on the front of them what's in each of each of them, so it makes it a little bit easier.
• 12:07
  Tina Clark: But then I've got like CYA, like in two years in a row in this.
• 12:11
  Tina Clark: Same notebook, so it's like, oh, you know,
• 12:15
  Tina Strachan: oh yeah, spreadsheets.
• 12:16
  Tina Strachan: Let's just, let's just say spreadsheets are the way to go.
• 12:18
  Tina Clark: Spreadsheets are so much easier.
• 12:20
  Tina Strachan: Oh, well, I can tell you're very passionate, obviously, about your, your homeland and, uh, your books and, and clearly with all of this, effort and work that you put in and you're super busy, you have a true passion for helping and inspiring, emerging authors and aspiring and illustrators as well.
• 12:36
  Tina Strachan: So can you, can you gimme a little bit of a background on that?
• 12:40
  Tina Strachan: Like what, with the CYA conference and all these other retreats and everything that you're doing to help, what is it that really pushes you to keep doing this?
• 12:49
  Tina Clark: What fires me up to do this, I think, is because I want everything in one place.
• 12:55
  Tina Clark: I don't want, I remember how hard it was to get published with that first book.
• 12:59
  Tina Clark: It was just so hard.
• 13:01
  Tina Clark: And then, so I want all the information, all the contacts, everything in one place.
• 13:06
  Tina Clark: I want to make it as easy it as it is for people to get to it and not be ripped off because I, the whole way through this whole process, all these years, I keep seeing authors being ripped off.
• 13:18
  Tina Clark: And I just hate that there are predators who prey on author and illustrator's dreams and, and just take their money and just give them crap.
• 13:26
  Tina Clark: Sorry, I probably shouldn't swear.
• 13:28
  Tina Clark: You can swear It's okay.
• 13:30
  Tina Clark: But yeah, it's, it's just, and I just hate that.
• 13:34
  Tina Clark: So I think just being able to, to.
• 13:39
  Tina Clark: To at least try and minimize that a little bit has always been what I've, what I have been about.
• 13:45
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 13:46
  Tina Clark: Um, and, and I just think, you know, I, I had this passion for so many years and I wrote for so many years, and just finding that, that path that you need and realizing that every path is different is just why I keep doing it.
• 14:01
  Tina Clark: And just, and then, you know, there's that little bit in me, which every time we have a book baby from CYAI go, you know, a little bit of me is in that.
• 14:10
  Tina Clark: And even if I'm not publishing that year, I see all these beautiful books which got published that wouldn't have happened.
• 14:17
  Tina Clark: And I go.
• 14:18
  Tina Clark: I'm doing the right thing.
• 14:19
  Tina Clark: I'm doing the right thing.
• 14:20
  Tina Clark: So that's kind of the passion.
• 14:22
  Tina Clark: I don't know, I've just got this thing that you always have to make, you know, you have to leave someplace better than when you, you know, when you leave it than when you got there.
• 14:29
  Tina Clark: And I hope that, I hope that when I do get to leave the, the publishing world, that it is a better place for me being in it.
• 14:37
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, absolutely is Tina, I think you can be comfortable in that.
• 14:41
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 14:41
  Tina Strachan: And the book, the book baby thing, oh my gosh.
• 14:43
  Tina Strachan: You are, like we said, the fairy godmother of many, many books.
• 14:47
  Tina Strachan: And, and that's what we love about the actual conference as well.
• 14:51
  Tina Strachan: And all the other resources where you share those, book babies.
• 14:55
  Tina Strachan: And what we mean by book babies is.
• 14:57
  Tina Strachan: People who got published as a direct result of some form of or outcome from the CYA conference.
• 15:03
  Tina Strachan: And, as we'll get into, there's sort of many ways that we can, that you can be involved in the conference.
• 15:10
  Tina Strachan: Like we were saying before, it's grown hugely there's, it's multiple days.
• 15:14
  Tina Strachan: It's, online, it's in person, hybrid in person as well.
• 15:18
  Tina Strachan: There's a networking event outside of that.
• 15:20
  Tina Strachan: There's also boot camps, there's the competition and there's editor and agent and publisher assessments.
• 15:27
  Tina Strachan: So, yeah, will get into all of that because I really agree with what you were saying and it was, it's such a great thing that you wanted to just make sure that every, all this information was in the one spot.
• 15:38
  Tina Strachan: Because it still happens now.
• 15:39
  Tina Strachan: There's still, it's, new authors or, emerging writers, every, even those who've just signed contracts, there's so many questions that people have.
• 15:47
  Tina Strachan: Um, yep.
• 15:47
  Tina Strachan: And it's a very unique industry, for anyone who's listening, who's thinking of, pitching or getting to a point where they wonder, can I, how do I even go about getting published?
• 15:55
  Tina Strachan: I think, yep, this conference is a fantastic way to start.
• 16:00
  Tina Strachan: And again, when I say conference, there's multiple, various ways, that isn't just, sitting there on the day.
• 16:05
  Tina Strachan: So can you give us just the, I'd like to go into the bootcamps and everything in a bit, so you can share the information on what can, how people can be really successful in them and get the most out of them.
• 16:15
  Tina Strachan: Can you just give us a broad, just for the 2026 CYA conference for this year, can you just give us,, the overview of it and, some of the logistics and everything?
• 16:24
  Tina Clark: All right, so I'm going to, I'm just gonna start date wise.
• 16:27
  Tina Clark: All right, so top of the date is in two weekends we have the online bootcamps, which are for people who, obviously some, some people just cannot get away, they cannot get to conference.
• 16:36
  Tina Clark: So that after COVID, we started the online stuff and it just, we had so many people asking us not to get rid of it after COVID, that we've just kept that online component.
• 16:45
  Tina Clark: So.
• 16:46
  Tina Clark: What those bootcamps are basically, a lot of people that use those, use those before their competition entry.
• 16:51
  Tina Clark: So they get their, they get their story all in, in order.
• 16:54
  Tina Clark: They get like the, um, they spend time with an editor.
• 16:58
  Tina Clark: So the editors read, read their work before they start it, and then they do their bootcamp and then they get to re rewrite and, and enhance their novel or their story.
• 17:08
  Tina Clark: Um, while, while they're there with the editor.
• 17:10
  Tina Clark: Then the editor rereads that story and then they get to see whether they have actually done what the editor, you know, said yes.
• 17:17
  Tina Clark: You know, like that she thinks, or I'm gonna say she, because most of them are, she's at the moment.
• 17:22
  Tina Clark: So whatever the editor, you know, says.
• 17:25
  Tina Clark: And then they get to see whether they've done that right.
• 17:27
  Tina Clark: Or whether they've gone off, offered a tangent and gone like,'cause sometimes an editor does give you things and then you go, oh no, wait.
• 17:33
  Tina Clark: In my mind, your mind thinks totally different.
• 17:36
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 17:36
  Tina Clark: That same editor might look at it and go, whew, that's not what I sort of like suggested, but this is okay.
• 17:41
  Tina Clark: Or they might go, this really doesn't work with your story anymore.
• 17:44
  Tina Clark: What were you doing?
• 17:45
  Tina Clark: So it's sort of like that honest feedback from an editor that really, you, you get and you get that one-on-one with an editor, but at the same time, you're listening to everybody else's stuff that you've reread, you've read before.
• 17:57
  Tina Clark: So you're getting four people in a group, so you're getting three other people's feedback as well as yours.
• 18:04
  Tina Clark: And you can go, oh, I've done that same thing in mine, and I can go and I can change that in mine.
• 18:08
  Tina Clark: And, and so that you, you're learning the whole time with, with your group that you're in.
• 18:13
  Tina Clark: So bootcamps are really, really good for that.
• 18:15
  Tina Clark: I love bootcamps.
• 18:16
  Tina Clark: Even as a published author, multi published author, I still try and do a bootcamp every year.
• 18:21
  Tina Clark: I don't think I'm gonna manage this year and last year I didn't manage No, I did.
• 18:26
  Tina Clark: I did a bootcamp online last year.
• 18:28
  Tina Clark: There we go.
• 18:28
  Tina Clark: So, but yes, it is, it is, it is really an interesting, an interesting idea that came, um, D White actually brought me that idea and we ran with it and Yes, it was, it's, they, they are really, really great.
• 18:43
  Tina Clark: Um, boot camps are.
• 18:45
  Tina Clark: If you, if you're looking for something to get feedback on your work and help, um, that's, that's an ideal thing.
• 18:52
  Tina Clark: I think you get a lot of value for money in a bootcamp.
• 18:55
  Tina Clark: Um, so that's bootcamps online.
• 18:57
  Tina Clark: So some of them are still open for another few days until Friday, but then they're closing, so,
• 19:03
  Tina Strachan: oh, do, oh, do they, when do they
• 19:04
  Tina Clark: actually.
• 19:05
  Tina Clark: This, this Friday.
• 19:06
  Tina Clark: They Oh, okay.
• 19:06
  Tina Clark: They're closed.
• 19:07
  Tina Clark: So, yeah.
• 19:08
  Tina Clark: So that's, that's online.
• 19:09
  Tina Clark: So if this doesn't go out, doesn't matter.
• 19:11
  Tina Clark: It's, you know, that, that next year they'll know to look for March.
• 19:15
  Tina Strachan: Okay, well do you wanna stick, do you wanna stick with bootcamps?
• 19:17
  Tina Strachan: And since, since we are chatting about them, um, so they will be closed, which is unfortunate.
• 19:21
  Tina Strachan: But, um, next year, obviously you're getting quick because you do have to get in quick with all the bootcamps you do and the agent and editor assessments, I swear sometimes, you hear about one going up and it's literally booked and closed before you manage to have a look online.
• 19:33
  Tina Clark: The online ones will be closed So, but the, but the other bootcamps for in July, they will definitely still be open.
• 19:41
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 19:41
  Tina Strachan: They're open.
• 19:42
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 19:43
  Tina Strachan: Great.
