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Crikey! Posted by geographer November 21, 2008 |
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Pronoun Problems Posted by geographer November 21, 2008 |
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Rejection songs Posted by David Bridger November 21, 2008 |
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Podcast Show Notes - Litopia Daily 096: Empathy Posted by Litopian November 21, 2008 |
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Books you've bought by their cover Posted by StephenCote November 21, 2008 |
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Podcast Show Notes - Litopia Daily Special: Here is the News Posted by Litopian November 21, 2008 |
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Writing is good for your health! Posted by Vivaldo November 21, 2008 |
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From Behler Blog: Vanity - big hopes, wrong idea Posted by Nobilis November 21, 2008 |
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How is the old patience holding up? Posted by ema.cs November 21, 2008 |
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Podcast Show Notes - Litopia Daily Special: Here is the News Posted by Litopian November 21, 2008 |
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From Behler Blog: Do my shoes match? Posted by Litopian November 21, 2008 |
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Story vs Plot Posted by oscuridad November 20, 2008 |
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EmailEighteen months after quitting investment banking to write a children’s book, Litopia colonist Steven Barley had compiled a nice stack of twenty rejection slips.
Undeterred, he took a good long look at himself in the mirror and decided it was time to change tack – and his bold move has been rewarded with news that he’s secured an agent.
Steven – aka Stomper – has been signed up by Susan Smith at the MBA Literary Agency.
“Susan specialises in non-fiction,” Steven explained. “We're working on a humorous, autobiographical narrative non-fiction book together – now there's a nightmare for the marketing categorisation – about my transition from an investment banker to domesticated househusband. I quit investment banking in May 2006, ostensibly to write a children's book – but little did I realise my wife had other ideas. My househusband training started almost immediately that first day off!”
Steven said: “After receiving my twentieth rejection for my children's book last December, I needed to explore other writing avenues that had more chance of bringing in some sort of income. So I wrote a few articles on my change in circumstances and sent them off to women's magazines and a couple of national newspapers as feature pieces, but had no reply.
"I even submitted the concept as a series of radio monologues to Radio 4, but my friend of an ex-girlfriend's aunt – I kid you not – who commissioned radio work didn't do comedy or pieces shorter than an hour, so that failed too. It was then that I decided to turn my articles into chapters of a book and sent an outline and sample chapters to four non-fiction literary agents as a toe in the water tester. Two rejected, one is yet to answer and one – Susan – was interested.”
Litopia colonists will know Steven’s work as The Househusband Chronicles, although he says the finished product is likely to have a different title.
He said: “Once the detailed proposal is finished, Susan will approach several editors to garner interest while I crack on and write the thing. I joined Litopia in September last year and it has given me so much in terms of motivation, inspiration and determination - it’s been a massive boon, both while developing my children’s book and now the Chronicles. The blog I’ve just started – at www.stevenbarley.com – is along the same lines as the Chronicles, but it is stuff that won’t fit in to the ‘personal journey’ I make in the book.”
Steven is keen to continue writing short stories and children’s fiction, but for now they are firmly on hold until his househusband duties are completed.