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Log of the weekly changes on the site on 2006

This week's changes  2001 2002  2003  2004 2005 2006

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.

3 December 2007

What's happening on the web?  Webmaster Chas Jones writes about a ‘joe job’ - a spam attack - on WritersServices. Spam and some serious ill effects
'Ghostwriting has been very much in the news recently, with the host of celebrity memoirs fuelled by the public desire to read the inside story of the lives of the rich and famous.'  News Review investigates the secrets of the ghostwriting fraternity.
'I'm here to answer reader expectations and my readers want a good feeling at the end of a book… Having grown up in category romance, you have to build an audience and then keep your name in front of it.' Debbie Macomber,  in Publishing News, quoted in our Comment column.
A new writers' opportunity is literaturetraining's downloadalbe pdf with a 20-page listing of organisations, websites, magazines, publications and information sources in the UK.
Looking for an agent? Check out our new UK, US and International agency listings from the 2008 Writers' and Artists' Yearbook.
'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.' E L Doctorow in our Writers' Quotes.
The December Magazine is ready!

26 November 2007
bullet'Why do aspiring writers want to write? Because we want to give up our jobs, because we want to be rich, because we want to be famous, because we have a burning need to entertain – lots of reasons, of course, but they all essentially boil down to one: we think it will make us happier.' Bob Ritchie in his Journal.
bullet Does the Kindle herald a revolution in the book world? Have we arrived at what Evan Schnittman, Oxford University Press’s VP of Business Development, called in this week's Publishing News ‘the most significant moment in the history of e-books’?  News Review jumps in.
bulletChas Jones' latest article on Audio formats helps you choose the best of the many available audio formats to use in your own sound recording. 
bulletIt's part of our extensive new Audio Publishing section, which guides you through recording your own work.
bullet'There is no scientific proof that you will become a better, wiser person if you plough your way through Dostoevsky...' Nick Hornby in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.
bulletAre you wondering whether your work needs Copy editing? Read our articles on the difference between Copy editing and Proof-reading and the British/American divide.  Our own Copy editing service can cope with it all.
bulletThis week's Writing Opportunity is for Brendan Somers' one-day Screenwriting Masterclass at the Society of Authors in London on 10 December.
bullet'There is no way of writing well and also of writing easily.'  Anthony Trollope, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.
 

19 November 2007

The new 2008 Poetry Writers Yearbook is an essential book for poets which helps you to survive and thrive as a poet.
The Internet provides poets with an exciting new outlet for their poetry. We are reprinting an excellent article on poetry ezines and epoetry by Kostas Hrisos, founder and editor of Interpoetry.
Bob on the latest from Writers' Block, Rosetta Stone mouse-mats, bibliotherapy (what we used to call ‘reading to people’) and his thriller: 'Walking home through city resolve to archive my thriller. Finally accept it’s going nowhere. Maybe without it weighing me down I’ll at last overcome two-year writing block.' In his Journal.
'We are no longer trying to entice people who don’t really want to buy the hardback to do so.’ Is this the paperback revolution at last? News Review investigates Picador's move to paperback.
'A great irony of creative nonfiction is that one of its chief assets is also one of its chief liabilities. The fact is that in nonfiction, everything actually happened. It’s all true.'  Richard Goodman on writing creative nonfiction in The Writer’s Chronicle, quoted in our Comment column.
We have over 1800 pages. Our Help for Writers page and Site map will help you find the information you need.
You've only got until 30 November to get your entries in for The New Writer prizes for 2007!
'The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat's mat is a story.' John le Carre in our Writers' Quotes.

