What's New in 2018
- 'Writers remember everything... especially the hurts. Strip a writer to the buff, point to the scars, and he'll tell you the story of each small one. From the big ones you get novels. A little talent is a nice thing to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is the ability to remember the story of every scar...' Stephen King, author of more than 60 novels and countless novellas, short stories and screenplays, whose most recent novel is The Outsider. Our Comment.
- Have you been working on your book over the holidays? Are you now ready to submit to publishers or to self-publish? We offer the widest range of editorial services on the web, tailored to writers' requirements and carried out by our professional editors, Our Services for writers.
- If you're planning to submit to agents, you'll want to get your submission package into good shape before getting started, to give your book its best chance.
- Our links this week: sales double in five years, as commercial success for audiobooks has coincided with a creative flourishing, Narrator of 133-hour audiobook proclaims boom in 'evolving art' | Books | The Guardian; this year, we were obliged to say goodbye to far too many literary luminaries, as well as a few pretty complicated figures, Notable Literary Deaths in 2018 | Literary Hub; the rise of online has helped revive the second-hand book market, but what impact has it had on traditional, second-hand book shops? The booming trade in second-hand books - BBC News; what happens to a song lyric when it lands on the page? When song lyrics become literature; and good news for physical books, the UK print market has grown in value again, Print market posts fourth consecutive year of value growth | The Bookseller.
- Writing Biography & Autobiography is a serialisation from our Archives of the book by Brian D Osborne published by A & C BlackClick for A & C Black Publishers Publishers References listing. In the first excerpt, Managing the matters of truth and objectivity, the author says: 'Just as you need to remember that letters, reports, census forms, legal documents and so forth were not created simply for our convenience, so you also need to remember that what is written in them may not be true...'
- More links: spy novels rank in a special class of literature in which the real and the imaginary can be mixed in any proportion, so long as both are present, A Brief History of Spy Fiction | CrimeReads; what are we not allowed to do or say when writing for teenagers? Is Any Topic Off Limits When You Write for Teenagers? Maybe Just One - The New York Times; tens of thousands of books just became legal to download for free in 2019, Where to Download All the Books That Just Entered the Public Domain; reading gives children the very skills they need to succeed at school, at work and in life, If we want our children to thrive, teaching them to read is not enough - they must learn to enjoy it | The Independent.
- From Margaret Atwood in our Writers' Quotes: 'There's an epigram tacked to my office bulletin board, pinched from a magazine - "Wanting to meet an author because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pâté.'
- And a happy and productive New Year to you all!
- 'I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they're going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there's going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up...' George R R Martin, author of a vast number of novels, short stories, scripts and screenplays, including most famously Game of Thrones. Our Comment.
- From our Endorsements page: 'I've used two services with this company: The Editor's Plus Report and the Writer's Edit. I am completely satisfied with the service I received and said service has led to the completion and publication of my first novel: Lightforce. I would recommend any of these services to any aspiring author.' Jason Handleman, author of Lightforce (Everything Changes Book 1).
- It's not often we hear about a completely new prize, but this one, from the Leeds University Poetry Centre, has just been launched. The prestigious Brotherton Poetry Prize is open to anyone in the world over the age of 18 who hasn't yet published a full collection of poems. The entry fee is £10 and the First Prize is £1,000, with 4 runners-up getting £200. Closing 4 March.
- The Inside Publishing series consists of 19 articles giving you an insider's view of publishing. The English Language Publishing World looks at the traditional way in which international English-language publishing has been split between UK and US publishers. Why does the world get divided up into publishing territories? How has this come about? How does it affect authors? Then there's The Writer/Publisher Financial Relationship: 'There's no escaping the fact that publishers and authors are essentially in an adversarial position. Even in the very best and most supportive publisher/writer relationships there is the tension caused by the fact that authors would like to earn as much as possible from their writing and publishers to pay as little as they can get away with...'
- Our links: there are moments when being a lover of literary minimalism can feel like being part of a secret society, Why Doesn't America Love the Novella? - Electric Literature; like most authors who don't sell a million books a year, I have a day job, Is Taking a Writing Sabbatical Worth the Time Away? How do you deal with a big disappointment? What Authors Should Do When Their Publisher Closes; and how do you distinguish between an agent who is unfit for the job - and an agent who is fit for the job but a mismatch for a particular client, and vice versa, Switching Literary Agents; Two Agents Offer Advice | Jane Friedman.
- The most recent addition to our range of reports is the Editor's Report Plus, a substantial report which offers chapter-by-chapter commentary on your manuscript, with a helpful blueprint for any further work which is recommended. It gives you the kind of expert advice which is usually only available from an in-house editor, which is why it has quickly become our most popular report.
- More links: the passage of time is relentless, but It's Never Too Late to Start (or Finally Finish) Your Novel | Literary Hub; children's book sales account for 25% of the market, which is why Authors protest as children's books account for 7% of Christmas newspaper coverage | The Bookseller; the latest in the saga of agent Selwa Anthony, Literary agent ordered to pay $500,000 to Australian author Kate Morton after lawsuit loss | Books | The Guardian; if a book is good, if it's artful, entertaining, and informative, should it matter who the author is? Literary Hoaxes and the Ethics of Authorship | The New Yorker.
- Do you want some help with your writing but don't quite know what you want? Are you a bit puzzled by the various services on offer, and not sure what to go for? This article will show you how to work out which is the right editorial service for you. Choosing a service. Alternatively, email us and we'll do our best to help.
- From our Writers' Quotes: 'No one says a novel has to be one thing. It can be anything it wants to be, a vaudeville show, the six o'clock news, the mumblings of wild men saddled by demons.' Ishmael Reed
- 'I've always thought that writing poetry has very little to do with the intellect. It's not something one can explain and chat about very easily: certainly not about the making of it. It's very resistant to explanation. It comes from a place that is occult, in the sense of being hidden. It attends to some of our deepest anxieties and hopes in the same way that dreams do...' Robin Robertson, who has published six poetry collections, and whose latest book, The Long Take, has just won the Goldsmiths Prize. He is also an editor at Jonathan Cape, in the Observer. Our Comment.
- Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers who are starting out, taking you from Promoting Your Writing (and Yourself), from Self-publishing: is it for you? to Keep up to date and Submission to publishers and agents. 'Think about the market for your book. Research the category and read widely to see what other published writers in this area are doing. Which writers are successful and why? Visit bookshops and analyse what you find there. If you are reading this you are probably already writing, but it really is worth thinking right from the beginning about your readers, as that makes it far more likely you'll eventually find them...'
- In an interesting initiative involving the London-based Hachette Children's Group, sister company Orion and 22 of their authors, they have worked together to run advertisements in their books encouraging readers to share the love of reading with children. News Review reports on publishers and authors working together on this children's reading initiative. News Review.
- Last year we launched the Writer's edit, a top-level new service for writers who want line-editing as well as copy editing. Does your manuscript need high-level input from an editor to help you get it into the best possible shape for submission or self-publishing? This may be the service for you, offering the kind of editing which publishers' senior editors used to do in-house on their authors' manuscripts and which is now hard to find. Our other copy editing services.
- Our links: dealing with a tricky problem for writers, I'll Bet You Think This Story's about You: When People Keep Finding Themselves in Your Fiction - The Millions; Amazon continues to expand far beyond its current terrifying $1tn etail presence, grabbing an even bigger piece of the bookselling pie, Amazon is more dangerous than ever-and publishers need a plan | The Bookseller; an SF author who wants to talk about cities, N.K. Jemisin Is Trying to Keep the World From Ending - GQ; and the average American reads 12 or 13 books a year, but with over 3 million books in print, the choices they face are staggering, A data scientist cracks the code to landing on the New York Times Best Seller list - MarketWatch.
- Finding an agent, our tips for this key search: 'There are two types of agency: purely literary and multi-media agents. Look carefully at the entries and consider whether you would prefer to be represented by a big professional agency with all-singing, all-dancing film and TV departments to back up the book agents, or whether you would be better served by a small independent agency...'
- More links: in American poetry, politics was the domain of the few and the fearless, Political Poetry Is Hot Again. The Poet Laureate Explores Why, and How. - The New York Times; the 11 biggest-earning authors sold 24.5 million print books combined in the U.S. during our scoring period, logging $283 million, World's Highest-Paid Authors 2018: Michael Wolff Joins List Thanks To 'Fire And Fury'; female authors have managed to avoid including bad sex scenes in their novels this year - at least according to the Literary Review, Haruki Murakami and James Frey lead all-male shortlist for bad sex award | Books | The Guardian.
- From our Writers' Quotes, Cornelia Funke: 'Which of us has not felt that the character we are reading in the printed page is more real than the person standing beside us?'
- ‘Sean and I have written psychological thrillers together under the name of Nicci French for nearly 25 years now - a quarter of a century of collaborating, of entering the other's imagination and exploring the world together. Writing is hard: writing with another person is really, really hard...' Nicci Gerrard, who with her husband Sean French has written Day of the Dead and an astonishing 21 other highly successful novels under the pseudonym Nicci French in the Observer. Our Comment
- An entry on our Endorsements page: ‘The site covers EVERYTHING a new writer, established writer, or a wannabe writer could possibly want or need to know.' Hester Mundis, author many books, including My Chimp Friday, Heart Songs For Animal Lovers and The Vitamin Bible.
- The Spread the Word Life Writing Prize 2019 is open to emerging writers living in the UK aged 18 or over. There's no entry fee and the first prize winner gets £1,500 and other prizes. Closing 1 February.
- Other live Writing Opportunities.
- 'You are a first-time author without an agent and you receive a contract to publish your book - just how do you evaluate it? Is it fair or biased against the author by prevailing industry standards? Is your publisher looking out for your interests as well as his own - or wording the clauses in a way only advantageous to the company?' Why your book contract needs vetting.
- Our links: we put a tremendous amount of stock in endings, George R. R. Martin Might Never Finish A Song of Ice and Fire, and That's OK - The B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog; there are few literary feats more magical - and more mysterious to those of us unfamiliar with the language of the source text, 10 Literary Translators on the Art of Translation | Literary Hub; authors with strong brands enjoy numerous marketing advantages over those whose brands are weaker, Seven Author Branding Tips; and when she was a budding 19-year-old writer, she bought a secondhand German typewriter for 20 dollars. Steel recently completed her 174th book on that same machine, Danielle Steel Talks Her 174th Book & Secret To Success.
- 'Hardly any authors can copy edit their own writing. It is notoriously difficult to spot the errors in your own work. So professional copy editing does make sense, either if you are trying to give your work its best chance when submitting it or, even more crucially, if you are planning to self-publish...' Getting your manuscript copy edited
- More links: when her book went viral on publication, it helped that she was prepared, How To Turn A Viral Article Into A Published Book; it will be set 15 years after Offred's ambiguous final scene in the acclaimed 1985-published novel, Atwood to publish sequel to The Handmaid's Tale in 2019 | The Bookseller; and news of the winner, Full boil: foreign language entry wins 2018 Diagram Prize | The Bookseller.
- 'No one was going to stop me from writing and no one had to really guide me towards science fiction. It was natural, really, that I would take that interest.' Octavia E. Butler in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'I was a lot dumber when I was writing the novel. I felt like a worse writer... I would come home every day from my office and say, ‘Well, I still really like the story, I just wish it was better written.' At that point, I didn't realise I was writing a first draft. And the first draft was the hardest part. From there, it was comparatively easy...' Our Comment is from Miranda July, film director and author of The First Bad Man and three other books.
- Our Services for Writers - just a list of 20 services to help you get your work ready for publication.
- 'It's a common enough fantasy for writers: maybe now I can leave that dreary job and devote myself whole-heartedly to writing... But how practical is it? Is it something you can realistically aspire to, or just a distant fantasy? What are your chances of making your dream come true? Don't give up the day job.
- Our links: the other day at lunch, my friend said: "I don't get it! Why would anyone self-publish a book?" Self-publishing grows and grows, despite the old stigma - Press Enterprise; 'Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money.' Jonathan Franzen's 10 Rules for Novelists | Literary Hub; in America and Britain, fiction is said to be in decline, What Fiction Decline? An Indie Author's Asking; how do you navigate the writing life when you have an intense day job? 3 Principles for Finding Time to Write | Jane Friedman; and the five finalists for this year's award publicly protested at its sponsorship by Amazon, Canadian literary prize suspended after finalists object to Amazon sponsorship | Books | The Guardian.
- Veteran publisher Michael Legat's 19 Factsheets provide a pithy introduction to many topics of interest to writers, from Copyright to Revision, with writing advice on Plotting the novel and The First and Last Pages.
- More links: for many millennials, the young wizard had worked his magic through most of their childhood. But it's 2018 now, Thanks, JK Rowling, but I've had it with Harry Potter | Pauline Bock | Opinion | The Guardian; from the Edgar-winning bestselling author of more than 30 books, Writing Tips from James Lee Burke; cheering story of the week, Readers rejoice as shop finally sells book that sat on shelf for 27 years | Books | The Guardian; and finally, a late addition, about a threat to deprive millions of people in Europe of their ability to upload content to platforms like YouTube, Authors criticise YouTube's rallying cry against Article 13 | The Bookseller.
- Authors often find it difficult to write their own synopsis for submission to publishers, which is where our Synopsis-writing service can help. If you're preparing to self-publish and having difficulty with your blurb, our Blurb-writing service can provide professionally written cover copy.
- From Mark Twain in our Writers' Quotes:'The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. 'tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.'
- 'I was a lot dumber when I was writing the novel. I felt like a worse writer ... I would come home every day from my office and say, ‘Well, I still really like the story, I just wish it was better written.' At that point, I didn't realise I was writing a first draft. And the first draft was the hardest part. From there, it was comparatively easy...' Miranda July, film director and author of The First Bad Man and three other books, provides our Comment.
- The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 2019 is open to unpublished female writers, aged 21 or over, who live in the UK or Ireland. The entry fee is £12. The winner gets £1,500 and all shortlisted entrants receive a half-hour one-to-one consultation, with the competition sponsors PFDRepresents authors of fiction and non-fiction, children's writers, screenwriters, playwrights, documentary makers, technicians, presenters and public speakers throughout the world. Has 85 years of international experience in all media. PDF now have a POD section. Some good advice for those seeking a representative.. Closing 8 February.
- Other live Writing opportunities.
- From our nineteen-part Inside Publishing series, you can read up on Advances and royalties: 'Publishers usually offer to pay authors advances against royalties. How do you work out how much money you might earn from your book? You need to understand for yourself how advances and royalties work and what they mean for you...'
- From the same series, Copy editing and proof-reading explains the difference between the two. Copy editing is the painstaking job of going through a manuscript line by line to correct the spelling, grammar and punctuation. Proof-reading at a later stage is a separate check through the book when it is set up in pages, before it goes to press or is finalised for ebook publishing.
- We have an eclectic bunch of links this week: a deeper, more thoughtful form of engagement with ideas and for that - thankfully - there's still no better medium than a book, Desperate for nuance, no wonder we are turning to the nonfiction shelves | Stephanie Merritt | Opinion | The Guardian; why is it that some self-published authors have sold millions of books while others spend thousands of dollars and only manage to sell 122 copies - mostly to friends, acquaintances, and their mom? Three Keys to Self-Publishing Success; over six decades of work like The Incredible Hulk and The Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Comics' Stan Lee Dies At 95: NPR; and book sales are up, and they're up because a few people are buying more books, not because a lot of people are buying some books. And that is a symptom of an industry in dramatic decline, Seth Godin's mini-guide to publishing, selling and marketing books now | The Bookseller.
- Are you looking for an assessment of your book? Which Report? helps you work out which of our three reports might be the right one for you. Or do contact us, we'd be glad to advise.
- More links: in the rollercoaster boom and bust of publishing, in Ireland and elsewhere, most publishers survived for only a few years, David and Goliath, piracy and censorship: the history of Irish publishing; a rare concerted uprising against any part of Amazon by any of its millions of suppliers, leading to an even rarer capitulation, After Protest, Booksellers Are Victorious Against Amazon Subsidiary - The New York Times; ‘Publishers aren't the greedy sharks they're sometimes portrayed to be.' Richard Charkin: Why Do Authors Feel Hard Done By? A writer of unfettered imagination and undeterred ambition with a career spanning three-and-a-half decades has broken new ground with seven novels and a collection of interlinked stories, Kazuo Ishiguro: A writer of the floating world.
- Rotten Rejections provides a note of the things publishers wish they'd never said: Animal Farm by George Orwell ‘It is impossible to sell animal stories in the USA' and Carrie by Stephen King 'We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.'
- From our Writers' Quotes: 'Hitler's original title for Mein Kampf was Four and a Half Years of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice. Everyone needs an editor.' is from Tim Foote, editor & journalist.
- ‘They are authors who are unique, they are brilliant at what they do. For every company, there are must-haves. Lesley is a must-have. (Commercial) authors are, in fact better off than ever because people can see how good their books are now, they can read reviews on Amazon, and the way we can spread the word - using newsletters and Facebook pages - is fantastic...' Louise Moore, MD of Michael Joseph, in a joint interview with her author Lesley Pearse (who has achieved 10 million sales worldwide) in the Bookseller. Our Comment is on Commercial fiction writers.
- An Editor's Advice is a series of seven articles by one of our editors on really useful subjects for writers such as Manuscript presentation, Doing further drafts and Planning: 'The idea of planning doesn't fit well with the idea of the writer as inspired genius, frantically scribbling away. However, I am willing to bet that, no matter what they would have you think, most successful writers plan as much as they write. They just don't tell you about it. The biggest objection that most inexperienced writers raise when someone broaches the delicate matter of planning is that it will get in the way of their inventive powers. A plan will be like a straitjacket. They'll be stuck with this plan and if they come up with a good idea along the way, they will not be able to use it. They are genuinely horrified at the thought...'
