Ebook: Francis Plug: writer in residence

Francis Plug is a troubled and often drunk misfit who causes chaos and confusion wherever he goes - and where he most likes to go is to real author events, collecting signatures from the likes of Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Eleanor Catton. As he adds to this collection of signed Booker first editions, Francis - a wannabe author himself - is also helpfully writing a self-help manual. Devised with the novice writer in mind, it is full of sage wisdom and useful tidbits to help ease freshly published novelists into the demands and rigors of author events, readings and general life in the public eye.

And so too, cultivating a photographic 'look' for the many publicity shots you will be subjected to is also a good idea - Francis's personal choice being that of Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. With advice like this, and Francis' warm and deranged personality, How to Be a Public Author will prove essential reading for anyone with an interest in the literary...