This is a Building Blocs piece, in which we discuss the fine art of pitching.

This is a Building Blocs piece, in which we discuss the getting of book deals. 

Here at Writers Bloc, we do our best to answer questions about the art, craft, and lifestyle of writing. Some questions we get more often than others. One question we get more than any other is, ‘How do I get my book published.’ The short answer to that is, ‘With great difficulty.’ The longer answer is below. Enjoy!

This is a Building Blocs piece about the Writers Bloc Workshop.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer in possession of a draft must be in want of feedback. It is equally certain that that writer's friends, family or partner will read said draft under sufferance and, at the end, will kind of smile and nod vaguely say: 'It’s really good,' and maybe mumble something about how the story 'Has some very interesting language choices,' while they inch towards the exit. 

...and how every story is basically Harry Potter. 

I’ve been telling myself (by which I mean people at parties) that I’m a writer for a good fifteen years now, which would be fine, if I’d learned how to write a decent story fifteen years ago

This is a Building Blocs post from Lachlan Mackenzie.

So you’ve finished your manuscript, and you’re pretending to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed -  you’re doing a great job of convincing everyone you still have a grip on reality. Now you have to face the mysterious, mythical beast that is the publishing industry.

The ins and outs of the publishing process are often unknown to aspiring writers. Publishers are the fairy godmothers who sprinkle the magic dust that turns your Word documents into pages in a book that people want to buy. Or at least that’s what I thought they were until I went along to the Hachette Australia office for Inside the Publishing House, part of the Emerging Writers’ Festival Roadshow.