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Factsheets

Resources

Sat, 01/01/2005 - 12:00am
Writers' Resources has been developed to help writers get published or to self-publish

We have enlisted the help of a number of distinguished writers and publishing figures to develop our Writers' Resources. Over the years this has become a massive resource base for writers.  Read more

Publishers' contracts | Factsheets

Mon, 01/01/2001 - 12:00am
CONTRACTS

WritersServices Factsheet 19 by Michael Legat

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Agreements between an author and a publisher, or a theatre manager or television company, are extremely complex documents, and you will undoubtedly need help in assessing whether the terms are acceptable or not.  Read more

What Do Publishers Want?

Mon, 01/01/2001 - 12:00am

WritersServices Factsheet 1 by Michael Legat

What do Publishers Want?

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Plotting the Novel | Factsheets

Mon, 01/01/2001 - 12:00am
Plotting the Novel

WritersServices Factsheet 6 by Michael Legat  Read more

Write About What You Know

WritersServices Factsheet  2 by Michael Legat   Read more

© Michael Legat 2001-13

Literary agents | Factsheets

Mon, 01/01/2001 - 12:00am
Literary agents

WritersServices Factsheet 3 by Michael Legat

Literary Agents

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Literary agents do not normally deal with short stories or articles for newspapers and magazines, unless the author is very well known and therefore able to command large fees for such work.   Read more

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Michael Legat's Factsheets for writers

Specially written for the WritersServices site. 

Michael Legat was an acknowledged expert on writing and publishing, and the author of many books for writers.  Read more

© Michael Legat 2001-13

Writers' research | Factsheets

Mon, 01/01/2001 - 12:00am
Writers' research

WritersServices Factsheet 4 by Michael Legat

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Research is an indispensable part of writing for most authors, and for many it is so enjoyable as to be a danger – don’t get so absorbed in research that you forget to write your story, or feature or book.  Read more

Submissions | Factsheets

Mon, 01/01/2001 - 12:00am
Submissions

WritersServices Factsheet 5 by Michael Legat  Read more

First & last pages | Factsheets

Mon, 01/01/2001 - 12:00am
The First Page and the Last Page

WritersServices Factsheet 8 by Michael Legat

Factsheet index

It is essential that the beginning of anything you write should make the reader want to go on reading.

If you are writing fiction, whether it is a short story or a novel, you should begin at or immediately before a moment of crisis.  Read more

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Linked items...

20 January 2020 - What's new

January 2020
  • ‘The biggest kick is reading something new and exciting and then getting other people to share your enthusiasm... Beyond all the cant and hypocrisy in publishing, that's what it's all about... I have always found comfort in the confines of a book or a manuscript, Reading is how I spend most of my time and is still the most joyful aspect of my day.
  Read more

Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize 2020

Information

Closing date: 
2 March 2020
Entry: 
Open to writers of any nationality writing in English. Entry fee £20
Prize: 
£15,000 for each prize plus a publishing deal with Bonnier for Best Unpublished Manuscript

Submissions for the two 2020 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prizes are now open. The international prize is now in its fifth year. Entries are accepted from writers of any nationality, writing in English. The deadline is 2 March.  Read more

'Sometimes the ideas just come to me. Other times I have to sweat and almost bleed to make ideas come. It's a mysterious process, but I hope I never find out exactly how it works. I like a mystery, as you may have noticed.'

— J K Rowling

'The biggest kick'

20 January 2020

‘The biggest kick is reading something new and exciting and then getting other people to share your enthusiasm... Beyond all the cant and hypocrisy in publishing, that's what it's all about...'

On receiving the Maxwell Perkins Award for lifetime achievement:  Read more