5 March 2018 - What's new
5 March 2018
- 'I think there can be almost as much difference, experientially speaking, between you and the person next to you on the bus as there is between me and my pug. And if, as too often happens, publishing houses choose only writers they recognise, from their own milieu, their own backgrounds, class, perceived community etc, well, then you get far less variety in this pool of minds and we all miss out. Writers principally - but readers too.' Zadie Smith, author of the book of essays Feel Free and the novels White Teeth and Saving Time in the Observer. Our Comment.
- If you're aiming at traditional publishing, Finding an agent and Working with an agent are two practical checklists to help set up and maintain this vital relationship. 'Try to find an agency which is ‘hungry' for new clients. To keep their workload under control, an established independent agent might take on something like four new authors a year, but only to replace four departing clients. This may seem obvious, but whether or not an agent is actively looking to build their list of clients is probably the single most important factor affecting how closely they are looking at unsolicited submissions...'
- You can find a mass of material in the October Magazine, including some extremely useful links: What does it take to write and publish a book? Fire in the belly | HuffPost; What Authors Need to Know About Crowdfunding Their Book: A Case Study by the Numbers | Jane Friedman; and Checking Book Proofs in Three Simple Steps.
- Literary magazines with one week's response time is Sandeep Kumar Mishra's useful list. They range from literary fiction to non-fiction and include science fiction and fantasy, popular non-fiction, politics, flash fiction, reviews, humour, social issues, the economy, lifestyle, horror, artwork and much more. If you've ever despaired at how long magazine submissions can take, or wanted to extend your range, this is the list you need.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, the biggest you can find on the internet.
- At this week's conference of the Independent Publishers' Guild, Jo Forshaw talked about the way in which the audio market is opening up, beginning to provide a challenge to ebooks. Forshaw, who until recently ran HarperCollins UK's audio division, said that when she started working at the publisher, fewer than one in ten print books were released in audio; now everything is published in the two formats simultaneously. Audiobooks seize market share is this week's News Review.
- Our links: if nothing else, being a novelist for decades gives you some hopefully useful ideas about process, 8 Writing Tips from Jeff VanderMeer - Chicago Review of Books; it's been a long-running question for those who'd like a cheaper paperback edition, Book clinic: why do publishers still issue hardbacks? | Books | The Guardian; publishers' profits have grown while authors' pay has shrunk in recent years, Nicola Solomon has argued, SoA challenges publishers to reveal how much they pay authors | The Bookseller; and this message has been reinforced by a doughty fighter for authors, Philip Pullman calls for authors to get fairer share of publisher profits | Books | The Guardian.
- Authors often find it difficult to write their own synopsis for submission to publishers, which is where our Synopsis-writing service can help. If you're preparing to self-publish and having difficulty with your blurb, our Blurb-writing service from a professional copy-writer can make your book stand out.
- More links: on nurturing your dark side, Gillian Flynn: "Dread Is Probably My Favorite Emotion" | Chicago magazine | March 2018; it's more important than ever for indie authors to use a discerning eye when seeking out assistance, How to Evaluate Self-Publishing Service Providers; some tongue-in-cheek advice from an inimitable author, Writing Advice from T.C. Boyle; the latest appalling outcome of the ongoing educational publishing copyright situation in Canada, Canadian Educators Sue Copyright Organization.
- 'Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer.' Ray Bradbury in our Writers' Quotes.