- The International Rubery Book of the Year Award 2019 is open to all writers internationally who have published or self-published their work. Entry fee £37. First Prize £1500 plus £150 for at least three category winners. Closing 31 March 2019.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, the biggest range you can find on the internet.
- Our links: it isn't enough that a person should strive to write interesting things. They ought also, we feel, to have an interesting life, Having No Time is the Best Time to Get Writing Done | Literary Hub; it may sneak up on you once in a while - maybe even more than once in a while, How to Conquer Writer's Block; a similar belief about the relative potential for girls and boys to have adventures still holds true in children's literature, regardless of strides made in the nonfictional world, The Golden Ratio of Sexism in Children's Literature; and an interesting result from a still-running open submission, Avon snaps up four books from open submissions | The Bookseller.
- Getting Your Poetry Published has some suggestions on how to get started with this. 'Don't even try to approach publishers until you have a collection-length amount of material to offer. Your chances will be much better even then if you can point to publication of your poems in magazines. Don't waste any time trying to get a literary agent to represent you...'
- More links: a writer on creating a new series character - and letting go of the successful, existing one, Getting to know someone new; the Oxford Professor of Poetry on the requirements for the new UK laureate, Poet laureate: the highest office in poetry | Simon Armitage | Books | The Guardian; signing with a publishing house is undoubtedly a very exciting experience, but it can also cause some confusion, especially for debut authors, Your publisher's decisions - Phoebe Morgan; and the new Staunch prize sets out to reward thrillers that shun brutality against women, We need to read about trauma - the perpetrators as well as the victims | Global | The Guardian.
- Your submission package - 'Given the difficulty of getting agents and publishers to take on your work, it's really important to make sure that you present it in the best possible way. Less is more, so don't send a full manuscript, as it's very unlikely to be read. Far better to tempt them with a submission package that will leave them wanting to see the rest of the manuscript'. Here's a page on what you should send.
- 'Short stories demand a certain awareness of one's own intentions, a certain narrowing of the focus.' Joan Didion in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘I couldn't believe they'd built something that had come out of my brain on that scale. It was really mid-blowing - and humbling. I thought, there are hundreds of people who've done this from me just writing something in my bedroom...' From helping out on Netflix's The Crown, Mika Watkins has more recently been overseeing Origin, her own blockbuster YouTube series with a multimillion budget, launching on 14 November. Our Comment is from the Observer.
- Our new page Copy editing services covers our six services working on writers' manuscripts, a range which includes our top of the range Writer's Edit and Translation editing. We have just introduced free samples and free short written assessments on most of these services, which are provided by our skilled professional editors. We are transparent about our rates and our high quality copy editing services are also very good value.
- If You're a YA writer, you've got until 30 November to enter the Urban YA competition. It's open to any writer living in the UK, agented or without an agent, for a first YA novel. No entry fee. The prizes are £1,000 and possible publication by Everything with Words.
- For anyone thinking about or embarked on self-publishing, our ten-part WritersServices Self-Publishing Guide by 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 is an essential starting-point, taking you through the process step-by-step. 'Indie authors access the same professional services as traditional publishing houses. They employ freelance editors, proofreaders and cover designers. They have their work professionally formatted for ebooks and typeset for print. They may use service providers to manage some or all of the publishing tasks, or they may go it alone...' Articles include Choose Your Self-publishing Route and Marketing and Promotion for Indie Authors: Online.
- This week's links: sales of US adult fiction fell 16% between 2013 and 2017, What's the Matter with Fiction Sales? In an unusual move, the groundbreaking comics author has bequeathed his fantasy universe to a new generation of writers, Bigger dreams: how Neil Gaiman's Sandman universe is expanding | Books | The Guardian; "Writing was always my way to make sense of the world." From Self-Published to Mainstream: An Indie Success Story; and if you've got a great book idea, or maybe a completed manuscript, and are ready to get someone to represent it, DIY: How to Pitch an Agent.
- Over the years there's been an explosion in sales and confidence affecting children's books. With our specialist children's services we can help you get your children's or YA book ready for publication or self-publishing. Do you want to know if it has real commercial potential? Or are you planning to self-publish? Get some expert editorial input on your work. Children's editorial services.
- More links: from the self-publishing guru, a roundup to help however you're planning to publish your book, Marketing Advice Roundup: Best of the Last Year | Jane Friedman; from a veteran publisher, how is it that publishers rarely go broke? Richard Charkin: How Do We Measure Commercial Success in Books? Tim Gutteridge, a British translator based in Spain, has suggested that criticising a translation for plain errors is hardly a crime - language competence lies at the core of translation, does it not? Why Translation Deserves Scrutiny | by Tim Parks | NYR Daily | The New York Review of Books; for conoisseurs of the truly odd, the shortlist for the 40th Diagram Prize for the Oddest Book Title of the Year, The Diagram Prize 2018 shortlist revealed | The Bookseller.
- From a really dedicated writer: 'I never want to see anyone, and I never want to go anywhere or do anything. I just want to write.' P G Wodehouse in our Writers' Quotes.
- If quotes are your thing we have a large collection in our Archive, More Writers' Quotes and Even More Quotes.
- ‘Whenever I talk to kids about writing and tell them it's the rewriting I enjoy most, they groan. I guess if you're in school, rewriting means copying your papers over. But to me, rewriting is the most exciting part of the process. When I'm rewriting, I feel most creative. I've got all the pieces to the puzzle and now I get to put them together. I go through four or five drafts of each book...' Judy Blume, author of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Wifey, Forever and 29 other books. Our Comment.
- Are you thinking of submitting your book to an agent? Try our Finding an Agent page or Your Submission package. Our Submission critique service may also help, as it's essential to get your package into the best possible shape before you start submitting.
- My Say gives writers a chance to air their views about writing and the writer's life. So we have Lynda Finn about the isolation of New Zealand writers and their problems with getting published, British author Eliza Graham, author of Playing with the Moon, on her route to publication and Zoe Jenny, who is Swiss, on writing in English and why it was liberating. Send us your contributions, ideally 200 to 400 words in length and of general interest. Please email them to us.
- Our links: the enterprise of writing a book has to feel like walking into a cathedral, Writing Tips from Barbara Kingsolver; Indie publishing has gone through the roof, but what does this mean for you? Indie Author Beware; before becoming a writer in my 70s, I had several overlapping careers, now it's non-fiction writer, Writing books - my third career; and a Booker winner which was not expected to be a good seller, but now the total number of copies of Milkman in print is 180,000! Booker winner Milkman defies 'challenging' reputation to become bestseller | Books | The Guardian.
- Do you want some help with your writing but don't quite know what you want - or even if you need any help? Are you a bit puzzled by the various services on offer, and not sure what to go for? Choosing a service can help you work out which service is right for you.
- Advice for Writers is a really useful page which takes you into our archive and helps you explore our 6,500 pages of information for writers.
- More links: sobering reading but an essential update, Brexit - what might change, what won't? The social media network's easy-to-use and relatively inexpensive advertising platform can be a useful resource for self-published authors, DIY: Twitter Ads for Indie Authors; offering the village of Mphako a collection of brand new, carefully selected books for the library, including many children's books, Bringing books where there were none; and reading great fiction is the first and most important thing I tell my students about writing, 5 Story Collections That Will Make You a Better Writer, Picked by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.
- If you need to get your material typed up, but can't face doing the job yourself, Typing manuscripts is a service for writers who have an old or handwritten manuscript or audio tapes, which need typing before they can proceed with reworking, submission or publication.
- 'One of my standard - and fairly true - responses to the question as to how story ideas come to me is that story ideas only come to me for short stories. With longer fiction, it is a character (or characters) coming to visit, and I am then obliged to collaborate with him/her/it/them in creating the story.' Roger Zelazny in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'So, true story... I was asked once during a Q&A session whether I would use a ghostwriter to write my own memoir. Ha ha ha, everyone in the room laughed. Funny question. ‘But really... would you?' my questioner insisted. I thought for a moment and then came up with a surprising answer: ‘Yes!' And the reason is that if I wanted to make it a damn good read, I would need another person's perspective on my life story...' Kay Weitz, ghostwriter of 10 published memoirs with an 11th due out in 2018. Our Comment
- From our Archive, Writing for Children: Rule Number One - Read More than You Write by Sarah Taylor-Fergusson: 'Author opinion falls into two camps on this one, with some writers maintaining that reading fiction while writing is a very bad thing. To this I might say that if you have been working for years as a published author, and you have that degree of sophistication, dexterity and confidence, then maybe sometimes yes. But for the majority of us who are not at that level...'
- You've only got 10 days to enter the UK Poetry Society's highly prestigious National Poetry Competition! It's open to any poet from across the world aged 17 or over at the time of entering and entry fees are £7 for your first poem, and £4 per poem thereafter. Members of The Poetry SocietyLively and well-presented UK site supporting poetry with 4,000 members internationally and some thoughtful content. www.poetrysociety.org.uk can enter a second poem for free. The First Prize is £5,000 with 9 other cash prizes.
- Other live Writing Opportunities.
- As well as our highly-regarded Copy editing service, which will help you prepare your manuscript for submission or self-publishing, we have Manuscript Polishing, which provides a higher-level polishing service, Translation editing for those for whom English is not their native language and our new Writer's edit, providing line-editing. Get the right level of editorial support for your needs at a sensible price. Contact us to discuss what you want and take advantage of our free samples - and written assessments on most of these services.
- Our links: a report back from this year's Book Fair, Frankfurter Buchmesse 2018 Records a Mild Increase in Attendance; a page of links to articles about the Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two. in Publishers WeeklyInternational news website of book publishing and bookselling including business news, reviews, bestseller lists, commentaries http://www.publishersweekly.com/, International Publishing, Book Fairs and Trade Shows, Translation, Foreign Rights, International Bestsellers; some fascinating insights into writers' approaches to their writing, How I write: Man Booker shortlist authors reveal their inspirations | Books | The Guardian; and when you're marketing what feels like your 100th thriller - as an author or for a publishing house - you might feel like you've run out of things to say, How to Write Better Marketing Copy.
- Are you struggling to get someone to look at your poetry? Our Poetry Critique service for 150 lines of poetry can help. Our Poetry Collection Editing, unique to WritersServices, edits your collection to prepare it for submission or self-publishing. Both can provide the professional editorial input you need.
- More links: a publisher asks: is it fair to blame editors for their authors' big, baggy novels? Booker judges shouldn't blame editors for overlong novels | Books | The Guardian; a link to the video of the author's wonderful acceptance speech for the Penn Pinter Prize, which looks at the question: 'Are you an African writer?', and is entitled 'Shut up and write', Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - PEN Pinter Prize 2018 - YouTube; and, if an indie author wants to best market herself, she's going to need to crack on and start with an author website, DIY: Building an Author Website.
- 'The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not.' Kurt Vonnegut in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘I have always loved reading, but when I was at school, especially in primary school, I didn't realise that I did. The reason for this was that what seemed to count as ‘reading' was, in fact, something much more specific: reading meant fiction, and it meant chapter books. To read a book also meant to start at the beginning, and to finish at the end. When I was at school it was true that I didn't particularly enjoy reading fiction, and I found it hard to sit with a book for a long period of time, working my way through it in a linear fashion. Joshua Seigal, author of I Don't Like Poetry and two other children's poetry collections. Our Comment.
- Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers who are starting out, taking you from Promoting Your Writing (and Yourself), from Self-publishing: is it for you? to Keep up to date and Submission to publishers and agents. 'Think about the market for your book. Research the category and read widely to see what other published writers in this area are doing. Which writers are successful and why? Visit bookshops and analyse what you find there. If you are reading this you are probably already writing, but it really is worth thinking right from the beginning about your readers, as that makes it far more likely you'll eventually find them...'
- Do you want to self-publish your work? WritersServices offers a suite of services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish, which includes Copy editing, Blurb-writing, Poetry Collection Editing, Typing manuscripts. Our Services for Self-publishers are just a few of the 20 services on offer.
- The links are rather quiet his week, with the Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two. preoccuping publishers: 'an exquisite balance of the practical, the philosophical, and the poetic', Zadie Smith's 10 Rules of Writing - Brain Pickings; rows, gaffes and disdainful speeches - the Booker prize has always been in the news. But now, a creeping sense of bad decision-making is undermining its cachet, Has the Booker prize lost its mojo? | Books | The Guardian; the total number of ISBNs issued last year rose 28% over 2016, to 1,009,188, The Number of Self-Published Titles Cracked 1 Million in 2017.
- If you're aiming at traditional publishing, Finding an agent and Working with an agent are two practical checklists to help set up and maintain this vital relationship. 'Try to find an agency which is ‘hungry' for new clients. To keep their workload under control, an established independent agent might take on something like four new authors a year, but only to replace four departing clients. This may seem obvious, but whether or not an agent is actively looking to build their list of clients is probably the single most important factor affecting how closely they are looking at unsolicited submissions...'
- More links: research data from 160,000 adults in 31 countries concludes that a sizeable home library gave teen school leavers skills equivalent to university graduates who didn't read, Growing up in a house full of books is major boost to literacy and numeracy, study finds | Books | The Guardian; the need for more diverse voices in literature, and for more "boldness" in storytelling in these uncertain political times, Frankfurt Book Fair 2018: Chimamanda Adichie Says It's Time for 'New Storytellers'; an accidental ghostwriter's story, ‘Steve Collins said I only helped him with the spelling. That hurt'; "I think of a title as a sort of skeleton key that unlocks a lot of different thematic doors inside the work." Barbara Kingsolver Heads to the Pine Barrens; and India's book market today is in fast, positive evolution, Publishing in India: Nitasha Devasar Has Written the Book on It.
- ‘A writer who waits for the ideal conditions under which to write will die without putting a word on paper.' E B White in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘One of the great joys of being an editor is sharing your enthusiasm with colleagues and seeing others really get behind a project, so I suppose that's a strength - feeling that I'm able to gather a team around a book so that it might be published in the best possible way. Editors are readers first and foremost, and when I love a book my first instinct is always to approach its acquisition and publication with that readerly passion. But of course that's not always enough. I've had to really reign that in sometimes and remind myself to always consider the market...' Sophie Jonathan, Pan MacmillanOne of largest fiction and non-fiction book publishers in UK; includes imprints of Pan, Picador and Macmillan Children’s Books/Picador senior commissioning editor, interviewed by Porter Anderson in Publishing Perspectives. Our Comment.
- Here's an unusual writing competition, the Futurebook Story Competition, which is open to international writers of 18 or over. There's no entry fee but you need to be able to create a fresh and exciting vision of the future of the book. Prizes are: reading your story at the Futurebook conference, publication on the Pigeonhole app and a full set of novels from this year's Arthur C. Clarke shortlist. Closing 30 October.
- Other live Opportunities.
- Do you want some help with your writing but don't quite know what you want? Are you a bit puzzled by the various services on offer, and not sure what to go for? This article will show you how to work out which is the right editorial service for you. Choosing a service. Alternatively, email us and we'll do our best to help.
- Our links: however long it takes you to get the initial version down, there is always more work to be done, Reasons to Rewrite | Samantha Tonge; Orwell advised cutting as many words as possible, Woolf found energy in verbs, and Baldwin aimed for ‘a sentence as clean as a bone', How to write the perfect sentence | Books | The Guardian; unusual author marketing, but did it work? Pre-Publication Marketing: A Van Tour to Bookstores | Jane Friedman; and are bookstores engaging with their communities by stocking self-published titles by local writers? The Indie Author - Indie Bookseller Relationship Warms Up.
- Bob's Journal is a long-running column from writer Bob Ritchie described by fellow EastEnders script-writer Pippa McCarthy: 'Just discovered your web page... I've just spent the last hour crying with laughter with periodic yelps of 'been there!'... I'm going to make my entire family read your diary. Then perhaps they will understand own bizarre behaviour every time I start a script... Anyway, will shut up now but just wanted to say you have cheered me up no end. It's brilliant.'
- The Web as a Research tool - there are some sensational research resources for writers on the web. The search engines and other directories have made these accessible. But it helps to understand a little about how they work.
- More links: we missed this earlier in the year, but it's good to know that short story anthologies are enjoying a boom in sales, rising by almost 50% in value, to reach their highest level in seven years, Sales of short story collections surge | The Bookseller; staring at the black computer screen, blinking occasionally-staring and blinking, staring and blinking, until the cursor starts to blink back and you have to go to bed for a while, Is It Real? 25 Famous Writers on Writer's Block | Literary Hub; fantastic new study about how children connect with poetry, Poetry 'more popular with children on free school meals', finds NLT | The Bookseller; and with nearly 2 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, this poet/novelist has sold over a million copies of her books, A Modern Poet: PW Talks with Lang Leav.
- Do you need advice on how to deal with your publishing contract? Writers who are not represented by an agent may feel that they need professional advice on their publisher's contracts, which many authors find mystifying. Our Contract vetting service will give you an authoritative overview of your contract from a publishing contracts expert
- 'It is my contention that a really great novel is made with a knife and not a pen. A novelist must have the intestinal fortitude to cut out even the most brilliant passage so long as it doesn't advance the story.' Frank Yerby in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'I don't have writer's block, really. I do have times when I can't get the lead and that is the only part of the story that I have serious trouble with. I don't write a word of the article until I have the lead. It just sets the whole tone - the whole point of view. I know exactly where I am going as soon as I have the lead. That can take me three or four days and sometimes a week...' Nora Ephron, journalist, film director and author of screenplays such as When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, writing about writer's block. Our Comment.
