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News Review looks at the forthcoming big bonanza of Harry Potter sales, other
bestselling children's authors and the new competition for a children's novel.
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News Review looks at two BookExpo panels discussing corporate
synergies and world right deals. Stephen Page of Faber thinks: ‘I want to take a big baseball bat to the idea of global
publishing. It is fantasy.’
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At BookExpo ‘There's a lot of schmoozing going on, but real work gets done and
you can really set up books coming down the pike.’ But new titles in the US
soared last year to 195,000.
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News Review looks at the success of a children's author who is already
well-know for her writing: 'We can look forward to a
splendid sequence of films – and to the chance to read the books which have now
been plucked from the obscurity of the backlist.'
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Visa International recently estimated that global e-commerce sales grew last
year by a whopping 56% to £79 billion ($150 billion). News Review looks at how
this affects books.
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'Ordinarily it is the dumbest business on the planet, taking nine months to a
year - or more - to shepherd a manuscript through editing and production'
Jonathan Yardley's views on publishing, in the Washington Post |
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‘My advice to budding authors is always the same: go the distance on the
story. Work over it again and again. Hone your writing until it flows like
running water... Above all, develop your own voice.' Tom Bowler
in Writers' Forum |
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'There's never been a better time for publishers, authors and the book
trade... Yet I can't help feeling the
industry is still dragging its feet and slow to embrace new ideas.'
David Freeman in the Bookseller on why publishers are not using their
most powerful marketing tool. |
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'Writing a novel, I discovered then, in that initial fumbling stage, is a
test of absolute faith and absolute endurance.' Diana Evans, on
writing her first novel 26a, in the Observer |
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'Libraries' biggest problem is the neglect of their core area: books.
The public library service now holds fewer than two copies for every UK
resident, and spends just 9p in the pound on books.' Bookseller
editorial |
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'Writing is a strange synthesis between the two parts of your mind: the
analytical side and the side that knows nothing at all, and you have to allow
the dreaming side free rein.’
Rose Tremain
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Writing Handbooks
The third of three excerpts from this title from the A & C Black
Writing Handbooks series looks at planning the work and finishing it:
'When you do tackle a particular section or chapter it is tempting
to sit down before a blank screen, or a blank sheet of paper, and simply
start writing. However, a bit of pre-planning can make for a much more
productive process...'
The third in our series of
magazine reviews.
Our reviewer 's view was that: 'Writers’ News two-in-one
package also represents excellent value and is recommended for writers
who want to keep in touch, find out about markets and improve their
writing.'
Your chance to make your views heard in a new survey funded by
Arts Council England. But hurry - you've only got
till 30 June!
Check out our just-overhauled 18 pages of carefully-chosen links
for writers, which range from Writers' Online Services to Web Resources.
Please email us with any good
children's sites you recommend for our new section.
Try our new survey
See below
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.
This gives writers the chance to submit unpublished
work for the British Council's new anthology.
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Bob is afflicted by the kind of technical problems which drive you mad -
especially when it's just ten minutes to your deadline for delivering your current EasterEnders
script:
'Stare at screen in appalled disbelief. Try again. Same
thing happens. Feel sweat break out on brow. Tell myself to stay calm...
With hollow laugh ask myself which is falling apart faster: my laptop or
me?'
This week
Results
of our survey on getting a publishing deal
Our fascinating new survey looks at your experiences with
trying to get a publishing deal. The conclusions are:
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Write what people want
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Try up to 10 publishers or agents
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Don't ignore self-publishing
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Other surveys and results - see
below.
Check out this new opportunity to win a publishing
deal.
Take a look at what the experts say about dealing with criticism in a
positive and constructive way.
Writers' Forum Column
John Jenkins looks at literary prizes, in particular the new
Decibel Prize, recently awarded to highly successful author Hari Kunzru
and at the unpublished writers' need for stamina and determination:
'How does anybody take 10 rejections and come back to succeed with number
11?... I wonder if authors ever fully cost the time it takes to write
a book. Do those who self-publish calculate their time at so much an hour –
£10, £30 or even £300? 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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