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Log of the weekly changes on the site on 2002
This week's changes 2001
2002 2003
2004 2005
2006 2007
2008 2009
30 December 2002
 | We wish all our visitors a happy New Year. |
| During 2003 we shall be running excerpts from Carole Blake's From
Pitch to Publication, a guide to writing fiction and getting
published. In our January extract, see what Carole has to say about
the all-important question what
are agents looking for? |
| Bob's Journal offers
some sobering thoughts on the world we live in: 'Let
there be light. Arguably the most inspiring words ever written. The
desire for order over chaos, for knowledge over ignorance, for peace
instead of war, for love instead of hate...' |
| News
Review reports on agents' anxiety about authors' royalty income
being hit by high discounts. But what is a ‘normal’ discount when all business is being
done at a high discount?
|
| In our Comment
column, 'Literature's first commandment is: Be
Original.' says Robert McCrum his World of Books column in the
London Observer. |
| This week's new Web How-to looks at the fascinating question of
bandwidth
- what is it and how does it affect you? |
| 'What is there to say, finally, except that pain is bad
and pleasure good, life all, death nothing.'
Gore Vidal In our
Writers' Quotations.
|
| The January magazine is ready!
|
23 December 2002
| Our very first competition is
run in association with mousebean.com. Answer the 3 questions
on health hazards and the computer correctly and you go into the draw for a MouseBean® Hand Rest.
|
| The ninth article in our insider's guide to publishing looks at
pricing
and how it works. Inside
Publishing gives you the lowdown on a wide range of subjects
from advances and royalties
to subsidiary rights.
|
| News
Review reports that a frisson of anxiety is affecting big
American publishers as they contemplate the sales patterns of their ‘bankers’,
but there are still plenty of first novels being published,
including Alice Sebold's spectacular breakthrough, The Lovely
Bones with 1.9 million sales. |
| We couldn't resist the winners of this year's
Ig Nobel prizes. For Economics: Various companies, including Enron,
Arthur Andersen and Worldcom, for Adapting the Mathematical
Concept of Imaginary Numbers for Use in the Business World. |
| In our Comment
column, American agent Richard Pine on his
involvement as assistant producer on his client's movie: 'There is a wall, with
authors and agents on one side and screenwriters and directors on the other.' |
|
'An author who speaks about his own books is almost as bad as a mother
who talks about her own children.' was Benjamin
Disraeli's view from a less publicity-hungry age.
In our Writers' Quotations.
|
| Season's greetings to all our visitors! |
16 December 2002
| We're delighted to announce a relaunch of our
WritersPrintShop,
with a simplified, streamlined process and lower prices. Now our
unique design, production and distribution service is ready to
support self-publishers and anyone
who wants to get their book printed using the latest inexpensive
Print
on Demand technology. |
| This week - Bob meets a 'real' writer, which makes him
realise that 'authors are indistinguishable
from the mass, no matter how brilliant or deserving of fame... pale,
shambling figures picking through the dustbins of everyone's lives
for the odd crumb of an idea.' Read his
Journal
of a Virtually Unpublished Writer |
| News
Review looks at how the recent launch of the TabletPC has given publishers the hope of
a
real breakthrough for e-books. |
| Our favourite book of witty turn-downs, Rotten
Rejections, has just been reissued. On Crash
by J G Ballard the publisher commented rudely: ‘The author of this book is beyond psychiatric help.'
|
| In our Comment
column, Anne Lamott on
publication: 'People who want to get published think that publication
will give them self-esteem, and peace of mind, make them feel whole and
redeemed.' |
| This week's new Web How-to answers the question
'What
is the web?' And 'Is the web the same as the Internet?'
|
| From the perspective of a first-time writer Sophie Dahl says:
'Writing is very different to having your photo taken. You are exposing yourself more, not physically but emotionally.'