- From our 19-part Inside Publishing series: on Copyright 'Many writers worry about losing their copyright. Before sending out your manuscript it is always advisable to put a copyright line consisting of the copyright sign ©, the year and your name on the title page...'
- On The Writer/Publisher Financial Relationship: 'There's no escaping the fact that publishers and authors are essentially in an adversarial position. Even in the very best and most supportive publisher/writer relationships there is the tension caused by the fact that authors would like to earn as much as possible from their writing and publishers to pay as little as they can get away with...'
- The August Magazine is out now and is linked to some great articles: Ray Bradbury's greatest writing advice, Six Great Blogs for Indie Authors, Everyone Needs an Editor and How to Blog a Book of Poetry.
- From our Endorsements page: 'As a total neophyte as a writer, I have been doing a huge amount of research suddenly as to what services are available to writers, on both sides of the Atlantic, and am amazed that you are able to have someone read a whole book and give a serious critique for just 180 pounds. I think that is incredible value for money, compared to other similar services that appear to be available out there. I hope to be back to you again for more assistance, once I've cleaned up my work! Martin Humphries, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- Our links: for all authors, a really useful article about the value of offering free content, Indie Authors and the Value of Free Content 2; with total sales doubling to $2.5 billion over the past five years, Audiobooks are booming, but how long will that last? facts/lines of poems/details of plot smear in my head but there's a simple solution How Do I Become One of Those Writers Who Remember Everything? Anna Todd's book has been read more than 1.5 billion times on Wattpad, and it's no surprise that $400M Fiction Giant Wattpad Wants To Be Your Literary Agent.
- Last year we launched the Writer's edit, a top-level new service for writers who want line-editing as well as copy editing. Does your manuscript need high-level input from an editor to help you get it into the best possible shape for submission or self-publishing? This may be the service for you, offering the kind of editing which publishers' senior editors used to do in-house on their authors' manuscripts and which is now hard to find. Our other copy editing services.
- If you are submitting your work to an agent or directly to a publishing house, check through the our guidelines to give it its best chance. Making submissions.
- More links: 'writing a crime novel is close to the middle of human experiences ranked by difficulty', Sara Gran: My Best Friends Are Books | CrimeReads; "We now have more international exhibitors than we do German-language exhibitors - it's like 65% to 35%."Coming up next week, Frankfurt Book Fair 2018 Preview; a heartfelt cry from a literary editor, Why yet more books about Nazis and the future make my heart sink | Sam Leith | Opinion | The Guardian; and the number of adults in the US reading novels and short stories has hit a new low, with the decline of almost 8% in the last five years, NEA Study Finds Small Dip in Adult Reading.
- Do you want to get your script accepted and produced for the stage or screen? This is one of the most competitive areas to get into, with very few open doors. The glamour and potential financial rewards are contrasted with the reality of rejection, or no response at all, which is what is actually experienced by many aspiring scriptwriters. Get your TV script, screenplay or play professionally assessed. Our Scriptwriting assessment service.
- 'Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.' Jane Yolen in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘The mature, serious novel is the best art form for explaining our complicated lives. It gets all the little shades of meaning and the nuance of the human condition. D H Lawrence called the novel the ‘bright book of life', and it's the art form that has evolved to explain this bizarre adventure we are all on...' William Boyd, author of 15 novels, including Love is Blind, A Good Man in Africa, An Ice Cream War and Any Human Heart, in the Sunday Times magazine. Our Comment.
- Closing on 22 October, the Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2018 is open to all with an entry fee of £6 for the first poem and £4 for further poems. First prize £2,000, Second prize £1,000 and Third prize a week-long creative-writing course at the Arvon centre of your choice. The Prize is judged by Jo Shapcott and Daljit Nagra.
- Other live Writing Opportunities.
- Our 6-part Editor's Advice series from one of our editors deals with subjects such as further drafts :'I have just finished writing a report on a novel. I've pinpointed various areas of weakness and made various suggestions that the writer may or may not wish to follow. But the nub of the report is a recommendation that the writer produce a further draft of the novel rather than trying to submit it to a publisher now. I wonder sometimes how writers feel when they get my reports and see that recommendation. It must be very disheartening, when you've spent eighteen months sweating buckets over 150,000 words of fiction to have a report coming winging back, effectively saying "do it again"...'
- Our links: The Children Act novelist and screenwriter reflects on what he's learned about endings and studio execs' suggestions: "They were all formed out of a pattern, as if they'd all taken Screenwriting 101 years ago." Ian McEwan on Adapting His Novels and Script Notes That Drive Him "Mad" | Hollywood Reporter; one of the best ways to connect with readers, build a large, engaged audience - and promote your books, 8 things to include in your author social media strategy | The Bookseller; what the young Kazakhstani scientist Alexandra Elbakyan has done to the multibillion-dollar industry that traps knowledge behind paywalls, Scientific publishing is a rip-off. We fund the research - it should be free | George Monbiot | Opinion | The Guardian; and a real dilemma for author Marko Kozkas, French bookshops revolt after prize selects novel self-published on Amazon | Books | The Guardian.
- 'Hardly any authors can copy edit their own writing. It is notoriously difficult to spot the errors in your own work. So professional copy editing does make sense, either if you are trying to give your work its best chance when submitting it or, even more crucially, if you are planning to self-publish...' Getting your manuscript copy edited
- Here's a detailed article on how to prepare Your submission package - 'Given the difficulty of getting agents and publishers to take on your work, it's really important to make sure that you present it in the best possible way. Less is more, so don't send a full manuscript, as it's very unlikely to be read. Far better to tempt them with a submission package that will leave them wanting to see the rest of the manuscript...'
- More links: hordes of books have had their titles changed in America, A book by any other name: why does the US change so many titles? | Books | The Guardian; knowing which type of printing service to use depends on authors' publishing needs - and before any decision is made, it's important to have a clear understanding of the two types of printing, Offset Printing Versus Print-on-Demand; from agent Tessa David - Every agent is different, and every agency has slightly different guidelines, but here are a few tips I would suggest bearing in mind when submitting, Top Tips on How to Write a Successful Submission - Young Writer of the Year Award; and, five years later, how does this huge trade publishing consolidation look for authors? Penguin Random House Is Building the Perfect Publishing House | The New Republic.
- How can you give yourself your best chance when entering competitions? Here's a set of tips to make sure you make the most of the opportunities.
- Finally, some tough words from the novelist Zadie Smith in our Writers' Quotes: 'Don't romanticise your ‘vocation.' You can either write good sentences or you can't. There is no ‘writer's lifestyle.' All that matters is what you leave on the page.'
- ‘Given that some very big and powerful companies dominate the UK books business, it is logical for other businesses to join together to shore up their profitability and influence in the market. I hope that these two well-loved booksellers find renewed strength and creative energy together... As an agent, my concern in a books industry dominated by big companies is that - as well as needing a healthy and profitable bookselling and publishing business - we also need to ensure that authors' economic needs are met. Authors can't club together into bigger more powerful entities to protect their profitability in the way other parts of the business are...' Lizzy Kremer of David Higham AssociatesAgents for the negotiation of all rights in fiction, general non-fiction, children's fiction and picture books, plays, film and TV scripts (home 15%, USA/translation 20%, scripts 10%). Represented in all foreign markets. Preliminary letter and return postage. All adult submissions should be typed with double line spacing on one side only of A4 paper and pages should be numbered. Be sure to include a covering letter; a full plot synopsis of the proposed book; the first two or three chapters of the book; a CV and a stamped addressed envelope. Founded 1935, currently president of the Association of Authors Agents, commenting on the Waterstones acquisition of long-established bookseller Foyles in the Bookseller. Our Comment.
- The LoveReading Very Short Story Award 2019 is for unpublished stories by writers from all over the world and there's no entry fee. The winning story will be read by a professional actor on The LoveReading Podcast, and published on the LoveReading website. Closing 31 October.
- Literary magazines with one week's response time is Sandeep Kumar Mishra's useful list, which we added to the site. They range from literary fiction to non-fiction and include science fiction and fantasy, popular non-fiction, politics, flash fiction, reviews, humour, social issues, the economy, lifestyle, horror, artwork and much more. If you've ever despaired at how long magazine submissions can take, or wanted to extend your range, this is the list you need.
- Get some professional help. If you're self-publishing, you need good quality copy for the cover. Our Blurb-writing service can provide a professionally written piece of cover copy. Submitting to agents but finding it difficult to write your own synopsis? Commission a synopsis which will present your manuscript in the best possible light for submission.
- Just launched, the July Magazine, which provided links to some interesting articles - How to Self-Publish a Poetry Book - 10 Steps, Films based on books take 44% more at the box office, The Changing Face of Romance Novels and Do Great Writers Really steal? On Plagiarism and Publishing.
- How to market your writing services online is a useful article from 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 about selling yourself as a writer. 'Recently someone commented to me that I seem to be doing a pretty good job of promoting my writing services on the internet. I was touched by the observation - we writers get so many rejections that a little praise is especially gratifying. And I began to wonder - what does it take to market yourself successfully as a jobbing writer today?...'
- Our links: there's nothing like writing and publishing a book to bring out the dormant diva who lives inside every aspiring author, Reframing Publishing Success; an author's view of the sale of Foyles, Waterstones buying Foyles isn't a bad thing - at least it's not Sports Direct | James Smythe | Books | The Guardian; a contrary view, Waterstone's Buying Foyles Is All About Bricks & | Iain Dale; and John Boyne gave voice to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in a breathless two and a half days, but in the real world, How Long Should It Take to Write a Book? | Jane Friedman.
- Are you getting ready to publish your book - perhaps planning to self-publish? WritersServices offers a suite of nine services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish. Services for Self-publishers.
- More links: this week, the site published the anthology Worlds Seen in Passing - 10 Years of Tor.com Short Fiction, which celebrates the best of the site's fiction in the decade that it's been in operation, How Tor.com went from website to publisher of sci-fi's most innovative stories - The Verge; these days I feel that finding time to write is more like purse-snatching than any other activity, Writing Advice From Lydia Millet; veteran children's publisher looks back at his career, Call the Midwife: Fickling reveals advice that has shaped his four-decade career | The Bookseller; and two great champions of reading for pleasure return to remind us of its importance - and that libraries create literate citizens, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell on why we need libraries - an essay in pictures | Books | The Guardian.
- An unusually long quote from Tom Wolfe in our Writers' Quotes: 'I think I am starving for publication: I love to get published; it maddens me not to get published. I feel at times like getting every publisher in the world by the scruff of the neck, forcing his jaws open, and cramming the Mss down his throat - 'God-damn you, here it is - I will and must be published... You know what it means - you're a writer and you understand it. It's not just 'the satisfaction of being published.' Great God! It's the satisfaction of getting it out, or having that, so far as you're concerned, gone through with it! That good or ill, for better or for worse, it's over, done with, finished, out of your life forever and that, come what may, you can at least, as far as this thing is concerned, get the merciful damned easement of oblivion and forgetfulness.'
- 'Writing today is a funny business. You do wonder how long we're going to have books. I still tell young people with the imagination to go for it. Just be sure that if it doesn't work out, you have something else you can try...' Barbara Taylor Bradford, author of A Woman of Substance, Secrets of Cavendon and 33 other titles, in the Observer magazine. Our Comment
- The Moth Poetry Prize 2018 for a single poem is open to all poets over 16 with an entry fee of £12 per poem. The First Prize is €10,000 and there are three runner-up prizes of €1,000. Closing 31 December.
- The Inside Publishing series consists of 19 articles giving you an insider's view of publishing. The English Language Publishing World looks at the traditional way in which the international English-language publishing has been split between UK and US publishers. Why does the world get divided up into publishing territories? How has this come about? How does it affect authors? Then there's The Writer/Publisher Financial Relationship: 'There's no escaping the fact that publishers and authors are essentially in an adversarial position. Even in the very best and most supportive publisher/writer relationships there is the tension caused by the fact that authors would like to earn as much as possible from their writing and publishers to pay as little as they can get away with...'
- If you're aiming at traditional publishing, Finding an agent and Working with an agent are two practical checklists to help set up and maintain this vital relationship. 'Try to find an agency which is ‘hungry' for new clients. To keep their workload under control, an established independent agent might take on something like four new authors a year, but only to replace four departing clients. This may seem obvious, but whether or not an agent is actively looking to build their list of clients is probably the single most important factor affecting how closely they are looking at unsolicited submissions...'
- Our links: contrary to what you might think, adult non-fiction revenues are soaring above fiction revenues and have been widening the gap for the past five years, Traditional Publishers Are Selling Way More Non-Fiction Than Fiction; how you can give your book another chance, 6 Reasons to Relaunch Your Book | Jane Friedman; these titles can give you the equipment, the insights, and the courage you need to make your book the best it can be, Three Books on Writing Well for Indie Authors; and it's part of the stunning boom in audiobooks, Audible UK revenue soars 45% | The Bookseller.
- Have you translated your work into English? Or have you written it in English but it is not your native language? Now you need to make sure it's good enough to publish, or send to a publisher. If you need help to get your work into perfect condition, our Translation editing service is for you. We have just introduced a free assessment and a free sample of your editing as a standard part of our service.
- More links: in a wish to have someone else take their place, or supply their words, plagiarists generally steal something better than they might write themselves, Getting Inside the Mind of a Plagiarist | Literary Hub; things are looking good in the Chinese market, Publishers praise 'successful' BIBF | The Bookseller; and, illuminating the changing role of agents, an interview from the past with a veteran literary agent who has just died, Michael Sissons: Agent of change | The Bookseller.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, the biggest range you can find on the internet.
- 'Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wishes to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.' E M Forster in Aspects of the Novel features in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘Writing is such a private thing, especially with the research I was doing, it was quite solitary and nerdy. I mean, no one is that interested in what you found out about the 18th century today. So to go from that, to having loads of people (at the publishing houses) read it and be so enthusiastic about it - I just didn't know what to do at all... Imogen Hermes Gowar, about her debut novel The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, described by The Times as 'A cracking historical novel - with a twinge of the surreal - about passion and obsession' in the Bookseller. Our Comment.
- For anyone thinking about or embarked on self-publishing, our ten-part WritersServices Self-Publishing Guide by 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 is an essential starting-point, taking you through the process step-by-step. 'In this series of articles we'll be looking in more detail at the various self-publishing routes currently available to new indie authors. When you first start out on your indie journey, the array of options can be overwhelming...'
- Just launched, the June Magazine provides a chance to catch up with our Comment and News Review columns, and links to some intriguing articles - 10 things I wish I had known before becoming a published writer, The Way you Read Books Says a Lot About Your Intelligence and Neuroscience research shows audiobooks are more emotionally engaging than film or TV.
- How to get your book translated into English (without it costing the earth) asks writers who are not native English speakers with a manuscript which needs polishing or translating: "if your English is good enough, what about translating your book yourself or writing in English, and then getting your work polished and copy edited by a professional editor who is a native English speaker?" This could be a cost-effective way of reaching the international English-speaking market.
- Our links - slightly depleted, as we're in the dogs days of summer here in the northen hemisphere! - probably, the best advice I've ever come across from a writer on writing is Elmore Leonard's suggestion, "If it sounds like writing, rewrite it." Writing Tips for Indie Authors 2; books, the oldest form of physical media are actually holding up quite well, Gutenberg's Revenge; and an indie writer's detailed look at what's happening, What's Going On With CreateSpace and KDP Print? [Updated] - The Book Designer.
- As well as our highly-regarded Copy editing service, which will help you prepare your manuscript for submission or self-publishing, we have Manuscript Polishing, which provides a higher-level polishing service, Translation editing for those for whom English is not a native language, our new Writer's edit, providing line-editing, and Proof-reading. Get the right level of editorial support for your needs. Our low-cost services represent exceptionally good value. Contact us to discuss what you want.
- More links: from the author of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy and other books, Writing Advice from Laini Taylor; recently, after years of being afraid to confront this reality, I accepted that I want to be a writer, Ask Polly: ‘Should I Quit My Day Job to Write a Book?'; a list of every TV and movie adaptation that might be in store for her fans, Nine Lives Joins List of Ursula K. Le Guin Film Adaptations; building a large enough fan base for your work via a blog is actually quite a phenomenal idea, How to Blog a Book of Poetry - How to Blog a Book.
- 'No black woman writer in this culture can write "too much". Indeed, no woman writer can write "too much"... No woman has ever written enough.' Bel Hooks in Remembered rapture: the writer at work, from our Writers' Quotes.
- For quotes fans we have superb collections in More Writers' Quotes and Even More Quotes.
- ‘This is the year in which I get to smile at all of those naysayers: every single mediocre, insecure wannabe who fixes their mouth to suggest that I do not belong on this stage, that people like me cannot possibly have earned such an honor, and that when they win it's meritocracy, but when we win it's identity politics...' N K Jemisin, in her acceptance speech after winning the Hugo Award for the third year in a row for The Stone Sky, the last in her Broken Earth fantasy trilogy. Our Comment
- If you're looking for a report on your manuscript, how do you work out which one of our four would suit you best? Which Report? includes our new top-of-the range service, the Editor's Report Plus, introduced by popular demand to provide even more detail. This very substantial report takes the form of a chapter-by-chapter breakdown and many writers have found this detail helps them to get their book right. Through our specialist children's editors we can offer reports on children's books.
