Camilla Chester - Children's Author
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Welcome to my blog, a place where you can keep up to date with everything I'm up to!

Agent News (Long Post Warning!)

24/7/2019

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For those of you who haven't guessed, or didn't know, my books are not traditionally published. In summary, this means that I have paid a publisher to produce them, the publisher has not paid me.

It's been a life-long dream of mine to become a professional Children's Author and for me, this means being traditionally published. In order to do that you have to have an agent. Agents get, on average, 10-40 submissions every week. It's hugely competitive.

When Jarred Dreams was doing well in that first competition, I was really hopeful that I would win the prize of being published with Bloomsbury. When that didn't happen and I found myself back in the 'slush pile', fighting for agent attention, I decided to self-publish the book and worked hard for sales and recognition.

It made enough money for me to go on to self-publish EATS and then Thirteenth Wish, but with all three books I have tried to get agent representation and failed.

When I wrote my fourth book, unlike the others, I knew I wasn't going to self-publish it. Like all things, self-publishing has its limitations, the biggest one being distribution. I have no regrets and I'm proud of everything I have achieved. To be able to hold my books in my hands has made me extremely happy. To hear what readers think, and to go into schools, well... that's been incredible.

But with book 4 I was on Mission Agent! I entered it into all the competitions I could find that I was eligible for and submitted it to several agents. I then signed up to the SPARK scheme with Write Mentor and was lucky to get Emma Barton-Smith.

Emma is wonderful, my SCBWI friends are fantastic, my critique group members (KXC: Annie, Nicky, Zena, Az, Sue and Sarah / Brixton: Asha & Priscilla) are the best, as are my St Albans writing group (particularly Anne, Jonnie and Sally). I've had great support from Librarians, Teachers, Heads, Course Tutors, Literary Festival people, Storytellers and lots of others in this wonderful network of Children's Literature, but none of them can launch me into the world of traditional publishing.

There was no interest from agents or the competitions. I either had nice rejections or heard nothing and then Mslexia happened and EVERYTHING changed. I expected a similar experience to Jarred Dreams, where being a finalist fizzled out into nothingness, but this has been a whirlwind.

Part of the prize of being in the final five was going to a Show Case event at Hachette offices with lots of other writing competition finalists. Here I met many agents and editors and people who were genuinely interested in me and my writing. I was no longer bogged down in the slush pile, they were interested in me!

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​There was one person who I felt a real connection with - let me introduce you to, Laura West, Literary Agent at David Higham Associates.

Laura and I chatted for ages and it was the most honest and open conversation I had ever had with an agent - trust me, I've spoken to quite a few!

I emailed her book 4, Darna's Sky and was really hoping she would like my writing. She read it over the same weekend. On the Monday, when I saw she had emailed me, I was frightened to open it, fearing another 'nice rejection'.

Instead it was the Author's Dream Email: the one we all hope to receive. She loved it, she wanted to talk representation, I was in! I was in the horse field with the dogs when I read it and jumped around, deliriously happy.
What then followed was a surreal experience of having to turn down two other offers of agent representation, but I just knew that Laura was the right choice for me. Imagine having a choice! 

Laura and I met up again yesterday (which coincided with my 13 year Wedding Anniversary) and had a few pictures taken at the gorgeous book filled offices at David Higham in Oxford Circus. We chatted for over an hour and it was heaven.

I feel so lucky and totally get those heartfelt agent thank yous I jealously read in the back of books. It's finally my turn!
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Final Note: If  you look closely at the photo you will see that I am wearing my Persist necklace. I bought it when I started on my serious agent mission with Darna's Sky, as a reminder to myself to celebrate 'keeping going'. And look - Persistence Pays! 

WATCH THIS SPACE - I'VE GOT LAURA ON-SIDE NOW, ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN!
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Final, final note (I promise!)

For our wedding anniversary Ade and I went to the Sky Gardens in Fenchurch Street,  for a meal.

