29 August 2016 - What's new
29 August 2016
- 'The changes digitisation has brought about in the agent's role are substantial but one of the unchanging things about getting an agent is that developments in the publishing world have made remarkably little difference to it - it's as difficult as ever, some would say more so...' In this week's News Review we're still on The changing role of the agent but now up to part 3.
- Contribute a story by making a submission to the intriguing England's Future History. No prize but you get your story published on the site and this quarter's version closes on 30 September. Our Writing Opportunity.
- A must-read for children's authors - Suzy Jenvey's special series for WritersServices, the four-part The Essential Guide to Writing for Children. The first article looks at the all-important question of age groups and what you should be aware of in writing for each one. The second part is - Before You Write: What is My Story Going to be? The third part deals with Starting to Write and the fourth part is about Submitting Your Work to Agents and Editors.
- ‘The thing that draws me to the crime novel is that, in the wake of a crime, it's very hard to maintain facades. If someone's been murdered, you don't talk about the fact that, for example, Uncle Ray was a miserable alcoholic. But now Uncle Ray is dead and that may be relevant. Every family has secrets like that, and society at large has secrets and facades. A crime in a community is a bit of an earthquake. That interests me...' Laura Lippman, author of Wilde Lake, in Bookbrunch provides this week's Comment.
- Our Poetry Critique service and Poetry Collection Editing service might help you to work out where you've got to with your poetry. Do you want to make sure that your poetry is as good as it can be before you go ahead with submitting to competitions, magazines or websites, or do you want help to prepare a collection? Our Poetry Collection Editing service is unique and is a real help when what you need is editorial advice on preparing your collection for self-publishing or submission.
- Our links: a masterclass on the struggle to balance social media and writing or creative work, How to Be Active on Social Media without Losing Your Mind | Jane Friedman; how we consume literature, its method of delivery, can be as important as the words themselves, The Medium is the Message: How We Read and How It Affects Us - The Wild Detectives; how publishers are promoting other publishers' books, Keeping the Faith: Publisher Agnostic Content - Publishing Trends; and an interview with a wonderful children's writer, Shirley Hughes ‘I realised that a book could be a little theatre' | Books | The Guardian.
- Have you ever wondered why you don't win any of those competitions? Our tips on Entering Competitions.
- More links: making this work for you, How to Write Coincidence the Right Way | Literary Hub; startling new research, Literary fiction readers understand others' emotions better, study finds | Books | The Guardian; and is this a rather creepy idea? Truman Capote's ashes go up for auction in LA: 'I think he would love it' | Books | The Guardian.
- 'Composition is for the most part an effort of slow diligence and steady perseverance, to which the mind is dragged by necessity or resolution, and from which the attention is every moment starting to more delightful amusements.' Samuel Johnson in our Writers' Quotes.