- The Women's Poetry and Pamphlet Competitions 2018 are now run by MslexiaStylish and lively site for quarterly UK literary magazine read by 12,000 'committed' women writers. Good range of quality writing, information and advice with news, reviews, competitions and interviews, all presented in a friendly fashion. Praised by Helen Dunmore as 'astute, invigorating and above all an excellent read.' www.mslexia.co.uk and their new partner the Poetry Book SocietySpecialist book club founded by T S Eliot in 1953, which aims to offer the best new poetry published in the UK and Ireland. Members buy at 25% discount. The PBS has a handsome new website at www.poetrybooks.co.uk. They're open to women of any nationality from any country, and welcome single poems in any style, of any length, on any subject for the Poetry Competition and short collections of 20-24 pages of 18-20 poems for the Pamphlet Competition. Entry fee: Poetry £10 Pamphlet £20. POETRY: First Prize £2000 plus publication in both Mslexia and the PBS Bulletin, Second Prize £400, Third Prize £200. PAMPHLET: Publication by Seren BooksClick for Seren Books Publishers References listing. Closing 13 September.
- Poets are naturally keen to see their work in print but it's actually quite hard to get a first collection taken on by a publisher and self-publishing may make a lot of sense. Getting your poetry published.
- A must-read for children's authors is Suzy Jenvey's special series for WritersServices, the four-part Essential Guide to Writing for Children. The first article looks at the all-important question of age groups and what you should be aware of in writing for each one. The second part is - Before You Write: What is My Story Going to be? The third part deals with Starting to Write and the fourth part is about Submitting Your Work to Agents and Editors. This series by a hugely experienced children's editorial director and agent helps you get started on your own story or develop what you're already working on.
- News Review reports on China - for the first time, British publishers will form the biggest contingent at the upcoming Beijing International Book Fair. There will be 33 companies on the collective stand and 56 firms in all represented at the Fair, reports the Bookseller. Also the rather astounding news that a study commissioned by the UK Publishers Association got it wrong, total payments consumer authors received in 2016 were not £161m, but £350m.
- Our links: in an open letter addressed to members of the Authors' Guild, a warning from the organization's vice president, Author Richard Russo Warns of Tech Giants' Move Into Content for Writers; a great book cover, a marketing plan, and a cool author website are all important, but if an author hasn't spent the time and money for a solid editing job, it's all just wasted effort, Everyone Needs an Editor; a new, dedicated children's publishing strand, to help cater to a "booming" market for kids' books in China, Beijing's inaugural kids' stream to address fast-growing sector | The Bookseller; and the type of book you're printing, your budget, your plans for online distribution, whether you want to distribute to brick-and-mortar bookstores, and the quality of the printers, are the things to take into account, argues this carefully researched article, What is the Best Service for Print on Demand Books? • The Reedsy Blog.
- If you need to get your material typed up, but can't face doing the job yourself, Typing manuscripts is a service for writers who have an old or handwritten manuscript or audio tapes, which need typing before they can proceed with reworking, submission or publication.
- More links: how long-form immersive reading has become a tall order, New Report: American Teens Spend Less Time Reading; a lovely antidote to all the hand-wringing and hair-tearing and sit-at-the-typwriter-and-bleeding contemporary writers seem to do, Ray Bradbury's Greatest Writing Advice | Literary Hub; and a silly season story, or are cats always in season? From Chester Himes to Judy Blume, 10 Writers and Their Cats | Literary Hub.
- 'I discovered that if I trusted my subconscious, or imagination, whatever you want to call it, and if I made the characters as real and honest as I could, then no matter how complex the pattern being woven, my subconscious would find ways to tie it together - often doing things far more complicated and sophisticated than I could with brute conscious effort.' Fantasy author Tad Williamson in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘Television is suddenly hungry for writers' content because long-form television is much closer to novels than anything else. A lot of people invested in short stories, things you can read on your phone, all very interesting but putting the technology first. Actually what we've seen is authors like Hanya Yanagihara and Donna Tartt - very long novels (being successful). So something is going on in reading which is much more analogous to long-form television - immersive reading and immersive watching...' Clare Alexander of the London literary agency Aitken Alexander AssociatesAccepts fiction and non-fiction. No plays or scripts. in the Bookseller. Our Comment.
- Do you want some help with your writing but don't quite know what you want? Are you a bit puzzled by the various services on offer, and not sure what to go for? This article will show you how to work out which is the right editorial service for you. Choosing a service. Alternatively, email us and we'll do our best to help.
- Closing on 30 September, the unique Caterpillar Story Prize 2018 is for a short story written by an adult for 7-11 year-old children. The Prize is open to anyone (over 16), as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. Entry fee €12 per story and there's a £1,000 prize for the winner.
- You can still enter The Booklife Prize 2018 till 31 August.
- Our page of Picture library links provides a good starting-point for finding an image for your book, whether it's for the cover or inside. Gograph was the last one we added with its 18 million stock links.
- There are 23 other pages of links of recommended sites and we'd love to hear about any more sites you'd like to recommend to other writers.
- Our links: an inspiring and thorough article showing you how to maximise backlist income, How Traditionally Published Authors Can Repackage and Self-Publish Their Backlist | Jane Friedman; success for the campaign to protect authors' income, 'Elitist': angry book pirates hit back after author campaign sinks website | Books | The Guardian; traditional publishing? Self-publishing? Now here's a third way to publish your books, Ebooks: How digital publishers are 'shaking up' the industry - BBC News; and in a gesture of solidarity, the Authors Guild has issued an essay condemning Donald Trump's assaults on the news media, Authors Guild Closes Ranks With Press on First Amendment Freedoms.
- Our Success Stories series includes Darren Shan and Tina Seskis, of whom we said: 'an irresistible subject for a Success Story because she lives just up the road from WritersServices in north London and because her success as a writer is like a textbook illustration of how to do it'. We have other Success Stories on a wide range of authors.
- More links: the income from rights for UK publishers has increased by an astounding 90% over five years, Publishers Association: How Rights Sales Factor Into the UK's Industry Revenues; a young generation of poets is winning prizes, acclaim, and legions of readers while exploring identity in new ways, How Poetry Came to Matter Again; can an author's personality be separated from his or her reputation as an artist? A question raised this week, The Guardian view on VS Naipaul: a complicated man and a complicated legacy | Editorial | Opinion | The Guardian; and views on great writers from an intellectual powerhouse, Elizabeth Hardwick on Eight Icons of American Letters | Book Marks.
- And from V S Naipaul, who died this week: ‘To be a writer you have to be out in the world, you have to risk yourself in the world, you have to be immersed in the world, you have to go out looking for it. This becomes harder as you get older because there's less energy, the days are shorter for older people and it's not so easy to go out and immerse oneself in the world outside.‘
- ‘I can't stop writing. It's not something I physically enjoy, but I can't switch off the head. There was something else, something I'd lived with all my life - the fear that I wouldn't live to finish a given piece. Having finished Boneland at the age of 77, with no idea in front of me whatever, I thought - that's it. Now, given that it takes me between five and nine years to write a novel, the joke runs a bit sour when you're in your early eighties...' Alan Garner, author of just-published Where Shall We Run to? (a wartime childhood memoir), The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Stone Book Quartet and many other books for children and adults in the Observer. Our Comment.
- The April Magazine is a good way to delve into our amazingly rich archives and links you to some enticing online articles: The perfect crimes: why thrillers are leaving other books for dead, How to Become a Bestseller with Money, Luck and Work (Mostly Work) Jane Friedman, Let's silence the creative writing course snobs and How Self-Publishing Made today's Small Underground Presses Possible.
- We have a new entry on our Endorsements page; 'Please extend my gratitude to the editor for his/her thoughtful and detailed edit. I could not ask for better work! Its value far exceeded the cost.' Jim, Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA)
- Our new page Copy editing services covers our six services working on writers' manuscripts, a range which includes our top of the range Writer's Edit and Translation editing. We have just introduced free samples and free short written assessments on most of these services, which are provided by our skilled professional editors.
- My Say gives writers a chance to air their views about writing and the writer's life. So we have Lynda Finn about the isolation of New Zealand writers and their problems with getting published, British author Eliza Graham, author of Playing with the Moon, on her route to publication and Zoe Jenny, who is Swiss, on writing in English and why it was liberating. Send us your contributions, ideally 200 to 400 words in length and of general interest. Please email them to us.
- Our links: I've been both a children's book editor and author for roughly a decade, What Authors and Editors Wish They Could Say to One Another; these blogs can have a huge, positive impact on your self-publishing success if you let them, Six Great Blogs for Indie Authors; I couldn't make heads or tails of the structure, Serial Box creates books for the age of Peak TV - Vox; and acting more like a literary grifter than a literary agent, Agent Danielle Smith's Former Clients Speak Out.
- 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell by Chris Hamilton-Emery is a tremendously useful book for any poet, , an insider's guide to the poetry business, focusing on the issues that matter: building profile, finding readers and selling books.
- More links: people are always saying, "I have an idea for a story," How Writing a Short Story Collection is Like Starting a Zoo | Literary Hub; authors in trouble, Writers' groups reveal increasing demand for hardship grants | The Bookseller; and it's difficult for newer writers to chart a safe path, Vanity and The Media | David Gaughran.
- 'A poet can survive everything but a misprint.' Oscar Wilde in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘Publishing is all about taste. You have other things, but at the centre of everything you do is your taste - and your trust in your taste and your judgement... It's such a difficult job - you need to have the big picture and the detail. An editor who is just an editor thinks only about the text and creating a marvellous book and handing it over - whereas one who is also a publisher has a 360 degree view on a book and they are the engine that drives a book and they get involved in all aspects, particularly publicity...' Alexandra Pringle, editor-in-chief, Bloomsbury Publishing, in Bookbrunch. Our Comment.
- The rather wonderful Manchester Poetry and Fiction Prizes 2018 close on 14 September. Open to all writers internationally, they both have a £17.50 entry fee but the winner gets is a magnificent £10,000 ($13,054) for each prize.
- Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers who are starting out, taking you from Promoting Your Writing (and Yourself), from Self-publishing: is it for you? to Keep up to date and Submission to publishers and agents. 'Think about the market for your book. Research the category and read widely to see what other published writers in this area are doing. Which writers are successful and why? Visit bookshops and analyse what you find there. If you are reading this you are probably already writing, but it really is worth thinking right from the beginning about your readers, as that makes it far more likely you'll eventually find them...'
- Amazon's latest figures are astounding and cement its dominance of the book business, particularly self-publishing, as well as the huge inroads it is making in many other areas. Operating income for the second quarter increased from $628 million in the 2nd quarter of 2017 to $3 billion, whilst net income jumped from $197 million to $2.5 billion...' News Review.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, which is the biggest you can find on the internet.
- Our links: knowing what you want from being published will help you find the best way to achieve it, How do I get my book published? You asked Google - here's the answer | Katy Guest | Opinion | The Guardian; here's a contrary but realistic view, No, you probably don't have a book in you | The Outline; his work has influenced all corners of the genre fiction world, from science fiction to mysteries and thrillers, Imaginary History: PW Talks With George R.R. Martin; and the most popular publishing scam of the 1990s by far, reading fees, Publishing Industry Scams Are Evolving For The Self-Publishing Age.
- Are you thinking of submitting your book to an agent? Try our Finding an Agent page or Your Submission package. Our Submission critique service may also help, as it's essential to get your package into the best possible shape before you start submitting.
- More links: a fascinating look at how difficult it is to pin down a plagiariser Do Great Writers Really Steal? On Plagiarism and Publishing | Literary Hub; an amazing look at the biggest trade publisher in the world, with an enormous list of imprints, At PRH, Producing a Publishing Powerhouse; how some indie authors have benefited hugely from Amazon, Amazon's Kindle Unlimited Is a Boon for Some Authors - The Atlantic; and a literary lion's excursion into popular writing, 50 Years Ago, Kingsley Amis Had a Midlife Crisis and Turned to James Bond for Help - The Millions.
- Are you ready to self-publish your poetry? Have you concluded that, given the scarcity of publishers taking on new work, it's too difficult to find a poetry publisher who will take on your collection? You can get your poetry collection edited for self-publishing or submission to publishers using our unique Poetry Collection Editing Service.
- 'People say, ‘What advice do you have for people who want to be writers?' I say, they don't really need advice, they know they want to be writers, and they're gonna do it. Those people who know that they really want to do this and are cut out for it, they know it.' R L Stine in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘You must dedicate yourself to keeping a journal. When I look into my own journals, what fascinates me most about what was going on in my life 30 years ago are the things that we would consider the most mundane. What was I reading, who was I talking to, what were the main subjects of conversation...' Ian McEwan, author of 22 books including The Child in Time, Amsterdam and Atonement in an interview in Signature provides this week's Comment.
- The Gingko Prize for Ecopoetry closes on 15 August and is open to all with an entry fee. The first prize is £5,000, second prize £2,000 and third prize £1,000.
- From our 19-part Inside Publishing series, Subsidiary Rights: 'My first job in publishing was in a subsidiary rights department. I'm ashamed to admit that I accepted the job without having much idea what subsidiary rights were. Many writers may feel just as vague about this part of publishing, so here's a quick breakdown...' and Vanity Publishing: 'It is natural for writers to be eager to get published but it pays to be wary of the vanity publishers who will take your money and give you very little in return...' Vanity publishing is quite distinct from Self-publishing, you need to be aware of the differences.
- If you're planning to submit to agents, you'll want to get your submission package into good shape before getting started, to give your book its best chance.
- Our links: an extraordinary increase in sales by 5% to £5.7bn, driven by a growth in export sales which now account for 60% of the total, British publishing breaks revenue records but textbook sales are hit | The Bookseller; but what about the authors, Book sales boom but authors report shrinking incomes | Books | The Guardian; disturbing new figures show that 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year, Reading books is on the decline; how to attract lots of visitors, gain tons of subscribers and even make some money on your services and products, How to Create Your Best Blogging Year - How to Blog a Book; and stories that tackle with elegant simplicity such complexities as uncertainty, loneliness, loss, and the cycle of life, E.B. White on How to Write for Children and the Writer's Responsibility to All Readers - Brain Pickings.
- 'Hardly any authors can copy edit their own writing. It is notoriously difficult to spot the errors in your own work. So professional copy editing does make sense, either if you are trying to give your work its best chance when submitting it or, even more crucially, if you are planning to self-publish...' Getting your manuscript copy edited
- More links: how self-publishing poets controlled the look and feel of their books and were able to get their book into the hands of their followers faster than with traditional publishing, How to Self-Publish a Poetry Book - 10 Steps | Blurb Blog; twenty-eight million American adults read poetry this year, How young writers are leading a poetry comeback | PBS NewsHour; and how giant, corporate publishers with racketeering business practices and profit margins that exceed Apple's treat life-saving research, Academic publishing is broken. Here's how to redesign it.
- 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' The Business of Writing for Self-publishing authors offers terrific advice for all writers: 'Self-publishing authors - also known as ‘indie' authors or author-publishers - have had a steep learning curve these past few years. Getting to grips with the various sales channels available to them, producing top quality ebooks and paperbacks, and finding a place in mainstream outlets have left many writers struggling to keep up with the paperwork. What follows is a brief guide to the essentials your self-publishing business needs - because it is a business, even if you only publish one book!'
- From our Writers' Quotes: 'An essential element for good writing is a good ear: One must listen to the sound of one's own prose.' Barbara Tuchman
- ‘A bestseller might be read by hundreds of thousands of people, but Apple Tree Yard on TV reached 8 million people per episode - one of the few occasions when an author can become part of the national conversation. But writing a good book on its own is not enough - it needs to be a lucky book. Apple Tree Yard was a lucky book, lucky on several levels. Lucky in being published by Faber & Faber, who did the most amazing job even before the glamour of TV. Then it was lucky again as the rights were optioned by Kudos TV and lucky a third time when they sold the adaptation in a brilliant version by Amanda Coe to BBC1...' Louise Doughty, author of Apple Tree Yard, Black Water and six other novels provides our Comment in a speech at the UK Publishers Association Summer Reception in the Terrace Pavilion in the House of Commons, London.
- Teenage poets have two more weeks to enter the world's best poetry competition for young people, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2018, which is open to all 13-17 year-olds worldwide. There's no entry fee and the top 15 winners win mentoring and a life-changing residential writing course. This fabulous competition for young poets closes on 31 July.
- Our 19 Factsheets from the legendary Michael Legat are full of tips for the new writer or anyone who is trying to get their book published. From Literary agents to Copyright, from Libel to Submissions, this series is full of essential background information.
- The March Magazine links you to some interesting online articles: 8 Writing Tips from Jeff Vandermeer; When do you need an agent? A novelist reveals all; Complete Fiction: Why 'the short Story renaissance is a myth' and Will Self: 'The novel is absolutely doomed'and many past News Reviews and Comments.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, which we think is the biggest and most comprehensive you can find on the internet.
- Our links: an authoritative and thorough look at the subject, Author Income Surveys Are Misleading and Flawed-And Focus on the Wrong Message for Writers | Jane Friedman; it's gratifying to see that books work best for the movies, Films based on books take 44% more at the box office | The Bookseller; from the bestselling author of Gone Girl, Sharp Objects writer Gillian Flynn on why she wants to show recognisable women - BBC News; and a whole article on Vonnegut's 'transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing', On Semicolons and the Rules of Writing - The Millions.
- Writing Biography & Autobiography is a serialisation from our Archives of the book by Brian D Osborne published by A & C BlackClick for A & C Black Publishers Publishers References listing. In the first excerpt, Managing the matters of truth and objectivity, the author says: 'Just as you need to remember that letters, reports, census forms, legal documents and so forth were not created simply for our convenience, so you also need to remember that what is written in them may not be true...'
- More links: a useful but rather dull article on the latest trends in US publishing, Print Unit Sales Rose 2% in First Half of 2018; from an author with many difficulties whose novel has gone into four printings, The Changing Face of Romance Novels - The New York Times; Have you ever considered changing genre? I hadn't before last year when the decision was taken out of my hands, Changing Genres | Samantha Tonge; and how Rebel Girls became the most funded original book in the history of crowd-funding, Why is publishing suddenly obsessed with "rebel" women?
