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YouWriteOn
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Author Douglas Jackson - Forum Chat - Tomorrow 4 pm to 5 pm Saturday 16th August Doug Jackson, author of Roman Epic Caligula and a YouWriteOn member, will be answering questions on writing and his publishing experiences. Doug received a 6 figure publishing deal from Random House after developing his story on YouWriteOn.com, and his book is currently in book shops everywhere. Doug is also an assistant editor at The Scotsman newspaper. Everyone is welcome to ask Doug questions. Doug will be answering member questions asked between 4 to 5 pm on Saturday 16th August first. If there is time he will answer other questions posted before then for members who are not available during the live chat. Questions posted before 4pm tomorrow will appear and be asked tomorrow if time allows. To post a question, click on the Reply to Topic button. To quote another post, for example because you'd like to ask something about it, click 'Reply to Post'. Caligula - The Story: Rufus begins a new life that will take him from the seedy underworld of the arena to the court of Caligula, the psychopathic and unpredictable Emperor of Rome. Here, he and his friend, the gladiator Cupido, become entangled in a plot to assassinate the young Emperor. Can a slave decide the fate of Rome? View Best Novel Prices We hope members will enjoy this opportunity to learn about the process a writer goes through from start through to publishing and entering bookstores and, even once a writer has 'made it', what the challenges are with being in a bookstore amongst the other writers. Hopefully as time goes by we will also see a community of published writers sharing experiences and assisting each other in various ways so this is a good opportunity to make contact with Doug and fellow writers. Everyone is welcome to join in.
This post was last edited by YouWriteOn, 16 Aug 2008, 17:25
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YouWriteOn
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A very warm welcome to all members to Doug Jackson's forum chat on his novel Caligula and his writing and publishing experiences. Doug is now online, his user ID is Callant. We'll start with a question from spotty leopard, and we look forward to hearing all your questions and comments, which Doug will do his best to answer in this forum chat between 4 and 5 today. Ted Quote: spotty leopardHi Doug, Congratulations on Caligula doing so well. You are a source of inspiration and envy to us all! My question is: How did you choose Stan of the Jenny Brown Agency in Edinburgh? Did you submit the manuscript to him without knowing him, and if so, how many other agencies had you tried?
This post was last edited by YouWriteOn, 16 Aug 2008, 16:11
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Lorraine
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Hi Doug, It's said that authors today have to be prepared to take on more promotional activity than in the past. Could you tell us what involvement you've had in marketing the book? Is your input more, or less, than you'd anticipated? Lorraine
This post was last edited by Lorraine, 16 Aug 2008, 16:05
The ABC Checklist for New WritersVisit my website: Lorraine Mace
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plumboz
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Hi Doug.
I have a lot of questions, but we'll start with Why Rome? How long have you been interested in this period of history and what was the trigger for this story?
Alan (plumboz)
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KatherineW
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Hi! Huge congratulations on the success of your book!
Did you have to do a lot of reworking once you had an HC editor on board? I've heard from an insider that these days agents and publishers look for manuscripts that are more or less perfect rather than committing to working on them with new authors. Does this reflect your own experience?
Thanks!
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YouWriteOn
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Quote: Lorraine, Saturday, 16 Aug 2008 16:03Hi, do we wait until Doug has answered one question before posting another? Hi Lorraine, you can ask away, and Doug will do his best to keep up and answer all questions over the hour. Ted
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Anasazi
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Hi Doug,
Huge congrats on your success with Caligula. It's a cracking read.
My question is, now that you're a published writer do the demands of your publisher/agent as well as the time constraints of writing a sequel and other books put you under any pressure to "give up the day job" and do writing full time? Presumably balancing writng and your newspaper job has become that bit more difficult now.
Bob
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Callant
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Hi Lex, thanks for your question and can I just say how good it is to be here for the chat. Youwriteon and its members played a big role in my development and it's great to be able to give something back.
