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8 February 2016 - What's new

8 February 2016
  • 'According to a study funded by the Quick Reads sponsor Galaxy, 27% of the British population have been inspired by a book to make ‘positive life changes' and 41% of regular readers regard the habit as a better antidote to stress than meeting friends... News Review on the power of reading.
  • ‘Like a lot of authors I have galloping imposter syndrome: as far as I'm concerned I have cunningly infiltrated the writing community. With each book that gets published I have this dread fear that I'm going to be found out. Certainly when The Lie Tree was published, I thought: ‘This time they'll see through me for the fraud I am.' Things have not panned out as I expected!...'Frances Hardinge, winner of the 2015 Costa Book of the Year 2015 with The Lie Tree, in the Guardian, provides this week's Comment.
  • 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 Writing Opportunity this week is the BBC National Short Story Award 2016 - open to UK residents or nationals, aged 18 or over, who have a history of publication in creative writing. Cash prizes of up to £15,000, and a slot for your story to be read on the BBC.
  • Have you translated your work into English? Or do you have a translation that someone else has done? Now you need to make sure it's good enough to publish, or send to a publisher. If you need help to get your work into perfect condition, our new service, Translation Editing, is for you. Acknowledging the growth of world English, this new service is designed for the many non-native English speakers throughout the world who want to publish their work in English.
  • Our links: the internet enables anyone to be an author with access to an audience and increasing numbers of people are discovering that they can earn an income from their own ebooks, How do I become... an ebook writer? | Money | The Guardian; from content creation to manuscript acquisition to distribution to sales, How publishing startups use tech tactics to thrive in the digital era - TechRepublic; the emergence of smartphones and tablets - enabling so-called "mobile reading" - promises to make India a nation of translations, Indian Publishers Rely on Local Authors and Translation; and a specific guide to casting, producing and directing your own audiobook, 5 Steps to Creating a Great Audiobook | Jane Friedman.
  • Our article on Working with an agent gives a useful introduction to what you get out of it and how to handle it.
  • More links: who would have thought that the much bigger issue around diversity in publishing was the huge imbalance of women? Lee and Low Survey: Diversity in Publishing; so what's really going on in publishing? The (Real) Future of Publishing | Digital Book World; and how is Nigeria's literary scene changing? Emma Shercliff, a publisher based in the nation's capital, Abuja, takes a look, The changing face of Nigerian literature | British Council.
  • 'As a total neophyte as a writer, I have been doing a huge amount of research suddenly as to what services are available to writers, on both sides of the Atlantic, and am amazed that you are able to have someone read a whole book and give a serious critique for just 180 pounds. I think that is incredible value for money, compared to other similar services that appear to be available out there. I hope to be back to you again for more assistance, once I've cleaned up my work! Martin Humphries, Vancouver, BC, Canada on our Endorsements page.
  • 'Poetry is a necessity of life. It is a function of poetry to locate those zones inside us that would be free, and declare them so.' C D Wright, who died this week, in our Writers Quotes.