27 October 2014 - What's new
27 October 2014
- 'Some encouraging publishing-related figures have emerged this week. The number of books published worldwide in 2013 was an astounding 28 million, raising the question of whether there are enough readers - and buyers - for them all. In the US there were 390,000 ISBNs for self-published books and 300,000 for trade (general) books...' This week's News Review.
- From our Archive, Joanne PhillipsUK-based freelance writer and ghostwriter. She has had articles published in national writing magazines, and has ghostwritten books on subjects as diverse as hairdressing and keeping chickens. Visit her at www.joannephillips.co.uk has written a useful article on The Business of Writing: 'Writing is undoubtedly a creative art. Whether we are working on the next Booker Prize winner or ghostwriting blog posts, writers need to be original, imaginative and inspired. But writing is also a business, with invoices to raise, accounts to be submitted and records to be kept. Writers, like artists, can find themselves floundering when it comes to the 'business end' of the job. Read on for our easy-to-follow guide to the business of writing...'
- 'I've a pretty good idea of what the story is and where it's going. The trouble is that, though you've laboured to create these characters and thought of plausible things for them to do, they take on lives of their own. I've often thought that writing fiction was like industrial management. Sometimes I've felt like putting thumbscrews on my employees to prevent them messing up on my plans...' Michael Frayn, author of Noises Off and Matchbox Theatre, in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.
- Our Health Hazards series looks at all the particular dangers faced by writers, from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome to Looking after your eyes and advises on how to position your desk and chair. This really is essential reading for anyone who spends a lot of time at the computer.
- This week's links: a thoughtful and encouraging piece from Michael Bhaskar, BookBrunch - Content is still king, and technology has not dethroned it; the view from Australia, BBC News - Man Booker win a boon for Australia literature; how far and how fast is self-publishing going to go? How Soon Will the Majority of Books Be Self-Published? - Publishing Perspectives; so which side do you support in the Amazon/Hachette dispute, Vox on Amazon: Way off-base, not entirely wrong - Salon.com; and criticism for Amazon from prominent New York Times writer, Influential Krugman says Amazon 'hurts America' | The Bookseller.
- 'One of my many theories about short stories is that their titles and first lines ought to be memorable, because if not memorable they will not be remembered, and if not remembered the stories will not be reprinted (because no one can find them).' Damon Knight in our Writers' Quotes.