5 November 2007
Now available on the WritersServices website, the fully updated 2008 Writers' and Artists' Yearbook UK, US and International agents.
The 2008 edition of this essential reference book has a foreword by Alexander McCall Smith, and new articles by Claire Tomalin and Jane Green, as well as new pieces on Writing a Blog and Audio Publishing.
At midnight on Saturday the Writers Guild of America, representing 12,000 writers, went on strike,  demanding an increase in the fees writers receive from residuals and new technology.  News Review investigates.
The 2008 T S Eliot Prize shortlist (the world's top poetry award) is announced and the Shadowing Scheme starts now.
'"You're quite good are telling stories - why don't you make one up?" So I screwed my courage to the sticking place. At the end of the session they all shouted: 'Oh, sir!'  They wanted more.  In one afternoon I understood what it is to be a storyteller.' Michael Morpurgo, quoted in our Comment column.
To keep up-to-date with the writers' world, sign up for our free email newsletter. Newsletter stats show you who else subscribes.
'Except a living man there is nothing more wonderful than a book! A message to us from the dead - from human souls we never saw, who lived, perhaps, thousands of miles away. And yet these, in those little sheets of paper, speak to us, arouse us, terrify us, teach us, comfort us, open their hearts to us as brothers.'  Charles Kingsley, in our Writers' Quotes

29 October 2007

bullet Bob wakes early with the rewrite of a violent scene in his TV drama playing itself out in his head. Meanwhile: 'Am now the darling of Writers Block – as I could have predicted after my sentimental piece on the untimely death of a pet cat loosely based on an incident from my childhood is read out to the class.' In his Journal.
bulletWhy is there a compulsive need to write about dreadful real-life murders? And why are their perpetrators sometimes so keen to unveil their crimes? News Review looks at O J Simpson and Krystian Bala.
bullet Oxfam Life Lines 2 Oxfam have just launched the second Life Lines CD featuring 56 poets reading their own work.
bulletHave a look at our page of endorsements from writers who have visited the site and used what we provide.
bullet‘A poem is direct, and charged with energy. Its language is not clichéd nor second-hand. Its meaning, whether force or revelation, or slow truth, is something we can actually use.' Jeanette Winterson in her wonderful column in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.
bulletHave you tried our page on Using the web as a research tool? There's also Advanced Searching to help you make the most of this wonderful tool.
bullet'Contrary to what many of you may imagine, a career in letters is not without its drawbacks - chief among them the unpleasant fact that one is frequently called upon to sit down and write.' Fran Lebowitz, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

22 October 2007

Our  Review of The Handbook of Creative Writing concluded: 'This is a serious handbook for people who approach the business of writing in a particular fashion, for whom simply ‘doing’ isn’t quite enough; it’s for people who need to know ‘why’ as well as ‘how’. On that basis, I have no hesitation in recommending it.'
News Review on the e-book: 'But when Amazon’s Kindle is launched we should see the answer to the questions which have been hanging in the air for several years: Will the e-book have a real impact on traditional book sales? Is this the future for books?'
'Biography is still, all too often, viewed as the skill of finding as many facts as possible and assembling them into a definitive likeness, as if each piece of paper, each interview, were a clue leading to a solution.' Laura Thompson, author of Agatha Christie: An English Mystery, quoted in our Comment column.
This week's Writing Opportunity is the bluechrome Short Story Collection Award, which is open to all. The winner will receive £250, plus an offer of a contract to have a collection of ten of their short stories published.
Finding an Agent helps you to get the right one for you, Working with an agent suggests how to get the best out of the relationship.
'I am inclined t think that as I grow older I will come to be infatuated with the art of revision, and there may come a time when I will dread giving up a novel at all.' Joyce Carol Oates, in our Writers' Quotes.

15 October 2007

Bob on Nobel prize-winner Doris Lessing ('gave up after only a few pages') and competition to his own writing: 'Now why did I have to look him up? Only to learn he’s just completed a two-part TV film which looks worryingly like the play I’ve been trying to write for the last three years.' In his Journal.
 Our updated review of the  Children's Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2008 concluded that it provided 'superb listings of publishers and agents specialising in children's books across the world' and that it is still 'a fantastically valuable resource for anyone who wants to venture into this highly specialised area of publishing'.
'Books are different, as people have always argued through the ages... The amount of time a £6 (around $12) book provides - 20 hours of entertainment? - means they are fantastic value.' Luke Johnson, whose company has just bought Borders UK, in the Observer, quoted in our Comment column.
News Review looks a a hugely successful children's book project, Bookstart, the new Booked Up and Richard and Judy’s Best Kids Books Ever.
Are you worried about writer's cramp?  Our Health Hazards series will bring you up to speed on Repetitive Strain Injury and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and suggest how to avoid them.
'I've always just wanted to earn my living by writing. The best thing is to go into my study in the morning and put words together.' Robert Harris, whose new political novel The Ghost is causing a furore, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

