Saturday 29 September 2012

Waiting for Stephen Spielberg by Tony Bradman


This year marks a very significant anniversary for me. In November 1987 I went freelance as a writer of children’s books, so I’ve now been making a living in our business for 25 years. At the time I was two months away from my 34th birthday, the father of three young children, and our family’s main breadwinner. I had wanted to be a writer since my early teens, and by that I meant one thing – I wanted to write books. I was already working as a journalist and a reviewer, and I knew I’d always be happy to carry on doing those things as part of my freelance career, but writing books was what really mattered to me.

    That quarter of a century has, of course, vanished in the blink of an eye, mostly because it’s been packed with all the events and incidents of work and family. But the world has certainly changed. I bought my first computer in October 1987, an Amstrad with one of those clattering daisy-wheel printers, the whole thing seeming like some kind of Blakes’ 7 version of a typewriter. I didn’t communicate by email, and wrote physical letters and printed out my manuscripts to send in the post. I didn’t have a mobile phone, either, just a big old clunky white plastic receiver connected to the BT landline network.

    Publishing itself was very different then. The great age of mergers was only just getting under way, and there were lots of small publishers and lists. There was a thriving library market for children’s books too, although anyone who remembers the 80s will know that libraries (and many other things!) were threatened by budget cuts then too. It was a time long before Harry Potter, when several editors told me that children’s fiction was an endangered species, and that in particular no one was interested in historical novels or fantasy. Picture books ruled, partly because of the rise of the co-edition market, but also because of Sebastian Walker and the brilliantly innovative company he created.

    The publishers I worked for were bought and sold, editors came and went, I switched agents, governments changed, recessions happened, and through it all I seemed to get by, even though in some respects our business has changed beyond recognition – it’s certainly a tougher, much less cosy world than the one I first encountered. I produced picture book texts, collections of poetry, fiction for 5-8s, edited anthologies, reviewed, and visited hundreds of schools. My kids grew up and left home and started having kids of their own, which was very useful (my grandchildren have given me ideas for quite a few books!).

    So what have I learned in my 25 years of being a freelance writer? That’s the question I asked myself when I sat down this morning to write my first ABBA blog post. Well, the main thing in the early years was that I should have been careful what I wished for. Making a living out of being a children’s writer turned out to be no picnic, and it never gets any easier. Unless you’re lucky enough to have a private income, a wealthy partner, or manage to write a bestseller early in your career, you’re always going to have periods of struggle. I’m proud of everything I’ve done, but I’ve often had to put aside a story I wanted to write in favour of a commission that would pay the bills. Getting the balance right between artistic satisfaction and making a living is always hard.

    I also learned the truth of the quote I had pinned up over my desk for years (I forget who said it) – ‘A professional is a man who can always do his job, even when he doesn’t feel like it.’ (Apologies for the sexism – but I’ve always assumed it to apply equally to female professionals!) I am a professional, and writing is what I do. So however grumpy I might get about low advances, slow contracts and the fact that I’m not getting a nationwide publicity tour to promote my new book and Stephen Spielberg still hasn’t called, I sit at my desk every day and do the best job I can for the best readers a writer could have – children.

    As I write, I’m three months away from my 59th birthday, so I’m not sure I’ll be writing 25 years from now. But I like the idea that I might still be getting to my desk in the morning, turning on my laptop (or whatever incredible piece of kit might be available) and staring at the screen until I work out what to write. And you never know, I might have produced that elusive bestseller by then...

Tony Bradman’s novel Viking Boy has just been published by Walker Books, and he has written a piece about it for the fabulous History Girls website - http://the-history-girls.blogspot.co.uk/. Tony also has his own website – www.tonybradman.com.

12 comments:

Sue Purkiss said...

Welcome to ABBA, Tony, and I bet Stephen S will be on the line as soon as he reads your post!

Joan Lennon said...

Welcome to ABBA - and I suspect you'll still be going strong 25 years from now!

Penny Dolan said...

What a nice surprise for a Saturday morning! Welcome, Tony!

I was watching the first of the Viking series on catch-up tv last night and thought of your exciting new book.

adele said...

Hiya Tony!! Among all the relative youngsters on ABBA it's good to see another (dare I say it??) OLD TIMER!! I am even more long in the tooth than you...by nearly a decade and have been writing for more than 35 years...Heavens, that is OLD!! Anyway, enjoy your time on ABBA and hope to see you soon at one of our regular gatherings.

June said...

What a great post... and so easy to relate to for those of us who started our children's books careers in the 80's.
I suspect we have all had similar journeys... some with more success than others. Thanks for sharing yours, Tony.

Candy Gourlay said...

Nice to see you on ABBA Tony. Terrific post - sobering and inspiring at the same time for us beginners. I remember reading Dilly the Dinosaur who used to screaaaaaaaaaam ... and wishing I could write a book as good as that.

Emma Barnes said...

Welcome to ABBA Tony - and thanks for that overview of children's publishing and how things change (and stay the same).

‘A professional is a man who can always do his job, even when he doesn’t feel like it.’ Think I might pin that on the wall too.

John Dougherty said...

I echo all the welcomes, Tony! Lovely to have you here, and looking forward to more pearls of wisdom in the months to come!

Pippa Goodhart said...

But the doing commissioned work that may not be the thing you really want to write is exactly why you are a professional rather than a hobby writer, Tony. I feel more legitimate as a bread winner when doing those more obviously 'work' kinds of jobs ... and actually they sometimes end up producing stories I really enjoy writing, almost in spite of myself!

Miriam Halahmy said...

No worries Tony - Spielberg doesn't know what he's missing - he'll wake up and smell the coffee one fine morning. Meanwhile welcome to ABBA and look forward to reading your posts.

Linda Strachan said...

Hi Tony, great to see you on Abba. Fascinating to read your journey.

eddd said...

Excellent. I started writing at about the same time! Eddd