What's New in 2015
- Our Writing Opportunity this week is the MslexiaStylish and lively site for quarterly UK literary magazine read by 12,000 'committed' women writers. Good range of quality writing, information and advice with news, reviews, competitions and interviews, all presented in a friendly fashion. Praised by Helen Dunmore as 'astute, invigorating and above all an excellent read.' www.mslexia.co.uk Poetry and Pamphlet Prizes, both only open to women and closing on 15 June. The Poetry Prize is £2,000, the Pamphlet Prize winner gets publication of the pamphlet by Seren BooksClick for Seren Books Publishers References listing.
- Our ten-part WritersServices Self-Publishing Guide by Joanne PhillipsUK-based freelance writer and ghostwriter. She has had articles published in national writing magazines, and has ghostwritten books on subjects as diverse as hairdressing and keeping chickens. Visit her at www.joannephillips.co.uk takes you through the process step-by-step. 'Self-publishing has changed so much over the past few years it's hard to believe it was once looked down upon by the publishing industry as the last resort of the vain and desperate. At the time of writing many self-publishing authors are identifying with the term ‘indie author', which acknowledges that to professionally publish today, you don't actually have to do everything yourself!...'
- ‘In talking to other writers and getting a bit older and realising how it works, (I discovered) that the gestation period for a new book is very tender - it's like a new shoot, you can't expose it to the light too quickly or it might wither. You'll lose the impetus, you'll lose the belief in it.' Laura Barnett, whose three-pronged first novel, sold in 18 countries, is The Versions of Us, in the Bookseller, our Comment this week.
- Don't give up the day job makes you think twice about your prospects before launching yourself into being a full-time author. Can you really be sure your writing will support you and yours?
- Independent London publishing house Atlantic has recently had a new managing director, Will Atkinson. He put forward the company's publishing philosophy very clearly in an article for Bookbrunch, which sadly is behind their paywall. It is possible however to quote what he says in his article, ‘Publishing culture and commerce'. News Review.
- Getting ready to publish your book? Do you want to self-publish your work? WritersServices offers a suite of Services for Self-publishers which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish. From Copy editing to Blurb-writing with much else as well.
- Our links this week: novelist Ian McEwan has defended free speech in an address to students at a US college, criticising the authors who pulled out of a PENSupported by eminent writers, this is the English branch of International Pen, which has centres in nearly 100 countries. It fights for freedom of expression and against political censorship. It campaigns for writers harassed, imprisoned and sometimes murdered for their views. http://www.englishpen.org/ event that honoured the Charlie Hebdo journalists, McEwan defends freedom of expression | The Bookseller; publishing is returning to its pre-industrial models in which everyone was a creator and is transforming into a network where emotions matter most, Richard Nash on the Democratization of Publishing; and Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai has won the Man Booker International 2015, Krasznahorkai wins Man Booker International | The Bookseller.
- And more links: thoughts about publishing history and the ending of eras, Publishing Leaders are Temporary Custodians of Their Houses; more on why novels are getting more and more enormous, The Year of the Very Long Novel -- Vulture; and (once you've got past a lot of red carpet stuff), the NY literary scouts who work for film and TV companies, The Next 'Gone Girl'? Meet the 6 NYC Book Scouts Most Likely to Find It - Hollywood Reporter.
- 'Any magazine-cover hack can splash paint around wildly and call it a nightmare, or a witches sabbath or a portrait of the devil; but only a great painter can make such a thing really scare or ring true. That's because only a real artist knows the anatomy of the terrible, or the physiology of fear.' H P Lovecraft in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'There's so much talk about the way self-publishing has changed publishing, but has it, really? There's plenty of evidence that, for the authors trying to get themselves taken on by a publisher, nothing much has changed...' Has self-publishing changed publishing? is this week's News Review.