8 October 2007

bulletThe Frankfurt Book Fair, which starts on Wednesday, is trying to broaden its appeal and secure its position as the global market place for content. News Review reports.
bulletDoes all this talk of Frankfurt make you think about submitting your own book? Have a look at our Editorial Services to get your book into shape and there are also pages on Making submissions, Finding an agent and Avoiding rejection.
bullet'A self-help book for poets, providing 101 suggestions about how develop your career as a poet and sell your work.  If you’re serious about selling your poems, this book is a must.' Our Review of 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell by Chris Hamilton-Emery of Salt Publishing.
bullet'E-books will drive book demand: Amazon is expanding the market, not cannibalising it; print-on-demand will drive book production; and agents and publishers will both thrive because the cake itself, online and in print, will expand.' Bookseller editorial, quoted in our Comment column.
bulletOur latest Writing Opportunity is the Amazon First Breakthrough Novel Award, with a $25,000 contract with Penguin USA as a first prize. You have until 5th November to enter.
bullet

'I used to think all poets were Byronic.
They’re mostly wicked as a ginless tonic’
is Wendy Cope's view as expressed in Triolet, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

1 October 2007

Macmillan New Writing 'With around 80 submissions a week and 7,000 manuscripts sent in to date, MNW is not short of material but is still looking for more good manuscripts.' Chris Holifield takes a look at this ground-breaking imprint which is looking for submissions from unpublished writers.
Bob, back again with his Writers' Block writers' group, muses on reading novels and what novelists are for: '"What are novelists for?" ... to make things right, to correct the mistakes of real life. Or, to put it slightly less charitably, to get one’s own back.’  In his Journal.
Writing has been rated the top job to dream of in a recent YouGov poll. But why? News Review investigates this surprising statistic.
Our most recent Writing Opportunity is the Academi International Poetry Competition, closing 1 February 2008, so plenty of time to enter.
'For three years, you're alone with your thoughts, then for three weeks you're thrown to the microphones in the name of 'publicity'.  The modern writer's life is like a cross between that of the Venerable Bede and Naomi Campbell.'  Sebastian Faulks, quoted in our Comment column.
Does your work need Copy-editing?  But do you know what the difference is between Copy editing and Proof-reading?  Or do you want American copy editing?
'What we want above all things is not more books, not more publishers, not more education, not more literary genius, but simply and prosaically more shops. George Bernard Shaw, in our Writers' Quotes.

24 September 2007

Are you worried about The Writer/Publisher Financial Relationship?  The latest new article in our 19-part Inside Publishing series deals with this tricky relationship  and gives useful advice on how to approach it.
News Review looks at the storm in an agency teacup caused by Carline Michel's appointment to head PFD, and how this affects authors.
What's an ISBN? We've updated our page on international standard book numbers and added new information about book registrations. See our WritersPrintShop self-publishing service.
'Demographically women of my age group are the largest group in the population and certainly of the book buying population and we are not very well catered for.' Sarah Challis, author of Footprints in the Sand in Writers' Forum, quoted in our Comment column.
Do you want free intellectual property advice? Our latest Writing Opportunity leads you to an online video.
'In America only the successful writer is important, in France all writers are important, in England no writer is important, and in Australia you have to explain what a writer is.'  Geoffrey Cotterell provides a witty international commentary in our Writers' Quotes.

17 September 2007

Are you having difficulty deciding which service might be right for you?   Choosing a Service by Chris Holifield offers advice on what to go for, depending on what stage you are at with your writing.
Bob on the strange power of language and his latest really good idea:'In a smell-o-fiction novel certain pages, paragraphs, sentences or even individual words would be impregnated with an appropriate odour...' In his Journal.
Surviving the 'omnivores and the 'killer store' - last week News Review looked at how publishers are reacting to digitalisation. This week  it will investigate how it is affecting bookselling and the outlook for the future.
A L Kennedy in our Comment column on her own prolific output: 'If you're quite a fast cook, you don't have children, you don't have pets and you've got no-one to talk to, what else are you going to do? In the Observer.
Our latest Writing Opportunity is for young poets.  The Children's  Poetry Bookshelf Competition challenges 7-11 year-olds to write a poem on the theme of 'Dreams'. New British Children's Laureate Michael Rosen is the Chair of the judges.
We've updated our wonderful page of Rotten Rejections with this gem on Sylvia Plath: 'There certainly isn't enough genuine talent for us to take notice.'
And cookery writer Clarissa Dickson Wright on writers' motivation: ‘Most writers need to write.  I write for money, really.  If I won the lottery, I would never write another word.  I would rather read.’ In our Writers Quotes