- Are you writing for children? Our Children's Editorial Services can help you get your work ready for publication or self-publishing. Have you found it difficult to get expert editorial input on your work ? Do you want to know if it has real commercial potential? Or are you planning to self-publish? Three reports and copy editing are available from our highly-skilled children's editors, including essential advice on age groups and vocabulary.
- 'Talented writing makes things happen in the reader's mind - vividly, forcefully - that good writing, which stops with clarity and logic, doesn't.' Samuel Delany in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘Revision is absolutely necessary. If something is easily too good to alter, thank the gods, but don't expect it to happen again. Expect, rather, that you will need to improve upon the given, to continue the imperfect formation that your initial work has produced. Which is, after all, what making the poem is all about - to take the passion and, without cooling it, to put it into a form...' Mary Oliver, from Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse. This Pulitzer Prize-winning poet has also produced four books of poetry and Devotions, a definitive collection of her work. Our Comment.
- The Winchester Poetry Prize 2018 is open to all poets worldwide aged 16 and over and entry fees are £5 for the first poem, £4 for subsequent poems. 1st Prize £1,000, 2nd Prize £500, 3rd Prize £250. Closing 31 July.
- A Publisher's View is our four-part series from publisher Tom Chalmers on what publishers are looking for. What a publisher wants from submissions, Judging a book by its covering letter and synopsis, Making the submission and The changing face of publishing. 'While editors may well do some later tinkering, it shouldn't be sent in unless the writer feels it is a manuscript ready for publication, in terms of both grammar and content. Lines like ‘I know it needs some work', or ‘I think it's nearly there' show admirable humility but are an immediate put-off!...'
- The February Magazine gives a round-up of News Reviews and Comments, as well as some useful links, including DIY: Essential Elements of an Author Website, A life in quotes: Ursula K Le Guin, Where are romance novels headed given the current state of women's issues? And there's Fifteen Poets on Revision.
- Get some professional help. If you're self-publishing, you need good quality copy for the cover. Our Blurb-writing service can provide a professionally written piece of cover copy. Submitting to agents but finding it difficult to write your own synopsis? Commission a synopsis which will present your manuscript in the best possible light for submission.
- Our links: an author and trade journalist's view of the row, Payments to authors: advances and discount clauses; The Society of AuthorsThe British authors’ organization, with a membership of over 7,000 writers. Membership is open to those who have had a book published, or who have an offer to publish (without subsidy by the author). Offers individual specialist advice and a range of publications to its members. Has also campaigned successfully on behalf of authors in general for improved terms and established a minimum terms agreement with many publishers. Recently campaigned to get the Public Lending Right fund increased from £5 million to £7 million for the year 2002/2003. Regularly uses input from members to produce comparative surveys of publishers’ royalty payment systems. http://www.societyofauthors.org/ has issued a sharply worded challenge to the UK's biggest publishers after the chief executive of the Publishers Association questioned new figures, Writers and publishers trade blows over plummeting author pay levels | Books | The Guardian; in the right hands, dialogue can move things along in a way that will leave you breathless, Ask the Editor: Writing Dialogue; and perhaps the two most famous fantasy writers of the 20th century and an enthusiastic poet on Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis, W. H. Auden, & Edmund Wilson on The Lord of the Rings | Book Marks.
- Our Services for Writers, just a list of the 20 services to help you get your work ready for publication. We've been offering editing services for writers from our office in London since 2001 and have the widest and best-value range on the web. Get your work ready for publication or submission with the help of our team of skilled professional editors.
- More links: how Melbourne author Christian White's life changed almost overnight, Australian author goes from editing porn to publishing sensation; OceanofPDF.com has a US domain name and offers users free PDF or Epub downloads of many bestselling authors' books, Authors' fury at website offering free book downloads | The Bookseller; the world's self-styled premier English-language literary prize assessed by Rober McCrum, The Man Booker at 50: flawed - but still the best way to judge our literature | Books | The Guardian; and winning the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story "Fanta Blackcurrant", Kenyan writer Onjerika scoops £10,000 Caine Prize | The Bookseller.
- Our Printing and Publishing Glossary is a useful reference to all those arcane publishing terms.
- 'Inside every fat book is a thin book trying to get out' from Unknown comes from our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘You don't necessarily choose the books you write; they choose you, in a way. Sometimes one arrives when you are least expecting it, a bit like an unplanned pregnancy. This book was very much like that. But I had huge trepidations about publishing it. I only let my publisher give me a £1 advance in case I changed my mind...' Our Comment this week is about 'A memoir that didn't fleece the people I love' and is from Maggie O'Farrell writing about her latest book, I Am. I Am. I Am in the Observer. Her seven novels include The Hand That First Held Mine and This Must Be the Place.
- An Editor's Advice is a series of seven articles by one of our editors on really useful subjects for writers such as Manuscript presentation, Doing further drafts and Planning: 'The idea of planning doesn't fit well with the idea of the writer as inspired genius, frantically scribbling away. However, I am willing to bet that, no matter what they would have you think, most successful writers plan as much as they write. They just don't tell you about it. The biggest objection that most inexperienced writers raise when someone broaches the delicate matter of planning is that it will get in the way of their inventive powers. A plan will be like a straitjacket. They'll be stuck with this plan and if they come up with a good idea along the way, they will not be able to use it. They are genuinely horrified at the thought...'
- The Daily Mail PRH First Novel Competition for 2018 is open to anyone aged 16 or over who is a resident of the UK or Republic of Ireland. There's no entry fee and the prize is a £20,000 advance, a publishing contract with PRH imprint Century and the services of literary agent Luigi Bonomi. We've featured this before but get your skates on now as it closes on 13 July.
- As well as our highly-regarded Copy editing service, which will help you prepare your manuscript for submission or self-publishing, we have Manuscript Polishing, which provides a higher-level polishing service, Translation editing for those for whom English is not their native language and our new Writer's edit, providing line-editing. Get the right level of editorial support for your needs. Contact us to discuss what you want and take advantage of our free samples - and written assessments on most of these services.
- Our links: aspects of being an author that I wasn't prepared for, 10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Becoming a Published Author - M. Shannon Hernandez; a strange thing happened this week: my dreams came true, ‘It is like being on psychedelic drugs': Benjamin Myers on the strange world of literary prizes | Books | The Guardian; it is harder than ever for authors to make a living, ALCS survey finds 15% drop in average author earnings since 2013 | The Bookseller; Philip Pullman, Antony Beevor and Sally Gardner are calling on publishers to increase payments to authors, after a survey of more than 5,500 professional writers revealed a dramatic fall in the number able to make a living from their work, Publishers are paying writers a pittance, say bestselling authors | Books | The Guardian; and you get more thrills listening to the audio adaptation of a novel than you do from its equivalent on Netflix, Neuroscience research shows audiobooks are more emotionally engaging than film or TV | The Bookseller.
- If you're aiming at traditional publishing, Finding an agent and Working with an agent are two practical checklists to help set up and maintain this vital relationship. 'Try to find an agency which is ‘hungry' for new clients. To keep their workload under control, an established independent agent might take on something like four new authors a year, but only to replace four departing clients. This may seem obvious, but whether or not an agent is actively looking to build their list of clients is probably the single most important factor affecting how closely they are looking at unsolicited submissions...'
- More links: suddenly "autofiction" - fictionalised autobiography that does away with traditional elements of the novel such as plot and character development - is everywhere, Drawn from life: why have novelists stopped making things up? | Books | The Guardian; the smartest people in the world own tons of books they don't read, The Way You Read Books Says A Lot About Your Intelligence, Here's Why; there's been an unprecedented boom in India's publishing industry during the past two decades, Future of books brighter in India than most parts of world: Publisher David Davidar - Times of India; and I believe that all novels begin with an old lady in the corner opposite. I believe that all novels, that is to say, deal with character, Essential Writing Advice from Virginia Woolf | Literary Hub.
- Advice for Writers is a really useful page which takes you into our archive and helps you explore our 6,500 pages of information for writers.
- 'Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.' Virginia Woolf in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘I got insomnia because I was so freaked out. Everyone else was delighted for me but it was destabilising. My friends had to process the success for me. I didn't realise writing was not the final stage. You hope the book speaks for you - you write because you want to make sense of the world through your books, so to have to be the representative of it was challenging... When I started writing it was like I didn't need to ask permission. Unconsciously perhaps, the roles I created in The Miniaturist were dream roles I wanted to play...' Jessie Burton, author of the bestsellers The Miniaturist and The Muse, in the Evening Standard. Our Comment.
- Myriad's First Drafts Competition 2018 is open to unpublished women writers of any nationality and of African heritage or descent. Prizes are publication in the forthcoming anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby, and a week's writing retreat. Closing 6 July.
- Other writing competitions which are still open.
- Our article on How to get your book translated into English (without it costing the earth) asks writers with a manuscript which needs translating or has been written in English by a non-native speaker: "if your English is good enough, what about translating your book yourself, or writing in English, and then getting your translation polished and copy edited by a professional editor who is a native English speaker?" This could be a cost-effective way of reaching the international English-speaking market.
- Translation Editing is a polishing service for writers who have translated their work into English or written it in English when it is not their native language. If you need to make sure it's good enough to publish, or send to a publisher, this service is for you. Acknowledging the growth of world English, Translation Editing is designed for the many non-native English speakers throughout the world who want to publish their work in English.
- Our links: sixty novels, ten collections of short stories, and half a dozen nonfiction works, Stephen King: Master of Almost All the Genres Except "Literary" | Literary Hub; 'another stunning display of both truth in publishing and meticulous attention to the data', AuthorEarnings Debunks Industry Lies Surrounding SciFi, Fantasy; latest thoughts on the audiobook revolution from Mike Shatzkin, Words-to-be-read are losing ground to words-to-be-heard, a new stage of digital content evolution | The Idea Logical Company; and life post-publication for one author, Dana Schwartz: Writing a Book Did Not Change My Life | Literary Hub.
- Bob's Journal is a long-running column from writer Bob Ritchie described by fellow EastEnders script-writer Pippa McCarthy: 'Just discovered your web page... I've just spent the last hour crying with laughter with periodic yelps of 'been there!'... I'm going to make my entire family read your diary. Then perhaps they will understand own bizarre behaviour every time I start a script... Anyway, will shut up now but just wanted to say you have cheered me up no end. It's brilliant.'
- More links: Geraldine McCaughrean has castigated the books industry for dumbing down language in children's literature, Carnegie medal winner slams children's book publishers for ‘accessible' prose | Books | The Guardian; less than half of publications achieved gender equality, with the New York Review of Books halving its coverage of female voices, Vida report: 'Dangerous lens' of male bias remains in literary criticism | The Bookseller; a tongue-in-cheek list of what publishing words really mean, An Exclusive New Column Series: Richard Charkin on the Vocabulary of Publishing; and OUP is asking members of the public to submit local words, phrases and expressions from around the world for inclusion in the OED, Oxford English Dictionary hunts for regional words | The Bookseller.
- Have you ever wondered why you don't win any of those competitions? What can you do to improve your chances? Our tipsheet on Entering Competitions.
- 'If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.' Elmore Leonard in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘"I'm writing a book." The very phrase seems self-indulgent and strange, more so at a time when we count the words and minutes, even the characters and the seconds. In popular myth, the writer is a mercurial figure, and when I started writing I assumed that the process would consist of long periods of staring at a flashing cursor interrupted by flashes of inspiration which would keep me at the keyboard for 50,000 words. Having heard about all those writers' retreats for novelists, I also assumed that it would help to have a beautiful view to look at. All wrong....' Jonathan Conlin, author of Tales of Two Cities, Evolution and the Victorians and four other books, provides this week's Comment from agent Andrew Lownie's excellent archive.
- The Moth Short Story Prize 2018 is closing on 30 June. It's open to any writer over 18 with an unpublished story. The entry fee is €12 per story. 1st prize is €3,000, 2nd prize is a week-long writing retreat in France plus €250 travel stipend and 3rd prize is €1,000
- Our 19-part Inside Publishing series gives you an insider's take on the publishing world, covering everything from subsidiary rights to the world English language market (but, you may be wondering, where does the author stand in relation to all this neat carving-up of the world? What's in the author's best interest and how much control does the author have over who sells their book in which country?), from advances and royalties to the writer/publisher financial relationship.
- Our links: writers are turning to the spoken word as their preferred medium, encouraged by a boom in audiobook sales that is transforming publishing, Audio is publishing's new star as sales soar across genres | UK news | The Guardian; and more on audio - "You're not going to be able to read it, you're only going to be able to listen to it," Listen carefully, book lovers - top authors are skipping print | GulfNews.co; what about the clients of Donadio & Olson, the agency that had a bookkeeper embezzle a minimum of $3.4 million from writers over the past seven years? Business Musings: What It Feels Like To Have An Agent - Kristine Kathryn; and an editor on how to restructure an entire book if it needs a bit of an overhaul, Restructuring your novel - Phoebe Morgan.
- WritersServices can provide a range of six services working on your manuscript, to help you get it ready for submission or self-publishing. We are UK-based and our skilled professional editors have been working on writers' manuscripts for 17 years. We have just introduced free samples and free assessments on most of these services, please see the individual service page. Copy editing services
- More links: "Good copyright policy is good public policy," At BookExpo, a Look at Copyright Issues: 'It's the Author Who Suffers'; last month, Lara Prescott was preparing to graduate from her three-year creative writing fellowship at the University of Texas. Two weeks later, she is sitting on book deals worth at least $2m (£1.5m), First novel inspired by CIA's Doctor Zhivago plan nets $2m book deal | Books | The Guardian; a word which is thrown around a lot by tech companies trying to get in on the hype, Authors, Don't Be Taken in by the Blockchain/Bitcoin Hype | The Digital Reader; and publisher Salt saved from debt after supporters rally to buy 'just one book' | The Bookseller.
- If you feel like helping, Salt publishes a very useful book for poets, 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell, which we reviewed on this page and you can buy it direct from their site.
- Here's our article on Your submission package: 'Given the difficulty of getting agents and publishers to take on your work, it's really important to make sure that you present it in the best possible way. Less is more, so don't send a full manuscript, as it's very unlikely to be read. Far better to tempt them with a submission package that will leave them wanting to see the rest of the manuscript...'
- 'Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head. Shakespeare has perhaps 20 players. ... I have 10 or so, and that's a lot. As you get older, you become more skillful at casting them.' Gore Vidal in our Writers' Quotes
- 'My greatest fear is of suddenly feeling that to devote so much of my life to writing is meaningless. It's a sensation that I've felt very often, and I'm afraid that I will again. I need a lot of determination, a stubborn, passionate adherence to the page, not to feel the urgency of other things to do, a more active way of spending my life. So yes, I'm fragile. It's all too easy for me to notice the other things and feel guilty...' Elena Ferrante, author of My Brilliant Friend and four other Neapolitan Novels in the Los Angeles Times. Our Comment.
- Our latest competition is sadly only available to writers resident in the UK or the Republic of Ireland. Richard and Judy's Search For A Bestseller 2018 for unpublished novels has no entry fee but offers as first prize a £30,000 publishing deal with Bonnier Zaffre and representation from literary agency Furniss Lawton. Closing on 14 June.
- Do you want to self-publish your work? WritersServices offers a suite of services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish, which includes Copy editing, Blurb-writing, Poetry Collection Editing, Typing manuscripts. Our Services for Self-publishers are just a few of the 20 services on offer.
- My Say gives writers a chance to air their views about writing and the writer's life. So we have Lynda Finn about the isolation of New Zealand writers and their problems with getting published, British author Eliza Graham, author of Playing with the Moon, on her route to publication and Zoe Jenny, who is Swiss, on writing in English and why it was liberating. Send us your contributions, ideally 200 to 400 words in length and of general interest. Please email them to us.
- Our links: just how do you get your writing career going when no-one seems much interested? Who Will Buy Your Book? - The Millions; the seven-figure deals that seem to be given to more 20-something debut writers than debut writers in any other age group, Starting Later & Starting Over: Launching a Writing Career When You're No Longer "Young" | Jane Friedman; a new company has launched offering aspiring novelists an alternative to the "traditional" routes to publication, but is there a catch? Banker launches publishing start-up offering novelists £24k salary | The Bookseller; and advice from writers from interviews with the author, Philip Roth: 'You Begin Every Book As An Amateur' : NPR.
- Finding an agent, our tips for this key search: 'There are two types of agency: purely literary and multi-media agents. Look carefully at the entries and consider whether you would prefer to be represented by a big professional agency with all-singing, all-dancing film and TV departments to back up the book agents, or whether you would be better served by a small independent agency...'
- More links: Do you want to sell more books and increase the value of your author brand? Then give some of your e-books away for free, The Power of Free: How to Sell More E-Books; even when they're central to the story, women over 40 are getting pushed to one side when it's time to design the book jacket, Why are middle-aged women invisible on book covers? | Alison Flood | Books | The Guardian; an inspired new way for writers to help children get interested in books, Authors reach out to schools via penpal scheme | The Bookseller and a fascinating newly published study gives some insight into what may be happening inside young children's brains, What's Going On In Your Child's Brain When You Read Them A Story? : NPR Ed : NPR.
- The Web as a Research tool - there are some sensational research resources for writers on the web. The search engines and other directories have made these accessible. But it helps to understand a little about how they work.