To reply to the question: I had actually sent an early draft of Caligula to Jenny Brown about six months before I met Stan and it had been rejected out of hand. It was only after I began working on the version that Sara O'Keeffe at Orion suggested that he became interested in The Emperor's Elephant, although we'd been working informally on another project for a few months before that.
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Callant
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Quote: Lorraine, Saturday, 16 Aug 2008 16:03Hi Doug, It's said that authors today have to be prepared to take on more promotional activity than in the past. Could you tell us what involvement you've had in marketing the book? Is your input more, or less, than you'd anticipated? Lorraine Hi Lorraine, so far it has been less than I expected. I thought there'd be a lot more organised stuff like radio interviews, but just about everything I've done I've actually organised myself, apart from the launch, which Transworld organised with Blackwells and was a great success. I think I've done half a dozen newspaper interviews and one radio interview. Oh, and I've put up quite a few signed copies as prizes which I think is a good way to connect with readers.
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missmorston
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Hi Doug - may congratulations on your well deserved success, and here's my quetion: What were your reactions when your editor asked you to split your story into two - from what I gather there must have been some extensive rewriting - did your heart sink at the prospect, or were you champing at the bit with new ideas? Were you happy with the result, or does a part of you still cherish that initial draft of 'Emperor's Elephant'? All the best Jo
Stop the sketch - it's too silly
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plumboz
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Quote: YouWriteOn, Saturday, 16 Aug 2008 16:05Quote: Lorraine, Saturday, 16 Aug 2008 16:03Hi, do we wait until Doug has answered one question before posting another? Hi Lorraine, you can ask away, and Doug will do his best to keep up and answer all questions over the hour. Ted Ha! A free for all! Excellent. Poor Doug. Did you find it at all difficult to make the changes suggested that turned The Emperor's Elephants into Caligula? Or maybe the better question would be, what was the most challenging aspect of doing so, and what fell into place with the most ease? Oh, and what are you wearing right now? Everybody is anxious to know but nobody wanted to ask.
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Callant
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Quote: plumboz, Saturday, 16 Aug 2008 16:04Hi Doug. I have a lot of questions, but we'll start with Why Rome? How long have you been interested in this period of history and what was the trigger for this story? Alan (plumboz) Hi Alan, hope your well. I grew up in a town calledf Jedburgh that buzzed with history. It had a huge 12th century abbey ruin that had been burned down by Edward 1 and half a dozen other English kings (not that I hold it against you lot), and the area is famous for the Border Reivers who were a lawless bunch of 15th century raiders. I first got interested in Rome and the Romans when I restored a Roman camp near where I lived. It was by pure chance that I got the job, but it was fascinating to be doing the same work the legions had done there 2000 years ago and it really captured my imagination.
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dannyg
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Hi Doug - many congratulations on your success. I wondered, have there been any parts of the publishing process that you really haven't enjoyed, or at least haven't been as much fun as you hoped? I'm thinking along the lines of proof reading, arguing with editors etc.
This post was last edited by dannyg, 16 Aug 2008, 16:14
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Callant
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Quote: KatherineW, Saturday, 16 Aug 2008 16:04Hi! Huge congratulations on the success of your book! Did you have to do a lot of reworking once you had an HC editor on board? I've heard from an insider that these days agents and publishers look for manuscripts that are more or less perfect rather than committing to working on them with new authors. Does this reflect your own experience? Thanks! To be honest I didn't have a huge amount to do on the Caligula manuscript for the publisher, but I think a lot of that was down to Stan, my agent, who pushed me to perfect it and helped to develop it. Simon, my editor at Transworld, came up with a few improvements which I'd always had at the back of my mind but was probably too lazy to do and he asked me to beef up the ending, but that was about it. Hope that's helpful Katherine
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madridhibs
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Hi Doug Did your experiences in a newspaper office help you write about a power-crazy despot?  Seriously, Caligula is a real psycho. How difficult was he to write considering you're not a power-crazed despot?  (Hibs are winning!)
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View Doug's Forum Chat
15 Aug 2008, 12:40