10 September 2007

bullet80,000 visitors a week are coming to the  WritersServices website!  Our visitor numbers continue to grow rapidly and the site is expected to attract 5 million people this year.  Read up on this amazing success story.
bullet Poorly Outlook - webmaster Chas Jones tells the sad story of losing his email and tells you what to do if your Outlook file is unreachable.
bulletHave a look at our WritersWebWatch for over 100 other useful articles on dealing with every aspect of technology.
bulletDigitalisation has become such a huge issue in the book world that News Review will be investigating the latest developments over the next two weeks. First, what are publishers doing about it and how will this impact on writers?
bullet'So here's the essence of what I learned as a do-it-yourself author: a publisher is far, far more than a printer and distributor of books, and an agent is more than a deal-maker.' Jack Henderson on self-publishing, in Publishing News, quoted in our Comment column.
bulletThis week's Writing Opportunity is The Poetry Business Competition for a Poetry Pamphlet.  The closing date is 31 October and winners receive publication of their pamphlet plus cash prizes.
bulletTo keep up-to-date with the writers' world, sign up for our free email newsletter. Newsletter stats show you who else subscribes.
bulletPiers Paul Read, author of Alive! still thinks that 'Truth is always duller than fiction.' He's in our Writers' Quotes.
 

3 September 2007

Does presentation matter? In the seventh and final Editor's View Maureen deals with typefaces, layouts, page numbers, putting your material into one document and spell-checkers. 'So far, in these columns, I’ve been talking about the nuts and bolts of writing, and about the ways in which people come unstuck in terms of content. This time, I want to talk about the ways writers can make life easier for editors and readers like me.'
News Review looks at the effect of stock market turbulence on the book world and better news from booksellers Borders.
Bob is still experiencing the effects of heavy rain, but this time on holiday in France, where he serendipitously discovers a study showing the benefits of writing a diary: 'it’s not just OK to write about feeling lonely and miserable, it’s positively beneficial. We should write about what we feel. It’s good for us. Let the words flow; don’t worry about spelling or grammar.' In his Journal.
'In this blizzard of commentary, from blogosphere to talk radio, it's odd to discover that literary prizes now stand out as a remarkably reliable guide…' Robert McCrum in the Observer, quoted in our Comment column.
Our latest Writing Opportunity is a teleseminar with well-known agent Simon Trewin on How to make the perfect pitch to agents.
If you're just back from a summer of working on your manuscript, don't forget we have a full range of editorial Services to help you get it into shape, from Reports for adult and children's manuscripts to Copy editing, Submission critiques to Rewriting.
‘Good novels are not written, they are rewritten. Great novels are diamonds mined from layered rewrites.’ Andre Jute, in our Writers' Quotes.

20 August 2007

Are you keen to get your poetry published but don't know where to start?  Our new article helps you to look at the best approach to help you make your way into print.
After last week’s look at brand name authors whose books are written by others, this week News Review investigates those who continue their writing careers from beyond the grave.
You need to hurry if you want to take advantage of this week's Writing Opportunity and get your screenplay in for the £5,000 ($9,908) Red Planet Prize by 1 September...
'With success I think a lot of it is luck.  I've met a lot of depressed, frustrated authors who are still lugging their manuscripts around publishing houses.' Joanne Harris in Writers' Forum, quoted in our Comment column.
Our Help for Writers page guides you to hundreds of pages of advice to improve your writing, get published, raise money and publish your own book.
And from our Writers' Quotes this gem from Groucho Marx: 'Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.'
 