In our Writers' Quotations.
|
9 December 2002
| This month's book review is for
The
Joy of Writing Sex. Our reviewer said: 'This is not a how-to-write guide in the
classic sense...her book should be required reading for anyone who
professes an interest in fiction.' |
| This week we have completed an overhaul of our Web
How-to pages, which now offer a huge range of topics from the
basics to the technology behind it all and a section on web issues.
|
| The winner of the Bookseller's
Diagram
Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year is announced! Join
in the fun and enjoy the hilarious shortlist and the longlist too.
|
| News
Review looks at inflation in book prices and how book purchasing
may be affected by any downturn in consumer spending. |
| In our Comment
column - Carole Blake on the career of the older
writer: 'people know more when they’re
mature. Writing is an intellectual
activity keeps the brain going and you don’t have to be particularly
active to do it.’ |
| This week's new Web How-to deals with the tricky subject of
handling
copy editing changes made on screen to your book file. |
|
'Three hours a day will produce as much as a man ought to write'
was Anthony Trollope's view of a writer's life in a more leisured era in our
Writers' Quotations.
|
| Last chance to take advantage of our associate Amazon's Christmas offer of free shipping
on orders over £39 by ordering for delivery by 12 December. See
WritersBookstall. |
2 December 2002
| Our new Writers'
Software section provides a round-up of software
which is useful for writers, including helping with the
plotting, specialist tools, business and freebies. |
| This includes our first software review for the
newnovelist
writing software:
'after describing the characters, the places and setting
you have a wonderfully clear and detailed outline'.
|
| There's also a new section of
Scriptwriting
Software offering many links. |
| In Bob Ritchie's latest extract from the
Journal of a Virtually
Unpublished Writer, he ruminates on the success of My Big Fat
Greek Wedding and how scriptwriters are forgotten
- 'Good script? Yeah, well, I guess that helped.' |
| This week News
Review looks at the controversies surrounding the National Books
Awards and the Best Of Young British Writers. |
| In our Comment
column we look at the effect of offering big
discounts on books. 'The trouble with discounting, as I have said before, is that it
lowers the price and cheapens the product.' David Blow
|
| If you're new to email, this week's new Web
How-to pages continue to cover the basics. This week it's
How
to find an email address. |
| 'Technique alone is never enough. You have to have passion.'
argues Raymond Chandler in our
Writers' Quotations.
|
| Take advantage of our associate Amazon's offer of free shipping
on orders over £39 by ordering for Christmas now. See
WritersBookstall. |
25 November 2002
| Our 8th article from the Inside
Publishing series deals with
the
production department, the workhorses of the publishing
business who spend the real money. |
| We've undertaken a major review of our
Links
pages, adding nearly 40 new links to interesting and
useful sites. |
| This week News
Review looks at copyright in the Internet era. If books
were freely downloadable, would readers donate a royalty to the author?
|
| Take advantage of our associate Amazon's offer of free shipping
on orders over £39 by ordering for Christmas now. See
WritersBookstall. |
| In our Comment
column celebrated
American writer Jonathan
Frantzen on writing: 'I feel caught between narratives
everywhere I turn.' |
| If you're new to email, this week's new Web
How-to pages continue to cover the basics. This week it's
How
to guess an email address and
How to
keep in contact when you are mobile. |
| 'To create the literature of fact, we have to work like novelists in
many ways. We select. We imagine.' Historian Timothy Garton Ash on writing non-fiction
in our
Writers' Quotations.
|
18 November 2002
| Bob's Journal continues
his adventures as a rookie scriptwriter: 'must learn
- as the professionals apparently say - to let my babies go.'
|
| The shortlist for the Bookseller's
Diagram
Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year is full of vintage
oddities, from After the Orgy: Towards a Politics of
Exhaustion to Women and Integrated Part Management. |
| newnovelist, the
software package which helps you tackle your novel, is reviewed this
week: 'after describing the characters, the places and setting
you have a wonderfully clear and detailed outline'. |
| News Review looks
conflicting reports of how fast the British book market is growing
and provides some fascinating information on book-buying behaviour.
|
| If you're new to email, this week's new Web
How-to pages start with the basics. This week it's
How
to organise your emails and How to
translate. |
|
In our Comment
column British writer Chaz Brenchley has the
antidote to conformity: 'Every writer is unique, or ought to be,
and so your problems are unique.'
|
| New - our recommendations for good
scriptwriting
software you can check out on the web. |
| 'The writer's intention hasn't anything to do with what he
achieves. The intent to earn money or the intent to be
famous or the intent to be great doesn't matter in the end. Just
what comes out.' Lilian Hellman in our
Writers' Quotations. |
11 November 2002
| This week we've launched our new Media
Centre,
which provides stories and information about WritersServices. |
| This month's review covers
Solutions
for Writers by Sol Stein. Our reviewer says: 'his book is not about theory but about
solutions, about fixing flawed writing, improving good writing, and
about creating interesting writing.' |
| News Review
looks at the rash of celebrity memoirs and contrasts them
with Nelson Mandela's autobiography, which has now sold 1.5 million copies
in its UK edition. |
| If you're new to email, our new Web
How-to pages start with the basics. This week it's
How
to backup your files. and How to
set up an email signature. |
| Bestselling crime writer Peter Robinson on the
writer's apprenticeship: ' a person might write three or four unpublishable novels
before they write one that’s anywhere near decent.'
