7 December 2020 - What's new
7 December 2020
- ‘I still suspect that most people start out with some kind of ability to tell a story but that it gets lost along the way. Of course, the ability to create life with words is essentially a gift. If you have it in the first place, you can develop it; if you don't have it, you might as well forget it. But I have found that people who don't have it are frequently the ones hell-bent on writing stories...' Flannery O'Connor, author of two novels, Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away, three short story collections, including Complete Stories, and 32 short stories in all.
- An essential 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.
- Last year we launched the Writer's edit, a top-level new service for writers who want line-editing as well as copy editing. Does your manuscript need high-level input from an editor to help you get it into the best possible shape for submission or self-publishing? This may be the service for you, offering the kind of editing which publishers' senior editors used to do in-house on their authors' manuscripts and which is now hard to find. Our other copy editing services.
- Our links from the world of writing: wonderful people in bureaucratic straitjackets - that's publishing, How 50,000 copies of my new book mysteriously vanished; why is publishing so obsessed with genre, It Isn't Genre That Matters - It's Story. | CrimeReads; investigating AI-created literature, Adventures in writing about creative machines; and how could this be? Nearly every second male profile lists Kurt Vonnegut as its favorite writer, Finding An Unlikely Literary Figure on Tinder: Kurt Vonnegut | Literary Hub.
- Why has my manuscript been rejected? It is demoralising to get your manuscript rejected by publishers or agents. Here are some of the reasons why this happens and suggestions of what you can do about it. Avoiding rejection.
- Links from publishing: when Bertelsmann, the parent company of Penguin Random House (PRH), the largest book publisher in the U.S., announced it was going to acquire the third largest, Simon & Schuster (S&S), to form a mega-press, the outcry was swift and plentiful, Commentary: Penguin Random House S&S merger kills diversity - Los Angeles Times; the Atlantic agrees about the dark potential of such a deal, The Penguin Random House S&S Deal Is Bad for Democracy - The Atlantic; some staff were reportedly not pleased with the company's decision to publish, Publishers are not obliged to give bigots like Jordan Peterson a platform | Random House | The Guardian; mostly they're proving themselves resilient and flexible, Book Clubs in Lockdown.
- How to get your book translated into English (without it costing the earth) - for non-native English speakers wanting to reach the international English language market. If your English is good enough, what about writing your book in English or translating it into English yourself, and then getting your translation polished and copy edited by a professional editor who is a native English speaker? The result should be a publishable manuscript at a relatively low cost, ready for you to publish or submit to publishers.
- Links about writers: from the wonderful former UK Children's Laureate and author of Noughts and Crosses, Malorie Blackman: ‘I didn't read a book that featured a black protagonist until I was 21' | The Independent; a huge deal from the bestselling author, Smith to revisit Ancient Egypt in 10-book deal with Bonnier | The Bookseller; a black writer turning to other black writers in prison, Alex Wheatle: Why the 'amazingly exciting' Chester Himes should be better known - BBC News; new novel from the Nobel Laureate, Bloomsbury lands first novel in 48 years by Wole Soyinka | The Bookseller.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? Our editorial services have been added in response to demand, so whatever you want we've probably got it covered with our 20 different services.
- 'Make no mistake, those who write long books have nothing to say. Of course those who write short books have even less to say.' Mark Z. Danielewski in our Writers' Quotes.