• 19:43
  Tina Strachan: Because I did have a little look and there's still a few open now,
• 19:46
  Tina Clark: LaRay Foi from Scholastic, so she's doing in person.
• 19:50
  Tina Strachan: Yep.
• 19:51
  Tina Clark: Um, and you're gonna ask Michelle
• 19:53
  Tina Strachan: Stevens?
• 19:53
  Tina Strachan: No, I'll just, I was just throwing out a few that was still
• 19:56
  Tina Clark: open.
• 19:56
  Tina Strachan: Michelle, Steven.
• 19:56
  Tina Strachan: So Michelle Stevens from Wombat, so she'll
• 19:57
  Tina Clark: be doing in person Yeah.
• 19:58
  Tina Clark: What she's doing.
• 19:59
  Tina Clark: Yep.
• 19:59
  Tina Clark: And Rowena Barford is in person as well.
• 20:02
  Tina Clark: Um, and then of course, oh, we've also got, Lauren Clark is also in person, so she's always good for the adult side of it.
• 20:10
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 20:11
  Tina Clark: Um, we've got also on the adult side is, laura Franks.
• 20:15
  Tina Clark: and then we've also got another editor, another one who, I don't think it's up yet, but it's gonna be specifically for nonfiction books.
• 20:23
  Tina Clark: I did
• 20:23
  Tina Strachan: see that.
• 20:24
  Tina Strachan: That is up.
• 20:24
  Tina Clark: Is that, is that up?
• 20:25
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 20:25
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 20:26
  Tina Clark: There we go.
• 20:27
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 20:27
  Tina Clark: I'm not sure what went live this weekend and what hasn't.
• 20:30
  Tina Clark: I haven't, I haven't caught up.
• 20:31
  Tina Clark: Um, so yeah, so that, so that Sophie Hanley will be there for that, which I'm really excited about.
• 20:36
  Tina Clark: So she's from Hachette.
• 20:37
  Tina Clark: And then for the first time we have, um, we have a bootcamp dedicated to, um, graphic novels Mm-hmm.
• 20:48
  Tina Clark: Anastasia coming up for a marketing bootcamp for people who are already published or have a book coming to make sure that, you know, your marketing's on, on target and what you're doing.
• 21:01
  Tina Clark: So more details of that will obviously come out and how, how that will run.
• 21:06
  Tina Clark: But that's only gonna be eight people, so it's going to be very interesting.
• 21:11
  Tina Clark: And yeah, with, um, it's the type of thing, you know, which you'll look at your website, she'll look at your, so it's it's
• 21:17
  Tina Strachan: goals that Goals
• 21:18
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 21:18
  Tina Clark: The type of thing where she can look at where your book's coming out and go, okay, this is when you need to do this and mm-hmm.
• 21:24
  Tina Clark: Sort of help you along with the marketing plan, see your marketing plan, what you've decided, you know, and see where the gaps are, which is absolute gold.
• 21:32
  Tina Clark: I know it's, it sounds like.
• 21:34
  Tina Clark: It's just, oh, this is so much.
• 21:37
  Tina Clark: But it's, it's for the different steps of publication.
• 21:39
  Tina Clark: Obviously, if you don't have a book and, and you know, and, and you are not at that step, don't go into a, a class for Mary, you know, don't, don't go to a marketing class because then you're just wasting your money.
• 21:50
  Tina Clark: It's not for something in the future.
• 21:52
  Tina Clark: This is like for the published people who need something more, who need something for where they are in their journey, whereas, you know, um.
• 21:59
  Tina Clark: And the same thing with the graphic novels.
• 22:01
  Tina Clark: If you're not writing a graphic novel, don't, don't go into a graphic novel bootcamp and waste your money because it's, it's not gonna be, uh, you know, it's, it's more, okay, what have you done towards your graphic novel?
• 22:10
  Tina Clark: All right, how can we change, how can we make this marketable?
• 22:13
  Tina Clark: How can we make this fit into the fit into the graphic novel?
• 22:16
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 22:17
  Tina Clark: Um, yeah.
• 22:17
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 22:18
  Tina Clark: And from there, so,
• 22:19
  Tina Strachan: yeah.
• 22:19
  Tina Strachan: So you wanna go with some work that you can actually work on while you're there and come out of that with some improvements and things.
• 22:24
  Tina Strachan: So,
• 22:25
  Tina Clark: yep.
• 22:25
  Tina Strachan: Ly, but there was, I was surprised to see 12 different boot camps this year.
• 22:28
  Tina Strachan: That's, it's so many.
• 22:30
  Tina Strachan: I
• 22:30
  Tina Clark: know.
• 22:30
  Tina Clark: But it's great.
• 22:31
  Tina Clark: I know it's a bit ambitious.
• 22:32
  Tina Clark: It is ambitious, but you know, often people, if, if there's not enough in a bootcamp, we will merge two people's bootcamps into one.
• 22:41
  Tina Clark: Unfortunately, you know, logistics mean that that has to be done sometimes.
• 22:45
  Tina Clark: Um, but yes, we've tried to sort of like give ev, that was one of the things which came out of last year, was people were going, we want more bootcamps.
• 22:53
  Tina Clark: So we've sort of provided more bootcamp Yeah.
• 22:56
  Tina Strachan: Supply and demand.
• 22:57
  Tina Strachan: So, so yeah, you're responding to that.
• 22:59
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 22:59
  Tina Strachan: So, uh, so they're generally small groups, about four.
• 23:02
  Tina Strachan: Um, except the marketing
• 23:03
  Tina Clark: one, there's four people per group.
• 23:04
  Tina Clark: Yep.
• 23:04
  Tina Clark: So that's great.
• 23:05
  Tina Clark: Well, no, there's eight people in per bootcamp.
• 23:07
  Tina Clark: And then, but so, but you work as a four and a four group.
• 23:10
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 23:10
  Tina Clark: Yep.
• 23:10
  Tina Strachan: Yep.
• 23:11
  Tina Strachan: And, um, I've seen the schedule.
• 23:12
  Tina Strachan: I haven't done a bootcamp myself.
• 23:13
  Tina Strachan: I've seen the schedule.
• 23:14
  Tina Strachan: It really is when they say bootcamp, like, come with your joggers on because, and your sweatband and your big bottle of water and probably some, you know, energy, you know, drinks or something.
• 23:24
  Tina Strachan: Red frogs, some red frogs will do.
• 23:27
  Tina Strachan: Um, because it's a full day.
• 23:28
  Tina Strachan: It's a lot.
• 23:29
  Tina Strachan: But you know, it's a lot.
• 23:30
  Tina Strachan: Spending a full day with an editor or an agent or a publisher and these are the, this, that time alone is invaluable.
• 23:38
  Tina Strachan: The
• 23:38
  Tina Clark: networking is valuable.
• 23:40
  Tina Clark: So valuable.
• 23:41
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 23:41
  Tina Clark: And you never know who's in your group with you as well.
• 23:45
  Tina Clark: There's a lot of.
• 23:46
  Tina Clark: Editors who are also writers who also do bootcamps.
• 23:50
  Tina Clark: So you get to, you know, you get to meet other people and, um, there's a lot of publishers out there as well who sort of, you know, so, and, and you never know who's gonna be in your, in your bootcamp with you either.
• 24:03
  Tina Clark: It's kind of like when you sit down at conference, you never know who you're sitting next to, you
• 24:06
  Tina Strachan: know?
• 24:07
  Tina Strachan: Exactly.
• 24:07
  Tina Strachan: Right.
• 24:07
  Tina Strachan: That's exactly right.
• 24:08
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 24:09
  Tina Strachan: So they're super important.
• 24:10
  Tina Strachan: So yeah, so have a look.
• 24:11
  Tina Strachan: They're still o they'll still be open online and hopefully still some spaces by the time, this goes to air.
• 24:21
  Katie Hoskins: Hi, book deal, podcast.
• 24:23
  Katie Hoskins: My name is Katie Hoskins.
• 24:25
  Katie Hoskins: My debut novel when the party's over published by Pan McMillan Australia, is out on the 31st of March when mom of three and Natalie has a party for her 36th birthday.
• 24:38
  Katie Hoskins: She just wants to reconnect with her friends that she's been drifting apart from, to remember when life used to feel like one big party and leave the mundane behind for one night.
• 24:48
  Katie Hoskins: Now she'd do anything to have mundane back the day after the party.
• 24:53
  Katie Hoskins: She finds 18 month old Toby clutching an unmistakable colorful tablet with a quarter missing, and her life quickly unravels into chaos even once Toby recovers and returns home.
• 25:07
  Katie Hoskins: The fallout is really just beginning for Natalie and for her two best friends whose lives have also been upturned by the night of the party.
• 25:15
  Katie Hoskins: When the truths about what happened that night are all revealed, will any of their friendships survive?
• 25:22
  Katie Hoskins: I'm really excited to share this book with you all.
• 25:24
  Katie Hoskins: It's been about six years from first draft publication, so I really hope you enjoy it.
• 25:36
  Tina Strachan: Now can we chat a little bit about the competition?
• 25:40
  Tina Clark: The competition is the next thing coming up.
• 25:42
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 25:42
  Tina Clark: So that goes on the 12th of April.
• 25:45
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 25:45
  Tina Clark: So I hope this goes to you before that.
• 25:47
  Tina Strachan: It it will, yes.
• 25:48
  Tina Strachan: I'm gonna get it to air.
• 25:49
  Tina Strachan: So look, it'll be tight.
• 25:50
  Tina Strachan: There's a few weeks to go, but I'm sure there's still some people who, who are like me and leave it to the last minute.
• 25:55
  Tina Strachan: So, just to make sure that you edit and edit and edit and edit to the point where you can't edit anymore.
• 26:00
  Tina Strachan: And, um, and send it at
• 26:01
  Tina Clark: that last minute I of that.
• 26:02
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 26:03
  Tina Clark: And very guilty of doing that myself with competitions when I was entering them.
