May 2005
The website for writers
News Review
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Visa International recently estimated that global e-commerce sales grew last year by a whopping 56% to £79 billion ($150 billion). News Review looks at how this affects books.
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How good's your spelling? At the age of six, 6 out of 10 children can’t write ten lines without making at least one spelling mistake, often many more, and many adults struggle with spelling all their lives. News Review investigates.
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Is Macmillan's New Writing scheme ’the Ryanair of publishing; it’s like having to pay for your own uniforms.’ (Natasha Fairweather) or a sensible way for authors to get their work into print? News Review investigates.
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Google Print is under attack by British publishers and the Society of Authors. Is it really a threat to author and publishers? News Review looks at the debate.
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News Review looks at the Bologna Book Fair, concluding that: ' In this ever more global market British writers do spectacularly well, as children’s books from the UK are reckoned by many international observers to be the most innovative and best.'
Comment
- 'Libraries' biggest problem is the neglect of their core area: books. The public library service now holds fewer than two copies for every UK resident, and spends just 9p in the pound on books.' Bookseller editorial
- The common wisdom is that readers don't have the patience they once did. But underestimating the reading public is a very big mistake.' Dean Koontz, who sells about 17 million copies of his books and gets over 30,000 fan letters a year, in the Wall Street Journal
- 'I wanted to remind people of all ages of the power of stories, the joy of simply listening and reading, to do what I could to bring literature back to the heart of literacy.' Michael Morpurgo on his stint as children's Laureate
- 'English in all its thrilling, international forms, from romance to rap, is finding more colour and expression than at any time since Spenser, Marlowe and Jonson.' Robert McCrum in the Observer
Writers' Quotes
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'No publisher should ever express an opinion of the value of what he publishes. That is a matter entirely for the literary critic to decide.'
Oscar Wilde
Writing Handbooks
Writing Biography and Autobiography by Brian D Osborne
The second of three excerpts from this title from the A & C Black Writing Handbooks series looks at choosing a subject for your biography:
'Subjects come to the notice of the biographer in a variety of ways, and the more you write in the biographical field the more potential subjects will attract your attention.'
Review of Writers' News magazine
The third in our series of magazine reviews.
Our reviewer 's view was that: 'Writers’ News two-in-one package also represents excellent value and is recommended for writers who want to keep in touch, find out about markets and improve their writing.'
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Our Editorial Services for writers
Check out the 13 different editorial services we offer, from Reports to Copy editing, Typing to Contract vetting.
New Writing 14
This gives writers the chance to submit unpublished work for the British Council's new anthology.
We Watch the web for writers
Synopsis-writing service
Are you struggling to get your submission package right? Our new service is introduced by public demand. Now you can commission our editor to produce a synopsis for your manuscript which will enable you to make a professional submission of your project to an agent or publisher.
Bob's Journal goes into its 4th volume
Bob is stuck on his episode of EasterEnders and longingly considers the quieter life the writers have on Footballers' Wives.
'For some reason finding this one a real struggle, though can’t quite put my finger on the reason why...'
Results of our survey on getting a publishing deal
Our fascinating new survey looks at your experiences with trying to get a publishing deal. The conclusions are:
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Write what people want
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Try up to 10 publishers or agents
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Don't ignore self-publishing
Other surveys and results - see below.
Web traffic
Have you ever wondered about the difference between 'hits' and 'visitors'? Chas Jones's new article on web metrics - measuring web traffic - explains what it's all about.
Inside Publishing series
Inside Publishing turns its attention to what has long been regarded as the Cinderella of the publishing world. Children’s publishing has enjoyed a remarkable rate of growth and is now seen by many as one of the most exciting areas to work in.
John Jenkins: 'What would it take for you to give up a good day job and trust your future and income to life as a full-time author? The answer is easy if you have been given a substantial three-book deal from a major publishing house, but supposing you had one or two inquiries, a bit of lecturing and a little guaranteed but not long-term freelance work?'
The Editor's View, written by the Editor of
Writers' Forum magazine.WritersPrintShop
Our design, print and distribution service for self-publishers. The latest addition to the service is our WritersPrintShop online bookshop, which will sell your book for you on the Internet as soon as it's published.
WritersServices.com Magazine May
2005
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