- Our Writing Opportunity this week is an unusual one. The Biographer's Club Tony Lothian Prize 2015 is for uncommissioned first-time writers working on a biography, closing on 31 July. Other current Writing Opportunities.
- A new page entitled Which Report? gives the details of the three reports we offer: the full Editor's Report, the basic Reader's Report and the most substantial Editor's Report Plus. There's also our specialist Children's reports, part of our Children's Editorial Services. If you want a professional editor's assessmen of your work, here's the place to start.
- ‘Yet a writer's life is not limited to the dramatic moment of first exposure or the excitement that greets the new work of the well-established. In particular, as suggested by the phrase "the difficult second novel", things can get tough after first publication. If your first book has gone like the clappers, you'll probably be feeling pressure, both self-generated and from expectant publishers...' Alex Clark provides this week's Comment on "The difficult second novel".
- Do you like writers' quotes? As well as our current Quotes there are pages on More Writers' quotes and Even More Quotes which take you back through the hundreds of quotes in our wonderful selection.
- This week's links: have things really changed? Is the self-publishing stigma fading? | Books | The Guardian; from cultivating spices in India and talking to owls in South Africa to finding ‘fun in hell' in Hungary, Man Booker International prize 2015: the finalists speak | Books | The Guardian; and is there any point in publishing digitally first? Authors debate digital-first publication | The Bookseller.
- And more links: a stong argument for better ebook royalties for authors, Royalties and industry image debated at PA a.g.m | The Bookseller; a passionate plea from the National Poet of Wales, Why Dylan Thomas deserves his international Day | Books | The Guardian; and an insight into how things are changing in scholarly publishing, The Changing Face of STM Publishing.
- Have you got something you'd like to say to our community of writers? My Say gives writers a chance to air their views. So we have Natasha Mostert: There are few things as satisfying as typing THE END to a manuscript, Richard Hall "Write about what you know" and Jae Watson with his 'magic formula'. Contributions should ideally be 200 to 400 words in length and of general interest. Email us.
- 'Just how difficult it is to write biography can be reckoned by anybody who sits down and considers just how many people know the real truth about his or her love affairs.' Rebecca West in our Writers' Quotes.
- The April Magazine is ready!
- Trends on ebooks show a backwards shift. Whilst in 2012 there was a rapid shift towards ebooks, this has now reversed itself in favour of print books. To some extent this seems to be because ebooks are losing their novelty, but there's a real change in buying patterns, particularly amongst heavy readers. News Review.
- A while ago we thought it might be fun to add some fictionalised stories of how out editorial servoces work. So we have 13 stories, from How an Editor's Report helped Catherine to How Copy editing turned Tony's work into a publishable manuscript and Manuscript Typing helped John to get his father's wartime diary into good shape for publication.
- 'What I love about fantasy is that it is all about the world, and that world can be showcased in so many different ways, be it film, games, books or artwork. That's part of the reason fans feel so passionately about fantasy. There are already 35 fan fictions about the Summoner trilogy on Wattpad, for example.' Taran Mathan, author of just-published Summoner, Book One: The Novice, which has already attracted more than six million reads on Wattpad, in the Bookseller, quoted in our Comment column.
- In our archive there are some great serialisations - take a look at How Not to Write a Novel: Confessions of a Midlist Author by David Armstrong: 'Every week, agents and publishers receive hundreds of manuscripts from would-be authors. Of these, fewer than 1% will make it into print. David Armstrong was one of these, his first crime novel, Night's Black Agents, was plucked from the slush pile at a major publisher and published to acclaim...'
- Our links this week: if you're a fan of the author who sadly died this week, this is an interview about her writing which might interest you, BookBrunch - Ruth Rendell on Wexford, mad and bad people, and the vigilance of the writer; true story: In 2007, the Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid was catapulted into the literary spotlight with his second book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. He's now working for Wolff Olins as Chief Storytelling Officer, Why Companies Need Novelists | Fast Company | Business + Innovation; and the prevailing mythology around tech is that the giant internet companies will dominate globally, just as they do nationally, How fast does your e-book grow | The Bookseller.