• 26:07
  Tina Clark: Absolutely.
• 26:08
  Tina Clark: Even, even now, if I enter one, I, I still sort of stall, stall, stall.
• 26:13
  Tina Clark: And I think that's natural.
• 26:14
  Tina Clark: It's, you know, you want to put your best foot forward.
• 26:16
  Tina Clark: So it's, it's very natural.
• 26:18
  Tina Clark: So the competitions, they are open from picture books all the way through to adult.
• 26:23
  Tina Clark: Um, adult writing.
• 26:25
  Tina Clark: Um, the under eighteens are free to enter so that we started during COVID and we've just kept it as under eighteens to grow the hatchlings through.
• 26:34
  Tina Clark: We do have a couple of hatchlings who have grown through from the competitions and now, you know, they have actually become adults and they have continued into the adult world, which is just amazing to see.
• 26:46
  Tina Clark: And you know, when, when, when we see their successes, it's like extra special'cause we've known them for so many, so many years.
• 26:53
  Tina Clark: You know, we're behind the scenes, known them sort of thing for so many years, which is really, really awesome.
• 26:59
  Tina Clark: Um, but so under eighteens are free.
• 27:01
  Tina Clark: Um, but everybody else, sorry, you have to actually pay, so it's, it's, you know, but it's, I think it's, it's actually not that much to get the feedback.
• 27:10
  Tina Clark: It's extremely
• 27:12
  Tina Strachan: reasonable, Tina, and a lot of it's extremely reasonable, entry fee and like you said, to get the feedback and then if anyone's listened to this podcast before and heard my own publication story, like that is literally what I did.
• 27:25
  Tina Strachan: I was someone who was just writing, I never shared my information with anyone.
• 27:28
  Tina Strachan: I was tinkering around with a manuscript and I just thought, what do I do with it now?
• 27:32
  Tina Strachan: And then I stumbled across, the CYA conference and the competition and thought.
• 27:39
  Tina Strachan: Like the beauty of it was that you get the feedback from the judges.
• 27:42
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 27:42
  Tina Strachan: Which you don't get, for many other competitions.
• 27:45
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 27:45
  Tina Strachan: Or when you submit in the industry, you just don't get that feedback.
• 27:49
  Tina Strachan: And I thought that was, that's valuable.
• 27:50
  Tina Strachan: I'll get that information and that'll tell me, whether I should just give up or like, keep going and, the, and anyway, the long story short as I ended up, winning and, meeting a publisher and that's how I got published in the end.
• 28:01
  Tina Strachan: So yeah, very valuable.
• 28:03
  Tina Strachan: Very valuable.
• 28:04
  Tina Strachan: Another one of your book babies.
• 28:06
  Tina Strachan: So tell us a little bit about who, judges and who's providing the feedback.
• 28:09
  Tina Clark: All right, so the feedback is all provided from different judges.
• 28:13
  Tina Clark: You could get, there's normally per entry.
• 28:15
  Tina Clark: There's normally one published judge and one unpublished judge, except in the published section where we try and make it two published judges.
• 28:22
  Tina Clark: Um, or it might be an editor might step in where the published, um, person is.
• 28:27
  Tina Clark: We have editors as well who, who do actually read a lot of the competition entries, believe it or not.
• 28:33
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 28:34
  Tina Clark: Um, so you always get two feedbacks.
• 28:37
  Tina Clark: Um, there is obviously, you know, with two feedbacks, there is always the chance that one feedback will get, you know, like, you know, 99% and the other one will get like 68% and you go like, well, what happened?
• 28:50
  Tina Clark: This is two different things.
• 28:51
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 28:52
  Tina Clark: If they're really, really big like that, I often get a third judge involved, and then they just get the two which are closest.
• 28:59
  Tina Clark: Um, well, the higher one always stays and then, you know, if that one's closer, but if it's lower, then they just get the higher of the two lower ones.
• 29:07
  Tina Clark: Um, so it's, it's a bit of a process behind, it's all done blind, so when your files come to me, I actually strip all electronic out of it.
• 29:15
  Tina Clark: So, you know, there's no way that the judges know who's, who's.
• 29:19
  Tina Clark: Um.
• 29:20
  Tina Clark: Entry is whose it's all done online.
• 29:22
  Tina Clark: We've got a judging portal that they go in and they get their stories and, and they, they all sign a thing, you know, electronic signatures to say yes.
• 29:29
  Tina Clark: They will delete the stories afterwards.
• 29:31
  Tina Clark: So it's all pretty, it's all, I, I try and make it as safe as we can make it.
• 29:36
  Tina Clark: Obviously there's always the human factor involved, but it's, um, yes.
• 29:40
  Tina Clark: And then so you, you get somebody a lot of the time, you, you could land up with two published people reading your work and, um, you never know who those published people are.
• 29:50
  Tina Clark: Some, some people love to send a letter to or a a, an email afterwards to thank the judges.
• 29:56
  Tina Clark: And then I do send those on the judges, whoever they are.
• 30:00
  Tina Clark: Um, I normally then just strip the email outta that as well.
• 30:04
  Tina Clark: Um, except if it goes to a, a.
• 30:07
  Tina Clark: You know, like if it's a one for the person who has come first, second, or third mm-hmm.
• 30:11
  Tina Clark: Because, you know, the editor already has the email, so it doesn't matter.
• 30:14
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 30:14
  Tina Clark: But if it's just a normal one, it, it's again that whole protecting you, protecting you, protecting the writer, basically.
• 30:22
  Tina Clark: It is what it's all about.
• 30:24
  Tina Clark: So yeah, so the competitions are actually really, really valuable for that feedback.
• 30:29
  Tina Clark: And yes, we, we do, the sheets do change now and again, you know, if we find something like pitches, we, we added that in a few years ago that, um, I think it's like two years now that the pitch has been there.
• 30:41
  Tina Clark: Um, maybe three that you have to, because we found that people were really stumbling on that, um, that they don't know how to pitch their, their book in like one sentence.
• 30:50
  Tina Clark: So, you know, always, always trying to be dynamic and change for what the marketing, what the market is doing, the trade market is doing.
• 30:58
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 30:58
  Tina Strachan: That's really important.
• 30:59
  Tina Strachan: And another just is like a value add, isn't it?
• 31:01
  Tina Strachan: For Yeah.
• 31:02
  Tina Strachan: For the competition.
• 31:03
  Tina Strachan: And it's normally hundreds and hundreds of entries that you get.
• 31:06
  Tina Clark: Yeah, there's, I think our, the most we've ever had has been about 650.
• 31:10
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 31:11
  Tina Clark: So that means you've got like.
• 31:13
  Tina Clark: 1300, um, people like judging entries coming in.
• 31:18
  Tina Clark: Gosh.
• 31:18
  Tina Clark: So, yes.
• 31:19
  Tina Clark: To, to sort through.
• 31:20
  Tina Clark: So it does take, take a little bit of time.
• 31:23
  Tina Clark: So, yeah.
• 31:23
  Tina Clark: I think last year was, the last year was the first year where we were actually, we, we could not, I, I could not physically do the things I needed to do at that time'cause I was really ill.
• 31:34
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 31:35
  Tina Clark: So we actually were late for the first time ever.
• 31:37
  Tina Clark: But normally it's out the, you know, on the 20th of June.
• 31:41
  Tina Clark: So that date is like the D-Day that all the, you know, that everything, people get the.
• 31:46
  Tina Clark: Yes.
• 31:47
  Tina Clark: The short list.
• 31:48
  Tina Clark: So yes.
• 31:49
  Tina Clark: Yes, that's right.
• 31:50
  Tina Clark: And yes, and even, even, yeah, I make sure even, you know, if it's that late at night, it comes out on that day.
• 31:57
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 31:57
  Tina Strachan: It's incredible.
• 31:58
  Tina Strachan: Everyone's very appreciative of that.
• 31:59
  Tina Strachan: The, the workload that must go into that is is It
• 32:03
  Tina Clark: is, but you know, a lot of it's electronic so it's, you know, but it, it just, it's that whole making
• 32:08
  Tina Strachan: sure I'm just sending the feedback and not getting it mixed up.
• 32:10
  Tina Strachan: I just dunno how you, how you keep on top of all been, I know there's
• 32:14
  Tina Clark: been years where to the judges who did it instead of the people
• 32:21
  Tina Strachan: look understandable.
• 32:22
  Tina Strachan: I think that's completely understandable.
• 32:24
  Tina Strachan: But so, so it's
• 32:25
  Tina Clark: human error.
• 32:26
  Tina Strachan: So you have judges that, read every single entry
• 32:29
  Tina Clark: yeah.
• 32:29
  Tina Clark: They volunteer judges.
• 32:30
  Tina Clark: They only get paid like a minimal amount and that they, they can use that towards paying off their conference if they want, if they need to do that.
• 32:37
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 32:38
  Tina Clark: If they want to do that, they, they do that.
• 32:39
  Tina Clark: And then we get a short list.
• 32:41
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 32:41
  Tina Clark: And once got a shortlist out, the editor actually who is doing the, being the final editor on that competition, she gets them, um, again, I'm saying she, but we do have, he's as well.
• 32:52
  Tina Clark: Um, they get it, use the right thing, they get it, and then they, they make the final decision.
• 32:59
  Tina Clark: It's, we don't, we don't have anything to do with that at all.
• 33:01
  Tina Clark: We just do all the pre-judging and, and, you know, whittle it all down to what, what, what comes out.
• 33:07
  Tina Clark: And then they do that,
• 33:09
  Tina Strachan: which is incredible.
• 33:10
  Tina Strachan: It's, it really is amazing too that, uh, it's a publisher or an editor that's.
• 33:14
  Tina Strachan: Making that final decision as well.
• 33:16
  Tina Strachan: Yep.
• 33:17
  Tina Strachan: And they're reading it.
