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27 March 2017 - What's new

27 March 2017
  • The recent death of Colin Dexter has produced plaudits from fellow-authors and editors alike. In the UK he was one of our best-loved crime writers inspiring a uniquely affectionate response amongst readers and the publishing world alike. Quoted in Bookbrunch, fellow crime writer Peter James praised him highly: 'I think Colin Dexter truly changed both the landscape of British crime fiction and also its stature in the canon of literature...' News Review on the Death of a crime writer.
  • Our Comment is some advice from Selina Walker, Publisher of Century and Arrow, which starts with: 'Once you have your idea for a story, write yourself a rough outline and You will need to work out who your characters are, what type of ‘journey' you're taking them on, what's going to kick their story into gear (your opening), and how it's going to end...'
  • 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 'Proof-reading is a separate activity from copy editing and should always be done afterwards as part of a final check that the text is in good order. Traditionally, proof-reading was done at galley stage, when the text was set up in type but not yet made into pages...'
  • Our links of the week: several years ago, as an aspiring novelist with stardust in my eyes, I used to spend most of my waking hours in Yahoo's Books and Literature chatroom in the company of fellow aspiring writers, Why publishers might reject your next book, even if it's a good one; Vancouver-based author Sharon Rowse was thrilled when after years of trying she finally landed a book deal with a New York publisher, 'It's no longer about the vanity press': self-publishing gains respect - and sales - British Columbia - CBC News; the giant online retailer is trying to take advantage of millions of Amazon.com customer ratings and reviews and use its big data to offer in-store customers new ways to discover and purchase popular books, both physical and digital, Amazon Books opens new Chicago neighborhood location - Business Insider; and, a fun piece, there are millions of books in the world (and almost definitely hundreds of millions - last they checked, Google had the count at 129,864,880, and that was seven years ago), How Many Books Will You Read Before You Die? | Literary Hub.
  • 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.
  • More links: a cri-de-coeur from an editor at Writer's Digest who is also an aspiring author, Every Writer Needs an Editor, Especially if that Writer is Also an Editor; another article about the way publishers are signing up celebrities to write children's books, How celebrity deals are shutting children's authors out of their own trade | Books | The Guardian; and a fascinating picture of the revered editor of authors such as Ian McEwan and Margaret Atwood, who as the wife of Gay Talese, is also one half of one of publishing's most glamorous and mysterious couples, How Nan Talese Blazed Her Pioneering Path through the Publishing Boys' Club | Vanity Fair.
  • If you are submitting your work to an agent or directly to a publishing house, check through our guidelines to give it its best chance. Making Submissions.
  • From our Writers' Quotes this gem from Jean Rhys: 'All of a writer that matters is in the book or books. It is idiotic to be curious about the person.'