What's new 2002

Writers' magazine

The website for writers

Log of the weekly changes on the site on 2002

This week's changes 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

30 December 2002

	We wish all our visitors a happy New Year.
	During 2003 we shall be running excerpts from Carole Blake's From Pitch to Publication, a guide to writing fiction and getting published. In our January extract, see what Carole has to say about the all-important question what are agents looking for?
	Bob's Journal offers some sobering thoughts on the world we live in: 'Let there be light. Arguably the most inspiring words ever written. The desire for order over chaos, for knowledge over ignorance, for peace instead of war, for love instead of hate...'
	News Review reports on agents' anxiety about authors' royalty income being hit by high discounts. But what is a ‘normal’ discount when all business is being done at a high discount?
	In our Comment column, 'Literature's first commandment is: Be Original.' says Robert McCrum his World of Books column in the London Observer.
	This week's new Web How-to looks at the fascinating question of bandwidth - what is it and how does it affect you?
	*'What is there to say,* finally, except that pain is bad and pleasure good, life all, death nothing.'** Gore Vidal In our Writers' Quotations.
	The January magazine is ready!

23 December 2002

	Our very first competition is run in association with mousebean.com. Answer the 3 questions on health hazards and the computer correctly and you go into the draw for a MouseBean® Hand Rest.
	The ninth article in our insider's guide to publishing looks at pricing and how it works. Inside Publishing gives you the lowdown on a wide range of subjects from advances and royalties to subsidiary rights.
	News Review reports that a frisson of anxiety is affecting big American publishers as they contemplate the sales patterns of their ‘bankers’, but there are still plenty of first novels being published, including Alice Sebold's spectacular breakthrough, The Lovely Bones with 1.9 million sales.
	We couldn't resist the winners of this year's Ig Nobel prizes. For Economics: Various companies, including Enron, Arthur Andersen and Worldcom, for Adapting the Mathematical Concept of Imaginary Numbers for Use in the Business World.
	In our Comment column, American agent Richard Pine on his involvement as assistant producer on his client's movie: 'There is a wall, with authors and agents on one side and screenwriters and directors on the other.'
	'An author who speaks about his own books is almost as bad as a mother who talks about her own children.' was Benjamin Disraeli's view from a less publicity-hungry age. In our Writers' Quotations.
	Season's greetings to all our visitors!

16 December 2002

	We're delighted to announce a relaunch of our WritersPrintShop, with a simplified, streamlined process and lower prices. Now our unique design, production and distribution service is ready to support self-publishers and anyone who wants to get their book printed using the latest inexpensive Print on Demand technology.
	This week - Bob meets a 'real' writer, which makes him realise that 'authors are indistinguishable from the mass, no matter how brilliant or deserving of fame... pale, shambling figures picking through the dustbins of everyone's lives for the odd crumb of an idea.' Read his Journal of a Virtually Unpublished Writer
	News Review looks at how the recent launch of the TabletPC has given publishers the hope of a real breakthrough for e-books.
	Our favourite book of witty turn-downs, Rotten Rejections, has just been reissued. On Crash by J G Ballard the publisher commented rudely: ‘The author of this book is beyond psychiatric help.'
	In our Comment column, Anne Lamott on publication: 'People who want to get published think that publication will give them self-esteem, and peace of mind, make them feel whole and redeemed.'
	This week's new Web How-to answers the question 'What is the web?' And 'Is the web the same as the Internet?'
	From the perspective of a first-time writer Sophie Dahl says: 'Writing is very different to having your photo taken. You are exposing yourself more, not physically but emotionally.' In our Writers' Quotations.

9 December 2002

	This month's book review is for The Joy of Writing Sex. Our reviewer said: 'This is not a how-to-write guide in the classic sense...her book should be required reading for anyone who professes an interest in fiction.'
	This week we have completed an overhaul of our Web How-to pages, which now offer a huge range of topics from the basics to the technology behind it all and a section on web issues.
	The winner of the Bookseller's Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year is announced! Join in the fun and enjoy the hilarious shortlist and the longlist too.
	News Review looks at inflation in book prices and how book purchasing may be affected by any downturn in consumer spending.
	In our Comment column - Carole Blake on the career of the older writer: 'people know more when they’re mature. Writing is an intellectual activity keeps the brain going and you don’t have to be particularly active to do it.’
	This week's new Web How-to deals with the tricky subject of handling copy editing changes made on screen to your book file.
	'Three hours a day will produce as much as a man ought to write' was Anthony Trollope's view of a writer's life in a more leisured era in our Writers' Quotations.
	Last chance to take advantage of our associate Amazon's Christmas offer of free shipping on orders over £39 by ordering for delivery by 12 December. See WritersBookstall.

