So yesterday I got the news that my book was not longlisted for the Search For A Storyteller competition. This news came as a bit of a relief, because I don’t like the inertia of waiting, and glad I now feel I have more free reign over how I query the book. I’ve decided to change the title from Alice in Wheelchairland to Foreverland.

(Another petty reason I’m relieved is that I don’t like the publisher’s or the competition’s logo, so at least I won’t have to put up with that on the front cover.)

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I’ve also decided to change the name I publish under from “Elizabeth Starr” to “Liz Starr.” This has been something that has niggled away at me for a long time. “Elizabeth” is so long! 9 letters! I’ve been volunteering with the London (formerly Barnes) Children’s Literature Festival again and watching authors sign books. Imagine if I actually had to sign books, “Liz” is so much quicker and more memorable! I met someone at a Golden Egg Academy writers meet up recently who had remembered that my surname was equally short like my first name from when we met last year. I introduce myself to everyone in the publishing world as “Liz,” it makes so much more sense to write under that name as well.

Another reason for “Liz Starr” as opposed to “Elizabeth Starr” is one I found out to my quiet alarm when I was 10. I googled my name and it turns out it’s the name of an “Adult Content Actress” with illegally large breast implants. (I don’t think my parents factored in Google when they named me.) I’ve been kind of ignoring this and finding it funny for years, but I actually think it’s not a good thing if children or parents or librarians are trying to search my name and that is what comes up. If I’m serious about this industry then I have to be serious about marketing, and that includes my name.

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So I’ve changed the title of this blog, as uncreative a title as before. And Alice in Wheelchairland to Foreverland is another simple marketing change. If you get an agent and they manage to sell your book to a publisher, then the publisher has the final say in all the marketing, including the illustrations and title. Therefore, the title is something to hold loosely anyway, and Foreverland is actually relevant in the book. I also remembered that when I was 20, before I knew I was going to be a writer, I had a little dream of writing a book called Foreverland… Plus, the book is a lot more Peter Pan-inspired than Alice in Wonderland-inspired, though I’ve kept the name Alice… For now.

The bottom line is that I’m not in a rush to get published. Who knows, maybe my book is destined for a bigger publisher than David Fickling Books… Maybe it’s just a bit chaotically written to even get published. The plot is very risky for today’s market, I can definitely see that. I don’t think my cover letter is very appealing to mainstream industry agents… Oh well! I have all these doubts, but I’m not discouraged!
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(Featured Image is the banner for the London Children’s Literature Festival 2026 illustrated by Jamie Smart)