#017: Humphrey Hawksley – Going deep with research, translating journalism to novels, and the changing nature of traditional publishing.

Humphrey Hawksley is an author, commentator and broadcaster, who has reported on key trends, events and conflicts from all over the world.

His work as a BBC foreign correspondent has taken him to crises on every continent. He was expelled from Sri Lanka, opened the BBC’s television bureau in China, was arrested in Serbia and initiated a global campaign against enslaved children in the chocolate industry. A campaign which continues today.

Humphrey is the author of the acclaimed ‘Future History’ series that explores world conflict. He has published four international thrillers, together with the non-fiction Democracy Kills: What’s so good about the Vote – a tie-in to his TV documentary on the pitfalls of the modern-day path to democracy from dictatorship.

His work has appeared in the The Guardian, The Times, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, Yale Global and other publications and now he appears as a guest on the Great Writers Share podcast.

In this episode we go deep into:

Memories from 30 years as a foreign correspondent
Humphrey’s journey from journalism to author life
The first encounter with an agent, and Humphrey’s first book deal
Making the decision to do whatever it took to get a book out
Establishing the story you want to tell
Humphrey’s ever-evolving method of researching for books
Knowing every element of your story before you tell it
Reader expectations and what you’re aiming to deliver
Where the ideas for Humphrey’s ‘Man on Ice’ came from
Humphrey’s experience of traditional publishing and its changes over the past several decades
How focus groups choose the primary books for trad pub, and how the marketing share is dealt
Content marketing for your books

Humphrey Hawkslet answers questions from Patrons:

Mark M: How much research did you have to do for the Future History series? And do you have any tips on how you would do it differently (with benefit of hindsight)?
Jon Cronshaw: What challenges did you find in writing fiction compared to reportage? What makes a good dragon?

Find out more about Humphrey:

https://www.humphreyhawksley.com/

https://www.manonice.co.uk

Special thanks to:

Intro vocals: Persephone Rose

Show theme: Karl Hughes

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Thank you to my patrons:

David Hines

Harley Christensen

Jon Cronshaw

Jenn Mitchell

Innes Richens

Ian J Middleton

PT Hylton

Michael Anderle

Jerry Evanoff

Mark McClure

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