Getting Published

This week's there's an interesting story from the US about writer Kate Alcott, whose first novel The Dressmaker has just sold 35,000 copies in hardback and been sold for translation in five countries. It seems explicable in terms of the subject-matter because The Dressmaker is about a seamstress who goes on board the Titanic as a lady's maid, is wooed by two men from  Read more

Self-publishing has been much in the news recently, with bestselling self-publisher Amanda Hocking deciding to sign up with a publisher, whilst author Barry Eisler has decided to continue self-publishing in spite of receiving a big offer.  Read more

It's always been a tough call to find a publisher though submitting to the slush-pile, but in the current crisis in publishing it just got even harder.  Read more

Ghostwriting has been very much in the news recently, with the host of celebrity memoirs fuelled by the public desire to read the inside story of the lives of the rich and famous. In October last year the Bookseller reckoned that five of the ten bestselling hardback non-fiction titles in the UK to 9th September were written by someone other than the named author, and that they ha  Read more

'New author scoops big publishing deal' is always a cheering story about the launch of a first-time writer's career. All those still battering at agents' and publishers' doors can take comfort from the fact that sometimes they do open. All you need is a really good manuscript, ready for publication, and a lot of luck…   Read more