Hello there - I'm Milly Johnson is a 5ft born and bred half-Glaswegian Barnsley bird who has been a professional in the world of greetings cards for quite a few years now. When not writing, I lead a glamorous lifestyle ironing school clothes, emptying cat litter trays and cooking crispy pancakes. I live with my two sons, Terence and George, Teddy the Eurasier and a battalion o cats near my mam and dad bang in the centre of Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Right from being knee-high to an gnat (though I'm only thigh high now!) I loved to write, but never thought it would any more than a hobby until discovering the enjoyment of comedy script-writing whilst studying drama and education at Exeter University.

In between working in various jobs – ie: teaching, trainee accountancy, barmaid, receptionist, sales, working for various psychopaths in offices, I spent my spare time writing poems and jokes for pin-money and working on a large, glossy novel about places I had never been to and things I had never done. It was doomed to failure.

Nevertheless the rejection letters (although not all!) were full of too much

encouragement to totally abandon the idea that the published novel was never going to happen for me. I remember thinking maybe if they had just told me to stop chasing rainbows and get a proper job, life would have been so much more defined. I continued to write, send work off, get it rejected, put it away in a cupboard, get on with life, get the work out of the cupboard, send it off... and so on went the cycle.

When I was pregnant with my first child in 1997, I lost my job and the only way forward seemed to be to rev up my old hobby of earning pin money by becoming a full-time writer of greetings card copy working from home under the company name of ‘Black Sheep’.

Then in 2004, when I was 30...er…40, the career clock began to nag that I had never managed to get that published book under my belt. When my marriage was ending a couple of years before, I was feeling very much in need of a spiritual lift. Clearing out my house (after my dad volunteered to fork out for a skip for me) in order to shift all the rubbish the previous owner had left, did exactly that. I filed away a possible storyline about a woman who takes clutter-clearing to the ultimate degree. Even though, back then, I hadn't seen what was staring me in the face... the inspiration all around me - love, friendships and relationships in my home town. Anyway - back to the plot, not long after my 40th birthday, I put the children to bed and began to write a very different story to the unsuccessful blockbuster - my clutter-clearing story. I sent it off to the ever-encouraging Darley Anderson agency and Lucie Whitehouse wonder-agent, rang me the next day and asked for some more chapters. I ploughed away at the book night after night, sending in lumps of chapters and praying that I'd get over that hurdle - all too aware that every stage I was getting closer to my dream, but climbing so far up the ladder of hope that if I was pushed off, I'd probably break my back.

When I sent in the final chapters - I also enclosed the first 3 chapters of the book I'd been working on when I was pregnant - one that had been inspired by my own experiences joining the 'pudding club' at the same time as my friends in our mid-thirties. It was gathering dust in the back of the cupboard because I was convinced I'd never get it right. Securing an agent didn't necessarily mean that I'd get a book deal - and Lucie had warned me that had happened before to would-be authors. So my 'contingency plan' went in the envelope with those final chapters and whilst I waited to find out what she thought of them, I carried on with book 2 - and for some reason, this time I felt like I knew what I was doing with it. I'm a great believer in some things just 'have a time to be'.

The agency liked book 1, but they though that book 2 was THE one to launch me and so I went through the horrible and exciting process again of sending blocks of chapters in. Getting the call that Lucie had finished reading it and liked it and was going to take it on (after a major edit) was news that had me skipping about the room like a teenager.

When we had edited the book to a presentable state, Lucie sent it out to publishers. You have to have nerves of steel when this happens because every time the phone rings, your heart stops (and it was usually my mother asking me if I was going to Morrisons). It was garnering excitement, publishers were asking for it to be biked over, it was mad, exciting, awful, horrible, wonderful... but I was a first time author and, as such, we're a big gamble. Still, even the rejections were warm and encouraging - (do you laugh or do you cry then?)

Then came THAT call - at 5 o'clock on a Friday night. Simon and Schuster had bought me on a two book deal agreement.

