What's New in 2015
- The unique Novella Award is open to any writer in the English-speaking world with an entry fee of £17 and a 1st Prize of £1,000 and publication by Sandstone Press. It closes on 15 June. This week's Writing Opportunity.
- ‘We change whilst we are in the midst of writing a book. We change, and I dare say we become better people. A novelist is always wiser when inside a novel than when outside. Stories shape their storytellers as much as storytellers shape their stories...' This week's Comment is from Elif Shafak, author of The Architect's Apprentice and Turkey's bestselling female novelist, in the Observer.
- Are you ready to show your poetry to magazines and publishers, but worried about rejection? Perhaps you're not sure it's ready for submission yet? Or do you just want an expert opinion on your poetry? Our Poetry Critique service can help. There's also our new Poetry Collection Editing service, which is for poets who want help with preparing their poetry collection for self-publishing or submission to publishers.
- Good news on children's books - 'Recent figures from Nielsen BookscanUK bibliographic organisation, describing itself as 'the definitive retail monitoring service for books', which shows UK bestseller lists on its website. http://www.nielsenbookscan.co.uk/ show that children's print books are doing well in eleven out of the twelve countries the research tracks, the exception being India. That means there's a real boom going on in children's books, heartening news for children's writers...' This week's News Review is entitled Children's print book sales booming.
- Suzy Jenvey, vastly experienced children's editorial director and now agent, has written a special series for WritersServices, the four-part The Essential Guide to Writing for Children. The first article looks at the all-important question of age groups and what you should be aware of in writing for each one. The second part is - Before You Write: What is My Story Going to be? The third part deals with Starting to Write and the fourth part is about Submitting Your Work to Agents and Editors.
- Our links this week: There is a big gap in earnings between writers, with a small number - 10% - earning most of the money made by professional authors, 'Huge inequality' in writer earnings | The Bookseller; are publishers right to feel smug about how they've dealt with digital? Book Publishing's Digital Disruption Hasn't Even Started | Digital Book World; a shrewd publishing veteran likens her new business to Knopf in the glory days, Jane Friedman on Open Road Media, Five Years After Launch; how technology is transforming opportunities for publishers and authors, The businesses of books | The Bookseller.
- And a few more links: she's a success now but her book "felt like the last roll of the dice" for her as a writer, The Girl on the Train: how Paula Hawkins wrote ‘the new Gone Girl' | Books | The Guardian; it's been proved time and time again that readers don't buy by publisher, When Will Publishers Learn? Direct to Consumer Doesn't Work; and a personal view from Stephen Page of Faber, London Book Fair's Evolution Reflects Publishing's New Ecology.
- Bob's Journal is a long-running column from writer Bob Ritchie described by fellow EastEnders script-writer Pippa McCarthy: 'Just discovered your web page... I've just spent the last hour crying with laughter with periodic yelps of 'been there!'... I'm going to make my entire family read your diary. Then perhaps will understand own bizarre behaviour every time I start a script... Anyway, will shut up now but just wanted to say you have cheered me up no end. It's brilliant.'
- ‘If you try to nail anything down, in the novel, either it kills the novel, or the novel gets up and walks away with the nail.' D H Lawrence in our Writers' Quotes.
- After a London Book Fair (LBF) which was all about publishers from across the world talking to each other, a Bookseller article enables us to look in more depth at last week's link Authors call for better communication with publishers | The Bookseller. This week's News Review is about the London Book Fair and how authors are disappointed by publishers.
- Our 19-part Inside Publishing series gives you an insider's take on the publishing world, covering everything from subsidiary rights to the world Engllish language market, from advances and royalties to the writer/publisher financial relationship.
- Our Comment this week is by Akhil Sharma, author of Family Life, which has just won the Folio Prize: ‘If you write only the true things people get bored... ordinary life is shapeless... When I write, I'm here to use everything I can to make this a good book. It's not me expressing my inner soul. It is me using everything that I have, so I can tell this story...'
- Are you interested in Getting Your Manuscript Copy Edited? As well as this article we have one from our Inside Publishing series about Copy editing and proof-reading - and the difference between them - and we offer a Copy editing service, as well as a Proof-reading service and our special Manuscript Polishing service, which involves more intensive work, 'polishing' and improving the text, and correcting the English if you are writing in English as a second language.
- WritersServices editor Kay GaleWritersServices editor who has worked for many years as a freelance editor for number of publishers. is shortlisted for The DFDS Travel Blogger of the Year Award for her engaging website The Single Gourmet Traveller, but you've only got until 24 April if you want to vote for her on this site.
- You've got until 29 May to enter this week's Writing Opportunity, the 2015 University of Canberra Vice Chancellor's International Poetry Prize, one of the richest poetry prizes in the world and open to all poets from across the world.
- Links of the week: a perceptive and well-informed look at publishing from a top London editor, The civil war for books: where is the money going? - Spectator Blogs; why do big novels and series have such a hold on the reader? From Potter to Tartt to Ferrante ‹ Literary Hub; why is listening to audio so compelling as a way of story-telling? This Is Your Brain on Podcasts: Why Audio Storytelling Is So Addictive - The Atlantic; and a fascinating account of how secondhand books got to where they are now, Can you really make a living by selling used books on Amazon for a penny? | Books | The Guardian.