- 'Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it's the answer to everything... It's the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it's a cactus.' Enid Bagnold in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'Amid the avalanche of titles published each year, promoting a book now seems to demand almost as much work as writing it... This may sound a bit spoilt, especially when I know how incredibly lucky I have been, but life is not simple when it comes to promoting foreign translations as well as the British and American editions. For a start you need to banish any hope of working on a future book for at least half a year to nine months. It may be good for your stash of air miles, but some seventeen overseas trips in a year does not help continuity of concentration.' Antony Beevor, author of just-published Arnhem - The Battle for the Bridges 1944, as well as Stalingrad, The Second World War and many other distinguished military histories in Bookbrunch. Our Comment.
- Closing on 8 June, The Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer of the Year 2018 is open to writers of published fiction, non-fiction and poetry between the ages of 18 and 35 in the UK and Ireland, both published and self-published. There's no entry fee but a First Prize of £5,000 plus a 10 week residency and a year of mentoring, three runners-up get £500.
- Three other attractive Writing Opportunities are still live.
- The January Magazine has some useful links - Ten Tips for Autopilot E-book Marketing and Paying to Play: On Submission Fees in Poetry Publishing, as well as some intriguing ones - Sue Grafton Was a Master at Subverting the Detective Novel, My Last Conversation with Ursula K. Le Guin and If It Wasn't For My Corporate Office Job, I Couldn't Be a Novelist.
- From our Endorsements page: 'Today I only want to say, "thank you". DM has done a truly great job. I have worked with her suggestions which have brought clarity and depth to my subject. Her work on my punctuation is brilliant. As I read through the manuscript now, it is like gliding on silk.' Helena Dodds
- A must-read for children's authors is Suzy Jenvey's special series for WritersServices, the four-part Essential Guide to Writing for Children. The first article looks at the all-important question of age groups and what you should be aware of in writing for each one. The second part is - Before You Write: What is My Story Going to be? The third part deals with Starting to Write and the fourth part is about Submitting Your Work to Agents and Editors. This series by a hugely experienced children's editorial director and agent helps you get started on your own story or develop what you're already working on.
- If you need some help with this, our Children's Editorial Services provide reports and copy editing from experienced children's editors.
- Our links: recent weeks have seen a flurry of conversation about factchecking in the publishing industry, Fact or friction: the problem with factchecking in the book world | Books | The Guardian; a few tips about getting yourself an agent, Ask the Editor: Finding an Agent (or there's our page Finding an Agent with the same title); and Philip Roth, Towering Novelist Who Explored Lust, Jewish Life and America, Dies at 85 - The New York Times. We had hoped to have an interview with Elena Ferrante from the L A Times, but unfortunately the paper's website isn't currently able to deliver its pages in Europe - we'll keep looking for this.
- Do you want some help with your writing but don't quite know what you want - or even if you need any help? Are you a bit puzzled by the various services on offer, and not sure what to go for? Choosing a service can help you work out which service is right for you.
- More links: the e-book landscape is shifting and authors who stay current will find rich opportunities, What Every Indie Author Needs to Know About E-Books; Ebook sales are dying. EbooksDigital bookstore selling wide range of ebooks in 50 categories from Hildegard of Bingen to How to Write a Dirty Story and showing how the range of ebooks available is growing. are insanely popular. If the short definition of cognitive dissonance is holding two contradictory ideas to be true, ebooks are about as dissonant as digital content gets, Traditional publishers' ebook sales drop as indie authors and Amazon take off - GeekWire; what you learn from writing a book is how to write that book, Writing Advice from Ann Packer; Amazon has been fighting fake reviews since at least 2012. They have deleted scads of reviews, banned paid reviews, filed suit against several batches of fake review perpetrators, and even forbidden authors from having any type of relationship with reviewers, Authors Are Taking Friendly Fire in Amazon's War on Fake Reviews | The Digital Reader.
- 'Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else.' Gloria Steinem in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'I think I am starving for publication: I love to get published; it maddens me not to get published. I feel at times like getting every publisher in the world by the scruff of the neck, forcing his jaws open, and cramming the Mss down his throat - 'God-damn you, here it is - I will and must be published...' Tom Wolfe, journalist extraordinaire and author of The Right Stuff, From Bauhaus to Our House and The Bonfire of the Vanities, who died this week. Our Comment.
- Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers who are starting out, taking you from Promoting Your Writing (and Yourself), from Self-publishing: is it for you? to Keep up to date and Submission to publishers and agents. 'Think about the market for your book. Research the category and read widely to see what other published writers in this area are doing. Which writers are successful and why? Visit bookshops and analyse what you find there. If you are reading this you are probably already writing, but it really is worth thinking right from the beginning about your readers, as that makes it far more likely you'll eventually find them...'
- The Daily Mail Penguin Random House First Novel Competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over who is a resident of the UK or Republic of Ireland. There's no entry fee and the prize is a generous £20,000.
- Other current Writing Opportunities.
- Your submission package - 'given the difficulty of getting agents and publishers to take on your work, it's really important to make sure that you present it in the best possible way. Less is more, so don't send a full manuscript, as it's very unlikely to be read. Far better to tempt them with a submission package that will leave them wanting to see the rest of the manuscript'. Here's a page on what you should send.
- Our links: whether you're an author, publisher or book discovery startup, a mailing list might well be the most valuable asset in your toolbox, Drawing subscribers to your book-related newsletter: 7 insider tips | The Bookseller; ah, book writing. For most people, it is not a viable (or at least not a reliable) source of income, but for the lucky and/or talented few, it can be pretty lucrative, A Brief History of Seven-Figure Book Advances | Literary Hub; the thriving market for ebooks has prompted many authors to turn to Amazon Kindle Digital Publishing (KDP) for book distribution. But with great sales opportunities come great pitfalls, Rants and Revelations : Avoiding the Pitfalls of Publishing With Amazon Kindle Self-Publishing Platform : Authorlink; and a contrary view of success through Amazon, How Amazon enabled my dream career.
- 'Hardly any authors can copy edit their own writing. It is notoriously difficult to spot the errors in your own work. So professional copy editing does make sense, either if you are trying to give your work its best chance when submitting it or, even more crucially, if you are planning to self-publish...' Getting your manuscript copy edited
- More links: the death of a superstar, Tom Wolfe, 88, ‘New Journalist' With Electric Style and Acid Pen, Dies - The New York Times; a contrasting view from the Guardian, Tom Wolfe and the bonfire of male literary reputations | Emma Brockes | Opinion | The Guardian; and a remarkable story of a successful writer stepping to support an adult literacy progamme which had been proved to work, Jojo Moyes steps in to save Quick Reads from closure | The Bookseller.
- If you need to get your material typed up, but can't face doing the job yourself, Typing manuscripts is a service for writers who have an old or handwritten manuscript or audio tapes, which need typing before they can proceed with reworking, submission or publication.
- And a quote from an obsessive writer 'I never want to see anyone, and I never want to go anywhere or do anything. I just want to write.' P G Wodehouse in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'The sale of Waterstones to activist hedge fund Elliott Advisers has been widely welcomed in the book trade and is very much in the interests of writers. Like Barnes & Noble in the US, the British bookstore chain occupies a key position in terms of chain bookselling. The difference is that Waterstones has benefited from having James Daunt in charge for a number of years and, although there have been painful cuts, not least to a level of management in the stores, Daunt's efforts have been widely admired by publishers and seen as enabling the bookshop sector to continue to benefit from being able to deal with one big chain of ‘proper' bookshops...' News Review
- The December Magazine is just launched and has some useful links: HOW IMPORTANT IS THE FIRST DRAFT TO YOUR NOVEL? An Author Photo Is Worth a Thousand Words, 6 Things About Self-Publishing You Will Be Tempted To Overlook, But Shouldn't and Science fiction triggers 'poorer reading', study finds.
- The Booklife Prize 2018 is open to all in six categories - Romance/Erotica; Mystery/Thriller; Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror; General Fiction; Memoir/Autobiography; YA/Middle Grade. The entry fee is a hefty $99 but there's a Grand Prize of $5,000 and a Critic's Report of your work is included as part of the deal. Closing 31 August.
- For anyone thinking about or embarked on self-publishing, our ten-part WritersServices Self-Publishing Guide by 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 is an essential starting-point, taking you through the process step-by-step. 'In this series of articles we'll be looking in more detail at the various self-publishing routes currently available to new indie authors. When you first start out on your indie journey, the array of options can be overwhelming...'
- 'I discovered that if I trusted my subconscious, or imagination, whatever you want to call it, and if I made the characters as real and honest as I could, then no matter how complex the pattern being woven, my subconscious would find ways to tie it together - often doing things far more complicated and sophisticated than I could with brute conscious effort...' Tad Williams, author of 20 fantasy novels, including the Witchwood, Bobby Dollar and Shadowmarch series, and three short story collections. Our Comment.
- Are you writing for the children's market? Have you found it difficult to get expert editorial input on your work ? Do you want to know if it has real commercial potential? Or are you planning to self-publish? Our Children's Editorial Services provide three levels of report, so you can get your work assessed, and Copy editing by specialist children's editors.
- Our links: an uplifting sense of energy, optimism and experimentation amongst writers, 5 questions aspiring authors should ask themselves now | The Bookseller; a now successful writer on how she started out, Sarah Perry on her struggle to become a writer: ‘I was poor and getting poorer' | Books | The Guardian; latest figures show international sales of children's books still good, Children's book sales, home and away; and my own mental script: "If I write it, The New York Times bestseller list will come." How to Become a Bestseller with Money, Luck, or Work (Mostly Work) | Jane Friedman.
- Getting Your Poetry Published has some suggestions on how to get started with this. 'Don't even try to approach publishers until you have a collection-length amount of material to offer. Your chances will be much better even then if you can point to publication of your poems in magazines. Don't waste any time trying to get a literary agent to represent you...'
- More links: Print books are dead! EbooksDigital bookstore selling wide range of ebooks in 50 categories from Hildegard of Bingen to How to Write a Dirty Story and showing how the range of ebooks available is growing. are dead! People don't read any more! Writers as readers, publishers as curators; should a succesful author be asked to provide a 'blurb'? Take it from me: never judge a book by the blurb on its cover | Emma Brockes | Opinion | The Guardian; an author's complaint about being her work being categorised as 'chick-lit', Jojo Moyes: modern dating is a 'road of misery' - BBC News; so what should poets sound like when reading their work? An Algorithmic Investigation of the Highfalutin 'Poet Voice' - Atlas Obscura.
- Do you want to self-publish your work? WritersServices offers a suite of services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish, which includes Copy editing, Blurb-writing, Poetry Collection Editing, Typing manuscripts. Our Services for Self-publishers are just a few of the 20 services on offer.
- 'There is no satisfactory explanation of style, no infallible guide to good writing, no assurance that a person who thinks clearly will be able to write clearly, no key that unlocks the door, no inflexible rules by which the young writer may steer his course. He will often find himself steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion.' E B White in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'For a long time, probably since 1988 when The Silence of the Lambs was published, the crime market was dominated by books about serial killers. I like a good serial-killer thriller, but, probably happily, I do not have one in me. Then Gone Girl changed the game. Psychological suspense is what I had studied and what I thought I would be able to write...' Daniel Mallory, who, under the pseudonym A J Finn, published his much-heralded debut crime novel The Woman in the Window after a career in crime publishing. Our Comment was in the Observer Magazine.
- An Editor's Advice is a series of seven articles by one of our editors on really useful subjects for writers such as Dialogue, Manuscript presentation and Doing further drafts and Planning: 'The idea of planning doesn't fit well with the idea of the writer as inspired genius, frantically scribbling away. However, I am willing to bet that, no matter what they would have you think, most successful writers plan as much as they write. They just don't tell you about it. The biggest objection that most inexperienced writers raise when someone broaches the delicate matter of planning is that it will get in the way of their inventive powers. A plan will be like a straitjacket. They'll be stuck with this plan and if they come up with a good idea along the way, they will not be able to use it. They are genuinely horrified at the thought...'
- The Bridport Prize 2018 is open to writers of any nationality writing in English, 16 years old and over. You can submit unpublished Poetry and Short Stories with a First Prize of £5,000, and Flash Fiction and First Novel with a First Prize £1,000. There are various fees. Closing 31 May.
- Are you struggling to get someone to look at your poetry? Our Poetry Critique service for 150 lines of poetry can help. Our Poetry Collection Editing, unique to WritersServices, edits your collection to prepare it for submission or self-publishing. Both can provide the professional editorial input you need.
- Our links: I love publishing because it doesn't play to formulae, and something always happens that no-one could predict, Opinion - Publishing Monday, 23 April 2018; the number one question we were asked by investors was: How are you going to create great stories? Publishing startups have the tech - what they need is the stories | The Bookseller; five years ago, I decided that it was time to write my first book, What You Need to Know to Create a Best-selling Book; and What makes a writer? How do you become one? Let's silence the creative writing course snobs | Books | The Guardian.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, the biggest you can find on the internet.
- More links: it often surprises people that after her success, she couldn't put her feet up and retire, Hanya Yanagihara: influential magazine editor by day, best-selling author by night | Books | The Guardian; in a groundbreaking study of more than two million books published in North America between 2002 and 2012, scholars found that books by women authors are priced 45% less than those of their male counterparts, Want to earn more as a book author? A male name will help; Amazon is huge - worth $740bn (£530bn) at Monday night's share price - but it moves fast and is a lethal predator, The age of Amazon: a closeup examination of Bezos's behemoth | Technology | The Guardian.
- It's a common enough fantasy for writers: maybe now I can leave that dreary job and devote myself whole-heartedly to writing. But how practical is it? Is it something you can realistically aspire to, or just a distant fantasy? What are your chances of making your dream come true? Don't give up the day job.
- 'Always stop while you are going good and don't worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start.' Ernest Hemingway in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘When times are stressful and it looks like the bad is winning out over the good, along comes the genre of crime novels to put the balance back in life. People inherently don't like folks who do bad to get away with it...' David Baldacci, author of Absolute Power, Memory Man and The Fallen, in The Times, provides this week's Comment.
- If you are submitting your work to an agent or directly to a publishing house, check through the our guidelines to give it its best chance. Making Submissions.
- There's good news in Bookbrunch about poetry sales coming from the UK, the market is up two-thirds since 2012. A 66% increase in poetry sales over the past five years has led to a million poetry books being sold with a total value of £1.1m. There has been a boom in poetry events and festivals, with increased interest in the work of living poets with strong online followings. News Review
- From our nineteen-part Inside Publishing series, you can read up on Advances and royalties: 'Publishers usually offer to pay authors advances against royalties. How do you work out how much money you might earn from your book? You need to understand for yourself how advances and royalties work and what they mean for you...'
- From the same series, Copy editing and proof-reading explains the difference between the two. Copy editing is the painstaking job of going through a manuscript line by line to correct the spelling, grammar and punctuation. Proof-reading at a later stage is a separate check through the book when it is set up in pages, before it goes to press or is finalised for ebook publishing.
- Our editor Kay GaleWritersServices editor who has worked for many years as a freelance editor for number of publishers. produces the delightful Travel Gourmet blog and she has just alerted us to a competition relating to her travel articles published on the travel app GPSmyCity - the biggest selling travel app on iTunes. They've now introduced a subscription for full access to all articles, maps and guides. They're offering free one-year subscriptions (worth $18.99) to 10 of her followers - so you can enter the competition (closing on 23 April) and see if you can get a free travel guide for your phone or tablet for a year. https://travel-gourmet.com/2018/04/07/win-a-years-subscription-to-gpsmycity/.
- Our links: the first of two recommended articles on crime-writing, The perfect crimes: why thrillers are leaving other books for dead | Books | The Guardian; Crime fiction - which I first became aware of as the Best Genre Ever when I read my first Enid Blyton mystery at six years old, No mystery crime is the biggest-selling genre in books | Sophie Hannah | Books | The Guardian; a new collection of short stories featuring works from 18 well-known authors is bypassing print and going straight to audiobook, Why more authors are going audio-only - BBC News; and in a tightening market for fiction and especially for debut authors looking for that big break, editors can be choosier, With Fewer Debut Novels Selling, What Do Editors Want To Tell Authors?
- As well as our highly-regarded Copy editing service, which will help you prepare your manuscript for submission or self-publishing, we have Manuscript Polishing, which provides a higher-level polishing service, Writer's edit, a new line-editing service, and Translation editing for writers who are not native English speakers. We also provide a Proof-reading service. Now with free samples for all, plus some free assessments. Our UK-based Editing services for writers have a solid professional reputation and we often have authors coming back to us for further assistance, see our Endorsements.
- More links: one author's story, After Dozens of Rejections, It Only Takes One Acceptance to Make a Writer | Literary Hub; Britain's looming departure from the European Union has set many people here on edge, British Book Publishers Fear Brexit Will Bring a U.S. Invasion - The New York Times; Same old story or a new chapter? The London Book Fair 2018 and what lies ahead for the UK's publishing industry as Brexit draws closer | City A.M. more poetry, Enitharmon was among the crop of independent poetry publishers that sprang up in the 1960s and 1970s, The poets' home: how one small, heroic publisher shaped modern poetry.
- From two-time Booker Prize winning Hilary Mantel in our Writers' Quotes:'The most helpful quality a writer can cultivate is self-confidence - arrogance, if you can manage it. You write to impose yourself on the world, and you have to believe in your own ability when the world shows no sign of agreeing with you.'
- For quotes fans we have More Writers' Quotes and Even More Quotes.
- 'The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them - words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away...' Stephen King, author of a large number of novels, including Carrie and The Dark Tower provides this week's Comment.
- Advice for writers gives a listing of what's on the 6,000+ pages of the site.
- This week's London Book Fair has been a buzzy and optimistic occasion, as publishers from around the world gathered to sell rights to the international market. Second only to the Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two., the LBF punches above its weight in terms of its usefulness to publishers. News Review
- Our Services for Writers - just a list of 20 services to help you get your work ready for publication.
