62 NOVEMBER 2019I
t’s hard to believe there are just a
few months of 2019 left. The early
morning air is turning crisp, the
dark mornings and evenings creep
upon us, and Christmas is lurking
on the horizon. However, this time of
year is very important for writers. After
the busyness of summer, where things
can understandably grind to a bit of a
halt, the autumn is the perfect chance to
refocus and take stock. It can take a little
while to get back into routine, but it’s
important to do so. Make the most of
autumn and ask yourself what goals you
want to achieve by the end of 2019.WHY SET GOALS?
Never underestimate the importance of
setting goals. In the publishing world,
there are deadlines. Often tight. Often
scary. Often absolutely brilliant for
getting work done in a short space of
time. Set yourself goals, write them
down and give yourself a realistic
deadline; it’s great practice.
The world of children’s fiction is
booming – it’s possibly never been
stronger. Sales are good and publishers
are keen. There are brilliant writing
competitions to enter, which can
help launch careers. There are great
opportunities to meet agents, attend
conferences, and connect with others
on social media. In a world which canon titles which are too similar to books
that they are already committed to, but
also there is only a certain amount of
room on their lists dedicated to certain
genres. For example, if they have already
taken on their quota of toilet humour
junior fiction titles for publishing in
2021, they will not take on more,
however much they love the story.
Publishers don’t want their own titles to
compete with each other.
It’s all too easy to miss the boat, which
is why you have to ensure that you
don’t: make the most of the time that
you have by writing more effectively. Set
those goals.HOW TO SET GOALS
You have three months left: October,
November, December.
Everybody’s situation is different.
Most people fit writing around their
other commitments, such as caring
for family or employment. Time is a
precious commodity for all of us. To
help focus and make the most of your
time, try asking yourself these questions
and actually writing down your answers
(we’re writers, it’s what we do):- What work or project could I finish
off by the end of the year? - Could I enter any competitions with
deadlines during this period? - Would I achieve more by focusing
Scoring^GOALSWith the end of the writing year in sight,^
Amy Sparkes urges you to complete
what you set out to doseem increasingly dark and ridiculous,
the beautiful innocence and truth in
children’s fiction is more important
than ever and has the potential to help
change the readers of today and the
grown-ups of tomorrow.
All this opportunity means that
there are a lot of aspiring children’s
authors writing, editing, submitting
and entering competitions. The world
needs new stories, so this is wonderful,
however, it does mean that all the time
you’re not writing, someone else is.
And it is a strange and lamentable fact
that sometimes writers – completely
independently – have similar ideas.
Several years ago, I worked on a
picture book which I loved, and my
agent loved, and we sent it out to
publishers. They loved it too and
gave wonderful feedback. However,
unbeknown to us, there had been an
inexplicable flurry of submissions with
a similar theme, and publishers were
already committed to other texts. So
my story never found a home.
It happens. No-one knows why.
Perhaps something in the current state
of affairs makes creative people think
along certain lines. Or perhaps The
Muse is up in the clouds bellowing at us
all with a megaphone. Who knows? The
point is, there isn’t time to waste. Not
only will publishers be unwilling to take