- More links: rather to the surprise of publishing commentators, our biggest trade publisher is getting into subscription after all, Penguin Random House Might Not Understand the Subscription Market, But They're Getting Into It Anyway | Ink, Bits, & Pixels; how books are fighting back, Traditional books on paper open a new chapter of success | Books | The Guardian; and a successful initiative in Africa, As Seen from Uganda, African Writing is Alive and Well.
- Useful pages on the WritersService website include Making Submissions and Finding an Agent.
- 'If you go too far in fantasy and break the string of logic, and become nonsensical, someone will surely remind you of your dereliction....Pound for pound, fantasy makes a tougher opponent for the creative person. 'Richard Matheson in our Writers' Quotes.
- Our Writing Opportunity is The London Magazine's Poetry Competition 2015. Closing on 31 May, it's for poets across the world and there's an entry fee. First Prize: £200, Second Prize: £150 and Third Prize: £100.
- 'This year's Bologna Book Fair reflected the strength of children's publishing worldwide. Although relatively new fairs such as the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair are making ambitious strides in terms of attracting children's publishers, Bologna is unsurpassed in its appeal as the international rights fair for children's books...' Our report from the Bologna Children's Book Fair is in News Review.
- Have you managed to find a publisher for your work and are now enjoying the thrill of knowing that your book will soon be published? If you're wondering what happens next, here is an outline of the processes involved. Preparing for Publication.
- 'It's good not to think too far ahead. If you have got a story that you feel you want to write, just write it...' Kate Hamer, whose 21st century 'Little Red Riding Hood', The Girl in the Red Coat, is tipped to be a bestseller, in the Independent on Sunday, in our Comment column.
- Do you want to self-publish your work? WritersServices offers a suite of services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish. Services for Self-publishers.
- Our links this week: the results of a new survey show what publishers need to do to keep their authors happy, Authors call for better communication with publishers | The Bookseller; famous quotes which have been misattributed, or even just made up, Maya Angelou's misquoted stamp - and other famous lines we all get wrong | Books | The Guardian; and does it really matter much to authors if publishers are engaged in battle with Amazon? How Do Amazon-Publisher Disputes Affect Authors and Readers?
- More links: a careful and detailed article about why you should produce your books as digital files, Twelve Ways to Update Print Book Production Habits | Digital Book World; battle royal has broken out in the SF world, George RR Martin says rightwing lobby has 'broken' Hugo awards | Books | The Guardian; and a well-argued defence of ebooks, What's the matter with ebooks? In our praise for print, we forget the great virtues of digital formats. | USAPP.
- Tom Chalmers of IPPR has written two articles about rights for self-publishers, Self-publishing - the rights way and How to get your book in the hands of an international audience. 'It's a fact that most self-published authors understand the process that takes them from a written manuscript to a published book, but few realise the additional elements that make publishing a profitable business. Rights licensing is arguably the most vital element in this equation. Whether it's selling translation rights, audio rights or optioning the film rights, these all help balance the book's books...'
- 'Much is written of the power of the Press, a power which may last but a day; by comparison little is heard of the power of books, which may endure for generations.' Sir Stanley Unwin, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.
- Two big authors, one American and one British, have moved UK publishers in the last week. Danielle Steel has a new ten-book contract with Pan MacmillanOne of largest fiction and non-fiction book publishers in UK; includes imprints of Pan, Picador and Macmillan Children’s Books and Kate Mosse has a deal for her new trilogy with the same publisher. Our News Review this week is about big authors changing publishers - and why.
- From guest contributor Michael McPherson, Top Free Contests for New Writers. 'Are you a talented writer who wants to get noticed? Then what better way to start your career than participating in writing contests? There are a lot of free online competitions for new writers from all over the world...' and here are five of them.
- Check out our listing of 2015 International Book Fairs to see what's still coming up in 2015.
- ‘Publishing was like throwing stones into a swamp - nothing happened. My aim was altered by that experience. I decided that the big thing was not getting published; the great thing would be to satisfy myself. It was the first time I'd found my voice. I found a way of telling a story that involved inhabiting a consciousness that could float free - it's not omniscient, it's a sort of sprite that can hover here and there... Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials and many other bestsellers, in the Sunday Times, quoted in our Comment column.
- Our listings of 24 categories of recommended links provide a fantastic resource for writers. We've just put in the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society's new online resource, Wise up to Copyright. Do let us know if you would like to suggest some other websites to add.
- First-time author Garth Garston describes Getting my novel published. 'I had done all the textbook advice actions - buying and studying The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, writing a submission cover letter and synopsis plus my first three chapters, and getting my manuscript seriously proof-read. I had had my first rejection after a friend had recommended my first novel to top UK literary agency Curtis BrownSee Curtis Brown listing...'
- Our links this week: fascinating thoughts from an editor's desk, Stet by Me: Thoughts on Editing Fiction from Mandy Brett; the inside track on different genres' politics from Val McDermid, Why crime fiction is leftwing and thrillers are rightwing | Books | The Guardian; and a first report on authors at the Bologna Book Fair, Bologna 2015: Authors in the Aisles and on the Town.
- More links: authors give their own special tributes, Tributes to Sir Terry Pratchett | | Terry Pratchett; a guest post by Matt Kaye on Jane Friedman's website which gives the basics of crowd-funding, What You Need to Know About Crowdfunded Publishing | Jane Friedman; and authors clubbing together to stop an app which blanks out profanities in books, Authors: end to censored versions of books is 'victory for the world of dirt' | Books | The Guardian.
- ‘The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do more, and you are not yet decrepit enough to turn them down.' T S Eliot in our Writers' Quotes.