• 33:17
  Tina Strachan: So, if you make that shortlist then that's getting in front of the, of an actual publisher.
• 33:22
  Tina Strachan: Yep.
• 33:22
  Tina Strachan: Anyway.
• 33:23
  Tina Strachan: Which is a
• 33:23
  Tina Clark: real publisher,
• 33:24
  Tina Strachan: a real live one, because we all know how hard it is to get our work in front of them.
• 33:29
  Tina Strachan: Uh, so can you tell us about the prize if you do win?
• 33:34
  Tina Clark: Okay, so this year we actually increased that.
• 33:36
  Tina Clark: The first place used to just get a, um, an assessment with the editor on, on their work.
• 33:42
  Tina Clark: But this year
• 33:43
  Tina Strachan: we, which is incredible though, like, which is didn't just used to just get that, that is, I remember, just thinking that 15, it was 15 minutes.
• 33:49
  Tina Strachan: That's what I got with, um, my publisher and like 15 minutes one-on-one with a publisher just doesn't, you just, it doesn't happen.
• 33:59
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 33:59
  Tina Strachan: You know, so that was, that was gold.
• 34:01
  Tina Strachan: That was.
• 34:02
  Tina Strachan: But keep going.
• 34:03
  Tina Strachan: What else do we get now?
• 34:04
  Tina Clark: So then you also get a hundred dollars now, which, you know, for a lot of people, oh my God, that more than, you know, it more than covers what they Absolutely.
• 34:11
  Tina Clark: They pay to, to do it.
• 34:12
  Tina Clark: But it's also a little bit towards going, you know?
• 34:15
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 34:16
  Tina Clark: You know, you're doing well.
• 34:17
  Tina Clark: Keep investing in yourself.
• 34:19
  Tina Clark: Is is how we sort of like think that money of that money, it's like it really is.
• 34:24
  Tina Clark: And, and writing it is a really, it is a really personal thing.
• 34:27
  Tina Clark: So you do need to invest in yourself to always be making yourself better and better.
• 34:31
  Tina Clark: And you know, and I think any author who tells you, oh no I don't attend conferences and I don't do this anymore, is just, you know, they just cutting off their own notes.
• 34:40
  Tina Clark: Because you do need to be dynamic.
• 34:42
  Tina Clark: You do need to be keeping up with trends.
• 34:44
  Tina Clark: You do need to be, um, learning and, and improving yourself.
• 34:48
  Tina Clark: Otherwise you're gonna get bored and you're not gonna wanna write.
• 34:50
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 34:51
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 34:51
  Tina Strachan: And the networking part of it as well is incredible and lots of, lots of industries and lots of jobs you do continually.
• 34:58
  Tina Strachan: Learn and learn.
• 35:00
  Tina Strachan: Learn.
• 35:00
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 35:00
  Tina Clark: Yep.
• 35:01
  Tina Clark: So, so think of conferences like this as professional development.
• 35:04
  Tina Clark: Absolutely.
• 35:04
  Tina Clark: Because that's what it is.
• 35:05
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 35:06
  Tina Clark: It's, yep.
• 35:06
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 35:07
  Tina Clark: Absolutely.
• 35:07
  Tina Clark: Obviously second and third gets 60 and 40, so Yes,
• 35:11
  Tina Strachan: yes, yes.
• 35:11
  Tina Strachan: But also still the publisher has read your work.
• 35:14
  Tina Strachan: It's incredible.
• 35:14
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 35:15
  Tina Strachan: The publish publisher has, they get some feedback work too, don't they?
• 35:17
  Tina Strachan: Do they give
• 35:18
  Tina Clark: feedback on too?
• 35:18
  Tina Clark: Sometimes.
• 35:18
  Tina Clark: Some, sometimes they do.
• 35:20
  Tina Clark: Some publishers do give feedback and they, they go, oh, you know, I love the story or whatever.
• 35:24
  Tina Clark: Um, some publishers do, some publishers don't.
• 35:26
  Tina Clark: It depends on the final judge, whether they do or whether they don't.
• 35:29
  Tina Clark: It's, that's up to them.
• 35:30
  Tina Clark: I can't, I can bring the opportunity.
• 35:33
  Tina Clark: I can't actually force an editor to spend, you know, more time giving more feedback.
• 35:38
  Tina Clark: It's, it's, you know, that's kind of the, how much they personally put into it is mm-hmm.
• 35:42
  Tina Clark: Is really.
• 35:43
  Tina Strachan: Because they're also very busy as well as we know very well.
• 35:45
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 35:46
  Tina Strachan: Uh, now what are your top tips for entering the competition, though, Tina, I know there's some do's and some don'ts.
• 35:52
  Tina Strachan: Um,
• 35:53
  Tina Clark: don't, yeah.
• 35:53
  Tina Clark: Read the guidelines,
• 35:55
  Tina Strachan: Uhhuh,
• 35:56
  Tina Clark: read the guidelines, look at the frequently asked questions, because a lot of the questions which come through to me, people, they're in, they're in the frequently asked, but above all, just read those guidelines because I see amazing stories throwing away one point.
• 36:13
  Tina Clark: And it makes a difference between them getting into that shortlist and not getting into shortlist.
• 36:18
  Tina Clark: And it's, and it's so, it's so heartbreaking.
• 36:21
  Tina Clark: It's like, look at this amazing story.
• 36:23
  Tina Clark: And it's like, you know, it gets like, you know, a hundred percent from the judges and then they fall down in admin.
• 36:29
  Tina Clark: And the whole thing with that admin thing is because when you read a submission.
• 36:35
  Tina Clark: To a publisher and you go onto their submission page and they give you guidelines.
• 36:39
  Tina Clark: And if you don't listen to it, they have interns who are starting and the interns are looking at that slash pile.
• 36:45
  Tina Clark: Or as you know, um, Luna Sue loves to call it the treasure trove.
• 36:49
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 36:50
  Tina Clark: You know, they're looking through that.
• 36:52
  Tina Clark: And if you haven't just followed the guidelines, they just reject, reject, reject.
• 36:56
  Tina Clark: 'cause the whole thing is, can you follow the rules?
• 36:59
  Tina Clark: Can we work with you if we give you something?
• 37:03
  Tina Clark: That we require a view, are you gonna do it or are you gonna give us trouble?
• 37:07
  Tina Clark: And the last thing any publisher needs is an author giving them trouble because you will be dropped so quickly.
• 37:13
  Tina Clark: It's Yeah, like hot potato.
• 37:14
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 37:15
  Tina Strachan: Yep.
• 37:15
  Tina Strachan: It's kind like a job interview.
• 37:16
  Tina Strachan: Like, just, just do what they're asking of you.
• 37:18
  Tina Strachan: And I think, do you still have a video online?
• 37:21
  Tina Strachan: I think that you actually run through Yeah.
• 37:24
  Tina Strachan: Everything that you have to do.
• 37:25
  Tina Strachan: And I watched that when, um, a couple years ago when I.
• 37:30
  Tina Strachan: Entered, and I just wrote the notes down of what you were saying, which, and it honestly, it's so simple.
• 37:35
  Tina Clark: But I'm gonna give a little tip here because this is the thing that has irritated me for the last couple of years.
• 37:40
  Tina Clark: People don't change their header and their footer to match the same font.
• 37:46
  Tina Clark: So your header.
• 37:48
  Tina Clark: Needs to be in new times Roman or courier, as well as your footer needs to be in it.
• 37:54
  Tina Clark: And that's one of the things that admin checks is not like, is your, and that's worth a point.
• 37:58
  Tina Clark: So you don't wanna lose that.
• 38:00
  Tina Clark: My God gonna go
• 38:00
  Tina Strachan: and check everything ever,
• 38:04
  Tina Clark: which is, that is the biggest mistake that people make.
• 38:07
  Tina Clark: And it's so, and then you've got all these different fonts on a page and it looks scrappy and it's like, okay, that doesn't look professional.
• 38:14
  Tina Clark: So, yes.
• 38:15
  Tina Clark: And it's just basically trying to train everybody to make their document look as neat and perfect as possible, because you know what looks matter in this industry, when you get that little person who's on an internship, they look at it, they go, look at, it's all the same.
• 38:31
  Tina Clark: That's all perfect, you know?
• 38:32
  Tina Clark: That's fine.
• 38:33
  Tina Clark: And mm-hmm.
• 38:33
  Tina Clark: And they always say, you know, editors always say, oh, you know, we don't mind the odd spelling mistake and stuff like that, but the little intern sitting there reading it, she's got her instructions just like the judges got the instructions, and she'll see that, you know, that editor's name is spelled wrong, or that publishing house's name is spelled wrong.
• 38:51
  Tina Clark: And they go, Hmm.
• 38:52
  Tina Clark: Okay.
• 38:52
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 38:53
  Tina Strachan: You got it.
• 38:54
  Tina Strachan: Won't even get to the editor.
• 38:55
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 38:56
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 38:56
  Tina Strachan: So it's so simple, but yes.
• 38:57
  Tina Strachan: Something that people forget.
• 38:58
  Tina Strachan: And that's an important point that you said about the header.
• 39:00
  Tina Strachan: I know it sounds really small, but it literally, I, I did a new document yesterday, added a new header and it was actually in a different font to the font that I was using in the thing.
• 39:09
  Tina Strachan: I don't know why.
• 39:10
  Tina Strachan: Must be some default somewhere that I
• 39:11
  Tina Clark: programmed.
• 39:12
  Tina Clark: Yep.
• 39:12
  Tina Clark: And Microsoft changed something in the last years and it's coming up.
• 39:16
  Tina Clark: So you, when, even me, when I do a new document now, even though I know my documents are all in New Times Roman up, it comes in app aptos or whatever.
• 39:24
  Tina Clark: That new, that new one, A PTO, that's what
• 39:26
  Tina Strachan: it did.
• 39:27
  Tina Clark: That one.
• 39:28
  Tina Clark: And it comes up in that and it's like, and it's so sneaky.