In our Comment
column. |
| New - our recommendations for good
scriptwriting
software you can check out on the web. |
| 'Writing is the only profession where no-one considers you
ridiculous if you earn no money' (Jules Renard) in our
Writers' Quotations. |
4 November 2002
| Bob ruminates on Gore Vidal's theories on Bush and Saddam Hussein,
and the sudden death of Trevor in TV soap Eastenders: 'No
such thing as background information in EastEnders - everything is
there for a reason.' |
| If you're new to email our new Web
How-to pages start with the basics - How
to attach a file to an email and Looking
after your address book. |
| News Review
reports on some bestselling authors' use of other writers to
maintain their output. ‘If you’re stuck thinking of
authors as ‘writers’, you’re never going to (understand branding),’
is the view of agent Robert
Gottlieb. |
| Our Showcase
is beginning to fill up - take a look for yourself. |
| Pop star Moby on why he has started a book club of sorts on his
current tour: 'Because one can only snort so
many ants and have so much sex before one starts to long for the comfort and
companionship of a book.’
In our
Comment
column. |
| If you're been having problems working out how to send material to
us, check out our new email
submission page. |
| 'Inspiration is the act of drawing up a chair to the writing
desk' (Anon) in our
Writers' Quotations. |
28 October 2002
| Our latest Inside Publishing
article looks at the sales department and how it works.
This
one's essential reading for any writer... |
| News Review
reports on the controversies surrounding the 2002 Man Booker Prize
. Chair of the judges Lisa Jardine says: ‘We’ve chosen
an audacious book in which inventiveness explores belief.’
|
| Michael Hoeye, author of the highly original self-published
children's book Time Stops for No Mouse on how he chose the
name Hermux Tantamoq and the importance of telling emotional truth:
'Hermux is a real imaginary mouse'. In our
Comment
column. |
| You can still catch up with
The Closed Book.
In an article extracted from The
Writer's Handbook 2003 the editor, Barry Turner, looks at
the tantalising question of why so many books are bought but not
read. |
| 'I can make it longer if you like the style/I can it change
round/and I want to be a paperback writer' John
Lennon & Paul McCartney's classic words are in
our Writers' Quotations.
|
| Last week's new service is already in demand! Our
Submission
Critique Service will look at your synopsis and sample chapters
and help you to get the package into good shape for submission.
|
21 October 2002
| The Closed Book.
In an article extracted from The
Writer's Handbook 2003 the editor, Barry Turner, looks at
the fascinating question of why so many books are bought but not
read. |
| This week we're launching a new service by popular
demand. Our
Submission
Critique Service will look at your synopsis and sample chapters
and help you to get the package into good shape for submission.
|
| We've just updated our WritersBookstall,
adding 40 new titles to the selection of books for writers. |
| News Review
reports on Toby Mundy's stimulating article on the history and
future of publishing, which concludes: 'Publishers
can rejoice in unprecedented levels of both quality and quantity. We
are living in a golden age of the book.’ |
| Bob starts the first week of the Eastenders shadow
scheme. But it's not all plan sailing: 'Getting
quite carried away by my own brilliance when brought up short by
producer...' In his Journal.
|
| Donna Tartt, whose new bestseller The Little Friend is
just published, says that: 'The first duty of the
novelist is to entertain.'
In our Comment
column. |
| Our first
Writers'
Showcase contributors' material can be inspected this
week. But remember that we're still offering free space to
the first 50 writers who apply! |
| Jorge Luis Borges on writing: 'A writer needs loneliness, and he gets his share of it. He needs
love, and he gets shared and also unshared love. He needs
friendship. In fact, he needs the universe. To be a writer is, in
a sense, to be a day-dreamer - to be living a kind of double life.' In
our Writers' Quotations. |
14 October 2002
| Do you want to get an agent to represent you? Our new Ten
Tips for Finding an Agent shows you how to go about it.
|
| The Diagram Prize for
the Oddest Title of the Year in the Bookseller has
long been an authentically wacky business. Check out the
longlist and choose between Wigglers, Undulators and Their
Applications, Red-haired Irishwomen on the Bog and other
delights. |
| News Review.
reports on a better-than-expected Frankfurt Book Fair and
confirmation of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann' s wartime
links with the Nazis. |
| Steven Saylor, author of a successful Roman crime series, gives
his advice to first-time novelists: 'write the book you most long to read.'
