What's New in 2020
- ‘Is the screenwriter, set the task of adapting a novel, whether a famous or forgotten or recently published novel, really an artist? Is there an "art" to adaptation? As someone who has done a fair amount of adapting I have to say I suspect not - the artist is the one who has created the work you're transforming. Adaptation is a craft, rather than an art, I believe. But craftsmen and craftswomen are not to be sniffed at. We are artisans de luxe, if you like, operating in a ruthless industrial medium that not only imposes stringent artistic constraints, but also stringent constraints of budget and ideology and temperament - you often have to work with very difficult, stupid and demanding people. William Boyd, author of many screenplays and 16 novels, including Trio, An Ice-Cream War, A Good Man in Africa and Any Human Heart, in the Sunday Times Culture.
- 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.
- A complimentary 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)
- 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 from the publishing world: now we've got a 'printer jam'- a tight printing market, Traditional Publishing Enjoys Its Best Sales in a Decade-Despite Supply Chain Problems | Jane Friedman; poet Benjamin Zephaniah said: 'National Poetry Day helps people discover poetry: it doesn't just get them thinking about poetry, it gets them thinking about the world', National Poetry Day highlights revealed as CLiPPA unveils prize shortlist | The Bookseller; they never removed the DRM, We Need to Talk About Audible; this one's a link to a pdf but the subject's of immense importance to authors, Creating a Living (Author incomes falling all over the world); and children's and YA authors and editors cut through any anxiety about digital sessions with candid and powerful discussions about identity, race, mental illness, immigration, history, and art, At Booksellers Conference, Children's Authors Embrace Tough Subjects.
- Our Poetry Critique service enables you to get your poetry assessed before submitting it or entering it for competitions. 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.
- Our links by and about writers: Brits are all so unfailingly calm and quiet that you literally suspect no-one. Which means, of course, that you end up suspecting everyone, All British People Are Potential Murderers - That's Why We Love Our Mysteries | CrimeReads; to say that independent romance is a beast in romance publishing is a well-known understatement, Indie Romance Books Are Big Business, But Why Aren't We Hearing About It? A new letter from writers, More than 200 writers and publishers sign letter in support of trans and non-binary people | Books | The Guardian; research has found that 19.6% of YA authors published in the UK in 2019 were people of colour, compared with 7.1% in 2017, Number of young adult writers of colour doubles to almost 20% | Books | The Guardian; Published in 100 days from initial idea to hitting the bookshops across the UK, Dear NHS raises £250,000.
- Have you been working on your book? 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 I had to give young writers advice, I would say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.' Lillian Hellman in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'Every article and review and book that I have ever published has constituted an appeal to the person or persons to whom I should have talked before I dared to write it. I never launch any little essay without the hope - and the fear, because the encounter may also be embarrassing - that I shall draw a letter that begins, 'Dear Mr. Hitchens, it seems that you are unaware that...' It is in this sense that authorship is collaborative with 'the reader.' And there's no help for it: you only find out what you ought to have known by pretending to know at least some of it already. The late Christopher Hitchens, author of Hitch 22: A Memoir and 18 other books.
- Our 20 Services for writers - just a list of what we offer at WritersServices.
- Health Hazards is our special series about the various health risks for writers, including the dreaded Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. If you know you're spending too much time at a keyboard, it's worth making sure you're being careful about how you're sitting, your eyes and your wrists. Although Covid 19 is probably the main health problem you're focused on at the moment, these special writers' risks are worth thinking about.
- The Moth Poetry Prize 2020 closes on 31 December and is open to all poets over 16 for an unpublished poem. The entry fee is €15 per poem. 1st prize €6,000, plus three runner-up prizes of €1,000 and eight commended poets will each receive €250.
- Other writing competitions which are still open.
