Debut novelist Carys Shannon on how to stay true to your voice through submissions and agent feedback, why an editorially led indie press was the right home for her book, and the craft that brought it to life.

We discuss:

How to decide what your book wants to be and center its emotional life.
Submission strategy after competitions: reading agent feedback without losing your vision.
Indie presses 101: editorially led models, scale, and alignment.
Contracts with a small press: advances, rights splits, and what to expect.
Publicity with an indie: bespoke support and realistic reach.
Craft choices that unlocked the book: first-person present vs close third, “killing your darlings.”
Landscape as character.
Redefining success through integrity of voice.

Resources and Links:

About Carys Shannon

Carys Shannon is a Welsh writer whose debut novel Truth Like Water (Parthian Books) was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award and the Mslexia Novel Award, shortlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award, and winner of the Jericho Writers Festival of Writing Prize. Her short fiction has appeared with Honno Press, Parthian Books, and Mslexia Magazine, with work broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She’s originally from North Gower, Swansea, and divides her time between Wales and the Spanish Pyrenees.

About Parthian Books

Parthian is an independent, editorially led publisher based in Cardigan, Wales. Founded in 1993, it champions debut and regional voices across contemporary fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction, and literature in translation.

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