- Our links: there's been a big rise in UK purchases of crime and thriller novels, with sales up by 19% between 2015 and 2017, The thriller writers who are making a killing with crime fiction - BBC News; an interesting perspective on the rise of small presses, How Self-Publishing Made Today's Small Independent Presses Possible; 'this amazing age where incredible things are possible, but routinely people are quite disappointed', London Book Fair 2018: Publishing in the 'Mid-Digital' Age; and Indie authors all agree: hiring an editor to work on your manuscript is one of the best and most necessary investments an author can make, Indie Authors Talk Editors.
- Bob's Journal is a long-running column from writer Bob Ritchie described by fellow EastEnders script-writer Pippa McCarthy: 'Just discovered your web page... I've just spent the last hour crying with laughter with periodic yelps of 'been there!'... I'm going to make my entire family read your diary. Then perhaps will understand own bizarre behaviour every time I start a script... Anyway, will shut up now but just wanted to say you have cheered me up no end. It's brilliant.'
- More links: not such good news for African writers to have written in English, On the Rise - and Cost - of the African Novel in English | Literary Hub; how could anyone actually believe that there is a bias against men in an industry that has historically prioritised the work of men, and paid them more for it? There's no female conspiracy in publishing - your book might just not be good | Lauren Spieller | Books | The Guardian; the romance genre is a juggernaut that continues unabated, but The Billion-Dollar Romance Fiction Industry Has A Diversity Problem : NPR; and a few cases of authors who have drawn very unflattering fictional portraits of real people, 10 Literary Diss Tracks | Literary Hub.
- 'A writer without interest or sympathy for the foibles of his fellow man is not conceivable as a writer.' Joseph Conrad in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘I was given the audio versions of some Harry Potters, read by Stephen Fry, and realised I could match the sound of the words to their shape on the page... Once I heard those Harry Potter books, I could then memorise them. To this day, I know the first three pretty well perfectly...' Leo Carew, whose much-heralded fantasy first novel The Wolf has just been published by Headline and whose website features wild places he's visited, with fabulous photos. Our Comment, From dyspraxia to publication.
- Have you managed to find a publisher for your work and are now enjoying the thrill of knowing that your book will soon be published? Or are you planning to publish your own book? If you're wondering what happens next, here is an outline of the processes involved. Preparing for publication.
- Submissions are now open for this year's Polari First Book Prize, which celebrates the very best debut books that explore the LGBT experience, whether through poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction. Deadline for submissions is 1 May. Books must have been published in English by a writer born or resident in the UK.
- Are you looking for an assessment of your book? Which Report? helps you work out which of our three reports might be the right one for you. Or do contact us, we'd be glad to advise.
- Our links: working as a literary agent means being privy to a full canon's worth of submitted novels that the world will never see, The Year in Trump Novel Pitches: An Agent's Lament | Literary Hub; Amazon also has a Donald Trump problem, No Sympathy for Amazon | The New Republic; and 'I spent much of this winter living on an abandoned island in the Hebrides, writing my second book', Going off Grid.
- 'You are a first-time author without an agent and you receive a contract to publish your book - just how do you evaluate it? Is it fair or biased against the author by prevailing industry standards? Is your publisher looking out for your interests as well as his own - or wording the clauses in a way only advantageous to the company?' Why your book contract needs vetting.
- More links: reading is crucial, as are new digital storytelling tools, European Children's Bookstore Conference: Internet-Generation Readers; a multimedia sequence which explores the 1981 New Cross fire coming from the poet 'who has made the most exciting contribution to poetry', Jay Bernard's ‘personal and brave' poetry wins Ted Hughes award | Books | The Guardian; and for a few years now, I've been intrigued by the writers who manage to produce both fiction and nonfiction work, The Writers' Roundtable: Fiction vs. Nonfiction.
- 'I always write in the morning. I was pleased to hear lately that Rousseau, too, after he got up in the morning, went for a short walk and sat down to work. In the morning one's head is particularly fresh. The best thoughts most often come in the morning after waking while still in bed or during the walk.' Leo Tolstoy in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'Bologna seems to have been a lively occasion as usual, with considerable interest in Middle Grade fiction and some reviving interest in YA too at the children's book fair. Picture books are still difficult but there is interest in talented new writers and illustrators. Bonnier's decision to close down its Australian children's publishing arm was a real shock...' News Review
- ‘For the past 10 months I've spent a lot of time thinking, is this for real? I had a lot of different reasons for writing the book but at its core was the desire to write for black teenage girls growing up reading books they were absent from. That was my experience as a child. Children of Blood and Bone is a chance to address this. To say you are seen... In my perfect world, we'd have one black girl fantasy book every month. We need them, and we need fantasy stories about black boys as well...' Tomi Adeyemi, author of debut YA novel Children of Blood and Bone in the Observer provides our Comment.
- You need to get going immediately to be ready to take part in National Poetry Writing Month, which is open to all with no entry fee and runs from 1 to 30 April. It sets poets quite a challenge - to write a poem a day!
- As well as our highly-regarded Copy editing service, which will help you prepare your manuscript for submission or self-publishing, we have Manuscript Polishing, which provides a higher-level polishing service, Translation editing for those for whom English is not their native language and our new Writer's edit, providing line-editing. Get the right level of editorial support for your needs. Contact us to discuss what you want and take advantage of our free samples - and written assessments on most of these services.
- Our links: when I was first published I had no idea how the industry worked, Writing: the dream verses the reality; a real upheaval is going on in the publishing world, Canceled Deals and Pulped Books, as the Publishing Industry Confronts Sexual Harassment - The New York Times; unusual situation where writers connected with one prize try to get another changed, Top authors make mass call on Man Booker to drop American writers | Books | The Guardian; and a report from the most important children's book fair, Bonnier's Five Mile bombshell fails to derail buoyant Bologna | The Bookseller.
- From our Archive, Writing for Children: Rule Number One - Read More than You Write by Sarah Taylor-Fergusson: 'Author opinion falls into two camps on this one, with some writers maintaining that reading fiction while writing is a very bad thing. To this I might say that if you have been working for years as a published author, and you have that degree of sophistication, dexterity and confidence, then maybe sometimes yes. But for the majority of us who are not at that level...'
- More links: here's the truth: I never had a freelancing dream. I was happily and continuously employed for 15 years after college graduation, What I Earned (and How) During My First Year of Full-Time Freelancing | Jane Friedman; a lively conversation Between Hugo Award-winning authors Neil Gaiman and N.K. Jemisin, On Writing the Comics - and Queer Characters - We Need | Literary Hub; and a big freebie for SF fans, A free anthology collects stories from 2017's new sci-fi and fantasy writers - The Verge.
- It's National Index day today, so if you're writing a non-fiction book, here's The Ins & Outs of Indexing to tell you why you need one.
- From our Writers' Quotes, Rick Riordan: 'You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear thorough the search.'
- 'Becoming children's laureate has given me a voice. I'm determined to change the snobby attitude around picture books. Children's illustration is viewed as the poor relation to fine-art painting, yet it's children's first introduction to art and can have a profound effect on how they view the world. John Burningham's Granpa, which deals with the loss of a loved one, explains grief to a child far better than anything else...' Lauren Child, UK Children's Laureate and author of the Charlie and Lola picture books and the Clarice Bean and Ruby Redfort novels in the Sunday Times magazine. Our Comment
- The November Magazine has a new article from Jane Sandwood - Want to Be a Better Writer? - and masses of intriguing links: Why All Self-Publishers Need a Good Editor and 10 Novels Agents Have Already Seen a Billion Times, plus a month's worth of Comments and News Reviews.
- How to market your writing services online is a useful article from 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 about selling yourself as a writer. 'Recently someone commented to me that I seem to be doing a pretty good job of promoting my writing services on the internet. I was touched by the observation - we writers get so many rejections that a little praise is especially gratifying. And I began to wonder - what does it take to market yourself successfully as a jobbing writer today?...'
- It's unusual to find a book chain boss who went into bookselling because he liked reading, but James Daunt, founder of Daunts bookshop chain in London, and CEO of the Waterstones chain in the UK, is that rare animal. Encouragingly, he still maintains that: 'Books still work and always will'. Daunt on bookselling is this week's News Review.
- A new addition to our Endorsements page: 'I've used two services with this company: The Editor's Plus Report and the Writer's Edit. I am completely satisfied with the service I received and said service has led to the completion and publication of my first novel: Lightforce. I would recommend any of these services to any aspiring author.' Jason Handleman, author of Lightforce (Everything Changes Book 1).
- From Tom Chalmers, formerly of IPR, two articles about rights for self-publishers, Self-publishing - the rights way and How to get your book in the hands of an international audience. 'It's a fact that most self-published authors understand the process that takes them from a written manuscript to a published book, but few realise the additional elements that make publishing a profitable business. Rights licensing is arguably the most vital element in this equation. Whether it's selling translation rights, audio rights or optioning the film rights, these all help balance the book's books...'
- Our links: an interview which caused a bit of a furore in literary circles, Will Self: ‘The novel is absolutely doomed' | Books | The Guardian; an indignant response from other writers, Authors hit back at Self's claim 'the novel is doomed' | The Bookseller; perhaps things are changing after all, How Self-Publishing Is Diversifying The Book World | Thrive Global; and something uplifting at last, Gone Girl's gone, hello Eleanor Oliphant: why we're all reading 'up lit' | Books | The Guardian.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, the biggest range you can find on the internet.
- More links: nothing beats the feeling of typing The End following the last scene of your manuscript, 3 Easy Cuts To Make When You Start Editing | Allison Maruska; new report exposes decline in diversity in romance writing, Romance so white? Publishers grapple with race issues amid author protests | Books | The Guardian; the editor who found a gap in the fiction market, Getting into writing - an interview with Jo Simmonds, editor of The Fiction Pool | Zeroflash; how do you explain the increasing popularity of serialised novels, Deferred gratification is dead? Tell that to fans of serialised novels | Stephanie Merritt | Opinion | The Guardian (yet again, they're having a good week!).
- 'There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you.' Beatrix Potter in our Writers' Quotes.
- Our new page Copy editing services covers our six services working on writers' manuscripts, a range which includes our top of the range Writer's Edit and Translation editing. We have just introduced free samples and free short written assessments on most of these services, which are provided by our skilled professional editors.
- ‘Books begin to feel more and more like a new counter-culture. There seems a new power animating books that was absent for many years, and that has to do with the form. It's said that reality has outstripped fiction but I don't think that's true. We need fiction more than ever to define reality afresh...' Our Comment is from Richard Flanagan, author of The Narrow Road to the Deep South, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2014, First Person and four other novels, in the Bookseller.
- From our 19-part Inside Publishing series, Subsidiary Rights: 'My first job in publishing was in a subsidiary rights department. I'm ashamed to admit that I accepted the job without having much idea what subsidiary rights were. Many writers may feel just as vague about this part of publishing, so here's a quick breakdown...' and Vanity Publishing: 'It is natural for writers to be eager to get published but it pays to be wary of the vanity publishers who will take your money and give you very little in return...' Vanity publishing is quite distinct from Self-publishing, you need to be aware of the differences.
- Deviant Minds is a competition open to unagented and unpublished crime or thriller writers who were born or are resident in the UK or Ireland. The prize is representation by A M Heath and digital publication by Corvus and it closes on 27 April.
- Other current Writing Opportunities.
- If you need to get your material typed up, but can't face doing the job yourself, Typing manuscripts is a service for writers who have an old or handwritten manuscript or audio tapes, which need typing before they can proceed with reworking, submission or publication.
- Our links: the real lowdown on short stories, Complete fiction: why 'the short story renaissance' is a myth | Books | The Guardian; wait, sometimes for months, for your dream agent to request the entire book, When Do You Need an Agent? A Novelist Reveals All; a crucial part of introducing new books and new authors to a wider readership, How to Build an Author Platform Through Email Lists; and women are used to living off scraps that fall from the table, whether we're being patronised by politicians touting for our votes, The books world is sexist - and a one day promotion isn't enough to fix it | Books | The Guardian.
- WritersServices editor Kay GaleWritersServices editor who has worked for many years as a freelance editor for number of publishers. on The Slush pile: 'When I started working in publishing over thirty years ago it was part of my job to check through the pile of unsolicited manuscripts that arrived on a daily basis, and like every other enthusiastic young editorial assistant, I dreamed of finding the next bestseller in the ‘slush pile'. I was soon disillusioned...'
- More links: when a writer dies that family's troubles have only just begun, Up in smoke: should an author's dying wishes be obeyed? | Books | The Guardian; her debut novel was initially rejected by British publishers but has won one of the world's richest literary prize, The Manchester-based author who's won a life-changing $165k book prize - BBC News; clubs which exist entirely online and almost entirely on Instagram, Celebrity book clubs: Reese Witherspoon and Emma Roberts are changing the game | EW.com; and Romance writing has done the impossible. Hard to say how this even happened, but... it's gotten whiter, Tall, dark, and handsome --- but not too dark, ok? » MobyLives.
- 'The long-lived books of tomorrow are concealed somewhere amongst the so-far unpublished MSS of today.' Philip Unwin in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'I think there can be almost as much difference, experientially speaking, between you and the person next to you on the bus as there is between me and my pug. And if, as too often happens, publishing houses choose only writers they recognise, from their own milieu, their own backgrounds, class, perceived community etc, well, then you get far less variety in this pool of minds and we all miss out. Writers principally - but readers too.' Zadie Smith, author of the book of essays Feel Free and the novels White Teeth and Saving Time in the Observer. Our Comment.
- If you're aiming at traditional publishing, Finding an agent and Working with an agent are two practical checklists to help set up and maintain this vital relationship. 'Try to find an agency which is ‘hungry' for new clients. To keep their workload under control, an established independent agent might take on something like four new authors a year, but only to replace four departing clients. This may seem obvious, but whether or not an agent is actively looking to build their list of clients is probably the single most important factor affecting how closely they are looking at unsolicited submissions...'
- You can find a mass of material in the October Magazine, including some extremely useful links: What does it take to write and publish a book? Fire in the belly | HuffPost; What Authors Need to Know About Crowdfunding Their Book: A Case Study by the Numbers | Jane Friedman; and Checking Book Proofs in Three Simple Steps.
- Literary magazines with one week's response time is Sandeep Kumar Mishra's useful list. They range from literary fiction to non-fiction and include science fiction and fantasy, popular non-fiction, politics, flash fiction, reviews, humour, social issues, the economy, lifestyle, horror, artwork and much more. If you've ever despaired at how long magazine submissions can take, or wanted to extend your range, this is the list you need.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, the biggest you can find on the internet.
- At this week's conference of the Independent Publishers' Guild, Jo Forshaw talked about the way in which the audio market is opening up, beginning to provide a challenge to ebooks. Forshaw, who until recently ran HarperCollins UK's audio division, said that when she started working at the publisher, fewer than one in ten print books were released in audio; now everything is published in the two formats simultaneously. Audiobooks seize market share is this week's News Review.
- Our links: if nothing else, being a novelist for decades gives you some hopefully useful ideas about process, 8 Writing Tips from Jeff VanderMeer - Chicago Review of Books; it's been a long-running question for those who'd like a cheaper paperback edition, Book clinic: why do publishers still issue hardbacks? | Books | The Guardian; publishers' profits have grown while authors' pay has shrunk in recent years, Nicola Solomon has argued, SoA challenges publishers to reveal how much they pay authors | The Bookseller; and this message has been reinforced by a doughty fighter for authors, Philip Pullman calls for authors to get fairer share of publisher profits | Books | The Guardian.
- Authors often find it difficult to write their own synopsis for submission to publishers, which is where our Synopsis-writing service can help. If you're preparing to self-publish and having difficulty with your blurb, our Blurb-writing service from a professional copy-writer can make your book stand out.
- More links: on nurturing your dark side, Gillian Flynn: "Dread Is Probably My Favorite Emotion" | Chicago magazine | March 2018; it's more important than ever for indie authors to use a discerning eye when seeking out assistance, How to Evaluate Self-Publishing Service Providers; some tongue-in-cheek advice from an inimitable author, Writing Advice from T.C. Boyle; the latest appalling outcome of the ongoing educational publishing copyright situation in Canada, Canadian Educators Sue Copyright Organization.
- 'Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer.' Ray Bradbury in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'Those of us who write do it because there are stories inside us burning to get out. Writing is essential to our well-being. If you're that kind of writer, never give up! If you start a story and it isn't going well, put it aside...' Judy Blume, author of Are You there, God? It's Me, Margaret, Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, Forever, Wifey and 25 other books, which have sold over 85 million copies worldwide, but often been banned. Our Comment
- Are you writing for children? our Children's Editorial Services can help you get your work ready for publication or self-publishing. Have you found it difficult to get expert editorial input on your work ? Do you want to know if it has real commercial potential? Or are you planning to self-publish? Three reports and copy editing are available from our particularly highly-skilled children's editors, including essential advice on age groups and vocabulary.
- The debate about ebooks goes on. But many writers will think that it's a debate which has been settled and doesn't need global publishers expressing a view - especially since in fact publishers have made a lot of money from ebook sales. But for indie publishers they are vital. News Review
- Our article on How to get your book translated into English (without it costing the earth) asks writers with a manuscript which needs translating or has been written in English by a non-native speaker: "if your English is good enough, what about translating your book yourself, or writing in English, and then getting your translation polished and copy edited by a professional editor who is a native English speaker?" This could be a cost-effective way of reaching the international English-speaking market.
