January 2025
- 'I know it is the old J K Rowling argument but it is important culturally to get people to sit down and read 300 pages and she had done that. Look at Colleen Hoover, who has sold millions of books around the world and there could be a class of writers who are jealous of that but she has brought so many people into bookshops and brought so many people into reading... I love Stephen King, Marian Keyes, Kate Atkinson; she can write an absolute page-turner but also when you are reading it you are thinking "This is amazing what you are doing and I'm envious of that."...Richard Osman, television presenter and bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, The Last Devil to Die and We Solve Murders in The Times.
- 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, the Writer's edit, providing line-editing, and Proof-reading. The Cutting Edit and Developmental editing are two new services. Get the right level of editorial support for your needs from our professional editors. Our low-cost services represent exceptionally good value. Contact us to discuss what you want.
- The Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2025 for a children's poem is open to all poets across the world over the age of 16, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. The entry fee is €15 per poem. The First Prize is €1,000 and a week-long stay at The Circle of Misse in France, the Second Prize is €500 and Third Prize is €250. Closing on 31 March.
- Links to writers' stories: from carrying a computer between flat shares in her 20s to working with a Hollywood director on a screen adaptation of Hamnet, the author reflects on her writing life, The Bookseller - Author Interviews - Maggie O'Farrell | 'How lucky I have been to do a job that I love, absolutely love, for 25 years'; A Dangerous Game author Mandy Robotham on iconic characters, How to know when your character has 'legs' (enough to carry them forward); and from 'Cosmo' to crime, magazine editor Kate White worked her way up one slice at a time, My First Thriller: Kate White ‹ CrimeReads.
- Inside Publishing is a 19-part series about publishing, which will help writers understand what goes on inside the business. Keep reading if you want to understand what's really happening inside publishing houses and what it all means for you. Even if self-publishing is what you have in mind, this series provides a lot of useful background on the publishing world.
- 'Why do publishers need agents? Actually they don't need them, although they have come to rely on them. In many ways publishers would prefer to deal direct with unagented authors. It's authors who need agents. Writers need someone to sell their work and then to look after their relationship with their publishers...' From Inside Publishing The Relationship between Publishers and Agents.
- Our English Language Editing Service is specially designed to help non-native speakers of English to find success in the international publishing market. With the rapid rise of English as a world language, an increasing number of authors who are not native English speakers, or who speak English as a second language, are writing in English. If English is not your native language, you may require extra help to take your work to a professional standard. Our specialist editors have years of experience working with authors writing in English as a second language. We can help you to bring your work to a native level of fluency, and a professional level of excellence.
- Links on AI: the case for an AI-authored book format, The Bookseller - Comment - Blurred lines; Sarah Silverman and others file court case claiming CEO approved use of dataset despite warnings, Zuckerberg approved Meta's use of ‘pirated' books to train AI models, authors claim | Mark Zuckerberg | The Guardian; the UK government is being "beguiled by big tech" into "giving away" authors' work to train generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), The Bookseller - News - UK government has been 'beguiled by big tech' over AI, warns Creators' Rights Alliance; and how Duoyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and WeChat are flourishing, In China, social media apps are changing how people buy and read books - selling more than physical bookshops do.
- There's a new entry on our Endorsements page this week: 'Let me take this opportunity to say what a big help the editor has been over the last few months. The book has been transformed into the book I arrogantly thought it was when he or she first read it.' William Watt, Elmsley, West Yorkshire.
- If you need to clear copyright for your book, Clearing Copyright shows you how to do this: 'Copyright provides a framework for trading in intellectual property. In practice it protects the author's position and ensures that the publisher is able to take on the risk of publication in the knowledge that the publisher's rights are protected. In effect authors, (the originators of intellectual property) sub-license their rights through their book contracts to different parties in individual territories and in specific forms...'
- 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. Our 22 services to help you get your work ready for publication. Our Services for Writers
- Links on writers' craft: Sandra Chwialkowska on her career in TV writing and her move to writing a novel, How To Know If Your Idea Is a Novel or a Screenplay, and Why Thrillers Make Great TV ‹ CrimeReads; what exactly are antagonists, and how can you make them convincing? How To Write Compelling Antagonists; and a hand-picked digest of news stories from the past month that emerging writers should know about, The Bookseller - Comment - News for emerging authors: December.
- 'So you want to write fantasy or science fiction? You are in good company, as many of the writers who come to WritersServices are writing fantasy, with science fiction as a less popular choice. Science fiction was an important category during much of the twentieth century, with a growing cult audience, until it was overtaken by fantasy. It's often seen as more cerebral, a way of trying out new ideas of the future or other worlds. These days there's a relatively small demand for new science fiction writing, and you have to have a distinctive voice and something interesting to say to stand much chance of getting published...' Writing science fiction and fantasy
- Do you want some help with your writing but don't know quite what you want? Are you a bit puzzled by the various services on offer, and not sure what to go for? Choosing a service helps you work out which is the right editorial service for you.
- More links: predictions for the trends that will dominate children's publishing in 2025, The Bookseller - Comment - What's next for kids' books; many independent authors design and format their own books to save money, but Should You Hire a Professional Designer for Your Book Interior? | Jane Friedman; and the UK Poetry School's very useful listing of poetry publishers, online sites and magazines where you can submit and publish your poetry, Where to Submit Your Poetry • Poetry School.
- From our new 15-part Ask the Editor series, Writing a Synopsis: 'The synopsis is a strange document; it is at once the dullest, and perhaps the most important, part of the submission package. It reduces your book, your creative project, to a few lines of plain, unadorned narration; yet it allows a publisher to see the book as a whole, to get a feel for the narrative arc and the development of the plot. In this article, I will examine the synopsis, and consider some of the problems in writing it...'
- '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 for the reality is that of the thousands of new books that are sent to ‘The Publisher' by unknown writers each year, only a handful are good enough to be published...' The Slush Pile by our editor Kay GaleWritersServices editor who has worked for many years as a freelance editor for number of publishers..
- ‘A really great children's book can hook a child. It can put a fish hook through their imagination and root them in the world of books for the rest of their lives.' Katherine Rundell on our Quotes page.