In our Comment
column. |
| 'Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is
like asking a lamp-post how it feels about dogs' says British
writer Christopher Hampton. |
7 October 2002
| Bob has finally broken through! Read his account of joining
the shadow scheme for Eastenders scriptwriters in his
Journal
of a Virtually Unpublished Writer. |
| Our latest Inside
Publishing deals with this week's
Frankfurt
Book Fair, the biggest annual get-together of the publishing
year. |
| The publication of Edwina Currie's Diaries has caused a
sensation and in the UK they are 'the publishing event of the
year'. How did Timer Warner keep them under wraps?
Does their revelation of Currie's affair with John Major
matter? In News Review.
|
| 'Any scholar who writes for a wider audience, who breaks new ground and
crosses academic boundaries, must expect some criticism, perhaps some
envy too.' is historian Orlando Figes's temperate response to the
ferocious review of his new book Natasha's Dance in The
Times Literary Supplement. In our
Comment
column. |
| Our new price
conversion chart provides rough at-a-glance prices for our
services in dollars and euros. |
| British novelist A L Kennedy says: 'What I would say to a young person trying to become a writer is
'Don't. It won't make any difference because they'll do it anyway,
but they really shouldn't.' In our
Writers' Quotations. |
| The October Magazine has
arrived. |
30 September 2002
| We've added a new listing from
The Writer's Handbook
this
week, Bursaries, Fellowships and Grants. Check
out the 45 entries to see if you qualify for any money that's going
spare.for writers. The poet Anne Stevenson got £60,000 from
Northern Rock Foundation and there are quite substantial sums on
offer for poets under 30 and for Scottish writers. |
| The Booker prize judges have just announced ‘the
beginning of a new era’, but is it really just the same old books on
the shortlist? And Dave Eggers has caused a furore by self-publishing
his new book in the States and selling it only through
independent bookshops. In News Review.
|
| Two new manuals for our WritersPrintShop and
our Services have been set up for
easy download from the site. |
| 'The book was powered by rage.' says Michel Faber about
his highly acclaimed first novel The Crimson Petal and the White.
In our Comment
column. |
| We've added a new page on
Your
Own Privacy Policy to help you keep your secret files a
continuing secret. |
| 'When you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from
many, it's research.' is American playwright Wilson Mizner's sage
comment on 'borrowing' material. In our
Writers' Quotations. |
23 September 2002
| Bob's latest extract from his Journal
moves him from the long shortlist to the short shortlist for EastEnders.
Is he breaking through at last? |
| Amazon have just announced their new Marketplace, which gives
access to the 40 million second-hand books available through
Abebooks' international network. But will authors lose out on
royalties? News Review.
|
| We've added a new page on
Looking
after your Files to help you break your manuscript down into
manageable chunks. |
| In our Comment
column Peter Ackroyd says says he tries not to be too affected
by the critics but adds encouragingly that: 'I’m at my most content when
writing'. |
| Quentin Crisp maintained that there were three reasons for
becoming a writer. See
our Writers' Quotations. |
16 September 2002
| Our listings from The Writer's Handbook now include the
fully updated 2003 US agents' lists from the new edition of the book
- with an additional 38 agencies listed. |
| This week we look at the furore surrounding publication of
Martin Amis's latest book. Amongst the brickbats: ‘This
is a chilling book, because apparently without knowing it, Amis has
revealed his own deformed personality. '
News Review. |
| Our latest addition to the Health
Hazards series looks at the effect on
your eyes of long hours
spent at the computer and how to prevent eye-strain. |
| In our Comment
column we have views on the continuing strong demand for
regional sagas amongst British women readers. |
| Do you agree with Ezra Pound that: 'Great literature is simply
language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree'? See
our Writers' Quotations. |
9 September 2002
| The fifth article in our Inside
Publishing series answers the question: what does
the
marketing department do? |
| This week brings the news that Bertelsmann will 'phase out' its
online bookseller, BOL. Amazon has triumphed, but what does it
mean for the world of books? News Review.
|
| In the latest excerpt from
The Journal of a
Virtually Unpublished Writer, Bob looks at successful crime
writers' work and concludes: 'Some have plots more difficult to
understand than quantum theory, others so simple even the police
could have found the solution by page 10.' |
| In the continuing debate about 'writers for hire', do you agree
with the writers' pragmatic view or with Fay Weldon, who says: 'All writers have to
earn a living but if the book is part of a drive to socially engineer that
is not right.'
