Thursday, December 27, 2012

Moving on.

I started this blog in 2006, just as I was beginning work on a novel ( my fifth ) called Genesis. This novel, after three major re-writes and a new title, Covenant, gained me representation by a powerful London literary agent named Luigi Bonomi and was the subject of a fierce trade-auction between several major publishing houses.

Since then life has become rather busier. I became a father, which is a remarkably time-consuming but hugely rewarding experience. Covenant was a Sunday Times paperback bestseller, as was the sequel Immortal, which was recently featured as Starbuck's Book of the Week and achieved the highest day-one redemptions in the history of the chain's promotion. Apocalypse, the third book in the series, is also currently selling well and two more Ethan Warner thrillers are to be published in 2013.

The huge effort that goes into writing two or three major novels each year only leaves me a little time to devote to digital media. So at the end of 2012, six years after starting this blog and seventeen years after I began writing, I'm now so busy that I am unable to maintain every account that I began so long ago. I started this blog to record my hoped-for journey from aspiring author to published writer, and amazingly I succeeded and achieved the purpose of these pages. Therefore this will be my last "regular" blog here.

I will occasionally post as new books are launched, however I firmly believe that writing success is not to be found through Facebook, Twitter, Blogger or anything else. It's to be found by consistently writing great books, and that is where I want to focus my attention because it is readers who will decide who succeeds and who fails.

If you're a fan, keep reading. If you're an aspiring author, keep writing and dreaming because I am living proof that, sometimes, it happens to you.

D.C.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Dean.

Sorry to see your blog go, but you're right, in that you have to spend your time writing.
As I said to you a long time ago, I owe you a very big debt of thanks. I had sent out my book time after time and collected a lot of rejection slips. I had put the book away, and my wife asked, "Are you going to send the book out again?" I said, "What's the point?" I started work on another book instead.
Then I came across a blog by a bloke called Dean Crawford.
It was very interesting. He outlined how he had approached an agent, and how he wrote the query letter.
I felt a spark inside again. Took my book out, changed the title, sharpened the first 3 chapters and - for the first time! - got the query letter down to one page.
I had known about Luigi Bonomi of course, but being such a big agency, I didn't think they would want to take me on. Then I thought...what do I have to lose?
So I fired it off and two weeks later, an agent wanted to read it. Then he wrote back saying he wanted to work with me. I was delighted. And all because I came across a blog written by a superb now-published author called Dean Crawford.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you my friend. You and other writers gave me confidence, but your blog made me dust down my book and send it out again.
If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be working with Thomas right now.
I'm confident that one day we'll be at a writer's conference and I'll be able to buy you that drink...

John Carson

Dean Crawford said...

Always great to hear how my blog inspired you John. Working with Thomas myself on a project as well! Good luck with it John, look forward to the drink :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Dean. I look forward to reading the rest of your stuff. Your first one was a belter and it can only get better from there!

John Carson