Let’s meet at London Book Fair 2026
Are you coming to the London Book Fair this week? Let’s meet and chat. The best way to catch me is: Tuesday – I’m the Society of Authors’ Author of the Day. Meet me at…
Adaptations and are you coming to London Book Fair?
Do you hate watching movies and TV dramas based on novels? Or love them? Why do some adaptations work, while others crumble into dust? I’ve been talking about adaptations and why some writers fail while others…
Want help adapting a book for screen?
This week I have two new resources for you if you want help adapting a book for film or TV, or are a reader/viewer who’s interested in seeing how writers set about transforming works for…
Want help selling a book or film?
No book or film reviews today. This week I’m talking about pitching a book or film with Thomas Umstattd Jr, who runs the outstanding Novel Marketing podcast. His podcast is, he assures me, the longest-running…
Book Fuel fires up – Feb 25 – Mar 7
Facing scarily rising fuel bills, my fellow Bloodhound thriller author Vikki Patis has come up with a tremendous way to help families who can’t afford to heat their homes – an online auction for readers…
Oy veh! Jewface casting?
There was a massive fuss this autumn when a major Hollywood movie came out. A white actor played Martin Luther King in blackface. No, of course he didn’t. It would never happen. Blackface casting no…
Hallucinations at the Oscars
Like staring into a fire, part of the fun of watching all the films submitted for the Baftas or Oscars is that unexpected patterns begin to appear. Between December and April, when we vote, I…
Is the rise of the topical novel killing literature?
In 2010, I took my then agent for a Chinese lunch. I pitched an idea for a novel about fake news, close elections and knife crime. He said that it was a mistake to write…
Why most people are crap at persuading
GETTING GOOD AT PERSUADING This message was intended solely for writers and film-makers, until I realised that pitching and persuading is something that everyone in the media has to get good at. And then I…
Angry movies at the Baftas
We live in angry times, it seems. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when I had a load of angry movies to watch for this year’s Bafta awards. Now, I don’t mean the controversy over…
#IndieAuthorChat Nov 19 & book offer
Christmas is coming and the first presents are on their way. First, I’m hosting a free Twitter chat next Tuesday November 19 at 8pm GMT (find the time in your own time zone). Second, to…
Do’s and don’ts of submitting to agents
Crime writer Dominique Hall has written to me for advice on sending a novel to an agent. She says: I am at the stage of approaching agents as I have written a crime novel, and…
The roller-coaster ride of publishing a novel
It’s not often that a writer gets to blow his own trumpet, but it’s the second anniversary of the publication of The Breaking of Liam Glass and much to celebrate and be grateful for. My…
Are we entering a golden age for short stories?
There’s no doubt, short stories are having a moment. At their best, they can be jewels of literature – presenting a character, a feeling, often a profound story, with extreme precision. However until recently, publishers…
Has Amazon deleted your reviews?
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog in which I said how important reviews were to authors and readers. Imagine my shock, then, when I discovered that Amazon has developed an algorithm to delete…
How to write a riveting review
This week, an art that is both very new and almost as old as writing itself – writing reviews. First, a thank you to everyone who’s written reviews of my books. The number of Amazon…
What is the BBC biased against and why?
BBC bias – Every week, it seems, the BBC is under attack from one side or another. Most recently they’re in a twist over pay for women. Just this week came the weird spectacle of…
Bookstore rage: How I came close to losing my temper with an indie bookshop manager
Yesterday I came close to inflicting serious verbal damage on an indie bookshop manager. I’d very much like to know from anyone else who has a similar story, either as an author, a publisher or…