Would-be writers take note - when you get that call, it's a bit like having a baby... all the pain and tiredness and emotional upheaval is forgotten and you just rejoice in a sublime state that no drug could ever give you (not that I've tried - not unless you count a very heavy session on Harvey's Bristol Cream one night).

The manuscript was submitted to overseas publishers to coincide with the 2006 London Book Fair. Dutch rights were purchased and German and Italian rights were subsequently snapped up in heated auctions. And it won me the Chicklit Most Promising Newcomer Award and the Reading Libraries Book of the Year Award.

‘The Yorkshire Pudding Club’ is currently on sale in bookshops, on-line and can be borrowed from libraries.

My 2nd book – ‘The Birds and the Bees' (former title 'the Bees of Bonniebride’ - which celebrates both my Yorkshire and my wonderful Scottish roots - was released in March 2008 and won me the Single Titles Reviewers Choice Award. It was sold to Italy, Norway, Holland, Germany and for Audio Rights.

My 3rd book - ' A Spring Affair' has been bought by Germany, Latvia, Holland, Spain and for Audio Rights (so far!)

I still write part-time for the greeting card industry. Most writers have a second job - especially in the early days when you are building a readership. If you want a get-rich-quick job, don't become an author. It's a compulsive vocation and be prepared for a lot of hard work for little pay.  And be prepared for having the most fantastic job in the world!

As you’re reading this, remember that these are my experiences – and I’ve picked up from other authors that they are common ones. They’re not set in stone.  Film deals happen and  millionaires are made overnight  (Please God!)

BOOK 1 …is so exciting.  You may think it won’t get any better, but it does. This is your first toe in the water. You’ve made it.  And you are expecting your big champagne launch with lobster canapes.

Well… you might get one, but your publicity department will have a budget and that is earmarked for getting you sales.  If it comes to bunging a high street shop the money to place your book in a prominent position or buying some Lanson and salmon pinwheels for your mates and people who will buy your book anyway – which do you think will win?

Most money on the budgets disappears on behind-the-scenes stuff. 

 

BOOK 2 You're getting more in your swing of it now.  But this is the important book and worth giving it all you have.  Often book 2s have a hard act to follow and aren't as successful.  You need to see those sales figures going up.  But you'll realise by now that you have a window of opportunity at launch to utilise all the press you can get before the attention switches to other authors with their new books coming out.

 

By BOOK 3, things should be getting a lot more exciting because you’ll be starting to build up a substantial readership.  People will actually be waiting for your book to come out – what a compliment.  And new readers who like book 3, may go and buy book 1 & 2 on the strength of their enjoyment.  You may see that your Amazon ratings (authors check these once every five minutes – it’s perfectly normal to do that AND to Google yourself) on your backlist shoot up as well. 

Get yourself on a local speaker list if you haven’t already.  There are lots of  WI meetings and pensioners clubs in towns these days crying out for speakers and they LOVE writers.  You’ll get a small fee (£30 - £50), AND you can sell books at the end – and they’re great fun to do and expand your readership.

 

Keep your eye out for relevant stories in the press which mirror the themes of your book.  For instance, I write a lot about workplace bullying and November is THE month for awareness of that – so I write articles about it then AND get the pay off of a book plug too.

 

by BOOK 4 you'll have learned a lot more.  You'll (hopefully) have a solid readership following you and a good backlist to offer anyone who comes to you first at this stage. 

Okay – so you’ve got your book deal and the publishers and the agent are shining a big limelight on you.  You’ve read about the million pound advances but when you get yours its decidedly smaller than you expected. Remember the market could be better so getting a book deal when publishers are extra picky is something to proud of

It’s better to have a small advance than a big advance and not ‘earn out’.  You’re a less attractive prospect if you’re books don’t make the big bucks, than if you have a steady year on year increase. This is a game where you are in for the long haul. If you want a guaranteed get-rich-quick career – you’re in the wrong place

It’s a bit like when the supermarkets/bookstores buy the books in – same sort of principle.

The way my agent described it to me is that psychologically –it’s better that a bookshop/supermarket buy in 3000 copies  and sell out than it is if they buy 6000 copies and sell 4000.  Because then they are left with 2000 surplus and that has negative connotations.  It does make sense – you just have to concentrate on the stigma and ignore the figures!

