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In Episode 143 of So you want to be a writer: Anna asks whether her smutty fiction past will help or harm her prospects. And we answer a question about whether different types of writing income (book writing and copywriting) can go into the same bank account.
Got a question for Val and Al? Ask at podcast [at] writerscentre [dot] com [dot] au
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Review of the Week
From OnceUponaRhyme:
Valerie and Allison are full of brilliant tips for writers. Their interviews are insightful and the words of the week are fun. Each episode is different with gems for writers of all genres. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, OnceUponaRhyme!
My writing day: Maggie O’Farrell
Anna asks:
Hi Valerie and Allison, I have been listening to your podcast since the beginning, and what I have learned from you both about writing has been immeasurable. I cannot thank you enough! I have a question that I hope you can answer, and I hope won’t make you blush! I am soon to finish my first attempt at a fiction novel, which I am hoping to submit to agents and publishers. Before this I was a writer of fan fiction, which I know is where some authors have started out. I am no longer writing fan fiction, but in the last couple of years I wrote a story based on a TV show that has so far attracted 111,578 readers and has been viewed 275,698 times.
Even though it’s long been completed, it continues to attract around 800 readers a month. I’ve also received hundreds of comments and many messages from them in full support of my writing. I’m aware that perhaps this readership could be a possible marketing avenue, and I could let a would-be agent or publisher know I have this support network that I could possibly market to. HOWEVER, the fan fiction story I wrote was not G-rated in nature, and was a romance story containing a fair amount of sex scenes, some on the graphic side.
This is very common in fan fiction. I included this aspect because many of the readers wanted it, but what I enjoyed writing most was the romance story, and my fiction book contains no erotica, and it’s not the area I want to go down as an aspiring author. However, my novel is a young adult romance story, and may appeal to the some of the same readership. My question is: Should I delete the smutty fic and pretend it never existed before I pitch, or do I tell agents and publishers that I have this potential marketing avenue, and fess up that I wrote a smutty fan pic in the past? Thanks very much for your wisdom, and apologies for the long question!
Kind regards, Anna
Anon asks:
If I’m registered as a sole trader for my copywriting business (not GST registered), and have a bank account set up for this also, can any other miscellaneous writing income – for example, if I get paid to write a magazine article or self-pub an e-book – go straight into this account as well? Obviously I’d specify what the income is from in the accounting program. Or does – for example – publishing books come under something completely different, and I need to keep it separate? I’m thinking about Allison and how she says she ‘writes all of the things’ and whether it’s okay for the income from all the different writing avenues to go straight to one place.
Val and Al answer these questions in this minisode. We hope you find this useful! If you have a question, email us at: podcast [at] writerscentre [dot] com [dot] au
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