Jericho Writers Townhouse | dannyambrose | Activity

dannyambrose started a new discussion in the forum All about writing

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 15:36:49 +0100

There is always a debate about the best way to go when it comes to this. Self-Publshing has such terrible press, mainly due to the unadulterated crap that is uploaded to Amazon with vitrually no filter. I’d go as far as to say that 95% of what is self-published on Amazon is poor. Traditional publishing has filters. They are better known as agents…

dannyambrose replied to a discussion in the forum Agents & publishing

Fri, 24 May 2024 13:33:02 +0100

Reply to Publishers Message

They say that – but they’re not (they have never offered a traditional contract EVER) Avoid like the plague.

dannyambrose replied to a discussion in the forum Feedback Friday 8th September - Character

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:22:52 +0100

Reply to Feedback Friday

Thanks, Laura,

It’s a time travel romantic drama/adventure, which is why it probably feels confusing but in the context of the story, it’s quite a pivotal moment. (I’ve attached a link in case you want to have a look – great reviews so far…) PS I don’t use my real name on here because I had a nasty troll from here a few years…

dannyambrose replied to a discussion in the forum Feedback Friday 15th September - Character

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 10:19:48 +0100

Reply to Feedback Friday

Thanks Kayte – the book is Future Proof (on Amazon) now with over 480 four and five star reviews….https://www.amazon.co.uk/Future-Proof-Travel-Everyones-Talking-ebook/dp/B0BQNCSBXX

dannyambrose started a new discussion in the forum Feedback Friday 15th September - Character

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 10:07:03 +0100

Feedback Friday

The book is called Future Proof – The Character is Sam Harris.

He’s been transported back in time, to a point in his childhood, when kids bullied him in primary school. With his knowledge of what happened and his adult brain engaged, he relives a character-defining moment and changes the outcome.

I finished peeing into the trough that passed for…

dannyambrose started a new discussion in the forum All about writing

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 11:51:53 +0100

Promoting and Marketing your self-published work

I thought I’d post this, hoping for some words of encouragement but willing to bow down to the combined knowledge on here.

I self-published my Time Travel comedy/drama in January. The book has done OK but I’m not terribly good at the whole social media/marketing thing – which I’m sure is true for a number of us. I have tried, (in no particular…

dannyambrose started a new discussion in the forum Feedback Friday 8th September - Character

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 11:25:56 +0100

Feedback Friday

The character is SAM and his singer girlfriend Luci – they have been having problems and as a couple have lost their way. Sam has decided to wait for her outside the theatre where she works – this is their re-connection:-

Then she emerged, tossing her dark hair behind her as she raised the hood of her thick coat to protect it from the rain. I hoped…

dannyambrose replied to a discussion in the forum All about writing

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 15:39:41 +0100

Reply to To Clunk or not to clunk? - Clunky Dialogue

A better start would be (assuming she’s talking to someone else and not herself).

I thought she’d be here.

Who?

Evie of course.

dannyambrose replied to a discussion in the forum Agents & publishing

Mon, 22 May 2023 12:59:40 +0100

Reply to Submissions direct to publishers

OK – do NOT approach a publisher direct until the issues you have spotted are fixed. Also, I’m assuming you are referring to the ever-decreasing handful of digital imprints and indie publishers that still allow you to submit directly to them.

The reason for this is you have a one-shot deal of impressing whoever reads your submission. As a previous…

dannyambrose started a new discussion in the forum Agents & publishing

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 14:17:35 +0100

Writing/Book/Literary competitions - the latest legal scam

I was looking through some of these today – and my blood was boiling. There are some prestigious and well known competitions but for every RNA, BOOKER, UK BOOK AWARDS, there are 500 others that seem to me to be just about scamming money from authors.

I won’t name names, as I’ll probably get attacked but some are charging fees anywhere from £25 to…

dannyambrose replied to a discussion in the forum Coffee & cake

Tue, 25 Apr 2023 15:14:35 +0100

Reply to Celebrity Novelists

Hi Stuart – Celebrity novelists – the thing is it’s not just about novels is it? At least a ghostwriter might earn a crust from some Strictly stars flight of fancy but it’s the other vacuous stuff that takes up space on the shelves that irks me too.

You know the one’s I mean, the latest celebrity cookbook: how to make toast taste like toast, or the…

dannyambrose posted an update in the group Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors: My latest novel Future Proof is now out on Amazon, it's a […]

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 12:33:37 +0000

My latest novel Future Proof is now out on Amazon, it’s a time-slip romantic comedy/drama – (my real name is David Atkinson) I use a pseudonym on here due to previous abuse – I’m only writing on here as I thought it might be of interest to the members. This is my first self-published book – and the work involved to bring a self-published book out…

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 15:13:56 +0100

Welcome aboard Mohammed, impressive credentials – I write commercial fiction – probably toward the junk rather than the literary end LOL

In reply to - cathy.carroll-moriarty posted an update in the group Commercial and/or Women’s Contemporary Fiction

Are any of you members of Jericho Writers? Am considering a membership and would love your thoughts…

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 10:44:17 +0000

Well done for finishing a manuscript you’d be surprised at how many people never reach that point!

