Small change for novelist from the Big Apple (5)
I believe the answer is:
penny
'small change' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'novelist from the big apple' is the wordplay.
'novelist' becomes 'pen' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'from' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the big apple' becomes 'ny' (short for New York).
'pen'+'ny'='PENNY'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for penny that I've seen before include "British coin" , "p; small coin" , "Small unit of currency" , "Copper coin" , "Coin - girl's name" .)