6 August 2018 - What's new
6 August 2018
- ‘I can't stop writing. It's not something I physically enjoy, but I can't switch off the head. There was something else, something I'd lived with all my life - the fear that I wouldn't live to finish a given piece. Having finished Boneland at the age of 77, with no idea in front of me whatever, I thought - that's it. Now, given that it takes me between five and nine years to write a novel, the joke runs a bit sour when you're in your early eighties...' Alan Garner, author of just-published Where Shall We Run to? (a wartime childhood memoir), The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Stone Book Quartet and many other books for children and adults in the Observer. Our Comment.
- The April Magazine is a good way to delve into our amazingly rich archives and links you to some enticing online articles: The perfect crimes: why thrillers are leaving other books for dead, How to Become a Bestseller with Money, Luck and Work (Mostly Work) Jane Friedman, Let's silence the creative writing course snobs and How Self-Publishing Made today's Small Underground Presses Possible.
- We have a new entry on our Endorsements page; 'Please extend my gratitude to the editor for his/her thoughtful and detailed edit. I could not ask for better work! Its value far exceeded the cost.' Jim, Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA)
- Our new page Copy editing services covers our six services working on writers' manuscripts, a range which includes our top of the range Writer's Edit and Translation editing. We have just introduced free samples and free short written assessments on most of these services, which are provided by our skilled professional editors.
- My Say gives writers a chance to air their views about writing and the writer's life. So we have Lynda Finn about the isolation of New Zealand writers and their problems with getting published, British author Eliza Graham, author of Playing with the Moon, on her route to publication and Zoe Jenny, who is Swiss, on writing in English and why it was liberating. Send us your contributions, ideally 200 to 400 words in length and of general interest. Please email them to us.
- Our links: I've been both a children's book editor and author for roughly a decade, What Authors and Editors Wish They Could Say to One Another; these blogs can have a huge, positive impact on your self-publishing success if you let them, Six Great Blogs for Indie Authors; I couldn't make heads or tails of the structure, Serial Box creates books for the age of Peak TV - Vox; and acting more like a literary grifter than a literary agent, Agent Danielle Smith's Former Clients Speak Out.
- 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell by Chris Hamilton-Emery is a tremendously useful book for any poet, , an insider's guide to the poetry business, focusing on the issues that matter: building profile, finding readers and selling books.
- More links: people are always saying, "I have an idea for a story," How Writing a Short Story Collection is Like Starting a Zoo | Literary Hub; authors in trouble, Writers' groups reveal increasing demand for hardship grants | The Bookseller; and it's difficult for newer writers to chart a safe path, Vanity and The Media | David Gaughran.
- 'A poet can survive everything but a misprint.' Oscar Wilde in our Writers' Quotes.