- Links to articles from writers: we were inside a transformation. We just couldn't see it, Writing a History of a Pandemic During a Pandemic | Literary Hub; famous disappearances, The Art of Disappearing | CrimeReads; the translator is a writer. The writer is a translator. How many times have I run up against these assertions? The Writer-Translator Equation | by Tim Parks | The New York Review of Books; your book readers are moving online, and so should you, How to Create a Virtual Buzz Around Your Book; today, silent reading is the norm. The majority of us bottle the words in our heads as if sitting in the hushed confines of a library, Why you should read this out loud - BBC Future; and expectations for the new Dune movie from director Denis Villeneuve are sky-high, ‘Dune' Is a Behemoth of a Book to Adapt | WIRED.
- Are you writing for the children's market? 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.
- Links to stories from the publishing world: the departure of a much-loved publishing head is causing quite a stir, Macmillan C.E.O. John Sargent Is Departing - The New York Times; changes to the children's publishing and library marketing spheres over the years, Exit Interview with Michael Eisenberg; a mere 3% of books published in the U.S. are works in translation, Building Bridges: The Art of Children's Book Translation; and, latest surprise news, JK Rowling's new thriller takes No 1 spot amid transphobia row | Books | The Guardian.
- Our glossary of publishing and printing terms and abbreviations is a great reference tool for authors.
- 'Occasionally, there arises a writing situation where you see an alternative to what you are doing, a mad, wild gamble of a way for handling something, which may leave you looking stupid, ridiculous or brilliant - you just don't know which. You can play it safe there, too, and proceed along the route you'd mapped out for yourself.' Roger Zelazny's contribution to our Writers' Quotes.
- Translating Elena Ferrante - 'The first draft is the words as they are, more or less in the order they appear. It is pretty straightforward. But most of the time there is then some shaping of that language into an English that reads like English but still contains some suggestion of the Italian. In my first draft I look at the Italian; in the second I am still working with the Italian and trying to solve problems I couldn't solve first time around. Then, eventually, I try to read just the English, without the Italian, but I never can, because there's always something I need to go back to check. Sometimes I find I've gone too far away from the Italian; sometimes I find I need to go further away...' Ann Goldstein, who has worked with Elena Ferrante for 16 years and translated the work of Primo Levi, Jhumpa Lahiri and many other great Italian writers, in the Observer.
- A new endorsement: ‘A wonderfully detailed and helpful report. The editorial advice and knowledge sharing is extensive and generous. Your editor has identified the points where and why my novel falls short and provided clear and practical advice on how to remedy the shortfalls... I would not hesitate to recommend your service to other writers both in terms of output and value for money.' Elspeth, UK.
- Our My Say series has contributions from writers: Natasha Mostert on 'There are few things as satisfying as typing THE END to a manuscript, Richard Hall on "Write about what you know" - does this adage always make sense? and Deborah Durbin, about rejecting rejection. If you'd like to make a contribution of between 300 and 500 words, please get in touch.
- Discoveries Women's Prize for Fiction is open to all women aged 18 and above, residing in the UK or Ireland and writing in English, and there's no entry fee. The winner receives £5,000. All longlisted and shortlisted authors will be offered tailored mentorship packages from a Curtis BrownSee Curtis Brown listing agent or industry expert and free or discounted places on Curtis Brown Creative's creative writing courses. Closing 17 January.
- Links by and about writers: 21 books whose core lies not in the cases his private detectives solve, but in the way they go about it, Alexander McCall Smith: A Crime Reader's Guide to the Classics | CrimeReads; a famed writer and activist who is selling the audio version of his upcoming book via Kickstarter, Cory Doctorow is fighting back against Amazon's Audible; write according to your own strengths and instincts, Women's Prize for Fiction Diana Evans: Writing Tips - Women's Prize for Fiction; we should be wary when one review in the Telegraph is reproduced without question, JK Rowling's Troubled Blood: don't judge a book by a single review | Books | The Guardian; and more on this, Will JK Rowling's controversial trans tweets hurt the sales of her new Robert Galbraith book? - ABC News.
