26 November 2012 - What's new
26 November 2012
- 'Recent figures from Bowker show self-publishing continuing its rapid growth in the US. The number of self-published books coming out has nearly tripled since 2006, with 235,625 new print and ebook titles published in 2011... ' News Review on the self-publishing boom in the US.
- There's just time to enter our latest Writing Opportunity, the wide-ranging The New WriterThis well-regarded magazine comes out six times a year and publishes the best in fact, fiction and poetry, including top stories from the Fish Prize and Real Writers annual competitions. Runs annual Prose and Poetry prizes, including short stories, novellas and essays, material to be submitted by end November. The magazine is towards the more literary end of the spectrum, but offers more publishing opportunities and market information for subscribers than other UK-based creative writing magazines. http://www.thenewwriter.com prose, fiction and poetry prizes, which are closing on 30 November. They're open to everyone, with different entry fees for different categories, but hurry!
- We've recently launched our new Poetry Critique service Set up in response to popular demand, our new service provides a line-by-line critique on up to 150 lines of poetry from our expert editor, plus advice on marketing your poems. If you've been writing poems, but have no idea if they're any good, or just want to make sure they're the best they can be, this service can help you.
- Our topical article this week is The Copy"right" Principle - writing in ALCS News(Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society) writer and campaigner Katharine Quarmby explains why publishing her work under Creative Commons licences is against her principles.
- 'A brand is a job in its own right. You feel like you can't leave it. I'm very fond ofCharlie and Lola but there was a time when I really just wanted it to end. You want to walk away because you want to get on with something else, but if you walk away you can't be sure how it might move without you... ' Lauren Child, author of the Charlie and Lola series, in the Sunday Telegraph, quoted in ourComment column.
- Don't procrastinate! - 'Do you find it difficult to get started on your writing? Is it always easier to put off finishing that research/ starting that novel/embarking on the second draft? You are not alone, for many writers suffer from procrastination.' Chris HolifieldManaging director of WritersServices; spent working life in publishing,employed by everything from global corporations to start-ups; track record includes: editorial director of Sphere Books, publishing director of The Bodley Head, publishing director for start-up of upmarket book club, The Softback Preview, editorial director of Britain’s biggest book club group, BCA, and, most recently, deputy MD and publisher of Cassell & Co. She is also currently the Director of the Poetry Book Society; During all of this time aware of problems faced by writers, as publishing changed from idiosyncratic cottage industry, 'occupation for gentlemen', into corporate business of today. Writers encountered increasing difficulty in getting books edited or published. Authors create the books which are the raw material for the whole business. She believes it is time to bring them back to centre stage. looks at how to get yourself going.
- 'In writing a series of stories about the same characters, plan the whole series in advance in some detail, to avoid contradictions and inconsistencies.' L Sprague de Camp in our Writers' Quotes.
