Anna Campbell – Want to be a Successful Author? Here’s how…
Anna Campbell is a wonderful example of someone who wanted to make it as a writer and put in the hard yards to achieve their goal. After writing her first novel, it took her twenty-seven years to achieve publishing success with her book Claiming the Courtesan. She attributes much of her success to being a member of the Romance Writers of Australia.
In this interview she spoke about the importance of belonging to a supportive writing organisation that helps you achieve your writing goals.
Darrell - Can you describe a typical day of writing?
Anna - Hi Darrell! Thanks for talking to me today. One of the things I like about writing is that there really isn’t a typical day. I generally divide my day between promotion and writing with writing taking a larger and larger slice closer to deadline.
Darrell - You had several years of writing before finally breaking into the big time with Claiming the Courtesan. Did you feel your standard of writing move from amateur to professional when you wrote this book or was it simply a long, slow process of improvement in the previous years?
Anna - I actually finished my first historical romance after high school and it was twenty-seven years after that that I sold Claiming the Courtesan to Avon in New York. I think I always had a pretty good grip on the mechanics of writing although all those years in the unpublished wilderness meant I had a wonderful opportunity to develop my voice. The thing that made a difference between Claiming the Courtesan and my previous manuscripts is that I’d finally learned to write emotion.
Darrell - What research do you do to write historical romance novels?
Anna - After writing six Regency-set romances (and an unpublished manuscript under the bed), I’ve got a fairly good general knowledge of the Regency now. But there’s usually something specific I have to research in depth for each story. For Untouched, it was the treatment of mental illness in the early 19th century and for Captive of Sin, it was the East India Company. I’ve also been lucky enough to visit the UK, where the books are set, on a regular basis – wandering around stately homes or green countryside definitely counts as research!
Darrell - You've spoken before about the importance of being a member of Romance Writers of Australia. In what way has this helped you as a writer?
Anna - In so many ways! If you’re interested in writing romance, I’d definitely recommend joining RWAustralia (http://www.romanceaustralia.com/). They run contests, crit groups, several email loops and a monthly newsletter. Each year, they also have a wonderful conference where you can meet romance writers from all over the world. I’ve also made some wonderful friends through RWA – nobody understands the ups and downs of a writer’s life like another writer.
Darrell - What methods of marketing have worked the most for you in promoting your books?
Anna - I think the best advertising for your books is to write another good book.
I enjoy the social media sites, especially Facebook (my fan page is http://www.facebook.com/AnnaCampbellFans and I’d love to see you there). I have a pretty comprehensive website (www.annacampbell.info) that I update monthly – a good website is the absolute minimum promotional requirement from an author these days. I do talks and workshops and I give away a lot of books. I think you develop a fan base reader by reader.
Darrell - How do you think writing will change now that ebooks are on the market?
Anna - That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? I think it’s too early to say exactly what effect digital books will have on the market as a whole. A good story will still be a good story but I think one benefit of the e-book explosion will be that there will be a greater variety of stories for readers to enjoy.
Darrell - What advice would you have for someone trying to succeed as a writer?
Anna - Write, write and write some more. There’s a lot of noise out there at the moment and it’s easy to get distracted, but if you want to succeed as a writer, you need to do the hard work of getting the words on the page.
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