In our Comment
column. |
| We quote John Steinbeck on completing a novel: 'To finish is a
sadness to a writer - a little death. He puts the last word
down and it is done. But it isn't really done. The story
goes on and leaves the writer behind, for no story is ever done.' See
our Writers' Quotations. |
| And if you're a student or writing course organiser, don't forget
to visit our new Education
Resource Centre, which provides 40 free pages of downloadable
information.
Help yourself! |
2 September 2002
| Our latest addition to the site is our
Education
Resource Centre, which provides 40 free pages of downloadable
information for writing course organisers and students.
Help yourself! |
| This month's Review
deals with Betsy Lerner's The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's
Advice to Writers. |
| This week we look at the idea of 'writers for hire'. What's your
view? Do you agree with J G Ballard that 'It's all part of the corruption of the mental
environment we inhabit’? News Review.
|
| Children's writer Jacqueline Wilson says: 'It was always children’s books I wanted to write.'
In our Comment
column. |
| We've added a new page,
Preparing
for Criticism, for writers who are sending their work to
us. We know it's tough to accept professional criticism.
This page puts the editor's view in context. |
| 'Many (modern novels) have a beginning, a muddle and an end' was
Philip Larkin's sardonic comment on contemporary fiction writing.
Find
this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our
Quotes
column. |
| The September magazine is
ready with its usual mix. |
26 August 2002
| In our latest extract from the Journal
of a Virtually Unpublished Writer, Bob quotes from a review
suggesting that 'Amis
shouldn't write about things of which he has no direct experience' and
muses on the effect this prohibition would have
on writers. |
| Check out the updated literary agent listings from the 2003 edition of The Writers' Handbook.
|
| We examine the outlook for consumer book sales from the differing
perspectives of the US and the UK. News Review.
|
| ‘Writers are often envious, mean-minded, filled with rage and envy'
is Booker-prize winning Peter Carey's damning view of his
fellow-writers.
In our Comment
column. |
| 'Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man
behind the book.' was Ralph Waldo Emerson's view of what makes a
writer.
Find
this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes
column. |
12 August 2002
| The new listings from the 2003 edition of The Writers' Handbook
are published. |
| Misery sells books - Official! News Review.
|
| "The literary
agent used to be literature's first line of defence. That line has been
broken. The future could be grim." Danuta Kean, writing in the Daily Mail.
In our Comment
column. |
| 'There is no happiness in love except at the end of an English
novel' was Anthony Trollope's view of love and English
novels.
Find
this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes
column. |
| Spying on us, or some quirky
behaviour of search engines. And you have changed
your surfing habits. |
| |
5 August 2002
| 'Any
comments at all that can be used to make your novel better are like gold
dust.' Don't miss out on top agent Carole Blake's sensible advice on
dealing with rejection in
our latest extract from From
Pitch to Publication. |
| Find out how bestselling authors 'delegate' the writing in
our News Review. |
| Our latest Inside
Publishing column deals with the
English language publishing market, a subject which writers
often find rather confusing. |
| Our new WritersBookstall is now available, with over
100 books for writers, listed by category. Many have reviews attached
and they can be delivered anywhere in the world via Amazon. |
| 'I find it demanding, often boring,
extremely stressful and often agonising. It dominates my life well beyond
the confines of that office.’ is Tim Lott's rather jaundiced view of
writing. Do you agree with him? In our Comment
column. |
| Our latest Health Hazards
article deals with screens and
how to position them correctly. |
| 'There is no happiness in love except at the end of an English
novel' was Anthony Trollope's view of love and English
novels.
Find
this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes
column. |
| Free pages are still on offer for the first 50
writers to apply to our new WritersShowcase.
|
| Our August magazine is now ready with its usual mix. |
29 July 2002
| Bob Ritchie's Journal reports from the front line, meeting
American TV script-writers at a Writers' Guild meeting.
