Improbable Press Blog

By Yvonne Knop I met Arthur Conan Doyle for a casual and comfortable lunch in the Oscar Wilde Tea Room of the famous Café Royale. He looked exactly as I imagined him to look, a stout man with a mustache. I knew the moment had come where I had to explain that I had used his famous character Sherlock Holmes for one of my novels – without asking for permission or paying any royalties. "I read your book," he said in an almost unimpressed voice. I sat down and looked at the cup in front of me, already filled with...

Arthur Conan Doyle would be 164 years old on May 22 and we are grateful to all the words he shared with us during his career. While he wrote much – sixteen novels and many, many short stories – Arthur is probably best known for his fifty-six short stories and four novels about Sherlock Holmes. And, as Improbable Press began life as a Sherlock Holmes publisher, we want to celebrate this part of Arthur's legacy by taking 22% off our eleven Sherlock Holmes novels and novellas in both paperback and ebook! Our Holmesian-inspired works include, in order of publication from...

By Yvonne Knop So, do you love writing about the Renaissance yet don't personally know a white witch who lived in the 16th century and recently settled down near you after her retirement? Well, I have a suggestion to make to you: research. Research, research, research. Because you've no doubt read a book about a place you've been or lived, and suddenly a sentence throws you off because this is just not how that place is. I'm not talking about bad representation – we could write a whole book about misrepresentation of marginalized groups, wrongly depicted cultures, and male authors...

"Just a wee reminder that whatever you're writing right now…it's worth every moment of your time. It doesn't matter if there has been a story 'like' it—there's always been stories of falling in love, growing up, and on and on—this is your story told your way." I recently posted that on Twitter and several folks said they needed those words that day. Which has inspired me to also put those words here so you can see 'em again and, more importantly, weave them into your soul. No one can tell a story like you do, absolutely no one. I don't...

By Yvonne Knop If you want to be a published author, you need to give 100%. No, 120%. Or wait…maybe 140% if you cannot do 200%. Here’s the tea: If you don’t have the luxury of being a full-time writer, it’s going to be hard. Harder than a one-week-old bagel. And it’s one of the many reasons people give up or become impatient and publish a half-baked something that is only a book in terms of a noun to describe the item. Devoting this much free time to something others around you describe as „just your hobby” is exhausting and...