Resources

What does a songwriter do all day?

Is being a songwriter all about living the rock ‘n’ roll dream? Or is it something altogether more artistic? And how much do the words matter? Sunderland lass and super-talented songwriter Nadine Shah tells us about writing in bed, dealing with bad reviews and how being a musician is a bit like being prime minister.

What does an independent publisher do?

You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘independent publisher’, but what does it actually mean? We get some answers from Kevin Duffy, who founded independent publisher Bluemoose Books in 2007 with his wife Hetha.

What does a Digital Marketing Executive do?

We talk to Digital Marketing Executive at Penguin Random House, Indira Birnie, about the challenges and opportunities of working in digital marketing.

How do I become an editor?

Senior Editor at Hutchinson Sarah Rigby, who specializes in non-fiction and historical novels, offered to give us an insight into books, publishing, agenting and how editors aren’t allowed to drink wine all day (anymore).

What does a poet do all day?

What’s the reality of being a poet in the twenty-first century? We asked poet Clare Pollard about her experiences as a poet and what she gets up to on a day-to-day basis.

How do I become a journalist?

For a young writer, Alice Vincent has already clocked up an impressive CV; she’s currently an arts and entertainment writer for The Telegraph, and before this was an editorial assistant at The Huffington Post. She tells Young Writers’ Nasim Asl how she’s come such a long way in such a short time.

How do I become a novelist?

In this post YA author Non Pratt tells us how she became a novelist. Non has been a full-time writer since the publication of her first novel Trouble in 2014.

What’s it like to be an Online Editor?

Co-Editor of the Guardian Children’s Books site, Emily Drabble, tells us about life online.

How to…become a booktuber

Have you heard of booktubing? If not, you soon will have- it's the new vlogging phenomenon that is becoming so popular, publishers are sitting up and taking note. It's also pretty easy to do. Teen blogger and YouTuber Lucy Powrie tells us her story and gives us some top tips for geting started.

How to…start a magazine

Online is fine, but sometimes we all yearn for an actual, physical thing. Degna Stone, co-founder and sometime editor of poetry magazine Butcher’s Dog, tells us about its origins and gives some tips about where to start with a magazine.

How to…start a writing group

Being in a writers’ group is one of the most inspiring things you can do. You feel like you’re not alone, and you get support, inspiration and advice from other people who know what you’re struggling with, or proud of. It’s also (almost) free to set up and all you need is a couple of like-minded people to get going. If you want to give it a go, Iain Rowan, founder of Holmeside Writers in Sunderland, gives us some words of advice.

How to…conquer your nerves

At Young Writers, we get asked a lot about nerves. How is it possible to get up on stage and share our work if we feel really nervous? So we asked top spoken work artist Hollie McNish how she copes and, rather reassuringly, she told us this….