Archive

5 Books to Lift Your Spirits by Hayley Doyle

2021 has started with a bang. And not the bang we were all hoping for. Rather than the pop of a champagne cork or a splattering of fancy fireworks, sure, it’s exploded, but you don’t need me to harp on about how. You already know. Well! Thank goodness for books!… Read More

How to Write a Pitch

What is a book pitch? A pitch is a short, enticing description of your work that focuses on its USP (unique selling point) or the key thing that makes your book so special – this is what publishers will often refer to as the ‘hook’. Why does it matter? As… Read More

Working from Home: S.D. Robertson’s Top Tips

My five top tips for working from home by S.D. Robertson Working from home full-time used to be fairly unusual. How things have changed. This year, thanks to Covid-19, it’s something lots of people have been doing. Welcome to my world. I’ve been working from home… Read More

The Submission Journey

De-mystifying the process from submission to publication! What should I consider when submitting to Avon? Avon is the home of commercial fiction – which means page-turning, entertaining fiction. Whether it’s historical, crime, thriller or women’s fiction, these books have a ‘hook’ (or elevator pitch) that intrigues the reader,… Read More

Where I Write with Hannah Sunderland

The thing that is most essential to me getting words down on the page is comfort, ergo many, many scatter cushions and a footrest. I usually have a cafetiere of coffee on the go, which I forget about and let go cold more often than not, but even having the… Read More

Our Team’s Christmas Favourites

We all have our Christmas traditions: from watching our favourite festive movies to listening to Christmas classics whilst wrapping the presents or having a mince pie for breakfast on Christmas day! But at Avon, our staff have some very bookish traditions for Christmas as well. Have… Read More

It’s NaNoWriMo Time – Sam Carrington’s Top Tips

It’s NaNoWriMo time!   This will be my seventh year joining in the madness to write 50,000 words in one month. Yes, all those words in just 30 days! I’ve had mixed success with my attempts. I’ve only ‘won’ once – but for me, it really is the case of… Read More

A Wonderfully Magical Wildflower Park

As a child I spent many happy hours engrossed in books and many more lost in my own imaginary world. Stories like The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Enid Blyton’s Secret Island captured my imagination and transported me to somewhere magical. I got that same sensation when… Read More

Balancing Fact and Fiction

Using Real-Life Experiences in My Novels The Missing Wife is my fourth psychological suspense novel and as its publication day fast approaches I’ve been thinking about what ‘goes in’ to my novels: where the ideas come from, how the characters are developed, how I choose their traits and back stories,… Read More

A Fling in the Scottish Highlands

20th May 2019 sees the release of my fourth book, Secret Things and Highland Flings. Unlike the previous three books, the theme of this book is more along the lines of ‘crime comedy caper’ with a twist of romance, rather than a traditional ‘rom-com’ formula. I’ve taken a bit of… Read More

Avon Books Christmas Guide

Avon Books Christmas Guide It’s that time of the year again! Christmas is just a few weeks away and we couldn’t be more excited! As wonderful as it is with the endless parties, mountains of mince pies and gallons of mulled wine, it’s also a very busy season and there’s… Read More

The Darkest Fears Are Often Rooted in Realism

The Darkest Fears Are Often Rooted in Realism   What scares you the most? As a thriller writer, it’s a question I tackle in my writing daily. My goal is to uncover the scariest, creepiest things in life and put the reader at their mercy. These fears certainly… Read More

Christmas in 1943

Christmas in 1943 When Avon asked me if I would write a post for their website on what Christmas was like in 1943 – the year my latest book, An Orphan’s Wish, is set in – I automatically said yes. However, it’s a rather gloomy subject because the war was… Read More

Taking a Creative Writing Course

I began writing seriously some ten years ago but my development as a writer really began when I secured a place on the Curtis Brown Creative writing course in September 2013. It almost didn’t happen. Earlier that year I’d submitted my first novel, an historical spy story, to Curtis Brown… Read More

A Day in the Life of a Publicity Manager

Hi everyone, Quick introduction – my name is Sabah and I look after all the publicity here at Avon Books. Publicity is something that people tend to get mixed up with marketing and events but the roles are very similar and there is a lot of crossover so I work… Read More

Submitting a Manuscript to Avon Books

Writing a book is not an easy process. But trying to get your book published is even harder. Oh boy, the joys of trawling the internet or subscribing to and then poring over the magazines and well-meaning books about how to submit your treasured manuscript for publication… I’ve always loved… Read More