'Audience evenly divided between those who think writing TV drama
series is beneath them and those who would like to earn the kind of
money US TV writers earn.' |
| Successful self-publishing helps you get your work taken on by
major publishers, according to author Brandon Massey, who says: ‘Self-publishing
has become one of the quickest ways to land a book deal. ' See
News
pages. |
| Our new WritersBookstall is now installed, with a
wide selection of books for writers, listed by category. Many have reviews attached
and they can be delivered anywhere in the world via Amazon. |
| Walter Mosley says: ' We're not building up the intellectual or economic
infrastructure of the black community' which will support
black writing even when it goes out of fashion. In our Comment
column. |
| We've added a new page to our WritersPrintShop
this week, which shows you how to put together your own 'prelim
pages' (preliminary pages), if you're going down the
self-publishing route. |
| Enjoy a champion piece of bad writing, which won this
year's Bulwer-Lytton Prize. In our News
Review. |
| 'Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that
is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good'
was Samuel Johnson's witty but rather unkind
comment on a fellow-writer's work.
Find
this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes
column. |
| Free pages are still on offer for the first 50
writers to apply to our new WritersShowcase.
|
22 July 2002
| This week we'll be launching our WritersBookstall, with a
wide selection of books for writers, listed by category so you
can find just the book you need to help bring your writing up to
scratch or find a publisher. Many have reviews attached
and they can be delivered anywhere in the world via Amazon. |
| We're still offering free pages to the first 50
writers to apply to our new WritersShowcase.
Look at a sample entry to find out
how much you can put on your pages. |
| Our latest review focuses on the bestselling Creative
Writing Coursebook, which our reviewer Maureen Kincaid
Speller calls 'probably the best book on the business of writing that I’ve ever
read.' |
| It's taken Donna Tartt 10 years to produce her follow-up to
The Secret History. ‘You can try to commodify writing, you can try to
regulate it and make people turn it out, but in the end it is a process
that is kind of organic,' she says. In our Comment
column. |
| Our latest Health Hazards deals
with computer chairs. It's
scary to discover just how bad the wrong one can be. |
| There's been rapid growth in the number of US colleges offering
creative writing courses. But do they work? One student
says they do: 'I’ve had my
writing improve by leaps and bounds.' See
News
pages. |
| Aldous Huxley's view was that: 'The proper study of mankind is books.'
Find
this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes
column. |
| Don't forget to visit our new WritersForum
and have you say in our Discussion
Forum. |
15 July 2002
| We're still working to refine the two major new extensions to the site
we launched last week. The first 50
writers to apply to our new WritersShowcase
get free pages! See for yourself what
you can submit - it's up to 10,000 words. Find out why
you should use the web. |
| Check into our new Discussion Forum
to reach other writers and post your notices in What's On.
|
| Terry Pratchett, who has just won the
Carnegie Medal, has made some illuminating comments on fairy
tales, Harry Potter and genre writing; 'There are only two crimes: saying that
you personally own the pot
or denying that the pot exists.’ See what else
he has to say in our Comment
column. |
| We have a new page of international Poetry
Links as part of a further updating of our Links
pages. |
| The long shadow of the dotcom boom sees AOL Time Warner in stormy
seas, but do e-books have a future? See
News
pages. |
| The UK's biggest vanity publisher, Minerva Press, has gone into
liquidation. If you want to have a look at self-publishing,
the alternative to vanity publishing, check out our self-publishing
section, WritersPrintShop. You'll
find general guidelines and advice on publishing your own
book, as well as an outline of our design and production
service. |
| 'It took me fifteen years to discover I had no
talent for writing. But I couldn't give it up because by
that time I was too famous.' was Robert Benchley's cynical
comment on his writing. Find it in our Quotes
column. |
8 July 2002
| Two major new extensions to the site are launched today.
Our WritersShowcase will provide a
place for writers to have their own web pages to showcase
their work. A biography, synopsis and up to 10,000 words
can go on your pages. See for yourself what
you can submit for the Showcase. And the first 50
writers to apply get free pages! |
| We're into overdrive - WritersForum
is also launched today! Now you can communicate with other
writers in our new Discussion Forum
and post your notices for other writers in What's On. |
| 'When you get older you get more doubtful
about what you can do' is Beryl
Bainbridge's view about her own changing attitudes to writing.