• 39:31
  Tina Strachan: It is.
• 39:31
  Tina Strachan: It is.
• 39:32
  Tina Strachan: Especially if you do it at the last moment.
• 39:34
  Tina Strachan: And, and Yes.
• 39:35
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 39:35
  Tina Clark: Don't check.
• 39:36
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 39:36
  Tina Clark: So that's the biggest tip for the competition.
• 39:39
  Tina Strachan: Biggest tip, just follow the guidelines.
• 39:40
  Tina Clark: Follow
• 39:41
  Tina Strachan: the guidelines.
• 39:42
  Tina Strachan: Alright.
• 39:42
  Tina Strachan: So, um.
• 39:44
  Tina Strachan: Now the assessments, the agent, editor, publisher, assess assessments are massive as well.
• 39:51
  Tina Strachan: And I, I couldn't count how many you had on, on there, but, um, we can't
• 39:56
  Tina Clark: get as many editors from as many publishing houses as we can.
• 40:01
  Tina Clark: And every year we try, we are finding new, you know, editors come to us and we also hear of other editors and we sort of go to them as well.
• 40:10
  Tina Clark: We beg the publishing companies to give us editors because obviously they're also really busy.
• 40:16
  Tina Clark: And um, but it is just such an amazing way for people to get feedback on their work getting, and, you know, and it doesn't matter if it's an independent editor.
• 40:26
  Tina Clark: Because a lot of independent editors actually work behind the scenes with the public, with, with the publishing houses.
• 40:31
  Tina Clark: And I think a lot of people, they go, oh, look, she doesn't have a, a, an, a trade publisher behind her.
• 40:38
  Tina Clark: But they forget that those people actually work for trade publishers.
• 40:42
  Tina Clark: They contract.
• 40:43
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 40:43
  Tina Clark: So don't, and the information inside any editor's head is just gold.
• 40:50
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 40:51
  Tina Clark: To get in their head and get that, it doesn't matter if they're from a small firm or a huge firm, you know, one of the big five, or if they like a, an independent company, they have information in that head of theirs that they can share with you and that they will share with you and give their, their 5 cents towards your work, which is really, really valuable.
• 41:09
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 41:10
  Tina Clark: So.
• 41:11
  Tina Clark: We do, we have independent editors, we have, um, trade publishing editors as well.
• 41:16
  Tina Clark: Um, and we have authors who have been there and done it.
• 41:19
  Tina Clark: Like we've got Sarah, Sarah Davies, who is an amazing illustrator, and she gives amazing, you know, like her, her, her, her feedback on her illustrations, you know, and you can give her like an illustration or you can give her a, um, illustration portfolio.
• 41:38
  Tina Clark: Sorry, I had to think of the word there, illustration portfolio.
• 41:42
  Tina Clark: Um, and, and you know, she does, you know, so you have all these different industry professionals who do all these different things.
• 41:48
  Tina Clark: So you can, it is obviously, um, if you are targeting like Hhe in particular and you really want to work with them, you know, then obviously you go for a Hhe person.
• 41:59
  Tina Clark: But if you can't get in with them, get in with somebody else who will give you that information and remembering it's an assessment.
• 42:05
  Tina Clark: So they pre-read your work.
• 42:08
  Tina Clark: And they are head again, guidelines to what you can give.
• 42:12
  Tina Clark: And they pre-read your work and they give you actual feedback on your work.
• 42:16
  Tina Clark: Because to me, it's easy to get in front of an editor and just, you know, like, and give them your one second or your, your one sentence pitch or your two minute pitch or mm-hmm.
• 42:28
  Tina Clark: You know, I think as said does like a three minute you can do that, but that's not them seeing your work.
• 42:34
  Tina Clark: You still then have to wait for them to, you know, to say yes to that and then you, you're adding in another step.
• 42:40
  Tina Clark: So, although, like Alex Adsett does do those always at CYA, like the, this, the five minute pitch, um, she's actually also doing assessments this year.
• 42:49
  Tina Clark: So it's, but it's, it's awesome.
• 42:51
  Tina Clark: Um, because you actually get feedback on what you've written, which is, and you get a synopsis so they know what's going on and they get the first part of your book.
• 43:01
  Tina Clark: The, the biggest rule with assessments is.
• 43:04
  Tina Clark: Don't give them like, you know, chapter six, chapter seven, down the line.
• 43:08
  Tina Clark: 'cause they need to know what's happening right in the beginning.
• 43:11
  Tina Clark: And if, if an editor can't get through the first couple of pages of your book before they get to that good stuff at page six, then the front of the book shouldn't be there.
• 43:18
  Tina Clark: It should be starting on page six.
• 43:21
  Tina Clark: So, um, yeah, just, just use that wisely.
• 43:25
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 43:25
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 43:26
  Tina Clark: Don't all
• 43:26
  Tina Strachan: good stuff should be on page
• 43:27
  Tina Clark: one.
• 43:27
  Tina Clark: Yeah, it should be on page one.
• 43:29
  Tina Clark: You know, you should grip their tension right there.
• 43:31
  Tina Clark: Um.
• 43:33
  Tina Clark: And also, you know, it's really confusing for an editor to start in the middle of a story.
• 43:37
  Tina Clark: So give them the beginning of the story.
• 43:39
  Tina Clark: If, if we notice it when we are going through it, we will actually normally contact the person, say no, you know, gimme the first three page, the first three chapters, or, you know, whatever it is that fits into that, that work that they are needed.
• 43:51
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 43:51
  Tina Strachan: Because that's what they'll read.
• 43:52
  Tina Strachan: If you submit it to them, that's what they'll read.
• 43:55
  Tina Strachan: Absolutely.
• 43:55
  Tina Strachan: Read from the beginning.
• 43:56
  Tina Strachan: And they may not even make it to page six if the good stuff isn't there.
• 43:59
  Tina Strachan: Um, or chapter six or whatever it is.
• 44:01
  Tina Strachan: Um, so
• 44:02
  Tina Clark: the synopsis, pitch synopsis.
• 44:04
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 44:05
  Tina Clark: Again, that pitch came into it, pitch synopsis, and that.
• 44:09
  Tina Clark: Yeah, absolutely.
• 44:10
  Tina Strachan: And they're so invaluable.
• 44:12
  Tina Strachan: They are like gold, when it's so hard to get in front of a publisher normally, and so many publishing houses are closed a lot of the time, which is fair enough because they're just getting so many people submit to them.
• 44:21
  Tina Strachan: I find these assessments are a huge, like you are, you know, your, you can shortcut, you can shortcut that SL part.
• 44:30
  Tina Strachan: Oh yes.
• 44:31
  Tina Strachan: Treasure trove.
• 44:32
  Tina Strachan: The treasure trove.
• 44:33
  Tina Strachan: You can shortcut that.
• 44:33
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 44:34
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 44:34
  Tina Strachan: I, I have actually heard a publisher say who does do assessments for CYA, that she only really, um, signs anyone from or accepts manuscripts through assessments like this, uh, because she thinks it also shows that you are putting in a little bit more effort and, and, and like sort of.
• 44:52
  Tina Strachan: You know, honing on who you wanna submit it to and, um, going that extra step to get it in front of
• 44:59
  Tina Clark: Yep.
• 45:00
  Tina Strachan: Of the
• 45:00
  Tina Clark: cause.
• 45:01
  Tina Clark: Absolutely.
• 45:01
  Because
• 45:02
  Tina Strachan: you're investing yourself.
• 45:03
  Tina Clark: Yep.
• 45:04
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 45:04
  Tina Strachan: The pile and what they get, when they open, uh, it's huge.
• 45:08
  Tina Strachan: It's huge.
• 45:08
  Tina Strachan: And you're really competing against all these people having an actual real life publisher or editor read your work and, that's, that is like absolute gold.
• 45:18
  Tina Strachan: So it's a 15 minute, it's 15 minutes online.
• 45:21
  Tina Clark: 15 minutes online.
• 45:22
  Tina Clark: And then we do have in person this year for, for, for the first time since COVID, we are now having in person on the 11th as well.
• 45:29
  Tina Clark: So it's, yeah.
• 45:30
  Tina Clark: So most of on, on the fourth and the fifth, we have the online ones.
• 45:34
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 45:35
  Tina Clark: And then we have the in person.
• 45:36
  Tina Clark: The in-person are only available to people who are coming to conference.
• 45:40
  Tina Clark: On the, the 11th.
• 45:41
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 45:42
  Tina Clark: So if you're in person conference, you can have an in-person editor.
• 45:45
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 45:45
  Tina Strachan: Oh, that's fun.
• 45:46
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 45:48
  Tina Strachan: There's so, there's so many great things about it as well.
• 45:49
  Tina Strachan: When you submit to a publisher, you give them maybe like three months, and they say, give us three months.
• 45:54
  Tina Strachan: If you haven't heard, then let it go.
• 45:55
  Tina Strachan: But with the assessments, you send it in and you, you have to get a response.
• 46:00
  Tina Clark: Yes.
• 46:00
  Tina Strachan: And it's only gonna be good because it's gonna be giving you fantastic feedback and advice for how to work on your manuscript.
• 46:07
  Tina Strachan: You have that, you ha having a connection and you're networking with them and, and there's a lot of times maybe they didn't without, weren't really into the manuscript that you sent, but you, 15 minutes, it is really short, but it can also has enough time for you to have a little chat, to talk a bit about yourself and who you are, what, what else you like to write.
• 46:25
  Tina Strachan: And you have that opportunity to kind of, make a connection another way.
• 46:29
  Tina Strachan: Or say like, oh, well I'm working on this.
• 46:31
  Tina Strachan: What are you looking for?
• 46:32
  Tina Strachan: Maybe I can send you that.
• 46:34
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 46:34
  Tina Clark: So a lot of them do actually.
• 46:37
  Tina Clark: Some, some, some, some of them do ask like, okay, this is not really for our publishing house, but do you have something else?