2 December 2002

	Our new Writers' Software section provides a round-up of software which is useful for writers, including helping with the plotting, specialist tools, business and freebies.
	This includes our first software review for the newnovelist writing software: 'after describing the characters, the places and setting you have a wonderfully clear and detailed outline'.
	There's also a new section of Scriptwriting Software offering many links.
	In Bob Ritchie's latest extract from the Journal of a Virtually Unpublished Writer, he ruminates on the success of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and how scriptwriters are forgotten - 'Good script? Yeah, well, I guess that helped.'
	This week News Review looks at the controversies surrounding the National Books Awards and the Best Of Young British Writers.
	In our Comment column we look at the effect of offering big discounts on books. 'The trouble with discounting, as I have said before, is that it lowers the price and cheapens the product.' David Blow
	If you're new to email, this week's new Web How-to pages continue to cover the basics. This week it's How to find an email address.
	'Technique alone is never enough. You have to have passion.' argues Raymond Chandler in our Writers' Quotations.
	Take advantage of our associate Amazon's offer of free shipping on orders over £39 by ordering for Christmas now. See WritersBookstall.

25 November 2002

	Our 8th article from the Inside Publishing series deals with the production department, the workhorses of the publishing business who spend the real money.
	We've undertaken a major review of our Links pages, adding nearly 40 new links to interesting and useful sites.
	This week News Review looks at copyright in the Internet era. If books were freely downloadable, would readers donate a royalty to the author?
	Take advantage of our associate Amazon's offer of free shipping on orders over £39 by ordering for Christmas now. See WritersBookstall.
	In our Comment column celebrated American writer Jonathan Frantzen on writing: 'I feel caught between narratives everywhere I turn.'
	If you're new to email, this week's new Web How-to pages continue to cover the basics. This week it's How to guess an email address and How to keep in contact when you are mobile.
	'To create the literature of fact, we have to work like novelists in many ways. We select. We imagine.' Historian Timothy Garton Ash on writing non-fiction in our Writers' Quotations.

18 November 2002

	Bob's Journal continues his adventures as a rookie scriptwriter: 'must learn - as the professionals apparently say - to let my babies go.'
	The shortlist for the Bookseller's Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year is full of vintage oddities, from After the Orgy: Towards a Politics of Exhaustion to Women and Integrated Part Management.
	newnovelist, the software package which helps you tackle your novel, is reviewed this week: 'after describing the characters, the places and setting you have a wonderfully clear and detailed outline'.
	News Review looks conflicting reports of how fast the British book market is growing and provides some fascinating information on book-buying behaviour.
	If you're new to email, this week's new Web How-to pages start with the basics. This week it's How to organise your emails and How to translate.
	In our Comment column British writer Chaz Brenchley has the antidote to conformity: 'Every writer is unique, or ought to be, and so your problems are unique.'
	New - our recommendations for good scriptwriting software you can check out on the web.
	'The writer's intention hasn't anything to do with what he achieves. The intent to earn money or the intent to be famous or the intent to be great doesn't matter in the end. Just what comes out.' Lilian Hellman in our Writers' Quotations.

11 November 2002

	This week we've launched our new Media Centre, which provides stories and information about WritersServices.
	This month's review covers Solutions for Writers by Sol Stein. Our reviewer says: '*his book is not about theory but about solutions, about fixing flawed writing, improving good writing, and about creating interesting* writing.'**
	News Review looks at the rash of celebrity memoirs and contrasts them with Nelson Mandela's autobiography, which has now sold 1.5 million copies in its UK edition.
	If you're new to email, our new Web How-to pages start with the basics. This week it's How to backup your files. and How to set up an email signature.
	Bestselling crime writer Peter Robinson on the writer's apprenticeship: ' a person might write three or four unpublishable novels before they write one that’s anywhere near decent.' In our Comment column.
	New - our recommendations for good scriptwriting software you can check out on the web.
	'Writing is the only profession where no-one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money' (Jules Renard) in our Writers' Quotations.

