6 August 2020 - What's new
6 August 2020
- 'Well, the first six weeks I was not doing any writing at all. It was all about making sure the kids were all right and everyone was in a good mental state. Then, I thought maybe I can work for an hour or two a day and it was really hard work getting back in the groove. But, hey, the books aren't going to write themselves. The way I think about it is, what if I got struck down by plague or lightning? I'd rather finish the book than not...' Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad, The Nickel Boys and seven other novels in the Observer. Writing in a lockdown.
- A must-read for children's authors is Suzy Jenvey's special series for WritersServices, the four-part 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. This series by a hugely experienced children's editorial director and agent helps you get started on your own story or develop what you're already working on.
- We have a new endorsement on our Endorsements page: 'I am delighted with the feedback and so pleased with all the great suggestions which were so much more than I expected. A really brilliant service.' Sally Gibbins , Birmingham, UK, on her children's copy editing.
- 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 can provide professionally written cover copy.
- The rather generous 2020 Manchester Writing Competition is open to writers from across the world. Two £10,000 prizes are awarded: the Manchester Poetry Prize for the best portfolio of poems and the Manchester Fiction Prize for the best short story. Closing on 18 September.
- Our links: it's vital but one of the first things a budding storyteller can master with just a bit of practice and effort, How To Write Dialogue: 7 Steps To Writing Dialogue - The Art of Narrative; why Grandmother did most of her work in bed, Irish women writing fiction were dismissed as 'quiet'. Ireland wasn't listening | Books | The Guardian; US publishers will not be returning to their offices in anything resembling full force before 2021, Publishers Play the Pandemic Waiting Game; I had no idea my protagonist would end up working in a New York publishing house, My Novel's Heroine is Doing Better in the Publishing World Than I Did | Literary Hub and from the founder of Blackbird Books in South Africa, an independent publishing house that is dedicated to giving young black writers a platform, PublisHers: Thabiso Mahlape.
- Are you getting ready to publish your book - perhaps planning to self-publish? WritersServices offers a suite of nine services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish. Services for Self-publishers.
- More links: those were the days when it seemed like we could beat the pandemic by washing our hands, but now It's Time to Radically Rethink Online Book Events - Electric Literature; as much of the retail world faces crisis, book publishing is positioned to grow in terms of unit sales when compared to 2019, US Book Publishing Remains Resilient: Print and Ebook Sales Are Growing | Jane Friedman; after many years, can she live up to Twilight fans' expectations? In ‘Midnight Sun,' Stephenie Meyer Tells Edward Cullen's Story - The New York Times; and a picture book about a science-loving black girl, ‘Utterly joyful' Look Up! wins Waterstones children's book of the year | Books | The Guardian.
- Our Top Ten Tips for Nonfiction Writers are from Julie Wheelwright, programme director, MA Creative Writing Nonfiction, City University, London.
- From Isaac Asimov in our Writers' Quotes: 'Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil - but there is no way around them.'