Friday 5 March 2010

C V Advice

I'm finally biting the bullet and sending BTL out into the world of agents and my chosen recipient requires a CV. My question is does anyone have any advice on the best way to set this out? Should it be a detailed list of what I have had published and where or is it better just to be general? I've written CV's for jobs before but never for my writing. All advice would be greatfully received.

5 comments:

Sheila Norton said...

Hi Colette. I suspect there are many ways of doing a writing CV so I can only tell you my personal way - you might find something else works better for you of course! Firstly, like a 'job' CV, keep it as concise as possible. I don't think it's necessary to list all your publications; better to sum them up, eg: 'I have had 6 short stories published in national women's magazines including Take A Break (etc), 2 features published in blah blah, 3 newspaper articles ... ' Don't be afraid to sing your own praises: you can make a statement like 'I am a successful short story writer' - or 'I am a published feature writer', even if you'd only had one successful publication! Don't forget to
mention that you promote yourself by writing a blog and on Facebook - that's really important as it shows you're prepared to market yourself. If you like I'll send you a copy of my writing CV by e-mail just as an example, but please don't think I'm saying mine is necessarily the right way to do it - if there is a right way! Good luck with your submission. xxx

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

Really wish I could help, but I'm sorry, I've never written a writing cv. Am sending positive vibes for you sub.

XX

Colette McCormick said...

Thanks Olivia, I would really appreciate haveing a look ay yours if you don't mind.
Thanks for the vibes Suzanne. I'm going to work on the whole proposal tomorrow. The CV is only part of it and I don't want to rush it.

Karen said...

I think Olivia has summed it up perfectly :o)

Really good luck Colette, it's scary but exciting to be finally sending it out!

Colette McCormick said...

Exciting but very scary Karen bit I don't need to tell you that do I? Cheers