What's new 06

Writers' magazine

What's new 06

Log of the weekly changes on the site on 2006

This week's changes 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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.

'The law is therefore as everyone thought it was. Unless you copy the means of expression of facts and ideas, you do not breach copyright.' David Hooper in Publishing News , commenting on the outcome of the Da Vinci Code case, quoted in our Comment column.

I can't think of any one film that improved on a good novel, but I can think of many good films that came from very bad novels.' Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in our Writers' Quotes.

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1 May 2006

The 4th excerpt from Inspired Creative Writing is about style and learning to write naturally, developing your own style rather than trying to copy other people's: 'The style you choose to write in can say an awful lot about you. Don’t be shy and don’t be false, just act natural: like your sense of dress, your writing style should be personal and unique to you.'

News Review looks at the latest twist in the Ottakars/Waterstone's saga and the heartening view of the latest bidders for Waterstone's that: 'Our offer reflects our optimism about books... book sales are going up each year by 5%… Books are still a big deal in the public imagination.'

Properties of Paper Did you know that a book has to adapt to its environment and in the process can change shape? The second part in our series about Looking after your books looks at what paper consists of. See also part one, A brief history of paper

'A publisher's job is to add value to the work they are about to bring into the world. An existing brand or franchise requires a great deal less risk and effort than an unknown author or a difficult subject.' Anthony Cheetham in the Bookseller, quoted in our Comment column.

John Jenkins of Writers' Forum on the banning of smoking, students' problems with the use of English and Bloomsbury's huge Harry Potter profits: 'The seventh and final book in the series is being written by J K now but the backlist, paperbacks and franchises will keep the bandwagon rolling... Wasn’t Bloomsbury the company which had so much faith in Potter that the first print run was only 500? '

'When you start, the world of publishing seems like a great cathedral citadel of talent, resisting attempts to let you inside. It isn't like that at all. It may be more difficult now, and take longer than when I started to write, but there's a great, empty warehouse out there looking for simple talent.' Alan Garner, writing in 1987, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

The May Magazine is ready!

24 April 2006

Bob on the use of parentheses, those convenient but tricky little things: 'Discover in passing that one use of parenthesis is similar to a way in which teenage girls use ‘like’...' In his Journal.

Are they 'killing literature' in Australia, or is the decline in the number of literary novels published just another instance of the effects of globalisation? News Review investigates.

The latest in our series on using MS Word shows you how to add Headers and Footers, an essential task for numbering your manuscript pages. Other articles show you how to use Auto-correct and how to Make an index.

'Writing is a discipline, much like playing a musical instrument; it requires constant practice and honing of skills. For this reason, I write seven days a week.' Dan Brown, in the Bookseller, quoted in our Comment column.

‘The blog is certainly another tool for writers out there to break their way in. But being a blogger does not make you a great writer.' Julie Powell, who has just won the Blooker, our Writers' Quotes.

Our latest Writers' Opportunity is to submit a 9,000 to12,000 word story for a new anthology to be published by Legend Press.

Interested in publishing your own work? Our fictionalised stories give an insight into how this works. Check out Annie's cake book and David and Rebecca's family history.

10 April 2006

Bob on buying, rather than borrowing, books and whether it would be worth adopting a pseudonym: 'The main problem with choosing a name that hints at a writer who is not only more famous but also more skilled is that it reminds one’s readers how much less of a writer one is in comparison.' In his Journal.

A brief history of paper is the first in our new series about Looking after your books. Did you know that paper was invented by the Chinese in 2,400 BCE or that rag-based papers are much superior to those made from wood-pulp?

UK book sales grow by 8%, with a boom in children's sales, and the supermarkets' and online share of the total soaring. News Review looks at the latest Books and the Consumer study.

'What constitutes a snippet? We might begin by stipulating that no snippet shall be as large as a full witticism.' Roy Blount Jr, humorist, the new president of the Authors Guild of America, on how to handle Google. Quoted in our Comment column.

Do you know how many commons forms of fraud there are? How does email fraud work and how can you protect yourself against identity theft? To save yourself from the fraudsters, read Michael Challiner's article on Fraud.

‘Poets will never be the highest-paid writers in the world. Instead, poetry will go on cutting a hand-made path through the mass-market insanity. For me, anyway, that path is the one that leads to the Chapel of the Grail.’ Jeanette Winterson, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

Are you worried about Repetitive Strain Injury or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Our seven-part Health Hazards series look at the particular problems which can affect writers.

3 April 2006

Our reviewer felt that Patricia Fry's The Right Way to Write, Sell and Publish Your Book is useful for all writers: 'What makes this 300 page book worth reading is that it is approachable. Most writers already know what they have to do, but Patricia Fry makes it easy to own up to the parts of the business of being a writer you tend to ignore and what to do about it.'

'People everywhere love stories and want to hear about hopes, dreams, disappointments, misunderstandings, rewards, loss - the human lot.' Maeve Binchy on why she is part of Quick Reads, in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.

The 3rd excerpt from Inspired Creative Writing from the 52 Brilliant Ideas series is about learning to see the world in a new light, taking in all the detail: 'Look at things you wouldn’t normally look at and see them in a new light... It may be a cliché, but there is a story behind everything. Your job as a writer is to look for the detail that brings that story to light. '

News Review on the Bologna Book Fair:'The focus at the world’s biggest children’s book fair has shifted from co-editions to fiction and film deals, with film scouts much in evidence.'

Writers' Forum Column John Jenkins on the Orange Prize longlist, whether crime or romance sells best, and the centenary of one our of our best-loved poet laureates, John Betjeman:'As a poet he never took himself too seriously but his satire had the sharpness of Swift. The dagger was concealed beneath calculated fogeyish charm.'

'There is no measure or limit to this fever for writing; every one must be an author; some out of vanity to acquire celebrity and raise up a name, others for the sake of lucre and gain.' Martin Luther showing that nothing changes in our Writers' Quotes.

Check out over 25 reviews on books for writers and our substantial software review section.

27 March 2006

Masterclasses at the London Book Fair: Writing for children Excellent advice from Philip Ardagh, Meg Rosoff, Siobhan Dowd and Geraldine McAughrean, who said: ‘Don’t write about what you know about, write about what you don’t know about, taking children to a place they’ve never been to before’.

Bob on 'picking and mixing our own programmes off the internet', his writer's block and ghost-writing: 'What is it about writing that makes celebrities such liars? Probably because no one wants to admit they can’t do it. Everyone can write. How difficult can it be to knock off a book?' In his Journal.

‘The heart says Olympia, the head says ExCel.’ The Bookseller. News Review looks at book fairs in general and the debate surrounding the new Docklands venue for the London Book Fair.

'Books have to be a product infused with permanency. We've got to get back to the experiential side, where it's not the throwaway supermarket item you don't really care about but something you have a deep connection to.' Rick Vanzura of Borders in Publishing News, quoted in our Comment column.

If you're a fiction or creative non-fiction writer, or a poet, check out our latest Writers' Opportunity, the New Ventures Writing Prize, which is the only literary prize that significantly recognises unpublished writers with both cash prizes and individually tailored career opportunities.

'I am taxed with being a plagiarist, when I am least conscious of being one; but I am not very scrupulous, I own, when I have a good idea, how I came into possession of it.' Lord Byron, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

If you're fed up with having your manuscript sent back to you, cheer yourself up with our Rotten Rejections page, which shows that it happened to John le Carre, George Orwell and Stephen King as well...

20 March 2006

We report on The Fiction Masterclass at the London Book Fair featuring Sara Paretsky, Margaret Atwood (‘My feeling is, do whatever you like, then worry afterwards about what you’re going to do with it.’) and Joanna Trollope (‘I do set myself so many words a week… a few thousand…')

'Many writers may not realise how very profoundly print on demand technology is changing the publishing world... As it gets harder to find a publisher, more and more authors are deciding to try publishing their own work. News Review looks at POD and self-publishing.

Check out the winner of the 2006 Diagram Prize for the Oddest title of the Year, which had hot competition from a barmy shortlist...

' Read, read, read. Then find a story that moves you and write it from the heart, for yourself - not for some imaginary reader. Never think there is a formula - there isn't. Nicholas Evans, bestselling author of The Horse Whisperer and The Divide, in Writers' Forum, quoted in our Comment column.

Our poster collection offers some good printable posters, including Writers on Writing and Getting it wrong. If you're in more serious mode, check out our Health Hazards series to avoid the health problems writers are prone to.

'A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face.... It is one of the few havens remaining where [your] mind can get both provocation and privacy.' Edward P. Morgan in our Writers' Quotes.

13 March 2006

Our first report from the London Book Fair Masterclasses is on Screenwriting. Share insights from Deborah Moggach, Tim Firth, Amy Johnson and Christopher Hampton if you're tackling this challenging genre.

Bob on his writing group, TV soaps, Dan Brown and his own TV script: 'Is it just me, or is all TV gradually turning into soap opera? Even non-drama is turning into soap opera – Just the Two of Us, The X Factor, Fame Academy, Girl Cops, any programme fronted by Professor Winston...’ From his Journal.

Willie Anderson of bookseller John Smith: 'Central buying sends out several messages, some of them may even be unintentional: One: this is what you are going to sell whether you like it or not. Two: we don't trust you in your shop to know what you should be selling. Three: we know your local market better than you do...' Reprinted from Publishing News in our Comment column.

News Review reports on a discussion of 21st century issues at the London Book Fair: 'The book chains are caught in a pincer movement, with Amazon at one end of the spectrum, offering range, and catering for heavy book-buyers who know what they want. The supermarkets are grabbing market share at the other end.'

There's an insight into A Writer's Life in the Ukraine from Farida Mestek, whose novel is excerpted in our free Writers' Showcase.

Can you be remarkable in 50 words? Simply write 50 words on something that is remarkable about your everyday life to get your story published in the second of Legend Press’ short story series. See Writers' Opportunities 11.

'When people, women included, hear that you are writing, they assume that it is simply a hobby to fill in the time between doing the washing-up and the ironing. It couldn't possibly be a profession.' Rachel Billington, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

6 March 2006

We're delighted to say that our visitor figures have soared to 45,000 a week and are currently growing a massive 4% a week.

The 2nd excerpt from Alexander Gordon Smith's stimulating Inspired Creative Writing is on getting started: 'Without an inspirational seed for your novel, screenplay or poem you are like a knight in armour with no monster to slay and no sweetheart to rescue.'

Copyright infringement or 'drawing on history? News Review has another look at the case involving Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, now before the High Court.

Your comments from our survey on self-publishing - Some fascinating quotes expressing both your hostility to self-publishing and your enthusiasm for it.

'The hardcover imprints work as signposts for people within the world of publishing - they direct authors and agents as to who is buying what and where a book will fit.' Juliet Annan of Penguin on her start-up imprint Fig Tree in the Daily Telegraph, in our Comment column.

Check out our 16 different Editorial Services, which go all the way from Reports to Submission Critiques, services for Children's Writing, Scriptwriting Assessment, Copy editing and Coaching.

Writers' Forum Column John Jenkins on the great Daphne du Maurier, recommended reading lists for children from Andrew Motion, Philip Pullman and J K Rowling, and A Night at The Majestic: 'Can you imagine what it would have been like to be at a dinner party attended by Joyce, Proust, Diaghilev, Stravinsky and Picasso?'

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

27 February 2006

Bob on writing groups, golden ages and men-only book groups: 'Over past week have discovered something about myself: find it almost impossible to write if I know I’m not going to be paid for it... In a month or so shall have been writing this diary for five years. Unfortunately have also been writing my TV thriller for nearly two.' In his Journal.

'Thursday 2 March is the ninth annual World Book Day... the headlines are going to be grabbed by the wonderful Quick Reads programme, which is a well coordinated campaign to get more people reading.' News Review looks at a ground-breaking world Book Day.

The shortlist for the 2005 Diagram Prize Check out the completely barmy best entries for the craziest book titles of the year, from the Bookseller.

'I write biographies because I am fascinated by people – by their infinite resourcefulness, by their mystery and power, by the strange patterns their lives make – and because they give me better plots than any novel I could invent.' Hilary Spurling, winner of the Whitbread Prize for Matisse the Master, in Writers’ Forum, quoted in our Comment column.

'Even if my marriage is falling apart and my children are unhappy, there is still a part of me that says, 'God, this is fascinating!' Jane Smiley, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

Impressed by the success of self-published writers? If you're Just thinking about it, we have a whole section on self-publishing in our WritersPrintshop, so you can read up on it and work out for yourself how much it costs and what's involved.

20 February 2006

Our new Review of Writing fantasy and science fiction 'an excellent guide for anyone interested in writing and publishing science fiction and fantasy. Lisa Tuttle knows the genres and the industry incredibly well and draws on her own wealth of experience to provide exactly the right kind of information and advice for the budding writer.'

Have you ever wondered what a PDF file is - and how you can get it to read to you? Chas Jones explains the software. About Adobe Acrobat.

'Does the recently-announced Sony Reader finally herald the breakthrough on the e-book technology front many have been anticipating?' News Review asks whether publishers are ready to meet the challenge.

Check out our Coaching Service, which offers you the opportunity to develop your writing with the benefit of individual feedback, personal guidance and practical advice. If you're wondering exactly what coaching is, Julia McCutchen's article, How coaching can help writers, shows you how individual coaching can help a writer to access their true writer’s voice and have a deeply rewarding experience of writing.

‘If you write something that you know well, from the heart and your soul, it will live, somehow. It may not live in your lifetime, but it will survive.' Mel Brooks, quoted in our Comment column.

There's still time to book on the London Book Fair Masterclasses on Saturday 4^th March at ExCel, the Fair’s new venue in Docklands. Led by top authors, the London Book Fair/Daily Mail Masterclasses are running again this year in conjunction with The Arvon Foundation.

'I simply don't know how anyone can write at great speed, and only for the money's sake.' Feodor Dostoevsky, in our Writers' Quotes

13 February 2006

Check out the results of our latest survey on your attitudes to the future of self-publishing - two-thirds of the respondents would consider it.

In a lightning swoop which was kept remarkably secret from all but a handful of people, the French publishing giant Hachette Livre has now acquired Time-Warner Publishing, with implications for its companies in the UK, US and Australia. News Review looks at the latest news.

Bob on predicting bestsellers and the golden age of film. Is this a golden age for writers too? 'An American academic has developed a software program which can predict a bestseller merely from its title. Having known quite a few programmers in my time, somehow doubt this.' In his Journal.

'When I came into publishing in the 1980s, it was a world in which publishers pushed books through the marketplace; it is now a world in which retailers pull books through.' Derek Johns, outgoing President of the Association of Authors' Agents, in a speech reprinted in Publishing News, in our Comment column.

Calling all aspiring biographers, our latest writing opportunity is this year's Biographers' Club Prize. You have until August to enter.

Asked if editors were no more than failed writers: 'Perhaps - but so are most writers.' T S Eliot in our Writers' Quotes.

6 February 2006

Starting this week, our new serial from Inspired Creative Writing by Alexander Gordon Smith. Over the next few months we'll be offering excerpts from this stimulating book, part of the brisk and entertaining 52 Brilliant Ideas series. This month, the Introduction and Limbering Up.

Our new survey investigates your book-buying habits to find out how we approach the acquiring of books.

'Across the English-speaking world, the fate of bookselling chains is inextricably bound up with that of authors, although the Internet is now offering a real alternative in terms of reaching the market.' News Review looks at the latest news in the Wottakar's battle.

John Jenkins on why Agatha Christie grips her readers, Maya Angelou's wonderful autobiography and the judging of literary prizes. The Editor's View, from the Editor of Writers' Forum magazine.

‘You have to be able to edit your own work. Write every day even if it’s rubbish, because it’s always better to have something to work on than to have nothing. Sara Waters, whose new book The Night Watch is just out, in Writers’ Forum, quoted in our Comment column.

Interested in historical fiction? Our latest Writers' Opportunity is the Writing Historical Fiction weekend in Lincoln, 24-26 March.

'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 in our Writers' Quotes.

And the February Magazine is ready!

30 January 2006

Bob on EastEnders, e-books and writing whilst drunk: 'Despite having been crossed off the list over six months ago, still am asked what’s going to happen to Sharon and Phil...' (but) 'They don’t want to hear that the exciting world on which they eavesdrop every other day is actually a fiction invented by people like me.' In his Journal, now entering its fifth year.

Review of Whitesmoke software: 'So, if you are looking for a tool to improve your productivity writing business emails and short letters, Whitesmoke has a great deal to offer.'

News Review reports on UK authors, agents and publishers working together on digitisation. ‘We’re going to have to change our perceptions of time and timeliness if we are to succeed in helping our authors reach out to readers electronically as well as in print – and the authors will need to work with us to achieve this.’ Richard Charkin in his blog.

‘It's been a hard slog... You can have a bestseller after a year or 50 years - but by then it's too late.' Pete Ayrton of Serpent's Tail on setting up a small publishing house, in the Bookseller, quoted in our Comment column.

If you're studying or teaching creative writing, check out our Educational Resource section, which offers nearly 80 downloadable pages of information.

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

23 January 2006

Readability scores Chas Jones looks at the various ways of measuring readability, an important consideration for any writer, and shows how MS Word can help.

News Review has taken the unusual step of reporting on the same story two weeks running because it appears that the general conclusion we reached last week was wrong, but concludes by asking: 'What price truth over celebrity?'

London Book Fair Masterclasses Led by top authors, the London Book Fair/Daily Mail Masterclasses are running again this year in conjunction with The Arvon Foundation. The LBF is much earlier this year, so the Masterclasses are on Saturday 4^th March at ExCel, the Fair’s new venue in Docklands.

‘I think book retailing passed a tipping point this Christmas, from ‘competitive’ to ‘ludicrous’ pricing. That tipping point was when bestsellers were sold at less than half price. Nigel Jones of Ottakar’s in Publishing News, quoted in our Comment column.

Check out our 16 different Editorial Services, which go all the way from Reports to Rewriting and include Submission Critiques, services for Children's Writing, Scriptwriting Assessment, Copy editing and Coaching.

'There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.'
Ursula K Le Guin, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

16 January 2006

'The astonishing story of James Frey seems like a fable for our times... "it's hard to know which is worse: a writer who acts as though there is no distinction between a novel and a memoir, or a publisher who does not care"' News Review looks at objective truth versus ‘emotional truth’.

Writers and literature workers' websites Check out the excellent publicly funded organisations in the UK which have useful websites to help all writers.

Superfluous words and phrases It's amazing how many tautologies and pleonasms we use every day. Check out whether you're guilty with our helpful list.

'This private secret space, this hidden empire that opens out between the book and yourself, is precious.' Philip Pullman on children and reading, quoted in our Comment column.

Don't forget that the WritersServices site carries the latest UK, US and international agency listings from the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. Use the facility to track down a particular agent, or to check out which agency handles a specific genre, such as SF or children's writing.

And to mark the T S Eliot Prize announced on 16 January, here's a few words from the poet himself, from our Writers' Quotes: 'We learn what poetry is - if we ever learn - by reading it.'

9 January 2006

American copy editing Divided by a common language - American copy editing versus English. Chris Holifield looks at the needs of American and British writers, and also considers what kind of copy editing you might want if you are writing in English but it is not your native language.

Bob reflects in his Journal on the philosophy of language, celebrity authors and work on his current script: 'Wake with idea for brilliant new opening scene for TV thriller. Before breakfast tap bare bones into script... How is it that the more I work on this script, the further away I seem from finishing it? Now that is a paradox.'

'The profession of letters is, after all, the only one in which one can make no money without being ridiculous.' Jules Renard, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

'The trial of the distinguished Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk has raised fundamental issues relating to writers’ freedom of speech in a frightening instance of nationalism run riot and embodied in law.' News Review investigates.

In our WritersPrintShop you can find the complete rundown on self-publishing. Find out all you need to know from What is Self-publishing? to Your copyright, from Working out an estimate to How to market your book, and from How long will it take? to How much will it cost?

If you're Just thinking about it, here are some further pages on self-publishing.

'Stories go back as far as humankind, for the good reason that the world is incomprehensible without them. By establishing relationships between things, a story permits meaning and memory.' Simon Caulkin, writing in the Observer, quoted in our Comment column.

2 January 2006

News Review looks at 2005 and the prospects for 2006: 'in the UK this will by then (2020) give us more authors than nurses, soldiers and miners combined. For writers the future really is going to look very different from the past.'

We have revised our list of International Book Fairs for 2006. check it out to see if there's one you can get to, as it's a good time to see the publishing world in action.

‘If you want to write you have to put in the hours. There’s no short cut… It never ceases to amaze me how many writers insist on writing stuff they don’t have a hope in hell of getting published.' Carole Matthews, author of The Sweetest Taboo, in Writers’ Forum, quoted in our Comment column.

'From the moment I picked it up, until the moment I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it.'
Groucho Marx in our Writers' Quotes.

Are you thinking of taking out a subscription to a writers' magazine? Check out our reviews of Writers' Forum, Writers' Digest, Writers News and Mslexia to find the right one for you.

Our new Magazine is ready! Happy New Year to all our visitors.

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