Next step before you start querying agents (however tempting that is) would be to have your manuscript completely edited and checked over. Whether you pay for this (it is expensive) or swap with a Beta reader, this is essential. Your first language…

In reply to - Andrew Halliwell posted an update in the group Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors Half way through nanowrimo… Who here is taking part and how are you getting on? thought the group needed something to give it a kick. Maybe a […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 12:16:49 +0000

It’s unusual for an agent to take that amount of trouble so both of you should feel very encouraged.

In reply to - laurademol posted an update in the group Self-Editing Group March 2018

Hi everyone,

I keep getting notifications, but can’t see anything… Does anyone else have the same problem? I got the impression that someone […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 09:38:36 +0000

This reads like science fiction to me, thought with a family drama thrown in. I’m not going to say anything about the synopsis at this stage as I don’t think that’s what you are looking for, but it needs some work around sentence structure etc.

Overall it doesn’t feel like a cheery read but that’s fine happy endings are probably over-rated anyway.…

In reply to - Alan Drwm posted an update in the group Historical Fiction

My writing is set in the Neolithic. Whilst I’m unaware of other writings featuring the same period I have been influenced by Auel’s ‘Clan of the Cave […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 09:46:59 +0100

Hard luck Debbie – All part of the learning process – it’ll happen one day…fingers crossed 4u.

In reply to - trudi-1 posted an update in the group Self-Editing Group March 2018

Whew! It was so lovely to catch up with Caroline, Laura, Kate and Julia. Jaqs we missed you! Nice to have my son Max join us for Sat night […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Tue, 10 Aug 2021 10:25:33 +0100

Thanks Lynn – self isolating is so boring and in a way counter-productive as I reckon once you’ve done it once you vow never to do it again which is why so many people have deleted the app or put false tele-numbers in for the track and trace folk. The contradictions around the measures are the thing that irritates me – my eldest starts high school…

In reply to - William Angelo posted an update in the group Festival of Writing 2019 delegates

For delegates travelling by car, this may be useful. My car’s SatNav accepts the postcode as shown in the welcome pack, but won’t […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Tue, 10 Aug 2021 08:48:40 +0100

HI, yep well managed to write another 5k words – it’s a time travelling rom com – but I’m also working on another two manuscripts at the same time, but progress had definitely slowed down. The day job has got in the way too so taking everything into account it’s been OK

In reply to - William Angelo posted an update in the group Festival of Writing 2019 delegates

For delegates travelling by car, this may be useful. My car’s SatNav accepts the postcode as shown in the welcome pack, but won’t […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 09:01:40 +0100

Comedy is trickier to write these days as you have to be acutely aware that you might be offending someone, in fact probably will be offending someone – look at Friends – repeating now on loads of channels – homophobic jokes, taking the P*** out of Chandlers Transgender father, Fat shaming Monica when she was younger, sexist Joey etc etc. Then…

In reply to - Calvin Cutter posted an update in the group Funny commercial fiction

Is it tougher to write comedy? It is if you don’t “think” funny. However if you are the type that immediately understands the saying, &# […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:49:18 +0100

PS when you don’t get many responses on here, it means it’s ether really good or really bad…LOL I think you can guess that you’re in the former group!

In reply to - Emma Rooney posted an update in the group Commercial and/or Women’s Contemporary Fiction

Apologies for being so silent the past few weeks (including not feeding back on some members’ submissions). I have been e […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:47:54 +0100

Hi Eli, I second what Georgina says, intriguing, interesting and makes you want to read the book. I’m sure it could be shortened a little (given the ever decreasing attention span of agents these days) but yep I liked it.

In reply to - Emma Rooney posted an update in the group Commercial and/or Women’s Contemporary Fiction

Apologies for being so silent the past few weeks (including not feeding back on some members’ submissions). I have been e […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Tue, 27 Apr 2021 15:13:55 +0100

I think what happens – well it does to me, is that I tend to dip in and out of the regular forum and don’t check back on here often enough – my fault entirely.

In reply to - Emma Rooney posted an update in the group Commercial and/or Women’s Contemporary Fiction

Hi everyone. It’s been extremely quiet (dare I say, even stagnant?!) in here for a while now. Maybe this group isn’t doing w […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Fri, 09 Apr 2021 12:18:03 +0100

Most of them don’t know what they’re looking for that’s why publishing is so subjective – everyone’s looking for the next big thing but nobody knows what the next big thing is…

In reply to - Jordan Slater-Cuthbertson posted an update in the group Historical Fiction

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Fri, 09 Apr 2021 12:16:07 +0100

LOL I really only do that so I don’t send it to the same person twice (they probably wouldn’t notice anyway!)

