J.K. Rowling's Rejection Story: Holding onto an Idea

They say that the best leaders are often the most voracious readers, constantly looking for new ways to expand their horizons. Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how much of my own professional creativity stems from the worlds of fiction rather than just business manuals. To help you find your next great escape or source of inspiration, I’ve put together a list of some truly compelling novels that are worth your time: Theo of Golden: A Novel by Levi, Allen https://lnkd.in/gy5iUu9s Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Ray Porter, Audible Studios https://lnkd.in/g-6aq8im The Book of Longings: A Novel by Kidd, Sue Monk https://lnkd.in/gWZ6tQ9A The Correspondent: A Novel by Evans, Virginia https://lnkd.in/gqqscH_E The Lost Bookshop by Woods, Evie https://lnkd.in/gBtN_Eyp The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel by Lawhon, Ariel https://lnkd.in/gXkbJBxg Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner) by Diaz, Hernan https://lnkd.in/g3-rVrnj The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel by Reid, Taylor Jenkins https://lnkd.in/gbcgZEqV In Five Years: A GMA Book Club Pick (a Novel) by Serle, Rebecca https://lnkd.in/grGfPABN The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel by Lombardo, Claire https://lnkd.in/gpCCETjM The Nightingale: A Novel by Hannah, Kristin https://lnkd.in/gcyYg2K2 Then She Was Gone: A Novel by Jewell, Lisa https://lnkd.in/gpXqKtPD Let’s start a conversation in the comments! 👇 How many novels have you read so far this year? 📚 For the creators among us: have you ever written (or started writing) a novel? ✍️ I'd love to hear what stories are currently shaping your world!

“Publishing is weaving invisible fabrics of thought.” When a book is published, something remarkable begins to happen. Words leave the quiet space of a writer’s desk and begin a journey into the minds of strangers. Pages travel across cities, across countries, sometimes across generations. And slowly, an invisible fabric starts to form. 📚 Every reader who opens the book becomes part of that fabric. A sentence sparks an idea. A paragraph invites reflection. A story mirrors an experience someone thought only they had lived. Threads of thought begin to connect people who may never meet, yet somehow understand each other through the same words. This is one of the quiet powers of publishing. Books do more than inform or entertain. They create shared spaces of meaning. A reader in one part of the world can feel connected to a writer who lived decades earlier. Two strangers can recognize the same insight and feel less alone in their thinking. Writers often begin with a single intention. To express a question, a memory, or a perspective that feels important. Yet once the book reaches readers, it becomes something larger. The fabric grows in ways the author may never fully see. New interpretations appear. New conversations begin. Ideas travel further than expected. ✨ Publishing, in this way, is not only about releasing a book. It is about building quiet bridges between minds and moments. What fabric did your book weave? #PublishingFabric #BooksConnectUs

Brains behind bestsellers. We often celebrate the big names that dominate shelves and reading lists. Their books travel across continents, spark conversations, and sit proudly on bestseller charts. Yet behind the bright spotlight of popular titles, there is another world quietly thriving. A world of underrated authors whose words carry just as much depth, creativity, and heart. 📚 These writers may not always trend on social media or headline literary festivals. Still, their work lingers in the mind long after the last page. They experiment with voice. They play with structure. They craft characters that feel deeply human and stories that unfold with unexpected honesty. Sometimes discovering an underrated author feels like finding a hidden café in a busy city. It is calm, authentic, and somehow more personal. You feel lucky to have stumbled upon it. And once you do, you want to tell everyone about it. Readers who explore beyond bestseller lists often discover fresh perspectives and unique storytelling styles. These voices expand the literary landscape. They remind us that powerful stories are not always the loudest ones. Perhaps the next book that shifts your thinking, or quietly changes your perspective, is written by someone the world has not fully noticed yet. And maybe that is part of the magic of reading. There is always another hidden gem waiting to be found. ✨ Comment with your underrated pick. #AuthorSpotlight #ReadMore #HiddenGems

Today marks 90 days since I started my manuscript. That’s dangerous because of what tends to happen here. Books die here, and it is always the author’s fault. At first, I thought the question was simple: Do I push hard and finish this in 90 days? Or do I keep my current pace and let it take as long as it needs? I’ve seen both paths play out. The author who rushes to hit a deadline often publishes something embarrassing. And even if their career recovers later, they remain gun-shy. The career-defining book(s) they could have written die in the ether. The author who “takes their time” runs into a different trap. The book stretches into infinity, towards perfection. And, since perfection does not exist in this realm, the book never does either. They think it’s a crossroads. In reality, both paths loop back to each other. There is a third path. A genuine exit. One that has nothing to do with speed or perfection. The first step on that path is simple: you listen. Books are living things. They exist long before you write the first word. And once you begin, your job is not to force them into shape. It’s to hear what they’re asking for. Sometimes the book wants to come out fast. Sometimes it needs more time. Neither is the problem. The problem is whether you can tell the difference. Most people can’t. Not because they lack ability, but because they’re listening to everything except the book. Industry “standards”. Other authors. Advice from non-authors. “Adults” from decades ago. Their own ego. So here’s the real question: Do you trust yourself enough to listen? Can you set aside your selfish reasons for writing the book long enough to hear its voice? Your greed has no need to be immortalized. Nor does your vanity or hunger for approval. That’s your noise. Your true book is the signal. Once you learn to tune into it, the path is obvious. And if you don’t, you will settle for a dead book. A book that has no power of its own. A book that can only move by force. You already know which one you’re doing. If you want help fixing that, I’m here.