Read what else she has to say in our Comment
column. |
| Our new Health Hazards column is
now up to the fourth article, on keyboards
and wrist-rests, as part of its advice on how to set up the
right working environment. |
| Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez‘s Hispanic women's novel Dirty Girls Social
Club shows that you can write a novel in 6 days
and cause a publishing sensation. See
News
pages. |
| If you've only recently discovered WritersServices, you might like
to look at our new summary of what the site provides, Help
for Writers and Published Authors. |
| 'The most original authors are not so because they advance what is new,
but because they put what they have to say as if it had never been
said before.' was Goethe's sage advice. Find it in our Quotes
column. |
1 July 2002
| Carole Blake's latest extract from From
Pitch to Publication tells you why you should accept - and
welcome - editorial criticism. |
| Our new Health Hazards column
advises on how to set up the
right working environment to prevent Repetitive
Strain Injury and Carpal Tunnel
Syndrome. |
| There's a fantastic boom in independent publishing in the US.
It's good news for writers who are frustrated by big publishers. See
News
pages. |
| Bob Ritchie interviews the director of BBC New Writing, who says: 'We guarantee to read at least the first ten
pages.' Find out what else she has to say in the latest
entry from his Journal of a
Virtually Unpublished Writer. |
| 'I get a lot of letters from people. They say "I want
to be a writer. What should I do?" Check out the
brilliantly simple advice from Ruth Rendell in our Quotes
column. |
| 'Books are not just another consumer
product ... they are the bloodstream for the
life of the mind' claim those protesting against Borders' latest
bookselling innovation. In our Comment
column. |
24 June 2002
| Our new Inside Publishing
column deals with an apparently obscure but important part of
publishing - Subsidiary
Rights. You can still read up on Advances
and Royalties and The
Relationship between Publishers and Agents. |
| Canadian book prices affect the number of new books. Do Americans Read the Books they Buy? See News
pages |
| 'I write for the same reason I breathe - because if I
didn't, I would die.' is what the late Isaac Asimov had to say about his
career as a writer. Find it in our Quotes
column. |
| Our new WritersPrintshop guides you
through the whole self-publishing
process. Read up on Print on
Demand, the new frontier of book printing. |
| ' I felt
like this ridiculous rich kid sitting down to write a novel, like, who the
hell did I think I was, this stupid cliché,'
is how Nick McDonell describes writing his much-heralded debut at
the age of eighteen. In our Comment
column. |
17 June 2002
| Bob ruminates on how a youth spent in a sickbed can
kickstart a writing career in his Journal
of a Virtually Unpublished Writer |
| InsideSessions runs into trouble, as Penguin Putnam's editors are
overwhelmed by the flow of manuscripts. See News
pages |
| 'Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things
or imaginary things, and nothing else' is C
S Lewis's advice to writers. |
| Our new WritersPrintshop includes ten 'letters'
to a writer to help you work out if you really want to be
a Self-publisher. |
| 'It’s like being ‘hit on the back of the head by a blunt object' was Ann Patchett's reaction to her novel Bel Canto
winning the Orange Prize for Fiction. In our Comment
column. |
| There's a free poster to print out which offers a light-hearted trip through
the corporate hierarchy in The Plan |
10 June 2002
| WritersPrintShop
is launched today! Now you can take control and use
our expert design and Print on Demand production service to
self-publish or privately publish your book. Our new WritersPrintShop
section tells you how in 42 pages, which deal with everything from
the advantages of Print on
Demand to the difference between Self-publishing,
Vanity Publishing and Private Publishing. |
| A Yankee takeover? The whisper that the Booker Prize
for Fiction might be opened up to American writers has caused a
literary furore in Britain. News
pages |
| Our Review of the
new edition of The Oxford Guide to Style |
| We've added some useful Script-writing software
pointers to our Links pages. |
| 'There's more of yourself in a book than a play.
That's why we know all about Dickens and not much about
Shakespeare. Ben Jonson murdered people; Marlowe was a spy;
Shakespeare just sat in the corner and took notes.' Sir
John Mortimer's thoughts on writing in our Quotes
page. |
| The minute a film is made, a book dwindles away and becomes nothing.
