Skip to Content

Getting Published

Advantage: new authors

5 March 2012

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

Author fires publisher

12 September 2011

Last week saw the unusual spectacle of an author leaving her publisher because she thought the covers they put on her new book were inappropriate. Polly Courtney said the image was too racy - and she wanted her novel to be taken more seriously.  Read more

Self-publishing v signing up with a publisher

11 April 2011

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

Australian writer hits the jackpot

10 May 2010

Every so often a completely unknown writer hits the headlines after years of trying to break through and the dream come true provides fresh hope for many others.  Read more

The end of the slush-pile

15 February 2010

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

Dragons and 'a sense of awe and wonder'

1 December 2008

Christopher Paolini is a publishing sensation to rival J K Rowling. In these difficult times his is an inspiring story of raw talent with a large dose of hard work and a dash of luck.   Read more

Secrets of the ghostwriting fraternity

3 December 2007

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

Writing rated top job

1 October 2007

Why is it that becoming a writer has such a hold on the public imagination? As this week's Comment wittily points out, 'The modern writer's life is like a cross between that of the Venerable Bede and Naomi Campbell.'  Read more

'I’ve been offered a deal for £50,000'

11 June 2007

'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

Hill & Hill scam

6 November 2006

The recent online kerfuffle surrounding agency Hill & Hill in Edinburgh has pointed up yet again the need for writers to be extremely cautious about approaching agents. Hill & Hill, now defunct, had apparently perfected their scam over a number of years.  Read more

Syndicate content

Linked items...

6 August 2020 - What's new

August 2020
  • 'Well, the first six weeks I was not doing any writing at all. It was all about making sure the kids were all right and everyone was in a good mental state. Then, I thought maybe I can work for an hour or two a day and it was really hard work getting back in the groove. But, hey, the books aren't going to write themselves.
  Read more

2020 Manchester Writing Competition

Information

Closing date: 
18 September 2020
Entry: 
Open to writers across the world. Entry fee £18
Prize: 
Two £10,000 prizes are awarded: the Manchester Poetry Prize for best portfolio of poems and the Manchester Fiction Prize for best short story

The Manchester Writing Competition offers the UK's biggest literary awards for unpublished work, offered by the country's most successful writing school. The Competition was established in 2008 by Carol Ann Duffy (UK Poet Laureate 2009-19) and has awarded more than £195,000 to writers.  Read more

'Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil - but there is no way around them.'

— Isaac Asimov