INTERVIEW: Kindle bestseller Nicola May considers the pros and cons of self-publishing v. traditional publishing

Reading Time: 4 minutes Nicola May is a self-publishing sensation, and the author of a dozen romantic comedies. In 2019 she hit the #1 Kindle bestseller spot in the UK with The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay. Now she’s signed a three-book deal with Hodder. Jon Reed asked her why.

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The Accidental Author: How Kerry Wilkinson conquered the Kindle charts

Reading Time: 7 minutes Kerry Wilkinson is something of an accidental author. His debut, Locked In, was written as a challenge to himself but, after self-publishing, it became a UK number one bestseller within three months of release. Then he signed a six-book deal with Pan Macmillan. Jon Reed asks him how he did it.

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From fantasy to reality – how Ben Galley became a successful self-publishing authorpreneur

Reading Time: 7 minutes Ben Galley is the self-published fantasy author of The Emaneska Series. Zealous about inspiring other authors and writers, he also runs the popular advice site Shelf Help, and is the co-founder of ebook store Libiro. Ben became a successful full-time ‘authorpreneur’ at the age of 26 and within a few years of publishing his first book. Jon Reed asks him how he did it.

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INTERVIEW: What does it take to be a bestselling novelist? Barbara Taylor Bradford explains

Reading Time: 4 minutes Want to be a bestselling novelist? In the first of our features on writing, Barbara Taylor Bradford tells Danuta Kean what it takes.
Barbara Taylor Bradford is a tonic: a tonic for writers jaded by capricious publishers whose loyalty to authors’ careers is barely longer than a supermarket promotion. She is also a lesson to all that hard work is as essential to a long career as a passion about writing. At 77 there is no slacking off for BTB. Thirty-one years after her blockbuster début A Woman of Substance appeared, she has just published her 26th novel, Playing the Game, backed by a publicity schedule that would daunt far younger writers.

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