For a moment there I felt like we were back in Singapore (where Book 4, Darna's Sky is set) and I was amazed at how connected life can be. 
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Storytelling Weekend

22/7/2019

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I've just returned from an amazing weekend where I learned all about the fantastic craft of oral storytelling. Here I am pictured with some of the masters of the trade.

I was lucky enough to attend the course, run by Michael Harvey (pictured directly behind me) and organised by Andy Copps (far left back) designed for people who have been practicing the craft for some time and wanted to develop their skills and understanding.

Being a writer, I was coming in from a different angle, but I found I loved being able to tell my stories by physically embracing my characters. It felt natural to me and it was very helpful of many levels. I used the story I am currently writing (Lion) and brought the scenes to life by telling them  to others.The process helped my understanding of what needed to be highlighted and what was not as important. 
The photo on the right is me and Andy, just as I was leaving. Andy has previous links with SCBWI and he will hopefully be cleverly designing a workshop as an Introduction to Oral Storytelling specifically for Children's Writers and Illustrators. 

Let's hope we can find a way to get the magic of oral storytelling into our work. If for nothing else than the laughter - I seriously had  countless bouts of giggling throughout the weekend.

​It's going to be incredibly useful for all my author visits and I've an Action Plan about preparing an individual story from each of my books that I can perform.

I feel very privileged to be welcomed into such a joyful group
 and I learnt more that I could possibly have hoped for. It was a really wonderful and utterly invaluable experience that I will always treasure. 
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....and the answer is: Seven Stories, Newcastle

7/7/2019

1 Comment

 
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I posted the photo on the left onto Instagram and the photo on the right  on Twitter to see if people could guess where I was visiting on Friday afternoon.  And the answer is of course - Seven Stories in Newcastle. The beautiful building is a renovated mill devoted entirely to  Children's Stories. You've probably guessed from the name that it has seven floors, each wonderful and unique.
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Being a Children's Author gave me extra privileges and I was given a guided tour by Cathy and had a coffee and a chat with Sarah one of the CEOs who told me all about the history of Seven Stories. I was interested to know that in addition to being a story centre doing all kinds of wonderful children's literature work, it is also a museum, holding the biggest collection of children's books and manuscript archives.

If you're a regular reader of my blog you will know that the reason I knew about Seven Stories was because I met David Almond when he was a Key Note Speaker at at SCBWI conference one year. David is a HUGE supporter of Seven Stories and his wonderful description of the centre stayed with me. I promised myself if I was ever up in Newcastle I would definitely visit.

It took a while, but as I was at a pitching workshop on Saturday as part of my Mslexia Finalist prize (have I mentioned that I'm a finalist in the Mslexia Children's Novel Award 2019 ;) Maybe once or twice!) I took the opportunity to visit Seven Stories.

Very sadly David's exhibition: Where Your Wings Were had just finished (sniff) but I do remember his author story from the conference. If you're an aspiring Children's Author, yourself and you ever get a chance to read or hear about David's story - please do. It's hugely encouraging because it took him forever to become a big name in Children's Literature. The message I got from him was to keep going and write what I want to write, because I love it.

Anyway, Seven Stories is ace and definitely worth a visit. It's - a really interactive space for children and families, a centre for school visits and a general celebration of words and illustrations.

Plus, as you can see from my photos, there is a David McKee (creator of Mr Ben, Elmer and Not Now Bernard) exhibition on at the moment  and Chris Riddle has drawn all over the walls, for real! If you want to know more take a look at The Seven Stories Website.

Whilst I was in Newcastle I checked out a few more things, not really book related but worth a mention, including the City Farm, the Millennium Bridge, the Sage Centre for Music and the Baltic. The Baltic is an Art Museum which is completely free and has all kinds of interesting exhibitions on. With the risk of sounding more like a travel writer than a Children's Author, Newcastle is definitely worth checking out. 
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  • Home
  • About Camilla
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