- 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 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.
- Links from publishing, Goodreads, reviewing and Prizes: just exactly where is publishing heading? Business Musings: Trainwreck Fall Edition; an author who had assumed identities within a blackness that she had no right to claim, Publisher denounces Jessica Krug for pretending to be black | Books | The Guardian; there should be nothing in the world more benign than Goodreads, a website and app that 90 million people around the world use to find new books, but Why Goodreads is bad for books; in 1930, I could have earned the equivalent of $2,130 for one lousy review, Once upon a time, I could have lived like a king reviewing one book a week; American writers made a near clean sweep of this year's shortlist, Most diverse Booker prize shortlist ever as Hilary Mantel misses out | Books | The Guardian.
- Working with an agent: 'Don't ever take on an agent you don't like or don't trust, however desperate you may feel. You have to be able to work with them in what should be an extremely important relationship for you as a writer. You must also feel confident that they are competent, enthusiastic about your work and can be trusted, both in terms of the advice they offer and in relation to handling your money...'
- 'There was a day when I looked up and realised that I had become someone who professionally replied to email, and who wrote as a hobby. I started answering fewer emails, and was relieved to find I was writing much more.' Neil Gaiman in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘The majority of my books are set in north London, and it began to seem like an omission or a lie that when I open my door I'm in a multiracial neighbourhood, yet I haven't written about that. Should my books stay white for the rest of my life? I don't think so. That's all I can say, I wanted the book to represent my city... You write yourself out the further you go. The women thing started like that. I came to believe that women had more problems than white men, and white men's problems are mostly internal. That's certainly the case with High Fidelity and About a Boy. I tried to do the best I could with them, but there is something inert about that... Nick Hornby, author of 21 books, including 7 novels, amongst them Just Like You, published next week, About a Boy, Fever Pitch and High Fidelity, in the Sunday Times' Culture.
- 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. 'Self-publishing has changed so much over the past few years it's hard to believe it was once looked down upon by the publishing industry as the last resort of the vain and desperate. At the time of writing many self-publishing authors are identifying with the term ‘indie author', which acknowledges that to professionally publish today, you don't actually have to do everything yourself!' Articles include Formatting your book for Kindle and Marketing and Promotion for Indie Authors: Online.
- If on the other hand 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.
- Seven writing competitions are still open, though some are closing soon.
- This week's links are a varied bunch: there is no risk greater for a writer than emotional risk - which is why writing one's memoir is ultimately the riskiest of all, The Risky Writing Life; a comprehensive process in which, according to the definitive book on the subject, a trained checker works through your book? Why Nonfiction Book Fact Checking Should Be an Industry Standard; the big beasts of the ,publishing world are circling, eying up their prey, Bertelsmann, HarperCollins Show Interest in S&S; the acclaimed crime writer acknowledging that the fact that some people are perceived to have value attached to them and others aren't is really important, Denise Mina: 'I couldn't read until I was about nine' | Books | The Guardian; and 'An unhappy childhood is a writer's gold mine, Writing a path to redemption.
- 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.
- English Language Editing is our 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, English Language Editing is designed for the many non-native English speakers throughout the world who want to publish their work in English.
- More links: here's a breakthrough first novel, a high-school thriller which tackles institutionalised racism, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé: the 21-year-old British student with a million-dollar book deal; this year, my detective Vera Stanhope turns 21, Stories have always been healing, so I'm funding bibliotherapists | Ann Cleeves | Books | The Guardian; 'a novel tells you far more about a writer than an essay, a poem, or even an autobiography', Martin Amis Gets Matter of Fact; and children's authors who also work in the children's publishing world, Children's Writers Who Wear Multiple Hats.
- Are you having difficulty producing a really good blurb to self-publish your book? Or do you need a synopsis to submit it to publishers? Our services can help.
- From our Writers' Quotes: 'Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else.' Gloria Steinem