4 November 2002

	Bob ruminates on Gore Vidal's theories on Bush and Saddam Hussein, and the sudden death of Trevor in TV soap Eastenders: 'No such thing as background information in EastEnders - everything is there for a reason.'
	If you're new to email our new Web How-to pages start with the basics - How to attach a file to an email and Looking after your address book.
	News Review reports on some bestselling authors' use of other writers to maintain their output. ‘If you’re stuck thinking of authors as ‘writers’, you’re never going to (understand branding),’ is the view of agent Robert Gottlieb.
	Our Showcase is beginning to fill up - take a look for yourself.
	Pop star Moby on why he has started a book club of sorts on his current tour: 'Because one can only snort so many ants and have so much sex before one starts to long for the comfort and companionship of a book.’ In our Comment column.
	If you're been having problems working out how to send material to us, check out our new email submission page.
	'Inspiration is the act of drawing up a chair to the writing desk' (Anon) in our Writers' Quotations.

28 October 2002

	Our latest Inside Publishing article looks at the sales department and how it works. This one's essential reading for any writer...
	News Review reports on the controversies surrounding the 2002 Man Booker Prize . Chair of the judges Lisa Jardine says: ‘We’ve chosen an audacious book in which inventiveness explores belief.’
	Michael Hoeye, author of the highly original self-published children's book Time Stops for No Mouse on how he chose the name Hermux Tantamoq and the importance of telling emotional truth: '*Hermux is a real imaginary* mouse'.** In our Comment column.
	You can still catch up with The Closed Book. In an article extracted from The Writer's Handbook 2003 the editor, Barry Turner, looks at the tantalising question of why so many books are bought but not read.
	'I can make it longer if you like the style/I can it change round/and I want to be a paperback writer' John Lennon & Paul McCartney's classic words are in our Writers' Quotations.
	Last week's new service is already in demand! Our Submission Critique Service will look at your synopsis and sample chapters and help you to get the package into good shape for submission.

21 October 2002

	The Closed Book. In an article extracted from The Writer's Handbook 2003 the editor, Barry Turner, looks at the fascinating question of why so many books are bought but not read.
	This week we're launching a new service by popular demand. Our Submission Critique Service will look at your synopsis and sample chapters and help you to get the package into good shape for submission.
	We've just updated our WritersBookstall, adding 40 new titles to the selection of books for writers.
	News Review reports on Toby Mundy's stimulating article on the history and future of publishing, which concludes: 'Publishers can rejoice in unprecedented levels of both quality and quantity. We are living in a golden age of the book.’
	Bob starts the first week of the Eastenders shadow scheme. But it's not all plan sailing: 'Getting quite carried away by my own brilliance when brought up short by producer...' In his Journal.
	Donna Tartt, whose new bestseller The Little Friend is just published, says that: 'The first duty of the novelist is to entertain.' In our Comment column.
	Our first Writers' Showcase contributors' material can be inspected this week. But remember that we're still offering free space to the first 50 writers who apply!
	Jorge Luis Borges on writing: 'A writer needs loneliness, and he gets his share of it. He needs love, and he gets shared and also unshared love. He needs friendship. In fact, he needs the universe. To be a writer is, in a sense, to be a day-dreamer - to be living a kind of double life.' In our Writers' Quotations.

14 October 2002

	Do you want to get an agent to represent you? Our new Ten Tips for Finding an Agent shows you how to go about it.
	The Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year in the Bookseller has long been an authentically wacky business. Check out the longlist and choose between Wigglers, Undulators and Their Applications, Red-haired Irishwomen on the Bog and other delights.
	News Review. reports on a better-than-expected Frankfurt Book Fair and confirmation of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann' s wartime links with the Nazis.
	Steven Saylor, author of a successful Roman crime series, gives his advice to first-time novelists: 'write the book you most long to read.' In our Comment column.
	'Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamp-post how it feels about dogs' says British writer Christopher Hampton.