A lot of writers have a second job.  Money for books isn’t a regular income.

Say for instance you get a two book deal.  You get paid in 3 blocks for each book. 

• for signature on the contract
• for producing the manuscript
• on publication.

My agent scared me to death when he said that it may be 10 books in before I start making any serious money.  Especially because everyone thinks authors are instant millionaires - me included at the beginning.  Money is wonderful but building a readership is very important.  Don’t despair when you hear the words ‘I love your book, I’ve passed it around to all my friends!’  It might not help your bank balance to hear that short-term, but it will long-term.  And when you see your book heavily discounted don’t gulp.  People will buy books if they are priced well and you will build up a strong fan base.  And pass it to friends abroad.  You need the word spreading. 

So at first you’re likely to get a sixth of your advance for the manuscript (which will have secured your book deal no doubt) and 2 x sixths for signing the contract for book 1 and book 2.  A half – in short. 

You’ll get paid for any foreign rights deals made and for audio deals – but some of these might not be in hard cash – they may be set against your royalties.

Royalties get paid at the end of March and the end of September.  If you get any!  You should get a royalty statement that will show you how your books are doing, even if you haven’t earned out.  Even with smallish advances, it can take a few years to earn out.

 

I’m always surprised how many new authors don’t know about this… everytime your book is borrowed from a library, you get a cut.  It’s a small cut – but it mounts up!  It’s capped at £6,600 per year and gets paid (very promptly) in February, once a year.

As soon as you have an ISBN number for your book – register it at this address.
http://www.plr.uk.com/

AND if your book gets sold for large print rights – you’ll have a separate ISBN number and need to register that. 

You can’t register audio rights, unless there is a book included with the audio disks.

And register both national and international books at ALCS who collect money on your behalf from anyone who has used an author's work in various ways other than library lending.  It costs a one off payment of £25 - but this is deducted from your first payment from them and you do not have to pay up front.

Your publicist and your editors are hard-working bods.  However they aren’t just looking after you – they’re looking after other authors and though their radar will be on all year and any opportunity to promote you, they will take, you may find that after the ‘honeymoon’ period of getting signed up and finishing your big edit AND after your first book launch, it’s as if someone has switched off that big warm limelight and you’re all alone.

Think of yourself as on a wheel.  You’ll get to the high spot, then you’ll fall into virtual shade until it’s your book launch time again and you’ll be in the light.  Don’t panic about the lack of contact.  They’re BUSY people – you’ll get your turn.  This ‘darkness’ will light up again.  Get yourself on Facebook – hook up with other authors and share your anxieties with them.  You need a support network to tell you that you aren’t going mad.

I was initially very spoiled having an agent who became my friend. When she left I felt quite bereft that people at the agency didn’t have the time for a girly natter the way she did.  Use your mates for girly natters.

Your agent and your publisher are there to do business. Mine are lovely – I am chatty – so it seemed very natural for me to ring up for non-work business.  Keep it to a minimum otherwise you will drive them bonkers (been there, done that).

If you have any queries – save them up and present them maybe once a month.  Don’t expect an email by return. They have less time than you. They’ll sort you out – but learn a bit of patience. Lots of things happen behind the scenes in this game and agent and publisher get on with it.  I like to be informed of everything that’s going on – well that just isn’t possible, so learn that one early on.

Remember no one has as much time as you do to promote yourself.  We have one bookshop in town and my book was always out of stock – AND they didn’t sell the backlist.

I was in the best position to ask my local supermarket – Morrisons – if they would consider stocking my book and stop people coming to my door. I was selling so many myself, I knew there was a demand. They trialled it – and sold 90 straightaway.  It went so well they rolled my new book out to all stores and it’s just sold 2000 in two weeks.  I would have lost those sales if I hadn’t stuck my neck out. 

Make friends with your local press.  In return for a few gratis articles, you can get some great advertising space.

 

Get on local radio.  You probably won't get any pay (or expenses) but it's good PR.

