Pitching a manuscript isn't for cowards, the thin skinned, or those with no endurance. Believing your project is worthy, truly believing in it, is required, as is the patience of a saint.
The tightening of publishers' purse strings in response to the economic fallout of Covid-19 has added a new wrinkle to an age-old dilemma for agents: when is the best time to submit their clients' new manuscripts?
Throwing your new manuscript into the query trenches can be an exhilarating but nerve-crushing experience. I use a systematic and business-like approach to help take the sting out of rejections and keep me focused on moving forward with querying. Read more
Even the greenest of graduate students have heard "publish or perish," but rarely are they instructed on exactly how to accomplish that or even where to start. The world of publishing can feel intimidating to those who've already pumped out a few books, let alone the uninitiated. Read more
We've all been there. We send a piece of ourselves out into the world and then wait to see what happens. And we try not to take it personally. But unless you've written a manual about the proper application of an electronic device, there's a part of you in your work and you want to see it do well. It's the literary equivalent of writing a note that says, "Do you like me? Read more
Don't you wish someone could tell you how close you are to getting traditionally published? Don't you wish someone could say, "If you just keep at it for three more years, you're certain to make it!" Read more
The other day at lunch, my friend - a writer and former journalist - raised a palm toward me to stop my monologue and said: "I don't get it! Why would anyone self-publish a book?" Read more
You've got a great book idea, or maybe a completed manuscript, and are ready to get someone to represent it. Here are the steps to take that will ensure you have the best chance of catching the right agent's eye.
'Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.'
‘Poetry is definitely having a renaissance.There's been a real sea-change in terms of how it's seen, especially in lockdown. Poetry is the perfectly transportable art form. Owning a book is all you need to experience it. Poetry doesn't necessarily give us the answers, but it does give us the tools to think with and helps us process issues. Read more
'It is all for the taking. All the manuals by frustrated fictioneers on how to write can't give you the first syllable of reality, at any cost, that any common conversation can.
The Amazon founder's relentless quest for ‘customer ecstasy' made him one of the world's richest people - now he's looking to the unlimited resources of space. Is he the genius our age of consumerism deserves?
This week, Amazon announced that Jeff Bezos will no longer be chief executive of the corporation but will instead take the position of "executive chairman". Andy Jassy, who runs the highly profitable Amazon Web Services cloud computing division, will take the title. What will Amazon founder Jeff Bezos do next? Read more Read more
Cards on the table: I think the decision to leave the European Union was a catastrophe for Britain, a setback for the EU, a challenge to democracy, a threat to Western values of human rights, and an example of political expediency over moral governance. Read more
A bitter feud pitting thousands of movie and television screenwriters against the major Hollywood talent agencies came to an end on Friday, nearly two years after it had begun.
William Morris Endeavor became the last of the major agencies to reach a new franchise agreement with the two Writers Guild of AmericaAssociation of writers in motion picture, broadcast, cable and new media. http://www.wga.org unions, saying it had done so on Friday afternoon.
Delusional poetry aside, I ended up having to supply the author photo for my first book. My friend Dave, who considered himself a pretty good nature photographer, volunteered to give it a whirl. I wore no makeup. He had no special lighting. I didn't know whether I should look at the camera, or look away as if dreaming up my next brilliant story. Read more
Stephen Phillips was doing dishes and listening to the podcast "A Life in Biography" one evening last fall when he learned why some people were not responding to his emails. Read more
Hemingway, a three-part, six-hour documentary series to run on PBS April 5-7, will examine Ernest Hemingway's life and death and the myth that surrounded both. Jeff Daniels will provide the voice of Hemingway, while Patricia Clarkson, Mary-Louise Parker, Keri Russell, and Meryl Streep will each voice one of his four wives. Read more
The first ever mention of Sherlock Holmes came in A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton's Christmas Annual of 1887. Dr Watson is looking for lodgings, and meets an old acquaintance who knows of someone he could share with, but does not recommend. Read more
'Poetry is definitely having a renaissance'
‘Poetry is definitely having a renaissance.There's been a real sea-change in terms of how it's seen, especially in lockdown. Poetry is the perfectly transportable art form. Owning a book is all you need to experience it. Poetry doesn't necessarily give us the answers, but it does give us the tools to think with and helps us process issues. Read more