7 October 2002

	Bob has finally broken through! Read his account of joining the shadow scheme for Eastenders scriptwriters in his Journal of a Virtually Unpublished Writer.
	Our latest Inside Publishing deals with this week's Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest annual get-together of the publishing year.
	The publication of Edwina Currie's Diaries has caused a sensation and in the UK they are 'the publishing event of the year'. How did Timer Warner keep them under wraps? Does their revelation of Currie's affair with John Major matter? In News Review.
	'Any scholar who writes for a wider audience, who breaks new ground and crosses academic boundaries, must expect some criticism, perhaps some envy too.' is historian Orlando Figes's temperate response to the ferocious review of his new book Natasha's Dance in The Times Literary Supplement. In our Comment column.
	Our new price conversion chart provides rough at-a-glance prices for our services in dollars and euros.
	British novelist A L Kennedy says: 'What I would say to a young person trying to become a writer is 'Don't. It won't make any difference because they'll do it anyway, but they really shouldn't.' In our Writers' Quotations.
	The October Magazine has arrived.

30 September 2002

	We've added a new listing from The Writer's Handbook this week, Bursaries, Fellowships and Grants. Check out the 45 entries to see if you qualify for any money that's going spare.for writers. The poet Anne Stevenson got £60,000 from Northern Rock Foundation and there are quite substantial sums on offer for poets under 30 and for Scottish writers.
	The Booker prize judges have just announced ‘the beginning of a new era’, but is it really just the same old books on the shortlist? And Dave Eggers has caused a furore by self-publishing his new book in the States and selling it only through independent bookshops. In News Review.
	Two new manuals for our WritersPrintShop and our Services have been set up for easy download from the site.
	'The book was powered by rage.' says Michel Faber about his highly acclaimed first novel The Crimson Petal and the White. In our Comment column.
	We've added a new page on Your Own Privacy Policy to help you keep your secret files a continuing secret.
	'When you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research.' is American playwright Wilson Mizner's sage comment on 'borrowing' material. In our Writers' Quotations.

23 September 2002

	Bob's latest extract from his Journal moves him from the long shortlist to the short shortlist for EastEnders. Is he breaking through at last?
	Amazon have just announced their new Marketplace, which gives access to the 40 million second-hand books available through Abebooks' international network. But will authors lose out on royalties? News Review.
	We've added a new page on Looking after your Files to help you break your manuscript down into manageable chunks.
	In our Comment column Peter Ackroyd says says he tries not to be too affected by the critics but adds encouragingly that: 'I’m at my most content when writing'.
	Quentin Crisp maintained that there were three reasons for becoming a writer. See our Writers' Quotations.

16 September 2002

	Our listings from The Writer's Handbook now include the fully updated 2003 US agents' lists from the new edition of the book - with an additional 38 agencies listed.
	This week we look at the furore surrounding publication of Martin Amis's latest book. Amongst the brickbats: ‘This is a chilling book, because apparently without knowing it, Amis has revealed his own deformed personality. ' News Review.
	Our latest addition to the Health Hazards series looks at the effect on your eyes of long hours spent at the computer and how to prevent eye-strain.
	In our Comment column we have views on the continuing strong demand for regional sagas amongst British women readers.
	Do you agree with Ezra Pound that: 'Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree'? See our Writers' Quotations.

9 September 2002

	The fifth article in our Inside Publishing series answers the question: what does the marketing department do?
	This week brings the news that Bertelsmann will 'phase out' its online bookseller, BOL. Amazon has triumphed, but what does it mean for the world of books? News Review.
	In the latest excerpt from The Journal of a Virtually Unpublished Writer, Bob looks at successful crime writers' work and concludes: 'Some have plots more difficult to understand than quantum theory, others so simple even the police could have found the solution by page 10.'
	In the continuing debate about 'writers for hire', do you agree with the writers' pragmatic view or with Fay Weldon, who says: 'All writers have to earn a living but if the book is part of a drive to socially engineer that is not right.' In our Comment column.
	We quote John Steinbeck on completing a novel: 'To finish is a sadness to a writer - a little death. He puts the last word down and it is done. But it isn't really done. The story goes on and leaves the writer behind, for no story is ever done.' See our Writers' Quotations.
	And if you're a student or writing course organiser, don't forget to visit our new Education Resource Centre, which provides 40 free pages of downloadable information. Help yourself!