I want it to be a book that people can make the movie in their heads.' William Nicholson, on why he had turned down a $1 million film deal
for his books. In our Comment column.
|
| |
1 June 2002
| We now spend only 11 minutes a day reading fiction, as books are squeezed out of our lives. News
pages |
| Does your elbow hurt? Read the first article in our new Health
Hazards series to check out the symptoms of Repetitive Strain
Injury. |
| Carole Blake's latest extract
from her book From Pitch to Publication tells you how to
get editorial criticism. |
| Bob's latest extract from his Journal
dwells on the importance of writing about something you feel
passionate about. |
| The June magazine is ready with a
mix of new material. |
27 May 2002
| Stephen Hawking fights book publication of early work
covered only by an audio contract. News
pages |
| Our new Glossary of
Printing and Publishing terms provides an essential reference
|
| 'We have changed our reading and
book-buying habits' says A N Wilson, talking about library use
in our Comment column. |
| Our second article in the Inside
Publishing series deals with the relationship between publishers
and agents. |
| 'I know that I'm a real writer because sometimes I write a story
just because I want to' says Fay
Weldon. |
| We now have a news page in blogger.com. Click to find out more.
It's powered by Blogger |
| |
20 May 2002
| Gone with the Wind copyright battle ends with a whimper. News
pages |
| Bob gets a commission to write a brief history of classic
detective fiction in his Journal
of a Virtually Unpublished Writer |
| Once publishers were famous for
doing lunch; now they feed on one another' Terence
Blacker's trenchant comment on
Hodder Headline's acquisition of Byron's publisher, John Murray Ltd
|
| With 135,000 new books published last year, can the
prospects for the American book business really be as bad as some
commentators think? More in News
Review. |
| 'The purpose of writing is to make your mother and father drop
dead with shame' J P
Donleavy's sardonic comment on the writing life. |
13 May 2002
| Book sales up in UK but predicted down in the US. News
pages |
| Our new Submissions page provides guidelines
to help get published. |
| Christina Patterson of the Poetry Society
has a memorable description of poetry 'like whispering to the
soul' See Comment
|
| The links have had a major
overhaul and many new links have been added. |
| |
6 May 2002
| Our first Inside
Publishing column gives you the lowdown on Advances
and Royalties. |
| Bob Ritchie meets real authors at a Writers' Guild meeting:
'when they speak about writing novels,
they use the word 'serious' a lot' |
| Boom-time for writers and readers . News
pages |
| Carole Blake tells you which questions to ask a prospective agent
in the latest excerpt from From Pitch to Publication |
| Gail Rebuck of Random House UK says that 'books
change people's lives.' See Comment
|
| The May Magazine is ready with
its usual mix |
22 April 2002
1 April 2002
18 March 2002
11 March 2002
| The March edition of the magazine
is here. |
| Story: Substance, structure, style and the principles of
screenwriting by Robert McKee reviewed.
|
| The technological rate of change provides an insight into the way
some word are chosen and survive. Wired
words |
| Bob Ritchie examines what makes a story as he awaits his fate. Journal
of an Unpublished Writer. |
| A case before the US Supreme Court raises copyright issues at the
centre of debates about intellectual freedom. News
pages |
25 February 2002
| US online sales grew by between 20% and 25% to $32bn in 2001 News
pages |
| Quiet week as we prepare to launch a brand new service called WritersPrintShop
|
18 February 2002
11 February 2002
| Norman Mailer on life as a writer and the selfishness of old age. Comment
pages |
| The idea of a whole city reading one book was first tried in
Seattle in 1998. Now Chicago chooses its second book. In
the news. |
4 February 2002
28 January 2002
| Amazon's fourth quarter figures analysed? In
the news |
| Robert McCrum in the Observer comments on hype in the book
business Comment pages |
| Fiction Writer’s Workshop by Josip Novakovich reviewed
|
| We all know we should check our work but how?
|
| And site visit have doubled in the last 2 month. Thank You. |
21 January 2002
14 January 2002
| Sales of fiction titles fall as report reveals the effects of
discounting. In the news
|
| If you have set up another email account over the holiday you
should check a couple of pages
with useful hints. |
| And there has lots of reorganising to make space for what is to
come very soon. |
7 January 2002
| Bob Ritchie reviews his almost
unpublished year. |
| Christmas books sales save 2001 sales targets in UK but not in
US. In the news |
| The E-book lives on in spite of the failure of some ambitious
ventures. In the news |
| Michael Legat contributes the final factsheet. This is another 'must
read' for every new writer before they sign a contract. |
This week's changes 2001
2002 2003
2004 2005
2006 2007
2008 2009
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