13 August 2007

Bob on being nearly flooded but catching the attention of foreign media and the argument in US books groups about whether listening to a novel is the same as reading it: 'The ‘hardcore’ book clubbers accuse the listeners of ‘cheating’. Listeners tend to laugh it off, but confess to feeling ‘guilty’. In his Journal.
'Random House UK announced recently that their newly-acquired mega-selling author James Patterson will nearly double his annual output to eight books a year.'  So how does he do it?  News Review investigates.
We've updated a lot of our recommended Links, so take a look at our lists of Writers' Web Resources and Writers Magazines & Sites.
'We can enjoy a thousand passionately consumed book cults - unpredictable, unbankable, artist-led and the worst nightmare of the risk-phobic, sequel-crazy, celebrity-obsessed multinationals that dominate world publishing.' Celia Brayfield in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.
Our latest Writing Opportunity is the Small Wonder Short Story Festival at Charleston in the UK from 19-23 September.
'The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new.' Samuel Johnson in our Writers' Quotes.
 

6 August 2007

Are you working on an autobiography or travel writing?  In the the sixth article in the Editor's View series Maureen deals with these popular genres: 'Generally, I enjoy my work, but reading autobiographies and travel stories for assessment is the hardest thing I ever do. Why? Because I feel I’m not so much passing judgement on a piece of writing as on a person’s life and experiences.'
The battle of the classics has commenced! News Review looks at two big classic series relaunches and new 'compact' versions for the time-strapped reader.
Auto-googling, the latest article in our Writers' Web Watch, is about finding yourself on the web and how to boost your own identity. See also our many articles on Web issues and Getting the best out of the web.
'Today the danger for writers who continue to aspire to "good" in the old sense is that they won't get published at all, or it will be with miserable print runs.' Fay Weldon in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.
Our latest Writing Opportunity is for the UK's National Association of Writers' Groups' Open Annual Festival in Durham at the end of the month.
'Better to write twaddle, anything, than nothing at all.' Short story genius Katherine Mansfield, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

30 July 2007

Our latest new review is for Alison Baverstock's book, which asks a fundamental question for every writer: Is there a book in you?  'Being realistic about the resources you will need... are what this immensely useful book is all about. It should be required reading for all writers who aren’t sure about their commitment to the craft.'
Other reviews on the site cover The Creative Writing Coursebook, Your First Novel and The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book: Your Guide to successful authorship.
News Review looks at the sale of successful independent publisher Piatkus and what it means for the corporate battle for market share.
'I can't imagine setting a novel in a place I've never visited.  I need smells, textures, the colour of the light.  When I wrote a novel set in Antarctica, for example, I went down and lived on a research station for six weeks.' Rosie Thomas in Writers' Forum, quoted in our Comment column.
Our latest Writing Opportunity is Legend Press's third short story collection.
'Pedestrian writing, thin characters - I can handle the criticism. I write to pedestrians. And I am a pedestrian. I write the best I can. I know I'm never going to be revered as some classic writer. I don't claim to be C. S. Lewis. The literary-type writers, I admire them. I wish I was smart enough to write a book that's hard to read, you know?' Jerry Jenkins, co-author of the Left Behind series, in our Writers' Quotes.

23 July 2007

A revolutionary online licensing system, Creative Commons is 'a clever and innovative way of licensing material which both makes it widely available and also protects and controls the licence given.
The article is part of our Inside Publishing series, which  deals with everything from Advances and royalties to Copyright, from Subsidiary rights to Children's publishing.
Bob on writing from life: 'For myself, after letting friends and family read my first novel, I rather depressingly saw that their inability to recognise themselves properly was less a reflection of their vanity, more a reflection of my shortcomings as a writer.' In his Journal.
'The Harry Potter saga shows that the book world has changed for good, and not in ways that make sense in relation to the simple equation of writer, book and reader.' News Review is still ruminating on the biggest one-day sale of any book in history.
'We must marshal knowledge from the relevant disciplines — design, the arts, cognitive science, engineering — in order to build tools and interfaces that will help us make sense of the huge masses of information that have been dumped upon us with the advent of computer networks.' Ben Vershbow quoted in our Comment column.
'Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand - a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods - or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.' Willa Cather in our Writers' Quotes.

16 July 2007

Can you trust Free software? Chas Jones looks at what you can get for free, in a consumer's guide to what's out there. His view is that: 'There is nothing wrong with free software.'
Is this the last Harry Potter?  'It’s ironic that the book which is the biggest seller on the planet should be treated as just another loss leader.' News Review on Pottermainia.
The first in a new series of writers' success stories - children's author Rosalind Kerven sets up her own publishing company to bring out her new historical series.
'A good book is a good book no matter what the genre or how many copies it sells.  And a bad book remains bad, whatever the pedigree of the author.'   Scott Pack of the Friday Project in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.
With web etiquette becoming topical, you can always consult our well-established guide to make sure your email etiquette is bang on the nail. It's one of over  100 pages of help and advice in our Writers' Web Watch.
'You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you've got something to say.' F Scott Fitzgerald, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

9 July 2007

bullet Bob on Le Tour, the nature of tragedy and returning to the novel which came to him in a dream: 'Against my better judgment find myself writing odd paragraphs of novel dreamt up some three months ago...' In his Journal
bullet Colour printing - advances in technology mean that it's now possible to produce colour books using print on demand. So if you've got a project needing colour illustrations, you can now self-publish - with just a small quantity if you want - through WritersPrintShop.
bullet The retailer Fopp has collapsed. The British book trade is close to meltdown at the moment, due to circumstances which affect mature bookselling markets across the globe. News Review reports.
bulletWritersServices webmaster Chas Jones has just had his book, which sold out in hardback, published in paperback. It's called The Forgotten Battle of 1066: Fulford. The battlefield Chas discovered outside York is still under threat. Available from Amazon at £9.09($17.17).
bullet'The idea that thrillers are peripheral to literature drives me nuts.  The thriller concept is why humans invented story-telling, thousands of years ago.'  Lee Child in Seven, quoted in our Comment column.
bulletOur latest Writing Opportunity is the prestigious and highly competitive National Poetry Competition run by the Poetry Society in the UK.  It's open to everybody.
bullet‘An intelligent observation of the facts of human existence will reveal to shallow-minded folk who sneer at the use of coincidence in the arts of fiction and drama that life itself is little more than a series of coincidences.’ Rafael Sabatini, in our Writers' Quotes.

2 July 2007

Who's telling your story? In her fifth article of advice for writers our editor Maureen Kincaid Speller deals with points of view: 'It is a great temptation for the inexperienced author to write from the first-person viewpoint.'
'Have those involved in the latest terrorist threats in the UK also been inflamed by news of Rushdie’s knighthood?' News Review looks at the links between literature and terror.
To give some light relief we've added to our downloadable poster collection with the fourth Writers on Writing. The whole collection is 15, with Who needs experts? and Computers particularly recommended.
From our Comment column: 'I don't think writers choose their subjects.  The process seems to work in reverse.  An image, a picture unfurls in your imagination, or a line of dialogue, or a situation...' Joseph O'Connor, author of Redemption Falls.
Our latest Writing Opportunity is Media Predict's innovative Project Publish, which we urge you to take a look at for yourself.
Don't forget that there are extensive publishing and printing and web and technical glossaries on the site, useful for checking unfamiliar words.
'What's the product that is imbued with the most value, and the most meaning, and is the most important thing in the world?  And without a doubt, that is books.' Emma Barnes, MD of Snowbooks, confriming our won view in our Writers' Quotes.
The July Magazine is ready!

25 June 2007

Setting as character - Timothy Hallinan, author of A Nail through the Heart - on the importance of place in your writing.
News Review investigates the row over publishers’ attempts to rewrite author contracts to allow for changes in technology which make it possible to keep books perpetually ‘in print’.
Bob on suing if you get a bad reviews (but how do you judge what is good?) and Salman Rushdie's knighthood: 'has anyone – pro or con – actually read The Satanic Verses?' In his Journal.
'There are whole new generations of writers waiting to come to the fore via the internet rather than via the traditional route of agents and publishers...' Richard Bawden of  KPMG in Publishing News, quote din our Comment column.
Our latest Writing opportunity is the New Writer Prizes.
'Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money from and fame from this state of being.' A A Milne in our Writers' Quotes
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to keep up with what's new on the site.

18 June 2007

The long and winding road to publication... WritersServices' freelance editor Colin Murray on his own tortuous path to eventual publication: 'No matter how jaded and cynical one pretends to be, there is nothing like holding a copy of your first book.'
Michael Rosen has been appointed UK Children's Laureate, and will make children's poetry and picture books the focus of his Laureateship. News Review reports.
Bob on: 'the ideal form of censorship: the kind we writers feel compelled to do to ourselves' and more from the writer's life.  In his Journal.
'I never asked myself whether a 500-page novel about a Greek family told by a hermaphrodite would be the kind of thing people would read.'  Jeffrey Eugenides, author of Middlesex, which has just been chosen by the Oprah Book Club. In our Comment column.
Our latest Writing opportunity is a free Writing Masterclass in a competition set up by Penguin to promote Naomi Alderman's Disobedience.
Having problems with technology?  Or savvy about the web and up for advanced technical articles?  Either way, you're catered for in more than 100 pages in our Writers' Web Watch.
‘Ever tried.  Ever failed.  No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’  Samuel Beckett, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

11 June 2007

Do you need to plan your novel? The fourth article  in our Editor's View series deals with the vexed question of whether you should plan before you start writing: 'the important thing to remember is that you’ll have to do it at some stage ... and to find the point in the process that works best for you.'
'I’ve been offered a deal for £50,000.'  ‘New author scoops big publishing deal’ is always a cheering story about the launch of a first-time writer’s career...  News Review follows Marie Phillips' progress.
'Paramount option around 100 scripts each year and make ten pictures.' John Jenkins, editor of Writers Forum magazine, in his last column for the magazine on film deals.'
'Publishing one's first novel at 58 is both wonderful and terrifying...'  Her advice to literary late-starters: ' Keep going, keep going.  It's not too late.' Marina Lewycka, author of Two Caravans, quoted in our Comment column.
Our latest Writing Opportunity is to write a poem to help celebrate the Bicentenary of the Slave Trade.
Trying to get your children's book published?  Our children's editorial services include reports and copy editing by skilled editors.
'There is absolutely no point in sitting down to write a book unless you feel that you must write that book, or else go mad, or die.' Robertson Davies in our Writers' Quotes.
The June Magazine is ready!

28 May 2007

Our latest contribution to My Say from Eliza Graham tells how she finally got her novel, Playing with the Moon, published as part of the Macmillan New Writing programme.
Bob muses on England and Englishness:'In fact, according to E M Forster, Englishmen aren’t really allowed to feel anything at all... "It is not that the Englishman can’t feel…he has been taught that feeling is bad form."' In his Journal.
'I never liked that tradition of post-feminist writing which is all celebrating periods and pregnancy. I'm much more interested in the real nuts and bolts of how women experience their bodies.' Sarah Waters in the Independent on Sunday, quoted in our Comment column.
Following on from last week's look at the audiobook market, News Review investigates how downloads will lead the audio revolution.
Our latest Writers' Opportunity is the Winchester Writers' conference at the end of June.
Have a look at our page of endorsements from writers who have visited the site and used what we provide.
'Just because you go somewhere it doesn't mean you have a peculiar or vivid or insightful take on the place.  Any story takes place in the landscape of the imagination.'
Stef Penney on her refusal to visit the northern Ontario location for her Costa-winning novel, The Tenderness of Wolves, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.

21 May 2007

Booktrust and Writers is the first in an occasional series about organisations of interest to writers. First, Chris Meade, its Director, on the work of Booktrust, which provides a model for new initiatives to promote books all over the world.
Are audiobooks becoming sexy at last, in decline, or staging a comeback? News Review provides an update.
'Biographies have become the standard-bearers of Western culture, the lives by which we measure our lives.'  Ben Macintrye in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.
Does your book need research? We have a helpful article on using the Web as a research tool and a list of handy sites, plus a review of Ann Hoffman's useful book Research for Writers.
'The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.' is John Steinbeck's sightly depressing view - in our Writers' Quotes.
 