2 September 2002

	Our latest addition to the site is our Education Resource Centre, which provides 40 free pages of downloadable information for writing course organisers and students. Help yourself!
	This month's Review deals with Betsy Lerner's The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers.
	This week we look at the idea of 'writers for hire'. What's your view? Do you agree with J G Ballard that 'It's all part of the corruption of the mental environment we inhabit’? News Review.
	Children's writer Jacqueline Wilson says: 'It was always children’s books I wanted to write.' In our Comment column.
	We've added a new page, Preparing for Criticism, for writers who are sending their work to us. We know it's tough to accept professional criticism. This page puts the editor's view in context.
	'Many (modern novels) have a beginning, a muddle and an end' was Philip Larkin's sardonic comment on contemporary fiction writing. Find this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes column.
	The September magazine is ready with its usual mix.

26 August 2002

	In our latest extract from the Journal of a Virtually Unpublished Writer, Bob quotes from a review suggesting that 'Amis shouldn't write about things of which he has no direct experience' and muses on the effect this prohibition would have on writers.
	Check out the updated literary agent listings from the 2003 edition of The Writers' Handbook.
	We examine the outlook for consumer book sales from the differing perspectives of the US and the UK. News Review.
	‘Writers are often envious, mean-minded, filled with rage and envy' is Booker-prize winning Peter Carey's damning view of his fellow-writers. In our Comment column.
	'Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.' was Ralph Waldo Emerson's view of what makes a writer. Find this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes column.

12 August 2002

	The new listings from the 2003 edition of The Writers' Handbook are published.
	Misery sells books - Official! News Review.
	"The literary agent used to be literature's first line of defence. That line has been broken. The future could be grim." Danuta Kean, writing in the Daily Mail. In our Comment column.
	'There is no happiness in love except at the end of an English novel' was Anthony Trollope's view of love and English novels. Find this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes column.
	Spying on us, or some quirky behaviour of search engines. And you have changed your surfing habits.

5 August 2002

	'Any comments at all that can be used to make your novel better are like gold dust.' Don't miss out on top agent Carole Blake's sensible advice on dealing with rejection in our latest extract from From Pitch to Publication.
	Find out how bestselling authors 'delegate' the writing in our News Review.
	Our latest Inside Publishing column deals with the English language publishing market, a subject which writers often find rather confusing.
	Our new WritersBookstall is now available, with over 100 books for writers, listed by category. Many have reviews attached and they can be delivered anywhere in the world via Amazon.
	'I find it demanding, often boring, extremely stressful and often agonising. It dominates my life well beyond the confines of that office.’ is Tim Lott's rather jaundiced view of writing. Do you agree with him? In our Comment column.
	Our latest Health Hazards article deals with screens and how to position them correctly.
	'There is no happiness in love except at the end of an English novel' was Anthony Trollope's view of love and English novels. Find this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes column.
	Free pages are still on offer for the first 50 writers to apply to our new WritersShowcase.
	Our August magazine is now ready with its usual mix.

29 July 2002

	Bob Ritchie's Journal reports from the front line, meeting American TV script-writers at a Writers' Guild meeting. 'Audience evenly divided between those who think writing TV drama series is beneath them and those who would like to earn the kind of money US TV writers earn.'
	Successful self-publishing helps you get your work taken on by major publishers, according to author Brandon Massey, who says: ‘Self-publishing has become one of the quickest ways to land a book deal. ' See News pages.
	Our new WritersBookstall is now installed, with a wide selection of books for writers, listed by category. Many have reviews attached and they can be delivered anywhere in the world via Amazon.
	Walter Mosley says: ' We're not building up the intellectual or economic infrastructure of the black community' which will support black writing even when it goes out of fashion. In our Comment column.
	We've added a new page to our WritersPrintShop this week, which shows you how to put together your own 'prelim pages' (preliminary pages), if you're going down the self-publishing route.
	Enjoy a champion piece of bad writing, which won this year's Bulwer-Lytton Prize. In our News Review.
	'Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good' was Samuel Johnson's witty but rather unkind comment on a fellow-writer's work. Find this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes column.
	Free pages are still on offer for the first 50 writers to apply to our new WritersShowcase.

