He lies, steals and deceives – all for sex. A bestseller?  In this case, no, it’s the life and times of a particular randy avian – the bowerbird. This all-too-friendly feathered friend with 24 species native to Australia and New Guinea has an exhaustive box of tricks, all designed to help him trick females into…… Continue reading Scratching out original fictional plots is for the birds

To struggling authors everywhere. A young Briton, W. Somerset Maugham (1874 – 1965), who would go on to be arguably the best-known​ and highest-paid writer of his era, became dismayed by his publisher’s reluctance to invest in advertising his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897). Great writing aside, how could he gain an audience without…… Continue reading Clever writing + clever marketing