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News Review looks at three recent new writers' success
stories, including a self-publishing triumph.
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How second-hand book sales threaten authors' income:
'Amazon’s Marketplace facility is thought to be particularly damaging
because it displays the second-hand version alongside the new book.'
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Christmas sales were better than feared -
books proved popular Christmas gifts and the
book trade did in fact get its annual bonanza.
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News Review looks at The Da Vinci Code and concludes that,
since there's nothing new about the content or scintillating about
the writing, it looks like it's the compelling page-turning plots which are
making these books into such huge bestsellers.
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It looks like a disappointing Christmas in retail, as online
sales boom and, surprisingly, a fiction title, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci
Code, is the fastest selling book in the UK.
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'It is with books as with men - a very small
number play a great part; the rest are lost in the multitude.'
Voltaire
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Our tenth excerpt from David Armstrong's entertaining book:
This month the author turns to the dreaded subject of the Slush
Pile, quoting the American author Jacob
Epstein, who says that 81 % of
Americans feel they have a book in them and that they should write it.
'Fact is, it's a highly subjective business, and there’s no science
involved at all. While the ads in the books pages might tell us that
we’re all writers, publishers appear more sceptical about these claims.'
A new list, updated to include the 2005 dates for book fairs all
over the world.
Check out this year's peculiar winner!
Our latest survey results provide a fascinating insight into what
new writers want to help them get started. More help from big
publishers is a top choice.
Plus many interesting
comments, such as: ‘publishing is like an impregnable
mountain fortress that has to be broken into by force’
It's easy on the web! Check out our new page with masses of links
to the best sites to get you started.
In our WritersPrintShop
self-publishing section, we have a new page on
Clearing Copyright, with
some useful addresses.
Working through
WritersPrintshop, Chas Jones
of WritersServices has just self-published a
book using their own diaries and recollections to reveal the
extraordinary true story of a group of British rail workers and miners sent
to France right at the beginning of the war.
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Bob is still confined to bed, recovering from his accident:
'Although mine is the name that appears at the top of the script, I know
that nearly all the names that follow make a contribution. If there’s one
thing I’ve learned from working on EE, it’s that writers can’t be precious.
So am I offended? No, I’m not.'
This week
Recent figures show that half our newsletter subscribers have been
signed up for two years and over half are 'workers' or in education.
Sign up for our newsletter to get
weekly updates of what's new on the site.
We're extending our Christmas support for this charity to publicise
their Tsunami initiative to help replenish the 52 school and community
libraries destroyed in Sri Lanka.
Our new survey - see below
Deborah Lawrenson offers a cheering update to the good news about
her self-publishing success, as her book
shoots up in value in the first edition book market.
Writers' Forum Column
John Jenkins on the readability of the Booker list, John Humphrys'
campaign for correct use of English and The Times going
tabloid. The Editor's View, written by the Editor of
Writers' Forum magazine.
Check out the 13 different editorial services we offer, from Reports to
Copy editing, Typing to Contract vetting. Our latest article updates our piece on Trojan horses with the
latest scams
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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