14 May 2007

Bob wonders about the link between depression and writing: 'Have I become too happy to be a writer?... I still enjoy writing and I still want to write. But – how to put it? – I no longer feel driven...' In his Journal.
'The romance genre has traditionally been rather looked down on by the publishing industry and thought to have an ageing market, but there are signs that it is rapidly reinventing itself for the Internet world.' News Review investigates.
John Jenkins, editor of Writers Forum magazine on creative writing courses: 'the phrase which worried me most was that the object of the course was not publication... If Miss Student is not studying to get published what’s she doing there for 90 weeks spread over three years?'
Are you thinking about submitting your work?  Our Help for Writers section includes Preparing Your Submission Package and Finding an Agent.
'The idea that those of us who blog about books and reading might somehow be degrading literary taste is a patronising and ridiculous one…' Susan Hill in her blog, quoted in our Comment column.
Our latest Writing Opportunity is Julia McCutchen's teleseminar interview with Gabriella Goddard on developing a platform for getting published and selling your books.
'The end of a novel, like the end of a children's dinner-party, must be made up of sweet-meats and sugar-plums.' Anthony Trollope in Barchester Towers, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.
 

7 May 2007

How do you become a successful genre writer? In her third article our long-serving WritersServices Editor answers this important question.
The London and Bologna book fairs show the extent to which the book business is increasingly reaching out across the world'. In this week's News Review.
New Writing Ventures offers fantastic opportunities for unpublished British writers of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction in our latest Writers' Opportunity.
'As you start writing a short story there's the sense that perfection is just beyond your reach.' Peter Ho Davies, author of The Welsh Girl quoted in our Comment column, on the difference between writing short stories and novels.
'I think we got much better poetry when it was all regarded as sinful or subversive, and you had to hide it under the cushion when somebody came in.' Philip Larkin in our Writers' Quotes.
If you're interested in how software might help with your writing, take a look at our writers' software review section.

30 April 2007

Diagram Prize Winner announced - check out the 2006 winner of the Prize for the oddest title of the year.
'Recent mega-deals for two history-writing superstars show the increasing strength of this genre in both fiction and non-fiction.' News Review investigates.
Check out our carefully chosen Links, with many new entries and 18 sections to help you find what you're looking for on the web.
'The past?  I don't want to see the past. I want to see the future. I get very jealous of the future, because I know I'm not going to be around.' Douglas Coupland in the Observer magazine, quoted in our Comment column.
Our latest Writing Opportunity is the Daily Mail First Novel Award, with a £30,000 contract with Transworld Publishers as the prize.
And here's a sharp comment from P D James from our Writers' Quotes: 'Publishers don't nurse you; they buy and sell you.'

23 April 2007

bullet News Review looks at authors' names and whether they affect their sales, plus the finding that 49% of readers are influenced by word-of-mouth.
bullet Bob ruminates on connections between writers and places, George Orwell and Southwold, and M R James and the ghost-town of  Dunwich: 'Which only goes to show one shouldn’t associate a writer with a place too closely. Graham Swift aside, either they never lived there, or they just made it up.' In his Journal.
bullet Getting the best from Amazon - our new article shows you how to work with Amazon to maximise your book sales through them. Promoting your book sales online outlines options for selling books through Amazon.
bullet'It is time to make a distinction between writing which is produced with the intention of being literature, and what I call ‘wreading’, words produced primarily as personal documentation, an activity which has mushroomed online.' Chris Meade of Booktrust, quoted in our Comment column.
bullet'A writer's duty is to register what it is like for him or her to be in the world.' Zadie Smith in the Guardian, in our Writers' Quotes.
bullet Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with what's new at WritersServices. You can also check out the subscription statistics.

9 April 2007

bullet In spite of feeling jealous of a successful fellow-writer and disturbed by the size of his wife's royalty cheque, Bob still thinks a writer's life is preferable to: 'previous twilit years of salaried employment, when my days were ruled by words like efficiency, time management, priority scheduling.' In his Journal.
bulletPrint on demand is coming of age.  News Review reports on the way it is changing publishing and enabling writers to self-publish.
bullet How to Write a Novel Author Donna Grisanti offers some advice on getting started: 'Before starting the exciting journey of writing a novel, check the true level of your enthusiasm.... On average, writing a novel is a 2+ year task, which requires a strong positive attitude...'
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