31 July 2017 - What's new
31 July 2017
- ‘I love structure in a novel and the detective story is probably the most structured of popular fiction. Some would say that it is the most artificial, but then all fiction is artificial, a careful rearrangement by selection of the writer's internal life in a form designed to make it accessible and attractive to a reader. The construction of a detective story might be formulaic; the writing need not be...' P D James writing about detective fiction in her book 1999 book, Time to Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography, which can be found on the wonderful new website dedicated to P D James launched by Faber & Faber this week. Our Comment.
- Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition 2017 is open to any poet aged 18 or over from anywhere in the world. There is an Open category and an English as an Additional Language category, which is open to poets who write in English as an Additional Language.The entry fee is £5 per poem and the prizes are £1,000 for each category and £200 for each runner up. Closing 28 August. Other Writing Opportunities.
- Just out, the June Magazine, a great place to find the News Reviews and Comments of the month and to catch up on nearly 50 links to articles from across the world you might have missed.
- Can this be true? A recent study quoted in Bookbrunch claims that 52% of UK adults believe they have a book in them. And, according to the old adage, that's where it should stay. Figures produced suggest that those thinking they could write a book could amount to 25 million people in the UK. News Review
- Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers, taking you from Improve Your Writing to Promoting Your Writing (and Yourself), from Self-publishing: is it for you? to Submission to publishers and agents. 'Think about the market for your book. Research the category and read widely to see what other published writers in this area are doing. Which writers are successful and why? Visit bookshops and analyse what you find there. If you are reading this you are probably already writing, but it really is worth thinking right from the beginning about your readers, as that makes it far more likely you'll eventually find them...'
- Our links: an illuminating article with a great infograhic, What is the Theme of a Book? An Author's Guide • Reedsy Blog; the latest acquisitions chart on the number of deals by London agents, which shows how new editors are setting the pace, Curtis Brown leads the way in dealmaking as new lists thrive | The Bookseller; when you can communicate in 140 characters, why do you need four to five paragraphs? The Difference Between a Press Release and a Pitch (You Need Both) | Jane Friedman; typescripts of books, poems, essays, scraps of paper, letters, In the Era of Digital Composition, What Should a Writer Keep? - The New York Times.
- Our Services for Writers - just a list of 20 services to help you get your work ready for publication.
- More links: thoughtful and sometimes surprising, 100 Must-Read, Best Books On Writing And The Writer's Life; have you ever had one of those moments where you kinda sorta agree with someone's conclusion and yet still disagree with many of the assumptions that lead to the conclusion? On eBooks Being a Dead Format | The Digital Reader; some rather fascinating insights into readers, Reader Analytics from Jellybooks: Crunching the Numbers to Improve Book Marketing and Sales | Jane Friedman; and a rather personal list of books on the lives and works of children's book creators, which can offer plenty of drama and intrigue even to the most grown-up of readers, Adult Nonfiction from the Children's Lit World.
- 'Writing a novel can feel like hacking away at a rock face - and it takes two or three years - whereas short-story writing is much faster. Either it arrives or it doesn't.' This comes from Penelope Lively in our Writers' Quotes.