22 July 2002

	This week we'll be launching our WritersBookstall, with a wide selection of books for writers, listed by category so you can find just the book you need to help bring your writing up to scratch or find a publisher. Many have reviews attached and they can be delivered anywhere in the world via Amazon.
	We're still offering free pages to the first 50 writers to apply to our new WritersShowcase. Look at a sample entry to find out how much you can put on your pages.
	Our latest review focuses on the bestselling Creative Writing Coursebook, which our reviewer Maureen Kincaid Speller calls 'probably the best book on the business of writing that I’ve ever read.'
	It's taken Donna Tartt 10 years to produce her follow-up to The Secret History. ‘You can try to commodify writing, you can try to regulate it and make people turn it out, but in the end it is a process that is kind of organic,' she says. In our Comment column.
	Our latest Health Hazards deals with computer chairs. It's scary to discover just how bad the wrong one can be.
	There's been rapid growth in the number of US colleges offering creative writing courses. But do they work? One student says they do: 'I’ve had my writing improve by leaps and bounds.' See News pages.
	Aldous Huxley's view was that: 'The proper study of mankind is books.' Find this quote and many other writers' thoughts in our Quotes column.
	Don't forget to visit our new WritersForum and have you say in our Discussion Forum.

15 July 2002

	We're still working to refine the two major new extensions to the site we launched last week. The first 50 writers to apply to our new WritersShowcase get free pages! See for yourself what you can submit - it's up to 10,000 words. Find out why you should use the web.
	Check into our new Discussion Forum to reach other writers and post your notices in What's On.
	Terry Pratchett, who has just won the Carnegie Medal, has made some illuminating comments on fairy tales, Harry Potter and genre writing; 'There are only two crimes: saying that you personally own the pot or denying that the pot exists.’ See what else he has to say in our Comment column.
	We have a new page of international Poetry Links as part of a further updating of our Links pages.
	The long shadow of the dotcom boom sees AOL Time Warner in stormy seas, but do e-books have a future? See News pages.
	The UK's biggest vanity publisher, Minerva Press, has gone into liquidation. If you want to have a look at self-publishing, the alternative to vanity publishing, check out our self-publishing section, WritersPrintShop. You'll find general guidelines and advice on publishing your own book, as well as an outline of our design and production service.
	'It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing. But I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous.' was Robert Benchley's cynical comment on his writing. Find it in our Quotes column.

8 July 2002

	Two major new extensions to the site are launched today. Our WritersShowcase will provide a place for writers to have their own web pages to showcase their work. A biography, synopsis and up to 10,000 words can go on your pages. See for yourself what you can submit for the Showcase. And the first 50 writers to apply get free pages!
	We're into overdrive - WritersForum is also launched today! Now you can communicate with other writers in our new Discussion Forum and post your notices for other writers in What's On.
	'When you get older you get more doubtful about what you can do' is Beryl Bainbridge's view about her own changing attitudes to writing. Read what else she has to say in our Comment column.
	Our new Health Hazards column is now up to the fourth article, on keyboards and wrist-rests, as part of its advice on how to set up the right working environment.
	Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez‘s Hispanic women's novel Dirty Girls Social Club shows that you can write a novel in 6 days and cause a publishing sensation. See News pages.
	If you've only recently discovered WritersServices, you might like to look at our new summary of what the site provides, Help for Writers and Published Authors.
	'The most original authors are not so because they advance what is new, but because they put what they have to say as if it had never been said before.' was Goethe's sage advice. Find it in our Quotes column.

1 July 2002

	Carole Blake's latest extract from From Pitch to Publication tells you why you should accept - and welcome - editorial criticism.
	Our new Health Hazards column advises on how to set up the right working environment to prevent Repetitive Strain Injury and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
	There's a fantastic boom in independent publishing in the US. It's good news for writers who are frustrated by big publishers. See News pages.
	Bob Ritchie interviews the director of BBC New Writing, who says: 'We guarantee to read at least the first ten pages.' Find out what else she has to say in the latest entry from his Journal of a Virtually Unpublished Writer.
	'I get a lot of letters from people. They say "I want to be a writer. What should I do?" Check out the brilliantly simple advice from Ruth Rendell in our Quotes column.
	'Books are not just another consumer product ... they are the bloodstream for the life of the mind' claim those protesting against Borders' latest bookselling innovation. In our Comment column.