• 46:43
  Tina Clark: And then they, they can ask for it or they can, oh, that's interesting.
• 46:46
  Tina Clark: You know, why didn't you bring that to me if you, you know, sort of thing.
• 46:49
  Tina Clark: And then you'll have like a talk about the industry and, and, and stuff like that.
• 46:52
  Tina Clark: Even that is so valuable.
• 46:54
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 46:55
  Tina Clark: Um, but yes, absolutely that, that happens.
• 46:58
  Tina Clark: But the thing I wanna say the most about assessments is.
• 47:01
  Tina Clark: Do not argue with that editor, I cannot believe.
• 47:05
  Tina Clark: Do people do that?
• 47:06
  Tina Clark: People can do that, yes.
• 47:09
  Tina Clark: And even though, you know, people come to the talk and it's normally obviously people who haven't gone online and watched the, you know, and, and, and come to the talk about that I do about them.
• 47:18
  Tina Clark: You know, and they, they argue and they go, but this is why it has to be that way.
• 47:23
  Tina Clark: And it's like, you know what, that's not what I read in that.
• 47:26
  Tina Clark: And the minute you start arguing with an editor, they know that you don't, you're not prepared to change your, your way.
• 47:33
  Tina Clark: You are working and you're not prepared to work with them.
• 47:37
  Tina Clark: And that's like a big red flag.
• 47:38
  Tina Clark: And you just got yourself blacklisted from that publisher.
• 47:42
  Tina Clark: So it's, um, yeah, really important that you are really nice to that editor and Yeah.
• 47:49
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 47:50
  Tina Clark: And we have, it's
• 47:51
  Tina Strachan: only 15 minutes.
• 47:52
  Tina Strachan: Just keep it.
• 47:52
  Tina Clark: Only if you
• 47:53
  Tina Strachan: don't agree, just.
• 47:54
  Tina Clark: Smile, just keep it together for 15 minutes and afterwards you can do whatever you want.
• 47:59
  Tina Clark: Once you off set Zoom, or once you are out that chair, you know, you can say and do whatever you want, but just do not argue with that editor while you are sitting there because it's, it's, that's not what you're paying her for.
• 48:10
  Tina Clark: You're not paying her to be your therapist and to argue with her.
• 48:13
  Tina Clark: You're paying her or him for your work.
• 48:15
  Tina Clark: And to, you know, to give a, an, an honest assessment of your work and where you are, whether you are needing work on it, or if you sit there and they go, you know, this is absolutely lovely, can we talk about something?
• 48:27
  Tina Clark: And then they can go off and talk in tangent about, you know, publishing industry and something else.
• 48:32
  Tina Clark: And they've basically said to you, this is ready to submit.
• 48:35
  Tina Clark: And at the end they might go, can you send me the render for the rest of this?
• 48:39
  Tina Clark: And then it's like, okay.
• 48:40
  Tina Strachan: Which happens a lot.
• 48:41
  Tina Strachan: It, it's, it does very good.
• 48:43
  Tina Strachan: Uh, percentage of people get those requests.
• 48:47
  Tina Strachan: It does.
• 48:47
  Tina Strachan: Um, or it leads to something else.
• 48:49
  Tina Strachan: Um, yes.
• 48:50
  Tina Strachan: The success stories that come out of the assessments
• 48:53
  Tina Clark: Yes.
• 48:53
  Tina Strachan: Is Phenomen
• 48:53
  Tina Clark: and also also people, they see the editors year after year.
• 48:56
  Tina Clark: Yes.
• 48:56
  Tina Clark: And, and the editors get to know them and that whole networking.
• 48:59
  Tina Clark: I know some, an editor who waited for about five years for a book from somebody, and every year she would check in with me and say, how's this person going?
• 49:09
  Tina Clark: How's this person going?
• 49:10
  Tina Clark: And I would go, oh, you know, she's still having family problems.
• 49:13
  Tina Clark: She's still, you know, she hasn't, she hasn't got to write this five years.
• 49:16
  Tina Clark: She waited.
• 49:17
  Tina Strachan: Wow.
• 49:17
  Tina Clark: And then she got it.
• 49:18
  Tina Clark: She loved it, but then she asked her, can you work on something else?
• 49:21
  Tina Clark: Like, have you got something else?
• 49:23
  Tina Clark: And she worked on that, something else.
• 49:25
  Tina Clark: So then they spent another three years or whatever it was, working on something else.
• 49:28
  Tina Clark: She bought that something else.
• 49:29
  Tina Clark: She didn't buy the original, but she bought that something else.
• 49:32
  Tina Clark: So that editor knew that she wanted that writer, but she just needed her.
• 49:37
  Tina Clark: To get to that place that she could then take her.
• 49:40
  Tina Strachan: Yeah,
• 49:41
  Tina Clark: so it's editors are amazing that they, they nurture people through as well.
• 49:46
  Tina Clark: Every year she would come to her assessment with, she would go, well, this hasn't changed much.
• 49:49
  Tina Clark: You haven't, you know, how much further have you got with this story?
• 49:53
  Tina Clark: And mm-hmm.
• 49:53
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 49:54
  Tina Clark: Um, it is, of course, you know, you get people who go in there and, you know, their work is really, really bad.
• 50:01
  Tina Clark: And the editor will say to them, you know, perhaps you should start this again and start from here.
• 50:06
  Tina Clark: Do this, do that.
• 50:07
  Tina Clark: And they'll do story construction and, and, you know, and, um, dynamic work with you.
• 50:14
  Tina Clark: And sometimes that is, is just absolutely valuable.
• 50:17
  Tina Clark: Yes, you love your words that you've written, but sometimes your story just has started in the wrong place.
• 50:22
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 50:22
  Tina Clark: So they can see that.
• 50:24
  Tina Strachan: And that's really important because if you are just, submitting and you're not getting that feedback, it's no one's telling you that.
• 50:30
  Tina Strachan: And that's the brilliant thing about it.
• 50:32
  Tina Strachan: And it is for all different stages.
• 50:33
  Tina Strachan: You don't have to have a full manuscript.
• 50:35
  Tina Strachan: You can have a little bit, and you're testing out the idea.
• 50:37
  Tina Strachan: That's really important too.
• 50:38
  Tina Strachan: Or you can have the full one and you literally are using it as a pitch session.
• 50:42
  Tina Strachan: You know?
• 50:42
  Tina Strachan: I mean, it's the, that's not what the, what they're there for then.
• 50:46
  Tina Strachan: It's not like you don't do this and, and, expect, but
• 50:49
  you
• 50:49
  Tina Clark: don't
• 50:49
  Tina Strachan: to get a deal.
• 50:50
  Tina Clark: Can I give this to you?
• 50:52
  Tina Clark: But
• 50:53
  Tina Strachan: yes.
• 50:54
  Tina Clark: But if they say, I'd love to see the rest of it,
• 50:56
  Tina Strachan: yes.
• 50:56
  Tina Clark: That's good.
• 50:57
  Tina Strachan: Yes, that's right.
• 50:58
  Tina Strachan: So yeah.
• 50:59
  Tina Strachan: Hugely invaluable.
• 50:59
  Tina Strachan: Make sure you have your pen and paper at the time to write it all down.
• 51:02
  Tina Strachan: Um, yeah.
• 51:03
  Tina Strachan: What they come back with.
• 51:04
  Tina Strachan: But yeah, those connections, uh, really are, yeah, because
• 51:06
  Tina Clark: not none of them give, like, written feedback.
• 51:08
  Tina Clark: It's all verbal.
• 51:09
  Tina Clark: So just write, write what they're saying.
• 51:11
  Tina Clark: Have a copy of your manuscript next to you.
• 51:13
  Tina Clark: Write what they're saying.
• 51:14
  Tina Clark: I often have my husband, um, when I do assessments, he writes for me because I get so like, just focused on what they're saying, that I actually don't forget to, I forget to write it down.
• 51:27
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 51:27
  Tina Clark: So he sits there and he writes it all down and then, oh, that's
• 51:31
  Tina Strachan: a good idea.
• 51:32
  Tina Clark: Yeah, it can, that can be really good.
• 51:33
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 51:34
  Tina Strachan: And'cause also you want to make, maintain that eye contact as well and you wanna have that chat instead of like frantically writing and, and scribbling and stuff.
• 51:41
  Tina Strachan: Yep.
• 51:41
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 51:41
  Tina Strachan: All right.
• 51:42
  Tina Strachan: Fantastic advice.
• 51:43
  Tina Strachan: Um, and just, I just want to reiterate that the competition and the bootcamps and the conference and the assessments are for all ages, like you said at the beginning.
• 51:51
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 51:52
  Tina Strachan: Picture books right through to adults.
• 51:54
  Tina Strachan: So there's right illustrator.
• 51:56
  Tina Clark: So it used to just be for children, the children's writers.
• 51:59
  Tina Clark: And then there was a couple of adults who, um, were really in Brisbane who were going, we want something like this for us.
• 52:05
  Tina Clark: Why can't we come to yours and do the craft and the business of writing?
• 52:10
  Tina Clark: So they got added in with craft in the business for writing also.
• 52:13
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 52:13
  Tina Clark: No, that's perfect.
• 52:14
  Tina Clark: Now, it now just covers everything, but we still predominantly very much, um, a lot of children's and young adult.
• 52:21
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 52:21
  Tina Clark: Still, um, the adult side is not as big.
• 52:24
  Tina Clark: I wish it would get bigger.
• 52:26
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 52:26
  Tina Clark: But, you know, it's, it's slowly growing.
• 52:29
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 52:29
  Tina Strachan: And a lot of the information's transferable, like basically everything that we spoke about then about how to Absolutely.
• 52:34
  Tina Strachan: And all that sort of thing is, is transferable no matter what you're writing.
• 52:37
  Tina Clark: Even when you get to the conference and you do a session, A, the sessions are all based, obviously not like the picture book.
