JAN Michael, a literary agent once based in Amsterdam and now living in Settle gave her second talk to the group this year.

She began by asking us what books we would recommend. The responses she received ranged from SSGB by Len Deighton, Life after Life by Kate Atkinson, The Partisan’s Daughter by Louis de Bernieres, Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson and One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey.

None of us read e-books, all much preferring the printed version in our hands whether bought new, borrowed or bought from second-hand or charity shops.

Jan confirmed that book publication was on the up again and that e-books had levelled out.

A recent survey in the Netherlands has confirmed that even young people prefer print to digital. Hardback publications have increased by 12.5 per cent. Publishing companies are merging and getting bigger but, at the same time, the number of smaller companies is increasing. In recent years publishers have targeted sales in supermarkets which mean that many mid-list writers have been dropped, but now independent booksellers are making a comeback.

Jan said self-publishing was becoming more popular and trade papers like The Bookseller were now reviewing self-published books.

She advised potential self-publishers to have their manuscript professionally edited and a cover professionally designed, to use social media for publicity and to organise a launch with free wine. It is essential to be able to speak well about your book.

She said small publishers would often accept manuscripts directly, but larger companies would accept manuscripts only via agents, so it is important to get an agent. Agents acted as “door-keepers” and need to read only three pages of a manuscript in order to assess quality.

They either reject it, pass it on to someone to read more of it, or give feedback if they think it is promising but needs more work.

Agents only earn any money once the book is published, usually about 10 per cent of the royalties. This compares favourably with art galleries, which usually take 50 per cent of an artist’s sales.

Jan ended by saying it was essential we enjoyed the process of writing, that we need to be clear why we are writing, whether it be for sales, critical acclaim, as a hobby, for friends and family.

She pointed out that success depends to some extent on luck and whether we hit “the spirit of the age.”

She emphasised that it was vital that we read our manuscripts aloud and slowly to ourselves – we would soon hear where alterations need to be made. Adjectives and adverbs should be pruned – write “ambled” rather than “walked slowly.”

At the AGM we discussed falling membership and the losses made by this year’s Adult and Children’s competitions.

Three members volunteered to be a working party to make proposals for the circle’s future – the basic purpose of which is to encourage writing – and another member volunteered to run the competitions if it was decided to continue with them.

Further speakers have been booked until November.