Being a Writer and Commissioning Advisor

Six or seven years ago I could only dream of a job that involved reading books all day. I had, what most would call, a good job; I had a career and it paid well. But I was bored, and tired of having to fight constantly to be respected.

I have always been a book-worm; as a child I silently cheered when my mum sent me to my room. She soon got wise to that though and banned me from reading while I was being punished!

A little over five years ago I attended my first ever Harrogate Crime Writers’ Festival. I didn’t know anyone in real life, but I went anyway, assured by my online book club friends I wouldn’t be lonely; they were right. I made some wonderful friends that very first night, and I’ve never looked back.

While I was there, I met Betsy Reavley; in fact, I’d been reading one of her books on the train journey. The short version of the story is, that after a few drinks, I asked her for a job. Don’t ask, don’t get, right? Fast forward six months or so, and I was being paid to read books – a dream come true. For a while, it was just a side gig, but then things came to a head, and I left my well-paid career job and decided to retrain as an editor.

Despite wearing many hats in the world of publishing, my role as commissioning advisor has been constant. My job is to read the manuscripts I am sent, and then to decide if we should publish them or not. I also suggest any changes I think might be a good idea, or even necessary. 

I absolutely adore my job, and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it does have its downsides. I often have to put my own preferences to one side and look at the bigger picture; will our readers enjoy this book? Can we sell this book? I can remember having to reject a particularly excellent book because I knew our readers wouldn’t go for it. 

I also don’t get much of a choice in what I read, so I may end up reading a manuscript that I wouldn’t necessarily pick up off the shelf. However, that can be a great thing too. I’ve been introduced to lots of new authors this way and my reading range is now far more varied.

I love discovering new authors and watching how their careers take off. I especially enjoy seeing how their writing and style evolves over a few books. The major benefit though, is I can read all day if I want too. For me, that’s the be all and end all of my job. 

About three years ago, a good author friend of mine encourage me to try and write my own book. I’d said for years this wasn’t my bag and I’d leave it to the professionals. Eventually he persuaded me to see it as a challenge, write the first draft of a book in a year. We were only talking about a few hundred words a day, and that seemed doable to me. I think that first book took me about nine months to write in the end. Naïve little me set out to write the most diverse, inclusive book I could… it didn’t work. But while I was writing it, I listened to a book called Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates and that sparked the idea that would become Open Your Eyes, my debut novel.

I am one of those writers who, like Stephen King, believes that reading widely and often can only help your writing. I think it’s like learning by osmosis. When I add up all the books I read in a year, whether for work or for pleasure, I come to a figure of around 200 or 250. When you read that many books, there’s no way they couldn’t influence your writing.

When I start to write a new manuscript, I like to read around my subject. Whether that’s a particular style – closed room mystery, unreliable narrator etc – or books with similar themes, isn’t important; for me it’s about immersing myself fully in the right head space.

I’m now someone who takes notes when I read a particularly good passage, or see a great piece of writing advice on social media. And I re-read my notes regularly to remind myself of things I have already learned.

When it comes down to it, I’m not sure I could give you any specific examples of how being a commissioning advisor has affected my writing, I just know that it has. Even indirectly: if it weren’t for meeting Betsy and being given this job, I’m not sure I would have ever become an author.

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Heather J. Fitt Author Bio

Heather was born in Scotland and after moving around Europe with her parents and sister, settled in Hampshire where she met her husband, Stuart.

After leaving the rat-race in 2018, Heather re-trained as an editor and proof-reader and entered the world of publishing. These days she works as a part-time freelancer and a part-time Commissioning Advisor for Bloodhound.

Heather was inspired to start writing her novel by the authors who have become her closest friends. Now the ideas are flowing she has plans to write several more over the coming years.

When she isn’t reading, Heather enjoys spending her time watching sport – especially her beloved rugby – and exploring the British countryside with Stuart.

For regular bookish updates, you can follow Heather on Social Media:

OPEN YOUR EYES

A Scottish journalist enters a dark online world in this unsettling novel of men, women, resentment, and rage . . .

Edinburgh reporter Frankie has finally been assigned a high-profile crime story about a series of sexual assaults, and relishes her big break. Her article focuses on the issue of women’s safety, which doesn’t seem to have improved much since the era of the Yorkshire Ripper.

When Frankie begins to face a torrent of abuse online, she discovers the phenomenon of incels—the men who are trying to stop her from covering the story. But she refuses to back down. What she doesn’t realise is that in this murky online world, one man is being goaded into a spectacular and shocking attack with Frankie as his main target . . .

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing