Whats new 06

Writers' magazine

The website for writers

Log of the weekly changes on the site on 2006

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

Some of the links are broken when items are archived - Please check the page address (url) and it should be fairly easy to find the original page or section. The site search facility on each page is also a great way to trace articles.

18 December 2006

	Free 20 minute telephone coaching session with Julia McCutchen if you register for any of the individual Coaching service packages by Friday 9 February 2007, as we relaunch our Coaching service.
	'The competition amongst publishers for these big celebrity memoirs is ferocious, meaning that they carry a high price tag.' News Review investigates the celebrity book market.
	'I like reading thrillers and I don't know why the literary world is sometimes snobbish about them. Vikram Chandra, author of Sacred Games in the Bookseller, quoted in our Comment column.
	Our latest Writer's Opportunity is the Beowulf Poetry Prize with a £10,000 first prize, open to poets writing in English wherever they live.
	Working on your manuscript over the holidays? Our Help for Writers gives you access to the mass of helpful information of the site.
	Aldous Huxley in our Writers' Quotes: 'That was the chief difference between literature and life. In books, the proportion of exceptional to commonplace people is high; in reality, very low.'

11 December 2006

Bob's on broadband at last and making progress on his thriller too: 'Having good week on TV thriller. Writing four or five pages a day on average... have finally trained myself not to go back over scenes already written, but just to keep going doggedly on.' In his Journal.

How does email get from one place to the other? Are you baffled by email error codes and wondering what SMTP actually stands for? Our latest Writers Web Watch article will fill you in.

The Guardian First Book Award boosts short stories with Chinese writer Yiyun Li’s collection A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. News Review reports.

We'll be supporting Oxfam's bookshops as a Christmas charity this year.

'But please, if you're reading a book that's killing you, put it down and read something else, just as you would reach for the remote if you weren't enjoying a television programme. Nick Hornby in the Sunday Telegraph, quoted in our Comment column.

Are you planning to work on your book over the holiday? Our article on The web as a research tool can help. Family Research provides useful links for UK researchers and Advanced searching offers high-level tips.

'A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.' Virginia Woolf, in our Writers Quotes.

4 December

The changing face of publishing - the 4th in Tom Chalmers' series about what a publisher is looking for: 'Writers shouldn’t be deluded into thinking they can just write a good thriller, send it around and they will get an offer to get it published over lunch with an editor.'

A warning about 'participatory media', the short story and freedom of speech from John Jenkins of Writers' Forum: 'These organizations are intent on filling their online sites and hard copy publications on the cheap.'

'Academic publishing may not look particularly sexy, but in a richer, better-educated world it is no bad place to be.' Bookseller editorial, quoted in our Comment column.

'His Alfie’s Adventures series, which follow the time-travelling adventures of seven-year-old Alfie and his dog, has already sold 320,000 copies, largely due to a deal with Virgin Airlines.' News Review looks at successes in children's writing.

If you need a book to help with your writing, check out our Review section. New ones include Writing fantasy and science fiction and The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book

'Every novel is an equal collaboration between the writer and the reader and it is the only place in the world where two strangers can meet on terms of absolute intimacy.' Paul Auster, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

27 November 2006

Bob's RSI has receded and work on his thriller is going well: 'Seem to have reached the stage where the plot has its own momentum... Characters keep wanting to say things I don’t want them to. They want to go off on tangents, like people in real life.' In his Journal.

'Covered in blood' - News Review looks at O J Simpson's If I Did It and the media storm it caused.

Where next for the web - Web 2.0 is the next development for the Internet, and then there's Web 3.0. So what does it all mean?

'Books transported me to a place that was filled with endless possibilities, and it was all so much better than whatever it was I was doing in real life.' Jennifer Kaufman, quoted in our Comment column.

Check out the endorsements from those who have used the site and our Services.

Spam has increased by 300% over the last 4 months. To protect yourself from this pest, read our article on Spam and find out how to deal with it.

'The last thing one knows in constructing a work is what to put first.' Blaise Pascal, in our Writers' Quotes.

20 November 2006
to help you get the inside track.

Vanity publishing, the latest in the Inside Publishing series on how to avoid being conned by the vanity publishers.

There are 16 other articles, including Subsidiary rights and Children's publishing
The last week has seen the sales announced of Blackwell and Readers Digest in an ongoing frenzy of company acquisitions. News Review reports.

Check out our Links, subdivided into 18 sections and with many new recommended sites.

'I could not have written Equinox had it not been for those 25 non-fiction titles that preceded it. ' Michael White in Publishing News, quoted in our Comment column.

Worried about online banking fraud after recent scary headlines? Read our article on Phishing and other online hoaxes to learn how to keep yourself safe.

'If a publisher declines your manuscript, remember it is merely the decision of one fallible human being, and try another.' Sir Stanley Unwin, in our Writers' Quotes.

13 November 2006

Bob on getting inspiration from Holbein's portraits - suddenly replaced by the crushing pain of RSI: 'Partner examines wrist, diagnoses repetitive strain injury and prescribes immobility for at least a week.' In his Journal.

News Review looks at audio, which has: 'huge potential to grow its profile, reach new markets and cross-fertilise print and digital publishing. The key is to treat audio as it own medium rather than a lesser version of a book.’ The Bookseller

T S Eliot Prize 2006 - this year's shortlist has just been announced and there's also a new School Shadowing Scheme, the first for a major poetry prize.

'In 2006 the novelist has become a cross between a commercial traveller and an itinerant preacher... in just over a generation the novel has gone public in the most astounding way.' Robert McCrum, in the Observer, quoted in our Comment column.

Our latest Writing Opportunity is the Open Short Story Competition, with a prize of £2,500.

Our editor Kay Gale has launched her own website so check it out if you're interested in homeopathy.

'The more you say, the less people remember. the fewer the words, the greater the profit.'
Francoois Fenelon, from our Writers' Quotes.

6 November 2006

The third in our series From a publisher's desk deals with The Writers' x-factor:'Think about what you offer that no one else does and concentrate on developing this.'

News Review reports on the latest agency scam involving Hill & Hill - a curious case involving fantasy comments from publishers.

Writers' Forum Column John Jenkins on Julian Barnes', how authors choose titles and whether men can write romance:'Put it this way, are there any greater romances than Romeo and Juliet, Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary?'

Quoted in our Comment column, John Makinson of Penguin: 'We are concerned about the messages that are being sent to consumers about the value of books if we just price promote everything at the expense of other forms of promotional activity…'

Check out our new audio section, now updated. Record your own work using the facilities built into your computer. Start now with Preparing your story and How to start recording.

Our latest Writers' Opportunity is the Poetry Writers' Yearbook own competition. Unlike the WritersServices' one, this one calls for writing a poem!

'Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure only death can stop it.' Ernest Hemingway, in our Writers' Quotes.

30 October 2006

Our new competition spirits you into the the world of poetry. Enter now and win a copy of the brand-new Poetry Writers' Yearbook.

A Creative Commons license has worked well for the Friday Project on Tom Reynolds’ Blood, Sweat and Tea. The free download has led to 20,000 downloads but sales of nearly 30,000 copies. News Review investigates.

Bob on not reading books you're bored by and what's fashionable in writing: 'So, a few suggestions for today’s fashion-conscious novelist: going up, bipolarity, going down, autism; going up, cricket, going down, football; going up, grandmothers who do, going down...' In his Journal.

'Women need the grown-up fairy stories of romantic fiction in order to make the random cruelty of everyday life more bearable.' Daisy Goodwin in our Comment column in a Sunday Times article about her TV series, Reader, I Married Him.

'Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.' The Bible: Ecclesiastes - in our Writers' Quotes.

Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with what's new at WritersServices.

16 October 2006

The new Poetry Writers' Yearbook has just been published and is a must for poets.

'If Sobol manages to get the 50,000 entries that they reckon will constitute the cut-off, the competition will earn $4,250,000' News Review investigates the Sobol Award.

What is RSS? Our latest Writers Web Watch article explains this 'Push' technology which allows new web content to be sent to you if you have expressed an interest.

'Even experienced publishers sometimes throw caution to the winds after being caught up in the excitement of a bidding war conducted via frenzied conversations in a crowded hall.' Anne Louise Fisher, London literary scout, quoted in our Comment column.

Are you considering self-publishing? Check out our WritersPrintShop self-publishing service for writers, which uses Print on demand to provide a cost-effective quality service. We can sell your book online for you too.

'Books are good enough in their own way, but they are a mighty bloodless substitute for life.' Robert Louis Stevenson, quoted in our Writers' Quotes

9 October 2006

Bob on Peter Pan in Scarlet, 'sequelizing' and what help it might offer him: 'Then remind myself of vow made to myself few weeks ago: no getting sidetracked by other projects until this TV thriller is done... Can’t even finish off my own work, let alone someone else’s.' In his Journal.

News Review looks at last week's Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest annual gathering of publishers in the world.

Deleting Data - the latest new article in our Writers Web Watch deals with deleting data from magnetic disks: 'At the end of its useful life, or whenever you plan to pass a computer on, it is vital to ‘scrub’ the data off the hard disk. This is a task to be taken seriously.'

'The more critically successful a writer becomes, the more need there is for a strong editor. To think otherwise risks artistic suicide.' Alan Garner, author of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.

Do you need help with your writing? Included in our 16 services for writers are Copy editing (including for American English) and Manuscript Polishing, to bring your English up to scratch for publication.

'Unfortunately many young writers are more concerned with fame than with their own work... It's much more important to write than to be written about.' Gabriel Garcia Marquez in our Writers' Quotes.

There's still time to enter for The 2006 New Writer Prizes, but you've only got only till the end of November.

2 October 2006

The view from a publisher's desk is the second in a series of articles by Tom Chalmers, MD of Legend Press, giving a publisher's view of the submission process and what a publisher is looking for. This month: Judging a book by its submission package.

As a teenager growing up in Brazil in the late seventies, Orlando Paes Filho dreamt up the idea of Angus, now coming to fruition as a seven-volume epic tale spanning twelve centuries of human history. News Review investigates.

John Jenkins of Writers Forum asks where are the new spy thriller writers and says the success of authors like Marisha Pressl and Michael Cox show that reading writers' books is not the only way: 'a good instruction book can short circuit your improvement as a writer. But really you teach yourself.'

'Publishers need to make their sites more welcoming and rewarding to those tiny percentages of readers who do visit.' Peter Collingridge in the Bookseller, quoted in our Comment column.

We've got no less than three Writing Opportunities for short story competitions this week, so get writing!

Check out our 16 editorial services to help you get your work ready for publication, from the Editor's Report to Copy editing and from Children's Reports to Scriptwriting.

'Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.' Cyril Connolly, in our Writers' Quotes

25 September 2006

Enter our Competition to win a free pass to Screenwriting Expo 5! There's still time to get to Los Angeles for Screenwriting Expo 5, the world's biggest convention for screenwriters, so enter now!

Bob has lived to write another day and ruminates on places, and how writers have insulted them: 'And the lack of any confirmed descendants of Shakespeare shouldn’t prevent the Stratford-on-Avon town council from apologising on his behalf to Denmark for Hamlet, to Verona for Romeo and Juliet, to Venice for Othello...' In his Journal.

News Review on Oxfam's new bookshop: 'For many people, donating unwanted books to an international charity which will use them to raise money is a good way of dealing with the stacks of books they are never going to read again. Supporting Oxfam makes them feel good too.'

'Whoever originally came up with the idea of putting writers in front of readers must've been taking a real punt.' Graham Marks, Children's editor of Publishing News in our Comment column

We've updated our handy glossary of publishing and printing terms, so if you think 'body text' sounds a bit risque, want know what a 'run on' is, or the meaning of the proof-readers' term 'stet', this is where to look.

From the great Kurt Vonnegut: 'My relatives say that they are glad I'm rich, but that they simply cannot read me.' Quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

18 September 2006

Maureen Kincaid Speller reviews The Art of Punctuation: 'He invites writers to look at the way in which they construct sentences, and to do so with minute attention... Lukeman has an extremely keen and sensitive eye for sentence structure and a neat way of explaining things.'

We've just put up a page of the complimentary things people have said about the WritersServices, such as Megan's comment: ‘I love visiting your web site each week for updates - there is just so much fantastic information there.’

'One can argue critically from entrenched positions with an open mind. One can compromise. One can agree, gracefully, to go with majority opinion. So it was.’ John Sutherland on chairing last year's Man Booker, in our Comment column.

News Review looks at The Long Tail, and what it means for books, as well as the way that this trendy new title has been promoted on the web.

Check out our new audio section. This shows you how to record your work using the facilities built into your computer. You can start with Preparing your story and How to start recording.

'Writing is just having a sheet of paper, a pen and not a shadow of an idea of what you are going to say.' Francoise Sagan, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

11 September 2006

Bob thinks he's broken through his writer's block, but then finds it's back again, and so is a sinister threat to his health: 'Feel unconsciousness creep relentlessly over me like a spreading black oil slick... But before slip irretrievably into coma, resolve if ever recover from this, will change my life. Will write every day. Will do a minimum number of words. Will set myself a timetable and stick to it. Yes, I will…' From his Journal.

News Review looks at prospects for the autumn in the book world and quotes from the Bookseller: ‘It is publishers who have the most to fear this Christmas. With so many high six-figure and seven-figure sums already gambled, expectations are perilously over-inflated.'

The Editor of Writers' Forum on Anthony Horowitz's success; Penguin's list of the top 100 classics and the Crime Writers' Association's assertion that it does not benefit from the Duncan Lawrie awards: 'No gain to the CWA? What’s the value of the publicity? You could probably measure it in thousands of pounds... The £20,000 Duncan Lawrie dagger is said to be the world’s biggest prize for crime fiction.'

From our Comment column: 'We have reached a point where many big publishers source 95 per cent of their new books from agents and many of those agents will no longer view unsolicited work. When you have such a rich seam of new writing in this country, much of it just a few clicks away on the internet, this is a travesty.' Scott Pack, of Waterstone's, now with the Friday Project, in The Times

This week's Writing Opportunity is the Children's Poetry Bookshelf National Write-A-Poem Competition for 7-11 year-olds, with free entry, so encourage all those young poets at home or school to get writing!

Bennett Cerf, co-founder of Random House, on writers: 'Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. Marlowe was stabbed by a man whom he was treacherously trying to stab. Pope took money to keep a woman's name out of a satire; then wrote a piece so that she could still be recognized anyhow. Chatterton killed himself. Byron was accused of incest. Do you still want to be a writer - and if so, why?' From our Writers' Quotes.

4 September 2006

New on the site - the bang up-to-date 2007 Writers' and Artists' Yearbook worldwide agency listings. Check out the UK and Ireland, US and International agencies lists

Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2007 is the 100th edition of this extremely useful book, which the Society of Authors calls 'A must for established and aspiring writers.'

Ian Rankin's Foreword to the book shows how the bestselling crime writer used the book to help him find a publisher: 'Getting into print requires nerve, stamina, luck, stubbornness and talent. Even established authors can feel as though they’re climbing a mountain. Think of the Writers and Artists’ Yearbook as your sherpa.'

The view from a publisher's desk is the first in a new series of articles by Tom Chalmers, MD of Legend Press, giving a publisher's view of the submission process and what a publisher is looking for. This month: What a publisher wants from submissions and what a writer can do about it.

'The Beijing International Book Fair... has provided a fascinating window on a booming book market... This vast market is of particular interest to international publishers because of the thirst to learn and read in English, and to adopt Western culture and patterns of consumption.' News Review investigates.

'We tell ourselves stories in order to live' is Joan Didion's take on why we write in our Writers' Quotes.

Our latest Writing opportunity is the English Association's Fellows' Prize for a poem on the theme of 'Reading'.

'After it became an international bestseller, I sat at my computer and saw nothing on the screen but the six figures of the advance for my second book fading in and out with an eerie whistle like the titles of a junk sc-fi TV series…' Celia Brayfield on the second novel trap, in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.

21 August 2006

'It had become a bestseller thanks to direct, personal communication with potential readers that has been made possible by the Internet.' News Review looks at Anthony Thornton's account of how he promoted his bestselling book online.

Bob finds his own writing being affected by his holiday reading, as he lazes on a Sicilian beach: 'Unfortunately, halfway through the second paragraph, in the annoying manner of works over which I pretend I have creative control, plot veers off in entirely unexpected direction... With great effort of will, force myself to concentrate on plot and character. Can always delete the abstract nouns later.' In his Journal.

John Jenkins' Editor's View, from the Editor of Writers' Forum magazine: 'Day by day self-publishing improves. The books are frequently indistinguishable from mainline publishers and the quality of the writing, particularly when authors have had their work professionally edited, has reached new standards...'

'If you're going to get scared, you can't become a publisher... we have to be as businesslike as larger publishers - it's just as important for independents to make money.' Andrew Franklin, MD of Profile Books, in The Bookseller, quoted in our Comment column.

We are saddened this week to hear of the early death of Richard Craze, the inspirational small independent UK publisher who set up White Ladder Press five years ago. In 2003 we printed an extract from The White Ladder Diaries, by his widow Ros Jay, which sets out the Golden Rules for starting a small business.

If you need to source photos for your book, check out How picture libraries work, our useful list of links to picture libraries, many of which now provide an excellent online service.

'All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.' George Orwell, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

7 August 2006

New this week is an excerpt from Alison Baverstock's new title, Is there a book in you? Many feel the desire to write very strongly. Yet how do you know whether there is a book in you? The author explores the key questions you should ask yourself.

‘The language does belong to everybody, but the way things are going, there will be just a small elite that’s been trained how to use it effectively. That can’t be right. We’ll be back in the Middle Ages.’ Truss tackles the comma in her new children's book, Why Commas Really Do Make a Difference in this week's News Review.

All computer devices on a network need a channel to allow them to communicate with each other. But what about computer ports, which are 'virtual' or software assigned ports? Our new article explains how they work.

'I think that the best books are often written within the pressures of daily life. What is happening is that creative writing courses are promulgating the idea that you have to be a professional writer, but that is not true and it is increasingly hard to be…' Heather Holden Brown in Mslexia, quoted in our Comment column.

'Give me books, fruit, French wine and fine weather and a little music out of doors, played by somebody I do not know.' John Keats, in a letter to Fanny Keats, from our Writers' Quotes.

If you're using the summer to work on your manuscript, don't forget there are 16 editorial services to help you get your work ready for publication, from the Editor's Report to Manuscript Polishing and from Children's Reports to Scriptwriting.

The August Magazine is here!

31 July 2006

Review of ScriptWriter magazine: 'So if you’re serious about writing scripts and want a thoughtful magazine which will help you achieve your goal - whilst providing food for thought and some wide-ranging and interesting articles - this magazine could be the one for you.'

Check out our other magazine reviews to decide which one is right for you - Writers' Forum, Writer's Digest, Writers' News and Mslexia.

'The facts are brutal: unless you produce the kind of assured bestsellers that will encourage your publishers to pay for chain-store promotions, you have no guaranteed sales... if an author wants his to find its readers, he has to go out there and grab them.' Will Self in the Sunday Telegraph's Seven, quoted in our Comment column.

Preparing images for your book The latest addition to our WritersPrintShop self-publishing service is an article on getting images of all kinds ready for your book - useful for any author planning illustrations for their work.

'As affluence has increased readers’ ability to buy the books they want to read, the libraries’ ageing stock has relegated them to a lower level of use for readers, many of whom will only use a library if they have to.' News Review reports on the continuing decline in the libraries.

'I suppose in the world of publication 40 million buyers cannot be wrong.' From our Writers' Quotes, Mr Justice Peter Smith, comprehensively dismissing Baigent and Leigh's case that Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code had infringed their copyright in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. (The authors are now taking their case to the Court of Appeal.)

24 July 2006

Bob is pleased with Anthony Horovitz's success, enjoys the new word foosh (an invented medical term meaning to Fall On OutStretched Hand) and takes comfort from Chekhov's view on happiness. In his Journal.

'After the dotcom boom and bust it was easy for the book trade to think it could go back to business as usual. It has taken six years for the huge potential of the Internet to become apparent to everyone – and to smash that thinking to pieces.' News Review looks at poor sales from the chains.

Optimising the user experience - content is king. If a browser can’t reach where or what they want within 30 seconds they will abandon that site or search. Our new article looks at how to attract and hold on to visitors.

'A novel has an energy of its own. In that sense, it is like riding a horse. It talks back to you. It isn't always transient. Sometimes, you wrestle with it.' Jane Smiley, author of 13 Ways of Looking at a Novel in the Observer, quoted in our Comment column.

'Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed,, and some few to be chewed and digested.' Francis Bacon in his Essays of 1625, in our Writers Quotes.

Have you got a problem we could help you with? Why not write in to our Problem page and we can publish your answer online?

Feel like something to lift your spirits? Try the 2005 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year.

17 July 2006

It's hard work finding an agent to represent you. Working with an agent shows you how to get the most out of this key relationship. See Finding an agent for how to go about getting someone to represent you.

Random House UK's acquisition of a majority holding in BBC Books brings its market share to only 0.7% behind that of Hachette Livre. But what about the US? And what price profitability in corporate publishing? News Review investigates.

Print technologies - From the teletype terminal to the laser printing - an overview of how printing has developed as the technology has moved along.

'Self-employed authors live tightrope lives, their careers often poorly paid and wildly erratic.' Helen Dunmore, Chair of the Society of Authors in the Bookseller on why authors' payments to their agents should be treated as a business expense. See our Comment column.

Our latest Writing Opportunity is Penknife Press's Short Story Contest.

Using the summer break to do some research? Our articles on The web as a research tool can help. Family Research provides useful links for UK researchers and Advanced searching offers more tips on how the web can help.

'As regards plot I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots. And as I think a plot desirable and almost necessary, I have this extra grudge against life.' Ivy Compton-Burnett, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

12 July 2006

Our latest survey investigated your book-buying habits, and found that the author's name is the most important factor influencing book purchase.

Bob on writers' earnings from their writing and Hitchcock's cool profit of $67,000 from a story he bought from Jack Trevor Story. He was later asked to sign over the rights in perpetuity and replied: '"I have no intention of maintaining Alfred Hitchcock in his old age." Which is encouraging news for all of us innocents. Even writers can learn.' In his Journal.

Emma Darwin is about to get published. But her first novel, The Mathematics of Love isn’t actually the first she’s written, but the seventh. News Review looks at her success and at how Macmillan's New Writing list is giving writers a chance.

Which books to take on holiday? 'The ensuing challenge is one that all book-lovers should light on with something approaching glee. You know you want something good, something engrossing, something that will hold your attention. Alex Clark in the Observer, quoted in our Comment column.

'Write as often as possible, not with the idea at once of getting into print, but as if you were learning an instrument.' J B Priestley, in our Writers' Quotes.

Confused by the difference between copy editing and proof-reading? Or wondering about American English copy editing? Our Copy editing service can handle both.

3 July 2006

Read the last excerpt from Alexander Gordon Smith's stimulating Inspired Creative Writing from the brisk and entertaining 52 Brilliant Ideas series is about learning to let go: 'As writers, we often like to write for ourselves, but show me a writer who says they don’t ever want to be published and I’ll show you a fibber.'

Celebrating Africa - News Review reports on the highly successful inaugural Cape Town Book Fair and other book-related initiatives and writers' news from the continent.

'It's possible to punch above your size and weight and get the kind of coverage much larger houses receive.' Philip Gwyn Jones of new UK publisher Portabello on small publisher power, quoted in our Comment column.

Did you know that if somebody can record the keys you are pressing, they can discover almost everything that you are doing on the computer? Read our article on Keylogging to find out how to protect yourself.

John Jenkins on how books are promoted through the chains and how Catherine Cookson's life translated into sales of 100 million books. 'Her life story far eclipsed the gritty plots of her books.' The Editor's View from the Editor of Writers' Forum magazine.

'The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes.' Somerset Maugham, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

Podcasting is the word of the moment... Use our new audio section to record your work using the facilities built into your computer. You can start with Preparing your story and How to start recording. It's easier than you think, so get recording! We'll provide a site for you to podcast your work soon.

The July Magazine is ready!

26 June 2006

Selling adaptations of books to the film industry - a report from the London Book Fair on how to make the most out of selling film rights in your book and writing the script.

Bob on football (inevitably) in literature and why he feels less driven: 'Maybe it’s a rationalisation of the year-long writer’s block have been suffering, but realise I no longer feel, well, driven... Remember reading once that Colin Dexter worked every day at his ‘proper’ job, came home, wrote a page of his current Morse, then went down the pub. Now, that sounds more like it.' In his Journal.

‘Multiplatform’ marketing, digital rights and print on demand change the way authors' intellectual property can be exploited. News Review investigates.

'What is the X-factor that turns a book into a bestseller? They don't just happen by chance... At the centre of their efforts is the author, who nowadays has to put as much work into selling themselves as they did into writing their book. ' Danuta Kean in the Independent on Sunday in our Comment column.

'Every author's fairy godmother should provide him not only with a pen but also with a blue pencil.' F L Lucas in Style, in our Writers' Quotes.

Are you considering self-publishing? Check out our WritersPrintShop self-publishing service for writers, which uses Print on demand to provide a cost-effective quality service. We can sell your book online for you too.

19 June 2006

'So, who says reading is dead? Surely all this is cause for great optimism about the future of the book. In this age of TV celebrity and mass communication through the Internet, authors are still heroes to a great many people.' News Review investigates.

'Sometimes I fear that some writers want to get published more than they want to write. Being a successful writer is a long apprenticeship.' Julia Bell in Mslexia, quoted in our Comment column.

We all get too much email. All good email programmes provide a tool to help you sort the incoming stream and filter your spam. Five steps to a quieter inbox.

If you are in the mood to learn some new computing tricks, see what your word processor can deliver.

'If you caricature friends in your first novel they will be upset, but if you don't they will feel betrayed.' Mordecai Richler in our Writers' Quotes.

12 June 2006

'A good day for devil-worshippers, cabbalists, believers in the Da Vinci code and other loonies... Bob on Bertrand Russell and Lady Ottoline Morrell, the importance of names, the remake of the Omen and the significance of 6/6/6. In his Journal.

German publishers are taking Google to court. French publishers have threatened legal action. But is Google winning the battle for hearts and minds? News Review investigates.

Napster and other disasters - what publishing could learn from the music business, a report from the London Book Fair - Lessons from the Music Industry.

Plus A History of Music Copying, from Edison's first recording of a human voice in 1877 to Napster being forced to stop its activities in 2001.

'The tensions between taste and commerce have perhaps never been more stark than they are at present.' Peter Robinson of newly set up Robinson Literary Agency in Publishing News, quoted in our Comment column.

Our latest Writers' opportunity is the 2006 The New Writer magazine Prose and Poetry prizes, closing date not till 30 November.

And from this year's Orange prizewinner ‘I have read everything on the shortlist and I know its quality is incredible. Every writer has aspects of style I genuinely covet. They are extraordinary women and extraordinary writers.’ Zadie Smith, author of On Beauty, in our Writers' Quotes.

Check out our great Links listings, with 18 sections from Writers' Online Services to Software for writers.

5 June 2006

Who’s the daddy: character or plot? Like it or not, it’s your characters that drive your work. Getting them right will make the difference between writing a masterpiece and an episode of Days of Our Lives. The 5th excerpt from Inspired Creative Writing.

Is this ‘a land grab in continental Europe based on the thinnest of legal and business pretences’? News Review looks at the Brits v American publishers on the question of Europe.

'What do you call a gathering of romantic novelists? One like the 300 gathered at the Savoy Hotel for the annual presentation award for the romantic novel of the year. A chapter. . .a folio. . .how about a volume?' The Editor of Writers' Forum

'Americans simply don't consider books (or culture generally) to be that newsworthy or debatable... Therefore, America seems like a place where you can only write a bestseller or a flop - you're either on Oprah, or you're not.' American author Wesley Stace in Publishing News, quoted in our Comment column.

How to look after your books - Repair of books covers coping with pests, materials and disaster recovery. See also Care of books, History of paper and Properties of Paper

Writers' opportunities this week include the Winchester Writers Conference and the first Screenwriters' Conference, both in the UK.

'Don't ever get to feeling important about yourself... an editor can only get as much out of an author as the author has in him.'
Celebrated American editor Maxwell Perkins, speaking to editors, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

The June Magazine is ready.

29 May 2006

Chas Jones's latest article on Books for the visually impaired explores the issue of what's available, with many useful links. For self-publishers, it's easy to make your book available in large print if you wish to do so.

'Just when those in the book trade had resigned themselves to huge annual growth in the numbers of books published, US figures have plummeted, although UK numbers continue to soar. ' News Review looks at an astonishing discrepancy.

Check out the latest article in Writers' Web Watch, which shows you how you can use the facilities of the Google Desktop to get the latest news, weather, share prices, maps and much more.

'It is easy to understand the mindset of those who feel uncomfortable with reading... But reading is generally looked on as a pleasure even by those who avoid it - a pleasure to some but not for them.' Ruth Rendell, writing about her Quick Read The Thief in the Sunday Telegraph, quoted in our Comment column.

The latest Writers' opportunities are from the National Association of Writers in Education, which has announced 81 residencies for writers which will research and provide hard evidence for the effect of the work writers do in schools; and from the Arvon Foundation, whose latest new course is for performance poets.

Logan Pearsall Smith seemed to have the right idea when he said 'People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.' Find it in our Writers' Quotes, along with a great many other thought-provoking quotes from writers down the ages.

Our Writers' Bookstall has over 200 titles, helpfully classified and available from Amazon. So if you want a book to help you write your SF novel, or finish your screenplay, this is the place to look.

22 May

Bob ponders on names and where authors get them from, looks at TV reviews and applies a literary quiz to himself: 'Most overrated writer? Anyone who got a six-figure advance for their first novel in the last twenty years.’ In his Journal.

'The allegation of large-scale plagiarism has raised its ugly head in a too-good-to-be-true story of a young writer who appeared to be writing well rather too well for her age. ' News Review reports on Kaavya Viswanathan.

Care of books -the third part of our series on looking after your books shows you how to store, handle and shelve them. It joins parts one and two, History of paper and Properties of Paper

'Trips to the library with my mother are, in my memory, even more thrilling than trips to the sweet shop, and when I got my eldest daughter a library card I felt as though I had bought her citizenship of that same fabulous world.’ J K Rowling, in support of the innovative Love Libraries scheme. In our Comment column.

Free Verse - why have so few new Black and Asian poets been published in the UK in the past 10 years and why is poetry publishing so far behind the amazingly diverse world of fiction? A new report investigates.

What poets can do to develop their writing Helpful advice for all poets from the Free Verse report, suggesting how to work towards publication.

'All books are either dreams or swords. You can cut, or you can drug, with words.' Amy Lowell, in our Writers' Quotes.

Check out our reviews of software for writers, which include newnovelist, Writer's Blocks and a page of Scriptwriting Software.

15 May 2006

Our new page on Your submission package shows you how to put your material together and what to submit. It's essential reading to make sure you give your work its best chance. Our Submission Critique service can also help with getting it into good shape.

News Review investigates audio downloads. 'The audiobook market is set to jump into the new world of downloadable sound to meet the demands of the iPod generation... ‘many people who wouldn’t have previously considered buying an audiobook as a CD or tape said they would be interested in downloading one.’ Paul Smithson of Spoken Network.

Check out our new audio site, which shows how to record your own work. Here's how to get started.

If you don't know the meaning of 'fair use' or 'the public domain, or even how copyright copes with the digital world, our Copyright briefing gives you a quick update.

Comment on ghostwriting: 'It's not our job to be objective and even-handed. We're there to be passionately subjective, fighting as hard to put across our clients' stories as any barrister in any courtroom.' Andrew Croft, ghostwriter-extraordinaire, in the Sunday Telegraph

New Writing Ventures' Prizes' closing date is on 31 May, so act now if you want to enter and are an English writer who has not yet published a full-length work.

'A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.' Virginia Woolf in A Room of One's Own, in our Writers' Quotes.

8 May 2006

We're launching our new audio section this weekend. This shows you how to record your work using the facilities built into your computer. You can start with Preparing your story and How to start recording. It's easier than you think, so get recording! We'll provide a site for you to podcast your work soon.

Bob decides to work on a conspiracy thriller like The Da Vinci Code, but his writers' group is not impressed. It 'may not be entirely original, but it has a beginning, middle and end and includes all the requisite steps of The Hero’s Journey. How can it fail?’ In his Journal.

News Review looks at the book fair wars, with the surprise announcement this week that the Frankfurt Book Fair is setting up a direct competitor to the London Book Fair in its new home in London’s Docklands.