I recently spoke with two potential authors collaborating on a project. One was a rising entrepreneur with media coverage. The other was a researcher with fascinating data. Both perspectives were interesting. But when editors look at a book like that, they immediately ask: Whose book is this? Is this founder story? Or a research-driven big idea book? Who exactly is the reader? Does the author already visibly connect with that audience by way of their platform? Until these kinds of questions are answered by an author, the publishing path remains unclear. These are the kinds of conversations we’ll be having at the Writer Symposium. Not just about craft. But about how books actually get positioned—and sold—to publishers.

Inspired by a day at the London Book Fair earlier this month, and an Indie Author Lab held by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), am experimenting this week with a freebie of the Kindle ebook of my psychological whodunnit 'Husbandry', until Friday 30th March ! Not sure if allowed to post a link on here, though if light cosy crime and tricksy characters are someone's cup of tea, the book's easy to find. Am interested to see how the experiment works. As a writer, I'm much more familiar with the creative process than with the push and pull of the marketing world. So it was fascinating to learn more about the rise of the 'authorpreneur' at the ALLi eventfelt. It felt like witnessing the birth of a whole set of young planets in a rapidly-exploding new segment of the publishing cosmos. Their energy is huge. I'd be happy just to be a bit of stardust, though - if I can!

"He just wanted something decent to read....." Yesterday, after a long hiatus, I finally picked up the book I had been procrastinating on. As I was flicking through the pages, an interesting anecdote at the end caught my eye. It was about how Penguin Publications came into being. Sir Allen Lane, then Managing Director of Bodley Head Publishers, was looking for a decent read on his journey from Exeter to London. His choice was limited though - a few popular magazines and poor quality paperbacks. A predicament faced by the majority of readers, few of whom could afford hardbacks. This small moment of frustration led to the creation of Penguin Books - with the aim of bringing good quality literature to the masses in the form of affordable paperbacks. What I found even more interesting was the genius marketing strategy that Sir Lane used. Instead of limiting them to traditional bookshops, Lane's penguins travelled everywhere - from chain stores to tobacconists. In addition, Lane was adamant that they should cost no more than a pack of cigarettes. By July 1936, just 10 months after its inception, one million penguin books had already been printed. Suddenly, good books were not just affordable - they were accessible. Nearly a century later, the little bird has become synonymous with books. From crime thrillers to autobiographies and reference books to prize winning literary fiction - it continues to enthrall readers while carrying forward the simple idea its founder believed in: making good literature available to everyone. P.S. - The book I'm currently reading is "Team of Rivals - The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln", if anyone was curious! #books #innovation #marketing

📚🌍 Collecting Stories That Matter A great collection isn’t just about rarity—it’s about voices. 💬 Collecting books from underrepresented authors means discovering perspectives that were often overlooked, unheard, or underestimated. And that’s where true cultural value lives. ✨ Why it matters: 🔹 Unique Perspectives – Stories shaped by different cultures, identities, and experiences. 🔹 Cultural Impact – These works redefine literature and expand what we consider “classic.” 🔹 Growing Demand – As awareness rises, so does the value of first editions and early prints. 📈 🔹 Meaningful Collecting – It’s not just about owning books—it’s about preserving voices. 📖 From powerful memoirs to groundbreaking fiction, these books don’t just sit on shelves… they spark conversation and change perspectives. 💡 Because the most valuable collections aren’t just rare— they’re relevant, inclusive, and impactful. 💫 #BookCollecting #DiverseVoices #LiteratureMatters #InclusiveStories #RareBooks #CollectorsLife #CulturalValue #BookLovers #999Collectibles #MeaningfulCollecting

The hardest manuscripts to finish are the ones that mostly work. They’re about 90% done. Nothing is dramatically wrong. The story starts in the right place, there are no glaring plot holes, it's pacey, it's fun... And yet there’s this one thing that doesn’t quite land. Maybe a couple of readers mentioned it, but you’ve adjusted it since then. It’s way better than it was. Of course sometimes, when you reread the manuscript, you wonder if the problem is still there. You can imagine a way to fix this teeny tiny issue, but it would involve pulling the whole book apart. You’d have to dismantle sections that already work well, and you’re not even sure the change would make the story stronger. So the manuscript hovers in a no-mans land, somewhere between 'almost finished' and 'not quite ready'. If someone read it and pointed directly to the issue, you probably wouldn’t be surprised. You’d say something like: ‘Yeah… I’ve wondered that.’ It wouldn’t feel like new information, you'd recognise it. The problem is that this stage of writing a novel can last a surprisingly long time. Writers try to get past it by polishing, but you can’t polish a manuscript in a way that fixes a structural problem. What becomes difficult as you approach the end and start preparing to send your work out into the world, is deciding whether the version you have now is the right one. That’s where people get stuck. They don’t want to send this version, but this version is also pretty good. My Manuscript Intensives are built around a simple idea. The starting point is the question:  If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing in your book… what would it be? Most writers already have an answer, and that answer becomes the focus. In the absence of a magic wand, we test ways of fixing the problem without pulling the whole book apart. The aim is to identify the one change that will have the biggest impact. You don’t have fifty notes to action, you just focus on this one thing. If your manuscript has been hovering in the almost-finished-nearly-there stage for a while, this might be the time to get it over the line.  Comment ‘INTENSIVE’ for details.