Prepare to spend some money on promoting yourself.  Give yourself a budget – it’s tax deductible.

Invest in some good photos that can be used for press releases.  Ones that reflect your personality – some posing with your new book, some without.

Get a website.  My website bloke is available here – you don’t need to come to Barnsley – it can all be done via phone and net.  Or do a blog – or both.  But get people interested in you.   Reporters trawl the net – they just might catch you for a juicy piece of publicity.  Oh and if you do a blog or website – maintain it often!

Do a talk at the local library and sell some stocks of your book afterwards.  Go and see some authors talking and see what the contact of their talks is and how they structure them

Local literary festivals?  Do a reading and/or sit on a panel and answer questions.

And a word about launches here - unless you are Jordan or JK Rowling, they can be lonely affairs!  It's much less disheartening to go in the backroom of your local Waterstones, sign some books, let them put' 'Signed by the Author' stickers on them and sell them that way.

Stick your head above the parapet and you’ll have to prepare to get shot at.  You can’t please all of the people all of the time and some won’t like what you’re written – and feel duty bound to tell the rest of the world on Amazon reviews.  You can get attacked for the most outrageous things.  I’ve been accused of keeping World War II alive (because I wrote a line about sinking the Bismarck – the line was, ‘he brought in enough chips to sink the Bismarck’) and being responsible for the reduction of bluebell numbers in Britain (one of my characters goes blue-belling with her son).

My answer to that is that I write the way people talk and do what they do in real life.  I’m a story-teller.  Not a political activist. I don’t want the responsibility of influencing people to do what my characters do. Otherwise I’d never write anything!

And you’ll get snotty letters ravaging your style of English that make you want to scream.   But trust me – nothing will hurt as much as that first bad review.  The writer Stephen Booth was a brick to me when I got my first vicious review.  He said that he got slagged off in the New York Times and was gutted.  Then he suddenly realised that he was IN THE NEW YORK TIMES. 

On launching my book 3 in town, I had a guy look at the poster I was standing next to and say ‘who is she?  I’ve never even heard of her!’  ‘Some local woman, I think!’ I replied.  No, this is no game for softies! 

Getting a book published does bring out the green-eyed monster in some people alas and some reviews feel more like character assassinations than constructive criticism.  Learn to roll with it.  Don’t get dragged into a slanging match.  It’s par for the course.  Concentrate on the other side of the coin - the lovely people who write fab reviews for you out of a genuine desire to give you a leg up.

If your agent and publisher are happy and your books are selling – stick yer chin up and weather it.

If you only write 250 words a day – that’s a 91,000 word book at the end of the year.  Force yourself (I bet you write more)  As a guide 250 words is approx 1 sheet of A4 DOUBLE SPACED.  So hardly anything! And if you need any further inspiration - check out Dr Wicked - a fab word counting tool.

Write everyday – that way there will be continuity.

Read Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’.  Before reading this it took me days to write one chapter because I was continually editing what I wrote – no good because I had to re-edit it when it was in context of the book.  SK taught me to get my story down from start to finish.  It doesn’t matter if it is in a very raw state – it’s easier to edit when it’s complete.

Sol Stein’s books are also recommended  Solutions for Writers and Solutions for Novelists.

And a book by Jack M Bickham which covers The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes in bite-sized pieces. Very easy to read with some very good points.

Here's an article I wrote for the Yorkshire Post about how to kick-start your writing career.

This was one that reared its head recently when a lady asked me how long she should wait after submitting her work to an agent, being told she would be contacted that week and 3 weeks later was still waiting.

I hadn’t a clue – but I know a lady who does.  It’s a pain – admittedly – agents receive about 300 manuscripts a week so if they’ve contacted you to say they like your stuff and want exclusivity what do you do.

You have to wait it out.  However, if you haven’t been contacted after a long time, you are within your rights to ask for an update – especially if you’ve been asked not to send it to anyone.  The trick is to make your email not sound pressuring or blackmaily or cross.  But it’s a slow process by nature.  And the worst, most frustrating part of the whole thing – if you’ll excuse the pun - in my book!