Being involved in Spinebreakers has been an amazing, thought-provoking experience. We’ve been conditioned to question, to ask about everything we do, and to learn as much as we can and glean advice from everyone we encounter along the way.

In particular we’ve had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet and interview a wide range of highly acclaimed Penguin authors, from Nick Hornby to Meg Rosoff. Whilst interviewing these authors, one of the most common subjects we touched upon was the whole “how do you write a book?”

I have found this line of questioning particularly interesting, perhaps even more so than my fellow editors; this May, my first book How Teenagers Think was published, and it now lives on a shelf in every Waterstone’s across the country. Well, I say lives – really it just borrows a few square inches until a parent or teen walks along a few days later and decides to adopt it. Then a new copy comes and takes its place, with another parent or teen coming along the next day, and the process repeats itself exponentially until the country is awash with the most amazing book ever seen. Or something like that. Well, you’ve got to be positive, right? 

And that – being positive – is the first thing I say to someone when they ask me about how I wrote and published How Teenagers Think, an insider’s guide for parents about bringing up teenagers from our point of view.

Almost all of the authors we interviewed for Spinebreakers also brought up this need to stay positive. The world of publishing is, as you can imagine, incredibly competitive. With the onset of email making it easier for every man and his dog to send out half-finished, un-thought-out manuscripts to every agent and publisher in the land, hoping for a quick buck, inboxes all over the country are full of such rubbish that it’s almost impossible to get an agent or publisher to simply look at your proposal or manuscript. It doesn’t get any better even if you do manage to put your work in front of a commissioning editor’s eyes; unless you’ve caught their attention in the first couple of seconds and your proposal fits exactly what they are looking for at exactly the right time in the market, a standard rejection letter – often incredibly patronising – is likely to ensue. At this point, and after going through this process for many months, most would give up. Nick Hornby persisted. Meg Rosoff trudged on. And myself? I had the most fun ever.

Whenever I received a rejection letter, I’d pretty much jump for joy. I’d rip open the envelope, laugh my pants off at their blindness – How Teenagers Think is simply such a brilliant idea – and then proceed to frame the letter on my wall, not least before I’d scrawled “You’ll be sorrrrrrryyyyy!” all over it.

So that is lesson one: be positive. Be positive without any doubts, and talk to yourself regularly, emphasising how successful you will be. But that’s not to say don’t listen to advice or criticism – if Simon Cowell’s telling you that you can’t sing, he’s probably right. I made many changes to my proposal in those first few weeks, listening to feedback I was lucky enough to receive from a couple of extraordinary agents.

Indeed, getting your initial proposal spot-on is an incredibly crucial thing you must do when trying to publish a book. I spent weeks writing my proposal, researching competitors, looking at the potential market for my book. Treat it like a business plan; you are asking agents and publishers to invest their time and money in you and your idea, so you need to show them it’s worthwhile. This is truer for non-fiction books than it is for fiction, as the market is more diverse, but in general the more research and information you can present in a clear, inspiring way, the more likely an agent or publisher is going to accept your idea. It always pays off if you take the time to do this, and it doesn’t go unnoticed; when I eventually did find a publisher, one of the first things they mentioned was how impressed they were with my proposal. They said that not only was it one of the best they’d ever received, but it was professional beyond a level they’d expect from any adult, let alone a 15 year old. So that’s the second lesson: write a fantastic proposal. 

After what felt like months of rejection letters flooding in, my optimism paid off and I received a useful reply from one of the agents. Although not able to take me on himself, he loved my idea and recommended I contact White Ladder Press, a small publisher of quirky, informative, non-fiction books. Perfect.

A few weeks later, my (fantastic) proposal was reviewed at White Ladder’s December editorial board meeting. I eagerly awaited the outcome, and just days before Christmas I received the email I had been hoping for. Hands down, that was the best Christmas present I’d ever received. It’s now framed on my wall, joining the mass of rejection letters, putting them rightly in their place. Well, I told them they’d be sorry.

So, fantastic: I had signed my first publishing deal. All I had to do now was write the thing… and that’s when it kind of dawned on me. I had to write a book. I had committed to writing 30,000 words in eight months, and I was still only 15.

The first twenty thousand or so words flowed naturally, a combination of having a lot to say, combined with the drive and motivation that kicks me into production overload when a new idea really sparks my attention. But as the summer sprang into life and friends and sunshine seemed more appealing than a computer screen, my attention lagged and I still had six chapters to go. And an August the 31^st deadline.

I guess this is as close as I came to writer’s block – something we asked every author we interviewed for Spinebreakers about. Each had their own tactic, mostly involving taking a break and coming back to it later. But what did I do when inspiration dwindled?

Luckily, my book is naturally broken into 20 chapters. Each looks at a different aspect of life that every teen and their parent will relate to; from Money and Fashion, to School, Music and The Internet – everything’s covered.

When I work – whatever I’m doing – I work best with things broken down into chunks like this. I find it easier to imagine completing each one, and being able to tick them off along the way gives me clear goals to aim for. I also thrive on change, however small, so knowing I have a completely new subject to write about next encourages me to keep going. Working like this also means that when I’m stuck on a chapter – writer’s block, as some would label it – I am able to leave it for a few days and digest a different chunk instead.

When you come to physically sitting down and writing your book, break things down and give yourself clear goals. Goals can be aided with little rewards; a chunk of chocolate or allowing yourself to change the album in iTunes. 

In general, though, I don’t like to lead my life with lots of rules and set things to follow. I think it’s good to experience lots of things, make a few mistakes, but learn from people along the way. So I’ve given you three main tips, tips I’ve come across from my own experience.

1. You’ll need to be positive from the very outset, not to be disheartened by the plumes of rejections you will receive. This will take you from the very beginnings of your idea, all the way through to having a finished bound copy on your desk in front of you.
2. Next, you’ll need to write a fantastic proposal. Treat it like a business plan, and make sure it will excite your prospective agents and publishers. This will take you from an idea to a contract; the most important step.
3. Finally, breaking things down and giving yourself clear goals takes you from your contract to the finished product. Well done.

It’s up to you how you use them.