In reply to - Jordan Slater-Cuthbertson posted an update in the group Historical Fiction

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 10:21:42 +0100

I just checked back on an old spreadsheet for my first ever submission and in total – over 6 months I sent out 43 queries, 22 never bothered to reply, and they weren’t as busy as they are now.

In reply to - Jordan Slater-Cuthbertson posted an update in the group Historical Fiction

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 09:26:56 +0100

Hi Alice,

I liked it. It does what it needs to do – make the reader want to delve into the manuscript or the portion of the manuscript you are sending them. A synopsis is SOOOOO hard to write – you the writer are often too close to the project to do this adequately and perhaps asking a trusted reader to give you some pointers is another approach.…

In reply to - Jordan Slater-Cuthbertson posted an update in the group Historical Fiction

Hello again!

I’ve been hard at work on my novel as well as reading ferociously. It has proven to be a very ecucational experience as well […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 08:53:35 +0100

LOL we all get them it’s a right of passage. I actually think it would be quite disappointing if the first person you sent a manuscript to signed you up, it would cheat you of the angst and the build up of increasingly tough skin you need to develop to survive out there…

In reply to - Jordan Slater-Cuthbertson posted an update in the group Historical Fiction

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 14:50:01 +0000

I used to keep a spreadsheet when I queried agents – I did it until I got fed up sending emails. I found the whole query thing really tedious (harder work than writing) and I’ve just checked – in the end I queried 31 agents and 11 small publishers. The quickest response was 5 hours a resounding go away we don’t like you – the longest 15 months…

In reply to - david.haworth posted an update in the group The Lounge

On January 6th I sent query letters etc to 6 agents, another batch of six the following week, by mid Feb I had contacted 18 agents. And the waiting began. […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 14:11:04 +0000

Jane congratulations on a full request these are very rare so well done you.

In reply to - Libby Leyland posted an update in the group Commercial and/or Women’s Contemporary Fiction

Hi All, I’ve just discovered that files we post to this group privately are readable by anyone who looks at our i […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 15:16:24 +0000

HI Alison, My WIP (in it’s final revisions now) is probably firmly in the commercial women’s fiction zone. Well done on receiving a full request – that’s a good sign and is encouraging. I read your synopsis and added my pennyworth but I liked it, the way it captured the carribean climate etc – you can certainly write you just need to get lucky…

In reply to - alison.foot posted an update in the group Commercial and/or Women’s Contemporary Fiction

Hi everyone in the group. I wanted to post and find out a bit more about people’s wip – I recognise some members from the m […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 15:10:40 +0000

HI Brian

There’s not many members on here, that’s maybe the reason. Commercial to me, in it’s narrowest sense is the term in which agents use it – something they think they can sell to a publisher that will make them money, the publisher money and if the writer’s lucky make them a bit of money -in that order!

In reply to - brian.levin posted an update in the group Funny commercial fiction

Can someone please explain here what the word Commercial means in the group title? Perhaps even the word fiction: I am preparing a funny picture […]

dannyambrose posted a new activity comment

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 14:44:25 +0000

I’ve posted on this before, but manuscript assessments are very expensive and I would never pay for one these days. Mainly because I’ve got 2 kids now and rather than spend the monetary equivalent of a small holiday on a manuscript assessment I’ll spend it on a small holiday LOL. However, I used to use a fabulous assessor who gave me incredibly…

In reply to - Libby Leyland posted an update in the group Commercial and/or Women’s Contemporary Fiction

Hi All, I’ve just discovered that files we post to this group privately are readable by anyone who looks at our i […]

dannyambrose posted an update in the group Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors: Hi EveryoneThought I'd say hello - I'm a member of a few […]

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 14:01:05 +0100

Hi Everyone

Thought I’d say hello – I’m a member of a few other groups but having just completed my first apocalyptic yarn – working title TOXIC which is book one of a trilogy. I’m halfway through book two which is paused whilst I await feedback on book one plus I’m trying to fit it in around a load of other stuff but suspect I might have to self…

dannyambrose posted an update in the group All about self-publishing: HI Just thought I'd say hello - I'm traditionally published […]

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 09:54:29 +0100

HI Just thought I’d say hello – I’m traditionally published but looking to self-publish some writing that doesn’t fit with my publishers. Never done this before so hoping to find out lots of tips and pitfalls to avoid…thanks

dannyambrose posted an update in the group Parents: How to write around children: HI All, I have had my 8 & 11 year old daughters at home […]

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 11:11:17 +0100

HI All, I have had my 8 & 11 year old daughters at home since March – home schooling and then entertaining during the holidays – I’m lucky enough to still be working full time – all be it from home, my wife is a midwife pulling 12 hour shifts in horrific conditions. You can now spot a medic as they all have have spots around their mouths, ether…