Novel: Plan It, Write It, Sell It

by Lynne Barrett-Lee

Have you always wanted to write a novel but not known where to start?

Then you have come to the right place. In Plan It, Write It, Sell It the prolific Lynne Barrett-Lee outlines the secrets of her craft.

It has never been easier to get your work out into the world. But if you want real commercial success then you also need to learn the tricks of the trade. Step-by-step, Novel takes you through the key stages to creating a global blockbuster.

The author of more than ten novels, including hits such as Julia Gets A Life , Lynne Barrett-Lee answers the key questions every aspiring author needs to grapple with. How do you make you book unputdownable? How do you develop memorable characters? How do you build effective plots and sub-plots and how do you engineer the perfect twist. How do you write convincing dialogue that zips off the page. Barrett-Lee gives you expert guidance written by an insider.

If there is a book burning inside you, then this is the place to start.

Lynne Barrett-Lee is a full time novelist and ghostwriter and has co-authored over thirty Sunday Times bestsellers. She has also penned two writing guides, both published by Lume, based on the creative writing courses she teaches in Cardiff. Lynne’s latest work of fiction is a psychological thriller, Can You See Me? .

140 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2020

About the author

Lynne Barrett-Lee


Born in London, I began my writing career as a teenager, when I was ‘discovered’ by a London-based literary agent, Annie Hallam, via a fan letter I sent to an actor who was her friend. Though life and love took precedence and I didn’t actually achieve publication then, I returned to my first love in 1994, as a mother of three, newly transplanted to Cardiff. My first paid-for piece of writing was a short article about being a mature primary school teacher training student, published in the Times Education Supplement. My world changed that day; I have yet to work as a primary school teacher.

I have been a full time author since the mid 1990s. My latest novel, a psychological mystery/thriller, called CAN YOU SEE ME?, probably constitutes one of my proudest achievements as a writer, since it’s a return to the genre I started writing in as a teenager - dark, edgy, ‘underbelly’ fiction, where nothing is as it seems.

I haven’t always been dark though. I also have eight romantic comedy novels and over a hundred published short stories to my name, most of the latter (which is how I learned my craft) appearing in UK Women’s magazines. I have also published two ebook guides to writing fiction, based on the short courses for adults I have taught for Cardiff University since 2009.

I also write a weekly column for the Western Mail Weekend magazine; something I have done since June 2006, with only a week off per year for good behaviour.

I began ghostwriting in 2007 and have since ghosted 26* full-length memoirs, most of which have been UK Sunday Times bestsellers. My titles include Giant George; life with the world’s biggest dog, and The Girl With No Name; the incredible true story of a girl raised by monkeys, which has now been published in 27 countries and is also the subject of a National Geographic documentary. It also led to me being asked to give a TedEx talk – about what it’s like to be a ghostwriter - possibly the proudest, and definitely the most terrifying day of my professional life.

Recent publications include On Duty For The Queen, for former UK Royal Press Secretary Dickie Arbiter, and the heartbreaking story of the Rebecca Aylward murder, Bye Mam, I Love You, which has garnered over 700 five star reviews. I am also the co-writer of the Julie Shaw series of gritty Bradford-based crime memoirs, the first of which, Our Vinnie, went straight into the bestseller lists. The fifth title, Bad Blood, published in October 2016, charted at number one in the UK in its first week.

My most recent ghosted work (and probably my personal favourite) is Fabulous Finn, the story of a now famous police dog, who was stabbed, almost fatally, when on duty with his handler Dave Wardell. Finn (now retired) has gone on to win multiple prestigious awards for his bravery, including a PDSA Gold Medal (the civilian version of the Dicken Medal – see Able Seacat Simon, below) and, most recently, the 2019 Crufts ‘Friends For Life’ award. Finn is also the RPD behind the campaign for Finn’s Law, to strengthen current legislation to protect service animals. It has just passed its third reading in the commons.

(Modesty usually forbids me from shamelessly plugging books I’ve ghosted, but I always make an exception for Finn. It’s a remarkable, heartbreaking, uplifting story, and I’m honoured beyond belief to have been the one to help tell it. )

CAN YOU SEE ME? is published by Thomas and Mercer, and is out on 01.01.20

For more information about me and my work, please visit
www.lynnebarrett-lee.com



Full list of published full-length works

*As well as the titles listed below, I am also the ghostwriter of a series of fostering memoirs (the author name is pseudonymous for confidentiality reasons) for one of the UK’s leading publishers. The first was published in 2011, and the nineteenth title will be published in May 2020.

Psychological thrillers

Can You See Me? (Thomas and Mercer