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In what the UK reckons to be the dog days of summer, the most
extraordinary dispute looks headed for open warfare... News Review
looks at W H Smith's v the publishers.
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News Review looks at the wonderful 'books for babies' scheme: Bookstart youngsters were six
times more likely to be library members and confirmed that the effect of the
early exposure to books lasts and helps with the children's attitudes to reading
throughout their schooldays.'
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'It's not surprising that
many publishers now rate Amazon as their most important outlet as far as
backlist is concerned. It is believed to account for up to 75% of Amazon's
book sales.' News Review looks at the latest from the Internet giant.
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'So, in 2004, do we need science fiction? Some features of the world of
2004 resemble science fictional dreams of the past; some science fiction
scenarios are obsolete.' Stephen Baxter in The Times
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‘In America, there’s a huge schism between literary and commercial,
created largely by marketing and by chain bookstores. ' Jodi Picoult in Publishing News
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'I feel that anyone who wants to write historical fiction needs to love the
genre, rather than be tempted to have a go at historical novels just because
they seem to be fashionable right now... But most of all, new novelists
need to enjoy what they are doing, because this enjoyment will show in their
writing.’ Jude Morgan, author of Passion in Writers’ Forum
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'The
business is so f***ing hard now, and there's so much pressure on those
working inside it, that either they don't have the time for (shall we say)
pro bono discourse about (say) how to do some of the little things better; or
they feel that giving away what few secrets they possess will put them at
the sort of competitive disadvantage that might, soon, cost them their jobs.’ Mad Max Perkins of BookAngst
101
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‘God has a great sense of humour. If I hadn’t got my
book deal, I’d be living off £400 a month pension.’
G P Taylor, who has a 9-book deal with Faber
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Writing Handbooks
The second excerpt from this title from the A & C Black Writing
Handbooks series looks at beginning to define your lead and developing
your 'Suppose' through wht literary agent Even Marshall calls 'the three
three crisis criteria':
'The situation the crisis creates must intrigue you. You’ll be with this
novel a long time. If you get bored while you’re writing it, you may not finish
it...'
'Open Access is not a business model. It is an expression of the
rights of everybody to have access to these resources... If users
decide that the work available in open access is not up to standard this
model will struggle to grow.'
Chas Jones looks at how the open access model really works.
The fourth in our series of magazine reviews.
This month the focus is on Mslexia magazine:
'for women writers who take their writing quite seriously and are
aiming at the more literary end of the spectrum but who want good
practical advice, offered in an accessible and friendly way, Mslexia
is perfect. '
For reviews of Writers' Forum, Writer's Digest and
Writers' News, see our
writers' magazine review section.
Check out the 15 different editorial services we offer, from Reports to
Copy editing, Typing to Contract vetting. Our latest new service is
Synopsis-writing.
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Bob on whether writers should reflect the new culture since 9/11 - and
whether he's persona non grata at EasterEnders because of his
article in the 2006 Writer's Handbook:
'A novelist only engages with real life in order to tidy it up... Should
never forget that novels, no matter how ‘engaged’, are primarily works of
the imagination.'
This week
Praise for WritersServices
Check out WritersServices' wonderful
review in ArtsProfessional magazine: 'this
site was set up specifically to help writers prepare for publication.
It has a great resource section...'
Chas Jones
investigates how self-publishers can extend the market for their books:
'pursuing some of these avenues brings you much closer to your readers and
should allow you to learn a lot more about your market'
Fay Weldon on the writer's role: ‘The reader is looking
to you to provide some meaning and shape to the chaos of real life... The writer’s job is
to provide a pattern.'
Try our new survey
See below
Writers' Forum Column
John Jenkins looks at the star-studded line-up at the Cheltenham
Festival and what judges of writing competitions are looking for, and asks
whether media studies are more important than Eng.Lit? 'So are the characters memorable? Is the dialogue crisp? Could the
beginning and ending of the story be polished?' The Editor's View, written by the Editor of
Writers' Forum magazine.
Our design, print and distribution service for self-publishers. The
latest addition to the service is our WritersPrintShop online bookshop,
which will sell your book for you on the Internet as soon as it's published.
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