- Then there's a thoughtful artice about freelance editing services, like those that WritersServices offer, Self-Publishing Boom Boosts Freelance Editing Services | Mediashift | PBS; now it's Australian booksellers' turn to benefit from this author's generosity, James Patterson, world's biggest-selling author, backs bookshops with donation; and one commentator's objections to the legalese which surrounds online book purchases, What if printed books went by ebook rules? | OUPblog.
- Our tips on Entering competitions are worth a look if you're planning to do this. Our Writing Opportunities page is a good place to check out what's around and what's still open.
- 'A merely great intellect can produce prose, but not poetry, not one line.' Edward Thomas in our Writers' Quotes.
- 'If you're writing genre fiction, or planning to, it's important to understand what's working in the market and what's already out there. This is the sort of information you can only get by a close study of publishers' genre lists and by reading as many books in your chosen genre as you can...' News Review on Writing genre fiction.
- Your submission package - 'given the difficulty of getting agents and publishers to take on your work, it's really important to make sure that you present it in the best possible way. Less is more, so don't send a full manuscript, as it's very unlikely to be read. Far better to tempt them with a submission package that will leave them wanting to see the rest of the manuscript'.
- 'For the perennial breed of poets, to be neglected is an occupational hazard. Most of us deserve it. Nobody says most plumbers deserve it, but plumbers have to deliver. It doesn't really matter whether a poet delivers or not. If poets don't come through with the goods, nobody will be affected except them...' Our Comment this week is from Clive James, whose latest poetry collection is Sentenced to Life, in the Observer.
- Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers, taking you from Improving Your Writing to Learn on the Job, from Keep up to date to Submisson to publishers and agents.
- Our Writing Opportunity this week is for the Writers Abroad Anthology 2015: ‘Kaleidoscope'. Contributors must be expat or former expat writers with flash fiction, a short story or poem to submit. Closing 15 June. This page lists other opportunities.
- The promotion of Next Generation Poets 2014 is now complete, except for the British CouncilThis government-supported body is best-known for its activities overseas, but in fact provides a great deal of information which is of interest to writers. http://www.britishcouncil.org/
Their UK Literature Festivals provides a full listing, but this is only as up to date as the information supplied by the individual festival organizers. tour, but if you're interested in brilliant young British poets you can see their videos and a film about the promotion on YouTube.
- Our Children's Editorial Services can help you get your work ready for publication or self-publishing. Have you found it difficult to get expert editorial input on your work ? Do you want to know if it has real commercial potential? Or are you planning to self-publish? Two reports and copy editing are avaiable from skilled chidren's editors.
- Links from this week: Jane Friedman - not the publisher - looks at the whole question of finding a literary agent, How to Find a Literary Agent for Your Book | Jane Friedman; how publishers are changing their angle of aproach to the market to zero in on the fans, Book Marketing Today': It's All About the Fans; and, even if they mean Harper Lee's new book, this piece in the Telegraph contains some amazing audiobook stats, Audiobook sales double in five years thanks to downloads and famous faces - Telegraph.
- More links: writers protesting against freedom of expression award, Two dozen writers join Charlie Hebdo PEN award protest | Books | The Guardian; just a schoolgirl but a very determined one, Girl, 8, strikes blow for equality over 'boys only' books | Books | The Guardian; and an insight from the scholarly world, Ask The Chefs: What is Editorial Independence and How Does It Impact Publishing? | The Scholarly Kitchen.
- ‘I write what I would like to read -what I think other women would like to read. If what I write makes a woman in the Canadian mountains cry and she writes and tells me about it, especially if she says, "I read it to Tom when he came in from work and he cried too", I feel I have succeeded.' Kathleen Norris, on the publication of her seventy-eighth book, in our Writers' Quotes.