24 June 2002

	Our new Inside Publishing column deals with an apparently obscure but important part of publishing - Subsidiary Rights. You can still read up on Advances and Royalties and The Relationship between Publishers and Agents.
	Canadian book prices affect the number of new books. Do Americans Read the Books they Buy? See News pages
	'I write for the same reason I breathe - because if I didn't, I would die.' is what the late Isaac Asimov had to say about his career as a writer. Find it in our Quotes column.
	Our new WritersPrintshop guides you through the whole self-publishing process. Read up on Print on Demand, the new frontier of book printing.
	' I felt like this ridiculous rich kid sitting down to write a novel, like, who the hell did I think I was, this stupid cliché,' is how Nick McDonell describes writing his much-heralded debut at the age of eighteen. In our Comment column.

17 June 2002

	Bob ruminates on how a youth spent in a sickbed can kickstart a writing career in his Journal of a Virtually Unpublished Writer
	InsideSessions runs into trouble, as Penguin Putnam's editors are overwhelmed by the flow of manuscripts. See News pages
	'Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things or imaginary things, and nothing else' is C S Lewis's advice to writers.
	Our new WritersPrintshop includes ten 'letters' to a writer to help you work out if you really want to be a Self-publisher.
	'It’s like being ‘hit on the back of the head by a blunt object' was Ann Patchett's reaction to her novel Bel Canto winning the Orange Prize for Fiction. In our Comment column.
	There's a free poster to print out which offers a light-hearted trip through the corporate hierarchy in The Plan

10 June 2002

	WritersPrintShop is launched today! Now you can take control and use our expert design and Print on Demand production service to self-publish or privately publish your book. Our new WritersPrintShop section tells you how in 42 pages, which deal with everything from the advantages of Print on Demand to the difference between Self-publishing, Vanity Publishing and Private Publishing.
	A Yankee takeover? The whisper that the Booker Prize for Fiction might be opened up to American writers has caused a literary furore in Britain. News pages
	Our Review of the new edition of The Oxford Guide to Style
	We've added some useful Script-writing software pointers to our Links pages.
	'There's more of yourself in a book than a play. That's why we know all about Dickens and not much about Shakespeare. Ben Jonson murdered people; Marlowe was a spy; Shakespeare just sat in the corner and took notes.' Sir John Mortimer's thoughts on writing in our Quotes page.
	The minute a film is made, a book dwindles away and becomes nothing. I want it to be a book that people can make the movie in their heads.' William Nicholson, on why he had turned down a $1 million film deal for his books. In our Comment column.

1 June 2002

	We now spend only 11 minutes a day reading fiction, as books are squeezed out of our lives. News pages
	Does your elbow hurt? Read the first article in our new Health Hazards series to check out the symptoms of Repetitive Strain Injury.
	Carole Blake's latest extract from her book From Pitch to Publication tells you how to get editorial criticism.
	Bob's latest extract from his Journal dwells on the importance of writing about something you feel passionate about.
	The June magazine is ready with a mix of new material.

27 May 2002

	Stephen Hawking fights book publication of early work covered only by an audio contract. News pages
	Our new Glossary of Printing and Publishing terms provides an essential reference
	'We have changed our reading and book-buying habits' says A N Wilson, talking about library use in our Comment column.
	Our second article in the Inside Publishing series deals with the relationship between publishers and agents.
	'I know that I'm a real writer because sometimes I write a story just because I want to' says Fay Weldon.
	We now have a news page in blogger.com. Click to find out more. It's powered by Blogger

20 May 2002

	Gone with the Wind copyright battle ends with a whimper. News pages
	Bob gets a commission to write a brief history of classic detective fiction in his Journal of a Virtually Unpublished Writer
	Once publishers were famous for doing lunch; now they feed on one another' Terence Blacker's trenchant comment on Hodder Headline's acquisition of Byron's publisher, John Murray Ltd
	With 135,000 new books published last year, can the prospects for the American book business really be as bad as some commentators think? More in News Review.
	'The purpose of writing is to make your mother and father drop dead with shame' J P Donleavy's sardonic comment on the writing life.

13 May 2002

	Book sales up in UK but predicted down in the US. News pages
	Our new Submissions page provides guidelines to help get published.
	Christina Patterson of the Poetry Society has a memorable description of poetry 'like whispering to