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Chas Jones

author; formerly the nerd responsible for keeping the site running; has spent over 25 years in the computer business

Getting a publishing deal

The results of our February 2005 survey on getting a publishing deal

Introduction

Our last survey asked writers for views about the obstacles they have faced in trying to get their work published. The results cannot be easily expressed in a simple statistical format.  Read more

© Chas Jones 2016-16

Fay Weldon at AWC

Report from the Annual Writers’ Conference in Winchester

In the week that brought the news that the average age of authors whose books were in the US bestseller lists was a little over fifty, Fay Weldon in her plenary address to the 25th Writers’ Conference at Winchester had more good news for mature writers.  Read more

© Chas Jones 2016-16

Book shopping habits

Thu, 28/07/2016 - 10:39pm
Our online survey has been investigating your book shopping habits - thank you for your response. These are the results.
  Read more

Advanced Searching

Thu, 01/01/2004 - 1:00am
Here are a few tips

All search engines can do much more than word searches. The exact syntax varies between the search engines so you might need to use one of the options.  Read more

Index Creation Software

Wed, 01/01/2003 - 1:00am
Index Creation Software

Just as buying an accounts package does not qualify you as an accountant, using indexing software will not make you an indexing expert. The packages examined are great tools but they will not turn you into a lexicographer. They will, however, help you recognise the skills and fine judgement required to compile an effective index.  Read more

Web Research tool

Fri, 01/02/2002 - 1:00am
The Web as a Research tool

There are some sensational research resources for writers on the web. The search engines and other directories have made these accessible. But it helps to understand a little about how they work.  Read more

Getting to know you

Mon, 01/01/2001 - 1:00am

This articles started out life as ‘we know where you live’. It is not literally true, so my editor gave it the folksy title 'Getting to know you'. We really do know a lot about your surfing habits. So..  Read more

Spying on Us

Mon, 01/01/2001 - 1:00am

The Internet without search engines would be like CNN without satellites. The search engines do a truly amazing task of indexing the pages. Each one has its own way of doing it. Some, like Google, scan the text. Others look at the words used in headings to identify relevant pages and a few list mainly on the basis of payments to them.  Read more

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