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Authors

Audiobooks seize market share

12 March 2018

At this week's conference of the Independent Publishers' Guild, Jo Forshaw talked about the way in which the audio market is opening up, beginning to provide a challenge to ebooks.  Read more

Do literary novelists deserve public funding?

1 January 2018

The question of funding for literary fiction has been in the news recently and has attracted a range of different views, ranging from the feeling that literary publishers need this subsidy to be able to carry on, to Tim Lott's feeling that literary writers have lost the plot (literally).  Read more

How piracy affects authors

6 November 2017

There's great concern about pirating of books and it's just been revealed by the UK online copyright infringement tracker survey that 17% of books read online have been pirated. Bestselling American fantasy author Maggie Stiefvater reports how her publishers reduced the print run of her next book because of the drop in sales caused by pirating.  Read more

Copyright changes in Canada 'a disaster' which may spread

16 October 2017

New copyright law in Canada has been described as a disaster that can spread, with dire effects for authors and publishers alike. Considerable concern was expressed in a panel at the Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two. about the effect of the changes to the law, the consequences of which are already apparent.  Read more

Can this be true?

31 July 2017

Can this be true? A recent study quoted in Bookbrunch claims that 52% of UK adults believe they have a book in them. And, according to the old adage, that's where it should stay.  Read more

International literary prizes flourishing

12 June 2017

The announcement of the winner of the Man Booker International Prize this week highlights again the growing importance of literary prizes in the international book world.  Read more

Children’s authors join the Sunday Times Rich List and PLR for ebooks is achieved

8 May 2017

In the annual jamboree which is the annual Sunday Times Rich List three children's authors have featured for the first time. In another first from across the world, British authors have achieved Public Lending Right on ebooks.  Read more

Literary magazines - response time and the cost of submission

17 April 2017

In a week when we're glad to publish Sandeep Khan Mishra's list of 36 magazines which reply within a week, it's also fair to consider the question of how much writers have to pay to make submissions, especially when so many of them are rejected.  Read more

Death of a crime writer

27 March 2017

The recent death of Colin Dexter has produced plaudits from fellow-authors and editors alike. In the UK he was one of our best-loved crime writers inspiring a uniquely affectionate response amongst readers and the publishing world alike.

Quoted in Bookbrunch, fellow crime writer Peter James praised him highly:  Read more

Upbeat 2017 London Book Fair

13 March 2017

A generally buoyant picture has emerged from the London Book Fair, which showed an international publishing business in relatively good shape and double-digit growth in the all-important number of pre-registered visitors to the Fair. The mood of optimism was stoked by the low pound and several new developments.  Read more

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'When I was five, I thought I was a writer'

10 August 2020

‘We say to girls, "you can have ambition, but not too much" When I was five, I thought I was a writer. I didn't just want to be, I thought I was.  Read more

6 August 2020 - What's new

August 2020
  • 'Well, the first six weeks I was not doing any writing at all. It was all about making sure the kids were all right and everyone was in a good mental state. Then, I thought maybe I can work for an hour or two a day and it was really hard work getting back in the groove. But, hey, the books aren't going to write themselves.
  Read more

2020 Manchester Writing Competition

Information

Closing date: 
18 September 2020
Entry: 
Open to writers across the world. Entry fee £18
Prize: 
Two £10,000 prizes are awarded: the Manchester Poetry Prize for best portfolio of poems and the Manchester Fiction Prize for best short story

The Manchester Writing Competition offers the UK's biggest literary awards for unpublished work, offered by the country's most successful writing school. The Competition was established in 2008 by Carol Ann Duffy (UK Poet Laureate 2009-19) and has awarded more than £195,000 to writers.  Read more