Got a hot set of short stories or a novel burning a hole in your hard drive? Epublishing could be the way forward. Earlier this week I had a chat with Graham Taylor over at Good Guy Publishing. Here’s what he had to say.

1. What inspires you to write?
Just about anything really, a film I’ve seen, a song I’ve heard, bits of a conversation I’ve ear-wigged on. I also use a lot of things I remember from my childhood, obviously changing the names to protect the guilty .

2. What advice would you give to anyone starting out?
Carry a note book (and a pen) everywhere you go. Save and back- up everything you write on your computer (it’s very easy to lose work). I’d also say try not to get too bogged down with polishing – write a fully-complete draft before tinkering with the polish. Don’t be afraid to give your work to others to read it and ask for feedback. Not everyone will like your work and that’s fine, we all have our own styles and tastes so don’t take it personally.

3. Why did you get into the epub business, and what are the benefits for authors?
I started Good Guy Publishing because I wanted to help new writers like myself starting out, to avoid the pitfalls that are so easy to fall into, where publishing is concerned. There are some publishers out there that don’t always have the best interests of the author in mind. GGP is intended to give new authors a chance and help to bring their work to the foreground and offer free editing and free advertising. 

4. How can people get in touch?
Directly through the website: www.goodguypublishing.co.uk 
or email at goodguypublishing@yahoo.co.uk

5. What kind of material are you looking for?
We’re happy to look at anything really, particularly short stories and works of flash fiction. Wherever possible we encourage submissions to be accompanied with a short synopsis to give us a flavour of the story. 

6. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer?
Very tough question. I’d like to think my imagination has to be one of my strengths, without that, I wouldn’t have any ideas and there wouldn’t be anything to write about. As I mentioned earlier I find movies, books and songs etc useful to kick-start the old grey matter. On the flipside of course, it can be difficult at times putting into words what I’m picturing in my mind’s eye and this is something I’m forever wrestling with to get right, which can be frustrating at times. I think knowing your weaknesses and working to improve them can also be a strength that can help. I used to worry that I couldn’t find anything to write about so I wrote about that and after a lot of editing and redrafting etc I ended up with ‘Climbing The Walls’

7. What are your favourite reads at the moment?
Currently reading The Descendants by K H Hemmings and thoroughly enjoying it. I’ve got a good few auto-biogs waiting in the wings and am pretty sure Bobby Robson and Alfred Hitchcock are next up.

8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Continuing to practice my craft and hopefully be a better writer and publisher by then, which will in turn help to expand my own collection of work in so doing help raise money for varying charities and projects close to my heart. As well as being a well-known and trusted e-publisher by then. I would love the opportunity to be involved with a play or film project in some capacity whether as writer or as publisher – so this will also be something I’ll be working towards.

9. One last question. Writers’ block: Fact or fiction? And if it’s a reality, how do you deal with it? Yes I think it certainly exists in the murky-depths of any creativity/imagination. It’s a difficult thing to describe, because it affects writers/artists etc in varying ways. As I mentioned earlier – one useful method I found of dealing with it on one particular sitting was to write about it and how it was affecting my writing at the time. It’s a great exercise that writers can then use in one form or another – maybe when writing about a author. I used it to some degree to write ‘Climbing the Walls’ which is where the title came from. Writer’s block to me personally can drive me to climb the walls.

Want to know more about this good guy? Check out his writer’s page on Amazon