• 52:43
  Tina Clark: Picture book is on picture books, which isn't in the program yet.
• 52:47
  Tina Clark: But picture books is on picture books.
• 52:49
  Tina Clark: But the person who writes picture books also writes series.
• 52:52
  Tina Clark: So she might also say something about series and you know, and you know, and you know, she also writes adults, so she might then say something about adult writing as well.
• 52:59
  Tina Clark: So the, the presenters all know that their range is extremely large.
• 53:06
  Tina Clark: So it's, it's, and they are presenting to people who write children's books and adult books.
• 53:11
  Tina Clark: And so yes, they, they're very aware of that and they try and, and cover all bases.
• 53:17
  Tina Clark: On that.
• 53:18
  Tina Strachan: Yeah, no, that's, that's fantastic.
• 53:20
  Tina Strachan: And so the assessments are still open.
• 53:22
  Tina Strachan: Um, there's some that have closed.
• 53:23
  Tina Strachan: 'cause like I said, sometimes you just have to get in super quick for some of them.
• 53:26
  Tina Strachan: But I did just have a little look.
• 53:28
  Tina Strachan: They are still open for, I believe, a couple more weeks once this goes to air.
• 53:32
  Tina Strachan: There was still, some of the, publishers and editors, we had Perentie presses on there, Hardy Grant, Walker books, larrikin Penguin, Simon Schuster, um, affirm.
• 53:42
  Tina Strachan: And there's agents and editors up there.
• 53:44
  Tina Strachan: Alex Adsets up there and Curtis Brown and Tara Wynn from Curtis
• 53:48
  Tina Clark: Brown.
• 53:48
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 53:48
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 53:49
  Tina Strachan: So, so lots.
• 53:50
  Tina Strachan: So get on, have a little look.
• 53:52
  Tina Strachan: It's, um, hard to choose just one, I think.
• 53:55
  Tina Clark: Yes,
• 53:55
  Tina Strachan: absolutely.
• 53:56
  Tina Strachan: One other point that actually, that's reminded me one other point that I wanted to make about, choosing just one.
• 54:00
  Tina Strachan: And look, it does cost money and we're, it's, it, some people kind of afford to do this, but Sometimes if you send the same manuscript to multiple assessments, it's very interesting and surprising.
• 54:11
  Tina Strachan: The feedback that you get and comparing them.
• 54:13
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 54:13
  Tina Strachan: And'cause some want, some can be really on one end of the spectrum and the other, the other way.
• 54:19
  Tina Strachan: But I think it's a really important lesson in, that's the exact same thing when you're pitching.
• 54:23
  Tina Strachan: It's the exact same thing with your readers.
• 54:24
  Tina Strachan: Some people are gonna love it, some people aren't.
• 54:26
  Tina Strachan: And you know when you pitch it's and say you get a no or it's rejected.
• 54:30
  Tina Strachan: It's not necessarily because it's no good, it's just it didn't appeal to that person
• 54:34
  Tina Clark: so well.
• 54:35
  Tina Clark: It happens when you published as well.
• 54:36
  Tina Clark: So when you published, your book is out there, you can get five star reviews from everybody and all of a sudden you get a one star review and it's like, okay, well why didn't that person like my book?
• 54:44
  Tina Clark: And then you go look at the one store units.
• 54:46
  Tina Clark: I couldn't get this book in my area.
• 54:48
  Tina Clark: And they've given the author a one star review, and it's like, that's not my fault.
• 54:53
  Tina Clark: That's distribution.
• 54:54
  Tina Clark: That's, you know, the world rights haven't sold or whatever, but you still get that one star review or you get a two star review saying, oh, you know, I saw she was female and I didn't, I don't read female authors.
• 55:05
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 55:05
  Tina Clark: So you just never know.
• 55:06
  Tina Clark: You can't please the whole world, but when you get an editor who loves your work, they will be your champion and they champion that book from beginning to end, and that's what you need.
• 55:17
  Tina Clark: And you only need one editor to love your work.
• 55:20
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 55:20
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 55:20
  Tina Clark: And it can land on that right desk at the right time.
• 55:24
  Tina Strachan: Yep.
• 55:24
  Tina Strachan: It's putting yourself out there, isn't it?
• 55:25
  Tina Clark: Yep.
• 55:26
  Tina Strachan: Um, so, okay, just quickly, let's touch on the actual conference day.
• 55:31
  Tina Strachan: Um, 11th
• 55:31
  Tina Clark: of July.
• 55:33
  Tina Strachan: 11th of July.
• 55:34
  Tina Strachan: It's in person.
• 55:35
  Tina Strachan: But you can also tune in online, can't you?
• 55:37
  Tina Clark: You can.
• 55:37
  Tina Clark: So online what will happen is you'll be in one, a zoom session.
• 55:41
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 55:42
  Tina Clark: And then you'll be able to just jump between, so you'll be able to go, there will be a person controlling it.
• 55:47
  Tina Clark: So if you wanna be in this, in, in the session A or session B, depending on your room, they will just push you into that room.
• 55:55
  Tina Clark: Then if you don't want to be in that room anymore and you go, Hmm, no, this isn't really for me.
• 55:59
  Tina Clark: I want to go back.
• 56:00
  Tina Clark: You just.
• 56:01
  Tina Clark: Leave the room, you come back into the middle and then they will push you across into the other one.
• 56:06
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 56:06
  Tina Clark: So you're not actually tied into doing like, the sessions if you don't, if you're not enjoying it and you just, you don't even have to ask them, sorry, can I be excused?
• 56:16
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 56:16
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 56:17
  Tina Strachan: And, uh, the benefits, so I'm going in person this year.
• 56:20
  Tina Strachan: I've been the last, yeah.
• 56:21
  Tina Strachan: Many years in a row actually.
• 56:23
  Tina Strachan: I, I, I love it.
• 56:24
  Tina Strachan: I'm not entering any of the comps or anything like that, but I just love going along and just.
• 56:30
  Tina Strachan: You know, mingling and listening to the chat.
• 56:32
  Tina Clark: Networking
• 56:33
  Tina Strachan: and networking.
• 56:34
  Tina Strachan: Networking.
• 56:35
  Tina Strachan: Um, the announcement of the award winners for the competition
• 56:39
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 56:40
  Tina Strachan: As well.
• 56:40
  Tina Clark: Yes, it's always exciting.
• 56:41
  Tina Clark: And of course the success stories, we always love having those.
• 56:45
  Tina Clark: So yeah, so those are, those are, and I'm still working out in my head how we doing these this year because obviously we've got the online component as well coming in
• 56:54
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 56:55
  Tina Strachan: And who are, who are our guest speakers this year?
• 56:56
  Tina Strachan: Who can we plan on
• 56:58
  Tina Clark: hearing from?
• 56:58
  Tina Clark: Oh, so who can we say, oh, so, um, oh, are you allowed
• 57:01
  Tina Strachan: to say.
• 57:02
  Tina Clark: I mean, I don't think it's, I don't think it's out yet.
• 57:05
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 57:05
  Tina Strachan: Alright.
• 57:05
  Tina Clark: Stay tuned to find out more.
• 57:07
  Tina Clark: But, um, I, I can say that there is somebody coming who is a teacher who is then, who does curriculums for Queensland writers and all the Queensland education and all of that in the school.
• 57:20
  Tina Clark: And that she will be talking about what.
• 57:23
  Tina Clark: Teachers actually want coming in.
• 57:25
  Tina Clark: So important because, so important.
• 57:26
  Tina Clark: You know what authors, we always say, oh, we always get told, oh, you know, do this, do that.
• 57:30
  Tina Clark: But we, so this will be from the teacher's point of view this time,
• 57:33
  Tina Strachan: that's
• 57:33
  Tina Clark: perfect to see what, what we're getting there.
• 57:35
  Tina Clark: We do have somebody coming who does marketing, um, on if you are self published or if you are published and you just don't feel like you're getting enough, um, air time and Yeah.
• 57:48
  Tina Clark: And stuff.
• 57:49
  Tina Clark: Um, basically how you know when your book is ready and if you want to, you know, for, for whichever path you wanna go.
• 57:57
  Tina Clark: So if you deciding to go on the.
• 58:00
  Tina Clark: On the traditional path, or if you're deciding to go on the self-publishing path, you know how you know it's ready and then what you do with it.
• 58:08
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 58:08
  Tina Clark: So we have that, that's important.
• 58:11
  Tina Clark: We have, yeah.
• 58:11
  Tina Clark: We have a non-fiction writer coming in to talk.
• 58:16
  Tina Clark: Um, and he, he's gonna be brilliant actually.
• 58:18
  Tina Clark: So, oh, there we go.
• 58:19
  Tina Clark: I'm giving heat.
• 58:20
  Tina Strachan: Mm, I know, I'm, I'm coming up with people in my head that I'm assuming.
• 58:23
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 58:24
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 58:25
  Tina Clark: He's gonna be brilliant.
• 58:26
  Tina Clark: 'cause he, he actually puts photography with some of his stuff, some of the stuff that he does, he doesn't, but, you know, all the way through educational as well as through trade.
• 58:36
  Tina Clark: So it's, you know, the, the spectrum, which is really, really interesting.
• 58:41
  Tina Clark: And, um, and finding where nonfiction can fit and'cause NonFiction's one of those funny areas, which is often neglected by authors.
• 58:53
  Tina Clark: And so, yes, that's, that.
• 58:55
  Tina Clark: I, I'm really excited for that one.
• 58:57
  Tina Clark: We have.
• 58:59
  Tina Clark: A change in our, um, publisher panels.
• 59:03
  Tina Clark: So normally at the end of the day, we just have all our trade publishers there.
• 59:06
  Tina Clark: So this year we have a panel which will be on, um, alternate ways for publication.
• 59:13
  Tina Clark: So with lots of people now looking at, self-publishing, so different companies which are doing different things for and how to still avoid the vanity publishers who take your money and don't do anything and who are saying, we will do this, we will do this, we will do this for you.
