The Book That Didn’t Want To Stay in the Drawer

If you have a manuscript in a drawer that wants to get out, this episode is full of tips and inspiration for you to get started again. Today’s guest is Jan Bertoft, Swedish author of the book Minnets slutna rum, which in English translates to The Memory’s Locked Room, or The Locked Room of the Memory.

Jan has been writing his whole life and worked in journalism before starting a career in consumer issues for a Swedish NGO, but in his spare time, he began co-creating a fiction project with a friend. When his friend got ill and he was no longer able to work on the book, it went into the drawer for several years before coming back out again.

Listen to hear this author’s journey to publication, what it was like co-creating with someone, and the details of the process from idea conception to working with a publisher and then finally holding the finished product.

Key takeaways:

• Why did the book go into the drawer?


• How one book led to another


• Feedback from the publisher: having a good editor and receiving criticism


• Creating the time to write


• What it’s like co-creating a book


• Choosing a publishing company


• Advice for taking your book out of the drawer

Resources:

• Hoi.se