- Translation Editing is a polishing service for writers who have translated their work into English or written it in English when it is not their native language. If you need to make sure it's good enough to publish, or send to a publisher, this service is for you. Acknowledging the growth of world English, Translation Editing is designed for the many non-native English speakers throughout the world who want to publish their work in English.
- Our links: writers who have hated the films based on their books, 20 Literary Adaptations Disavowed by Their Original Authors | Literary Hub; a simple, easily searchable website is one of the most potent tools in the indie author's marketing arsenal, DIY: Essential Elements of an Author Website; many writers in the first half of the 20th century were experimenting with the limits of autobiography, Does it matter if authors make up their memoirs? | Books | The Guardian; some poets suffer through revision. Other poets find life in revision. All poets do it. Fifteen Poets on Revision - The Millions.
- From Tom Chalmers, formerly of IPR, two articles about rights for self-publishers, Self-publishing - the rights way and How to get your book in the hands of an international audience. 'It's a fact that most self-published authors understand the process that takes them from a written manuscript to a published book, but few realise the additional elements that make publishing a profitable business. Rights licensing is arguably the most vital element in this equation. Whether it's selling translation rights, audio rights or optioning the film rights, these all help balance the book's books...'
- More links: a writer accused of racism, Keira Drake on ‘The Continent' and Its Twitter Backlash; a contrary view from a writer who is no stranger to controversy, Lionel Shriver says 'politically correct censorship' is damaging fiction | Books | The Guardian; Armand Nourry called the ebook a "stupid product", The Big Five Publishers and the Nutri-Matic Drink Dispenser; and the view of a writer for whom they've been a godsend Ebooks are not 'stupid' - they're a revolution | Books | The Guardian.
- From our Writers' Quotes, Margaret Atwood in The Blind Assassin 'The only way you can write the truth is to assume that what you set down will never be read. Not by any other person, and not even by yourself at some later date. Otherwise you begin excusing yourself. You must see the writing as emerging like a long scroll of ink from the index finger of your right hand; you must see your left hand erasing it.'
- 'Some people say the crime novel is not a social novel - that it's just entertainment. I would totally dispute that: it's exactly where society is at the moment. Psychological thrillers are usually written by women, with a female protagonist and male villain, often in a domestic setting. For many men, the experience of women is being illuminated for the first time via #MeToo, and that it's not a problem that exists just at the top of Hollywood but everywhere. Crime fiction is reflecting that...' Joseph Knobbs, crime fiction buyer at Waterstones, whose crime novels Sirens and The Smiling Man (published in March) have been published under the name Joseph Knox, in Bookbrunch. Our Comment
- Poetry continues to be very much in the news and, if you want to find a market for your own poems there's a book still avalilable on the Salt Publishing backlist, which we reviewed a while back and which helps you do just that. It's called 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell.
- Winchester Writers Festival 2018 Writing Competitions are open to all, no requirement to attend the Festival. There are ten different competitions with different prizes and it's £6 per entry + £10 for feedback. Closing 11 April.
- 'Hardly any authors can copy edit their own writing. It is notoriously difficult to spot the errors in your own work. So professional copy editing does make sense, either if you are trying to give your work its best chance when submitting it or, even more crucially, if you are planning to self-publish...' Getting your manuscript copy edited
- Our links: David Shelley, one of the hottest young talents in global publishing and CEO of Hachette UK, has a positive view, Publishing's remarkable resilience is amazing: Hachette UK's David Shelley - Livemint; a practical approach for self-publishers and others, with lots of links, 4 Affordable Ways to Master Book Marketing | Jane Friedman; an irresistible collection of writers' spats, 25 Legendary Literary Feuds, Ranked | Literary Hub; and writers' own ideas about getting to readers, How can we help more authors reach more readers? | The Bookseller.
- Our Services for Writers - just a list of 20 services to help you get your work ready for publication.
- More links: another positive view from the CEO of Penguin Random House worldwide, ‘I believe in the future of literary fiction' - OPINION - The Hindu; have romance novels evolved given the current social/political climate? Where are romance novels headed given the current state of women's issues? - Chicago Tribune; I first realized that literary genres existed - that certain books were, by dint of their cover designs and physical dimensions, suspect - in fifth grade, Why I'll Never Stop Reading "Junk" Fiction | Literary Hub.
- Advice for Writers is a really useful page which takes you into our archive and helps you explore our almost 6,500 pages of information for writers.
- 'After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.' Philip Pullman in our Writers' Quotes.
- Last week's Harry Potter Book Day led Bloomsbury to release some amazing figures for the series, which have now exceeded 500 million copies sold worldwide. The figures take into account sales across all versions of the seven books in the series, which began with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997, as well as three companion volumes. News Review
- The Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2018, a rare prize for poets writing for children, closes on 31 March. Any adult poet can enter a single unpublished poem written for children. Entry fee €12 and a prize of €1,000.
- Have you got something you'd like to say to our community of writers? My Say gives writers a chance to air their views about writing and the writer's life. So we have Natasha Mostert: "There are few things as satisfying as typing THE END to a manuscript;" Richard Hall: "Write about what you know - does this adage always make sense?" and Jae Watson's Magic formula. Contributions should ideally be 300 to 500 words in length and of general interest. Please email them to us.
- 'What you have to remember about the publishing business is that a young editor or small publisher makes a fortune by finding an unknown writer and making the book into a best seller. That is how you get on in the publishing business. And so if you do write something good, they will be crazy about it and they'll publish it with great enthusiasm. They will also spend money advertising it...' More from Ken Follett, author of The Kingsbridge Series and The Century Trilogy from the Masterclass on his website. Our Comment.
- Our links: I am always most excited to come across a book about writing by an author whose work I already admire, Great Advice From 25 Writing Manuals by Famous Authors | Literary Hub; what do we think about the new Staunch Prize, A prize for thrillers with no violence against women? That's not progressive | Books | The Guardian; from the start my literary ambitions were mixed up with the feeling of being isolated and undervalued, George Orwell Creates a List of the Four Essential Reasons Writers Write | Open Culture; and prize organisers to reverse the change, or risk a "homogenised literary future", Publishers call on Man Booker prize to drop American authors | Books | The Guardian.
- Last year we launched our latest new service, the Writer's edit, a top-level new service for writers who want line-editing as well as copy editing. Does your manuscript need high-level input from an editor to help you get it into the best possible shape for submission or self-publishing? This may be the service for you, offering the kind of editing which publishers' senior editors used to do in-house on their authors' manuscripts - and which is now hard to find. Just one of the services you can find in Which service?
- More links: with the help of software typically used by professors to nab cheating students, Plagiarism Software Unveils a New Source for 11 of Shakespeare's Plays - The New York Times; if you know any writers, you may know that almost everyone hates their own book at some point, 13 Writers Who Grew to Hate Their Own Books | Literary Hub; and a prison directive allowed for five printed pages to arrive in each regular mail envelope. So my friend broke copyright laws and photocopied 300-plus pages, For prisoners like me, books are a lifeline. Don't cut it | Opinion | The Guardian.
- 'The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.' (Or herself, presumably.) Eleanor Roosevelt in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads...' Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes gives us this week's Comment.
- An Editor's Advice is a series of seven articles by one of our editors on really useful subjects for writers such as Manuscript presentation, Dialogue, Doing further drafts and Planning: 'The idea of planning doesn't fit well with the idea of the writer as inspired genius, frantically scribbling away. However, I am willing to bet that, no matter what they would have you think, most successful writers plan as much as they write. They just don't tell you about it. The biggest objection that most inexperienced writers raise when someone broaches the delicate matter of planning is that it will get in the way of their inventive powers. A plan will be like a straitjacket. They'll be stuck with this plan and if they come up with a good idea along the way, they will not be able to use it. They are genuinely horrified at the thought...'
- The Big Idea Competition 2018 is open to UK residents age 13 and over with no entry fee. It's unusual in that it's for an idea rather than a piece of writing. The winner gets £1,000 plus the promise that their idea will become a complete story written by a successful children's author, 5 Runners-up get £1,000.
- Are you getting ready to publish your book - perhaps planning to self-publish? WritersServices offers a suite of nine services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish. Services for Self-publishers.
- Our links: a touching piece on the great writer who has just died - for the past 57 years, one of the most original imaginations ever to grace American letters has lived in a hundred-year-old house built from a kit from Sears, My Last Conversation with Ursula K. Le Guin; some of the most memorable quotes from the writer herself, A life in quotes: Ursula K Le Guin and Jane Friedman's take on the value of free content, Indie Authors and the Value of Free Content.
- The Web as a Research tool - there are some sensational research resources for writers on the web. The search engines and other directories have made these accessible.
- More links: giving a fresh meaning to the notion of a poetry slam, the august poetry journal PN Review has published a stinging critique, Poetry world split over polemic attacking 'amateur' work by 'young female poets'; looking at the question of how to make a living as a writer, What Are You Even For? and what's happening to a new generation of literary women writers? Women write literary fiction's big hitters. So where are their prizes?
- Authors often find it difficult to write their own synopsis for submission to publishers, which is where our Synopsis-writing service can help. If you're preparing to self-publish and having difficulty with your blurb, our Blurb-writing service is what you need.
- An empassioned William Faulkner in our Writers' Quotes: 'Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.'
- A story in the Bookseller, unfortunately behind the paywall, has provided encouragement for short story writers this week. Short story collections have sold 692,087 units or £5.88m in value in the UK during 2017. This is up 32% by volume and 45% by value over 2016. News Review
- 'T. S. Eliot said to me "There's only one way a poet can develop his actual writing - apart from self-criticism & continual practice. And that is by reading other poetry aloud - and it doesn't matter whether he understands it or not (i.e. even if it is in another language.) What matters, above all, is educating the ear."...' Ted Hughes, giving advice to his 18 year-old daughter Frieda on becoming a poet, provides our Comment.
- From our 19-part Inside Publishing series: on Copyright 'Many writers worry about losing their copyright. Before sending out your manuscript it is always advisable to put a copyright line consisting of the copyright sign ©, the year and your name on the title page...'
- On The Writer/Publisher Financial Relationship: 'There's no escaping the fact that publishers and authors are essentially in an adversarial position. Even in the very best and most supportive publisher/writer relationships there is the tension caused by the fact that authors would like to earn as much as possible from their writing and publishers to pay as little as they can get away with...'
- The White Review Short Story Prize 2018 closes on 1 March. It's open to writers resident in Britain and Ireland who have yet to secure a publishing deal, with an entry fee of £15 but some low income exclusions. The prize is £2,500.
- 'Hardly any authors can copy edit their own writing. It is notoriously difficult to spot the errors in your own work. So professional copy editing does make sense, either if you are trying to give your work its best chance when submitting it or, even more crucially, if you are planning to self-publish...' Getting your manuscript copy edited
- Our links: can novels do interiority and the drama of the mind infinitely better than TV and film do? The Novelist's Complicity; Sue Grafton made her wishes clear: Her best-selling mystery series would die when she did, These authors risk the wrath of readers to keep book franchises alive; a poet who is the first literate person in his family, hailed as ‘the definitive arrival of a significant voice', TS Eliot prize goes to Ocean Vuong's 'compellingly assured' debut collection.
- Writing Biography & Autobiography is a serialisation from our archive of the book by Brian D Osborne published by A & C BlackClick for A & C Black Publishers Publishers References listing. In the first excerpt, 'Managing the matters of truth and objectivity', the author says: 'Just as you need to remember that letters, reports, census forms, legal documents and so forth were not created simply for our convenience, so you also need to remember that what is written in them may not be true...'
- More links: a Curtis BrownSee Curtis Brown listing literary super-agent on the biggest threat to books today, Jonny Geller: the future of books; was this copyright infrigement? WikiLeaks shared the full ‘Fire and Fury' book online. Here's why that may be a problem; and time spent on marketing means less time for writing, Ten Tips for Autopilot E-book Marketing.
- From the inimitable Kenneth Tynan:'A critic is a man who knows the way but can't drive the car.' In our Writers' Quotes.
- 'I do put in complicated ideas because I think children are highly intelligent. Thinking outside the box is natural to them. The heroes of my books are always the creative, inventive thinkers.' She wants her books ‘to feel like sweets not brussel sprouts. Not something that you ought to be doing but something you want to be doing.' Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon series and The Wizards of Once in the Bookseller, on writing for children.
- For anyone thinking about or embarked on self-publishing, our ten-part WritersServices Self-Publishing Guide by 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 is an essential starting-point, taking you through the process step-by-step. 'In this series of articles we'll be looking in more detail at the various self-publishing routes currently available to new indie authors. When you first start out on your indie journey, the array of options can be overwhelming. I know that when I began researching my options in early 2012 I was stunned by two apparently contradictory facts: there is so much information out there it's almost impossible to sift through it all, but at the same time a lot of the information is vague and generalised, and it can be hard to find real facts and figures - like expected sales figures and actual costs...'
- 'We don't often cover a specific event, but if you like poetry and are in reach of London this weekend, don't miss a wonderful evening of poetry. Get your tickets for the fabulous T S Eliot Prize Shortlist Readings, to be hosted by Ian McMillan, with all ten shortlisted poets expected to read...' News Review
- Putting together Your submission package - 'given the difficulty of getting agents and publishers to take on your work, it's really important to make sure that you present it in the best possible way. Less is more, so don't send a full manuscript, as it's very unlikely to be read. Far better to tempt them with a submission package that will leave them wanting to see the rest of the manuscript'.
- Our links: what the heck is going to happen next? 2018 Book Publishing Predictions - Are Indie Authors Losing their Independence? A collection of musings, tips and essays from some of our favourite authors about the business of writing, Buy a cat, stay up late, don't drink: top 10 writers' tips on writing; and the publishing industry hasn't produced a must-read adult book in several years, but that drought came to an end in the first week of January, 'Fire and Fury': Anatomy of a Bombshell.
- If you're thinking about getting a report on your manuscript, how do you work out which one would suit you best? Which Report? includes our new top-of-the range service, the Editor's Report Plus, introduced by popular demand to provide even more detail. This very substantial report takes the form of a chapter-by-chapter breakdown and many writers have found this detail helps them to get their book right. Through our specialist children's editors we can offer reports on children's books.
- More links: I'd rather describe my darkest, dirtiest sexual fantasies than tell you how much I've earned writing novels. But this essay is about my corporate career, which means it's mostly about money; to tell it right I have to come clean, If It Wasn't For My Corporate Office Job, I Couldn't Be a Novelist; "we've decided that the world has moved on from blogs-so this is the last post here." The Rise and Fall of the Blog; and, does it really make sense? - Paying to Play: On Submission Fees in Poetry Publishing.
- 'The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.' Ursula K. Le Guin in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'A published writer has people pay to read the manifestations of her imagination, soul, and heart. For me, that remains extraordinary. It will always be the dream transaction for me, but it is also the most exposing, the rawest, unavoidable, supremely important fact in my life that I have battled desperately to understand and get a handle on these past three years...' Jessie Burton, author of bestselling The Miniaturist (just very successfully made into an excellent BBC One two-parter) and The Muse. Our Comment.
- The Interpreter's House Poetry Competition 2018 closes on 31 January. It's open to all poets over 18 with an entry fee of £4 for one poem, £10 for three poems. The First Prize is £500, the Second Prize £150 and the Third Prize £100.
- From our 19-part Inside Publishing series, Subsidiary Rights: 'My first job in publishing was in a subsidiary rights department. I'm ashamed to admit that I accepted the job without having much idea what subsidiary rights were. Many writers may feel just as vague about this part of publishing, so here's a quick breakdown...' and Vanity Publishing: 'It is natural for writers to be eager to get published but it pays to be wary of the vanity publishers who will take your money and give you very little in return...' Vanity publishing is quite distinct from Self-publishing, you need to be aware of the differences.
- The question of funding for literary fiction has been in the news recently and has attracted a range of different views, ranging from the feeling that literary publishers need this subsidy to be able to carry on, to Tim Lott's feeling that literary writers have lost the plot (literally). News Review looks at whether literary novelists deserve public funding.
- As well as our highly-regarded Copy editing service, which will help you prepare your manuscript for submission or self-publishing, we have Manuscript Polishing, which provides a higher-level polishing service, Writer's edit, a new line-editing service, and Translation editing for writers who are not native English speakers. We also provide a Proof-reading service. Our UK-based Editing services for writers have a solid professional reputation and we often have authors coming back to us for further assistance, see our Endorsements.
- Our links: if you're a writer, here's an idea: resolve to get rejected. 100 times this year, if you're lucky, The Most-Rejected Books of All Time; a job which requires monumental effort and a certain degree of skill to research, write, and publish a 35,000-word manuscript on a different historical subject every month, Writing History; a self-publisher looking back on her various successes and failures, and trying to draw up a plan to help her books gain more readers in 2018, 10 indie publishing predictions for 2018; and a fan's affectionate appraisal of the much-loved crime writer who died this week, Sue Grafton Was a Master at Subverting the Detective Novel.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, which we think is the biggest you can find on the internet.
- More links: nowadays, the ebook has a reputation for technological conservatism - so it is easy to forget that there was significant anticipation for the Kindle's arrival ten years ago, Is the e-book a dead format? The next generation of British authors could struggle to land a book deal, according to the publisher who launched Harry Potter writer JK Rowling's career, Brexit will usher in a dark chapter for new British authors, warns publisher; John Ashbery's death in September gave my world a lurch, as the 90-year-old eminent American experimentalist was my favorite living poet, Why Rupi Kaur and Her Peers Are the Most Popular Poets in the World; and they should write better books, Tim Lott says - and asks Why should we subsidise writers who have lost the plot?
- Stephen King in our Writers' Quotes: 'Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it's work. ... Belief and reader absorption come in the details: An overturned tricycle in the gutter of an abandoned neighborhood can stand for everything.'
