Author | Writer | Photographer ~ Writing from the Welsh Borders
Can editing and proofing be automated? Simon Whaley explores online grammar services. I grew up in the 70s and 80s, when grammar was not the primary focus of English language …
As World Intellectual Property Day approaches, Simon Whaley explores how copyright helps our writing business. Celebrating its 21st anniversary on 26th April 2021, World Intellectual Property Day recognises the impact …
My Clun Valley feature is the front cover feature of the latest issue of The People’s Friend. Although a quiet corner of Shropshire, there’s a lot going on there, and it’s easy to spend a whole week exploring the delights the valley has to offer.
AE Housman’s poem, A Shropshire Lad, epitomises the Clun Valley in the lines:
Clunton and Clunbury,
Clungunford and Clun
Are the quietest places
Under the Sun
A Shropshire Lad by AE Housman
Why write one novel, when publishers love a series? Simon Whaley chats to two successful series authors. Thirty-six years ago, Arthur Fowler, Ali Osman and Den Watts broke into Reg …
When it comes to the business of writing, it doesn’t get much better than seeing your book in print. And if you’ve chosen the self-publishing route, then chances are you’ve encountered many challenges along the way. But our responsibilities as an author- publisher don’t stop once our book is on sale. There’s another important business responsibility we’re required to undertake.
There’s no doubt history will record 2020 as an exceptional year. You could say, the use of the word unprecedented by the media has, in itself, been unprecedented. While the future is still uncertain for many of us, there are still some certainties in life. Like taxes.
With the January tax deadline looming, now’s a good time to review your financial documentation for your writing business. The various government support schemes for this financial year may mean you need to retain additional information for this financial year.
At the beginning of December last year, I had a fabulous day out in Tenbury Wells at its Mistletoe festival. This year’s event was supposed to take place on Saturday 5th December but, sadly, because of the pandemic, this year’s event has been cancelled. But there are plans for a festival again in 2021!
Why pay for an ISBN for your next self-published book, when some platforms will freely gift one to you? All businesses want lower costs to maximise profits, and that goes …
The freelancer’s world can be one of feast or famine. Simon Whaley investigates how to spread the harvest more evenly.
Traditionally, this is the time of year when farmers across the country bring in the harvest. Suddenly, there’s an abundance of food which, if carefully managed, will last through the winter.
The latest issue of BBC Countryfile magazine is out with not one, but two pieces of mine!