• 59:30
  Tina Clark: And you give them so many thousands of dollars and they do none of that.
• 59:34
  Tina Clark: So there's a lot of companies which have sprung up, who are quite reputable now, who will help you to take an alternate path.
• 59:41
  Tina Clark: And who will then do that work with you and you work and co like, like co companion.
• 59:47
  Tina Clark: Some of them are calling themselves co companion.
• 59:49
  Tina Clark: So we've got a panel on that, which is gonna be amazing.
• 59:52
  Tina Clark: Well, I, I think it's gonna be amazing.
• 59:53
  Tina Clark: I think it's a very needed resource.
• 59:56
  Tina Clark: And then of course we've got our trade publishers who are talking about, you know, what's the trend now, what, what they expect to see in trade happening.
• 1:00:04
  Tina Clark: We've got a return, another person who's coming to speak about how you can, um, in your, in all the way from, from picture books all the way through to adult books, how you can, um, look bullying, how you can control and give, give ways in which to enable a child or an adult to learn a way to actually, um, cope with what's going on.
• 1:00:28
  Tina Clark: So I think that's something which is.
• 1:00:30
  Tina Clark: Really needed.
• 1:00:31
  Tina Clark: 'cause a lot of us touch on these subjects and books, but we don't give a coping mechanism with it.
• 1:00:37
  Tina Clark: So to have being, being given a coping mechanism is, is a really a, a, a good thing to be able to add, you know, value add into your book.
• 1:00:47
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 1:00:47
  Tina Strachan: So like, messaging in stories, but not making it come across like you're teaching someone a lesson.
• 1:00:52
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 1:00:52
  Tina Strachan: 'cause no one likes that in there.
• 1:00:53
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 1:00:55
  Tina Strachan: Not obvious.
• 1:00:56
  Tina Strachan: Not obvious.
• 1:00:56
  Tina Strachan: That's right.
• 1:00:57
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 1:00:57
  Tina Clark: Not obvious.
• 1:00:58
  Tina Clark: Yes.
• 1:00:59
  Tina Strachan: Ah,
• 1:00:59
  Tina Clark: so, and, and how to do it in a non didactic way.
• 1:01:02
  Tina Clark: How's
• 1:01:03
  Tina Strachan: that
• 1:01:03
  Tina Clark: solved?
• 1:01:03
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 1:01:03
  Tina Strachan: Yeah.
• 1:01:03
  Tina Strachan: Which is really tricky, especially, you know, very tricky.
• 1:01:05
  Tina Strachan: It
• 1:01:06
  Tina Clark: is very
• 1:01:07
  Tina Strachan: tricky.
• 1:01:07
  Tina Strachan: Wow.
• 1:01:08
  Tina Strachan: We've,
• 1:01:09
  Tina Clark: and obviously picture books.
• 1:01:10
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 1:01:11
  Tina Clark: Picture books and theories.
• 1:01:13
  Tina Clark: There's, there's something, theories and, yes.
• 1:01:15
  Tina Clark: Mm-hmm.
• 1:01:16
  Tina Strachan: Oh God, there's so much.
• 1:01:17
  Tina Strachan: You, it really is a lot.
• 1:01:19
  Tina Clark: There's one on editing.
• 1:01:20
  Tina Strachan: Perfect.
• 1:01:20
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 1:01:21
  Tina Strachan: Editing's always valuable.
• 1:01:22
  Tina Strachan: I think you always pick something up.
• 1:01:23
  Tina Strachan: Every ev you know, every time you, you'd learn a bit about
• 1:01:25
  Tina Clark: it.
• 1:01:25
  Tina Clark: Yes.
• 1:01:26
  Tina Clark: And from picture books all the way through to adult, you always, you always need to know how to, hundred
• 1:01:30
  Tina Strachan: percent.
• 1:01:30
  Tina Strachan: Yep.
• 1:01:31
  Tina Clark: Yep.
• 1:01:31
  Tina Strachan: Okay.
• 1:01:31
  Tina Strachan: Wow.
• 1:01:32
  Tina Strachan: I feel exhausted.
• 1:01:33
  Tina Strachan: Just, uh, chatting.
• 1:01:34
  Tina Strachan: Chatting.
• 1:01:36
  Tina Strachan: Oh, that's so much there.
• 1:01:37
  Tina Strachan: So.
• 1:01:38
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 1:01:38
  Tina Strachan: So for everybody listening, um, who may already have entered or is thinking about entering, um, any of the competitions or the assessments, yes.
• 1:01:46
  Tina Strachan: This is your sign to go and do that because it really Absolutely, if you're looking for something more, you will really find it, uh, through either the bootcamp or the assessments or the competition or the conference, whether online, the conference or, yeah.
• 1:01:59
  Tina Clark: And just join us.
• 1:02:00
  Tina Clark: And then of course we've got our networking
• 1:02:02
  Tina Strachan: Networking.
• 1:02:02
  Tina Clark: So our networking evening this year, you can get it's on the rooftop.
• 1:02:07
  Tina Strachan: Mm.
• 1:02:08
  Tina Clark: It's gonna be amazing.
• 1:02:10
  Tina Clark: It's gonna be amazing, and it's gonna be absolutely amazing.
• 1:02:12
  Tina Clark: So at the Pullman Hotel on the roof.
• 1:02:13
  Tina Clark: It's gonna be absolutely awesome.
• 1:02:16
  Tina Clark: And yes, it, I'm, I am very much looking forward to that.
• 1:02:20
  Tina Clark: Yes.
• 1:02:20
  Tina Clark: And you know, that's when you just get to mingle with everybody and you know, talk to everybody and
• 1:02:25
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 1:02:25
  Tina Strachan: And everyone's a little relaxed because, you know, we've all found out who's won the competition, everyone's done their assessments and they don't have to stress about that anymore.
• 1:02:32
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 1:02:33
  Tina Strachan: And the editors and the publishers, like editors and the publishers are there too.
• 1:02:36
  Tina Strachan: So they're there.
• 1:02:38
  Tina Clark: You can
• 1:02:38
  Tina Strachan: sneak in and sle up to them and have a little chat to them.
• 1:02:40
  Tina Strachan: It's a perfect time to do it.
• 1:02:42
  Tina Strachan: They're also relaxed'cause they've done all their working stuff.
• 1:02:45
  Tina Strachan: They've,
• 1:02:45
  Tina Clark: yeah.
• 1:02:46
  Tina Strachan: Um,
• 1:02:46
  Tina Clark: be, just be nice to the, you know, the bootcampers are still, you know, starting at like eight o'clock the next morning, so don't expect them to be there like, you know, past like or past nine.
• 1:02:55
  Tina Clark: Yeah.
• 1:02:55
  Tina Clark: Sort of thing.
• 1:02:55
  Tina Clark: They're too go to bed together, they go home, get up and, yeah,
• 1:02:59
  Tina Strachan: that's exactly right.
• 1:03:01
  Tina Strachan: Okay, we'll out.
• 1:03:01
  Tina Strachan: And
• 1:03:02
  Tina Clark: it's really lovely.
• 1:03:03
  Tina Strachan: Thank you so much for sharing all of that, any time.
• 1:03:05
  Tina Strachan: It's really important and very valuable and thank you.
• 1:03:08
  Tina Strachan: Again, for, for all the work that you do and your team and your volunteers.
• 1:03:11
  Tina Strachan: Thank you Sean, who's probably there in the background.
• 1:03:14
  Tina Strachan: Um, now I need to ask you just one last question.
• 1:03:17
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 1:03:17
  Tina Strachan: What is your number one tip for aspiring authors?
• 1:03:21
  Tina Strachan: It can be anything.
• 1:03:22
  Tina Clark: Put your bam in your chair and write your book.
• 1:03:24
  Tina Clark: That is the number one tip.
• 1:03:26
  Tina Clark: Uhhuh.
• 1:03:26
  Tina Clark: Without a product, without a product, you are, you, you're not finished.
• 1:03:31
  Tina Clark: You have to have a finished book.
• 1:03:33
  Tina Clark: So if it's a picture book, finish it.
• 1:03:35
  Tina Clark: If it's a middle grade novel, finish it.
• 1:03:37
  Tina Clark: If it's an adult novel, take the time, finish the book.
• 1:03:41
  Tina Clark: That's all I can say is writing takes time.
• 1:03:44
  Tina Clark: Put your bum in that chair and type dictate, do whatever, but get your story on the page.
• 1:03:50
  Tina Clark: 'cause you can't, an editor cannot edit a blank page.
• 1:03:54
  Tina Clark: I think Nora Roberts says that all the time.
• 1:03:57
  Tina Clark: Mm.
• 1:03:57
  Tina Clark: But yes, give us a book.
• 1:03:59
  Tina Strachan: Mm-hmm.
• 1:03:59
  Tina Clark: People can, can then fix a book.
• 1:04:02
  Tina Clark: You can't fix a blank page.
• 1:04:04
  Tina Strachan: That's right.
• 1:04:05
  Tina Strachan: Yes.
• 1:04:05
  Tina Strachan: Perfect.
• 1:04:06
  Tina Strachan: Wonderful, and amazing advice to end on, bu bum glue, bu let's end on bum glue.
• 1:04:10
  Tina Strachan: Love that.
• 1:04:11
  Tina Strachan: Thank you so much, Tina Clark.
• 1:04:13
  Tina Strachan: Appreciate Thank you for having
• 1:04:14
  Tina Clark: me.
• 1:04:19
  Tina Strachan: Thank you for listening to the book Deal podcast.
• 1:04:22
  Tina Strachan: We're able to bring you these weekly writerly chats because of our amazing patrons.
• 1:04:27
  Tina Strachan: Join the TPD family by becoming a member of our Patreon community@patreon.com slash the book deal podcast.
• 1:04:35
  Tina Strachan: And if you love the pod, please give us a rating or review.
• 1:04:39
  Tina Strachan: And don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook.