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What's New in 2019

September 2019

30 September 2019 - What's new

September 2019
  • 'I only really care about my readers. But I've always been irritated by the lazy assumption among critics that what I do is somehow easier than what ‘literary' novelists do. It's actually quite the reverse - to write something to please millions is obviously harder than doing something that only has to please thousands. I also think that genre writers have a greater responsibility. A literary reader has no expectation that everything they read is going to be great...' Lee Child, author of the 23 Jack Reacher novels, most recently Past Tense, in Books magazine. Our Comment
  • 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.'
  • 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, English Language 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: for almost two years after my first book was published, I did not write a single new thing, Maybe the Secret to Writing is Not Writing? | Literary Hub; what's the difference between an unforgettable crime thriller and the sort of thriller that retreats into the remote fissures of your brain? The 5 Essential Elements of Unforgettable Crime Thrillers | CrimeReads; it sounded like a book, or a film, or something, a cool story, It sounded like a novel - so I wrote it; and joining their tribe seems simple enough: Get a book, read it, and voilà! Why Do Some People Love Reading? - The Atlantic.
  • 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: for decades, Mighty Girls have devoured her works, Protecting "The Books That Will Never Be Written": Judy Blume's Fight Against Censorship | A Mighty Girl; publishing is the business of creating books and selling them to readers. And yet, for some reason we aren't supposed to talk about the latter, Everything You Wanted to Know about Book Sales (But Were Afraid to Ask) - Electric Literature; and this summer, author Megan Miranda won the publishing lottery, Reese's Book Club is publishing's secret weapon - Vox.
  • 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.
  • ‘The crime novel should have a compelling and credible plot, characters who are more than stereotypes, good writing and the creative integration of setting, narrative, characterisation and theme. To put it simply, a good detective story should be a good novel.' P D James in our Writers' Quotes.

23 September 2019 - What's new

September 2019

16 September 2019 - What's new

September 2019
  • ‘Sometimes I feel like I talk about these things too dramatically. I'm sure some writers might read this and go, "For f*** sake you just published a book. Get over yourself." But you have to understand - before, there was none of it, then everything changed... It's changed my life, and made it so interesting and exciting. So happy, on a cellular level... When your first book is a bestseller is our Comment from Jessie Burton, author of just-published The Confession, The Muse and her bestselling first novel The Miniaturist in the Sunday Times' Culture.
  • 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...'
  • Closing on 9 December, the Nobrow Short Story Competition is open to all writers of 18 and over internationally with an unpublished and not yet submitted story or creative non-fiction piece. There's no entry fee. Winning stories will go into a book and the overall winner will receive £2,000, with all selected contributors receiving £150 and two complimentary copies of the book.
  • Other competitions we've covered on the site which are still open.
  • 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, English Language 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: how do writers manage - or deploy - the distractions? 'I have to put my phone in the wardrobe': how do authors deal with social media? | Books | The Guardian; one day not long ago in a college class I was teaching, some of my students couldn't find the page I was talking about in the reading, Opinion | Steal This Book? There's a Price - The New York Times; Sleepless in Seattle, the starry-eyed, bi-coastal love story written and directed by Nora Ephron in 1993, is a strange bird, The Best 1990s Rom-Coms Are Detective Stories in Disguise | CrimeReads; and increasingly, people of the book are also people of the cloud, Books Won't Die.
  • 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.
  • More links: as self-publishing services have proliferated, promising all variety of benefits and recipes for boosting sales, it's more important than ever for indie authors to have a discerning eye when seeking out assistance, DIY: How to Avoid Self-Publishing Scams; from a successful children's publisher, Questions for: Kate Wilson; encountering a legendary editor, On the Rare Decency of Susan Kamil | Literary Hub; beautiful objects that would be there for hundreds of years but weren't flashy like stained glass or carvings or floor tiles, Tracy Chevalier Is Threading the Past.
  • 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 will make your book stand out.
  • John Steinbeck in our Writers' Quotes: 'Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.'

9 September 2019 - What's new

September 2019

2 September 2019 - What's new

September 2019