September 2005
The website for writers
News Review
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The Authors Guild of America, with four authors, has taken the extraordinary step of filing a class action suit against Google over its unauthorised scanning and copying of books through its Google Library programme. News Review has the story.
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46,000 unpublished writers entered Richard and Judy's How To Get Published competition - but seven authors 'won' a contract. News Review reports.
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'Enter the big bad wolf, in the form of major competitor Waterstone’s, with an offer of 440p ($8.09), pitched 40p ($.735) higher than the MBO offer.' News Review looks at the battle for Ottakar's.
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Worldwide publishing deals have been achieved for an author who is still only sixteen and for a redundant globe-trotting graphic designer. News Review looks at the latest breakthroughs on the children's front.
Comment
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'We need to broaden, not narrow, the gates through which new books, new authors and new ideas must pass before readers can find them.' Anthony Cheetham in the Bookselller on why we need an independent Ottakar's
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'Though twice as many women as men are writing, they are 50 per cent less likely to send off their manuscripts to publishers or agents, or to apply for writing grants.' Debbie Taylor, Editor, in Mslexia
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'With perseverance, you can do anything you want. Just don't give up - you've got to stick with it. When I started writing I sold my first book very quickly. But after that, no one bought my next five books...' Danielle Steel
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'We who earn our living by the pen hold the poets in especial awe. We know that in a hundred years’ time, when students of literature are saying "Eh? Martin Who? A N Who? Salman What Did You Say?, they will be reading Geoffrey Hill.' A N Wilson
Writers' Quote
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‘Show me a man or woman who cannot stand mysteries and I will show you a fool, a clever fool – perhaps – but a fool just the same.’
Raymond Chandler
Review of Mslexia magazine
The fourth in our series of magazine reviews.
This month the focus is on Mslexia magazine:
'for women writers who take their writing quite seriously and are aiming at the more literary end of the spectrum but who want good practical advice, offered in an accessible and friendly way, Mslexia is perfect. '
For reviews of Writers' Forum, Writer's Digest and Writers' News, see our writers' magazine review section.
Writing Handbooks
Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
The third excerpt from this title from the A & C Black Writing Handbooks series looks at creating your lead and creating a character fact list:
'Your lead is your novel’s most important character, the hero or heroine of your story. Every novel needs a lead; a novel without a lead is like a movie without a star.'
New Coaching Service
Julia McCutchen, author of The Writer's Journey: From Inspiration to Publication joins WritersServices this week with the launch of our new Coaching service. This new service offers you the opportunity to develop your writing with the benefit of individual feedback, personal guidance and practical advice.
How coaching can help writers
If you're wondering what exactly coaching is, Julia article shows you how individual coaching can help a writer by giving the opportunity to work with a publishing professional who has inside knowledge of what publishers and agents are looking for.
Julia believes that given the right circumstances, we can all access our true writer’s voice and have a deeply rewarding experience of writing.
The Writer's Journey: From Inspiration to Publication
Buy Julia's book online through WritersServices. For more details.
What is open access?
'Open Access is not a business model. It is an expression of the
rights of everybody to have access to these resources... If users
decide that the work available in open access is not up to standard this
model will struggle to grow.'
Chas Jones looks at how the open access model really works.
We Watch the web for writers
Our Editorial Services for writers
Check out the 15 different editorial services we offer, from Reports to Copy editing, Typing to Contract vetting. Our latest new service is Coaching (see this page).
Bob's Journal goes into its 4th volume
Bob, just back from a belated honeymoon in South Africa, waits impatiently for the next commission for EastEnders, gets irritated by prissy writing and gets back to basics:
'What pleasure is there in writing that can match the pleasure of eating a sweetcorn one has grown oneself?'
The agents' listings from the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2006 go up on the site this week. There's the usual fully updated list of UK agents and also a new list of international agents, which range from Australia to Russia, from Germany to South Africa, and naturally includes a large section on American agents.
Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2006
The new edition has the latest listings of publishers around the world and 57 articles about getting published, making it 'a must for established and aspiring writers'. (Society of Authors)
The problems and possibilities of print on demand
Chas Jones looks at how POD is gradually gaining ground and explains why it is so attractive:
'Corporations, driven by the demands of the balance sheet, have recognised that printing small quantities of a title can make financial sense. '
Selling books beyond the traditional bookstore
Chas Jones investigates how self-publishers can extend the market for their books: 'pursuing some of these avenues brings you much closer to your readers and should allow you to learn a lot more about your market'
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John Jenkins looks at Le Figaro's submission of Madam Bovary to 5 vanity publishers, not one of whom recognised it; the effect of Harry Potter on bookselling; the growth of desktop publishing; and the fact that reading makes more difference than anything to educational attainment:
'Surveys so far in Britain indicate that reading has a far greater bearing on academic success than economic and social factors.'
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.
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2005
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