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Comment from the book world in June 2005

June 2005

'The dumbest business on the planet'

27 June 2005

'The Washingtonienne is proof positive that the book industry, when it sniffs the rich aroma of profit, can fling aside its 18th-century ways and boogie with the big boys. Ordinarily it is the dumbest business on the planet, taking nine months to a year - or more - to shepherd a manuscript through editing and production, a process that involves endless expense-account lunches at which absolutely nothing is accomplished, sales conferences (sometimes in exotic locales) at which editors' immense egos are stroked and/or destroyed, and the demolition of whole forests to print news releases that nobody reads.'

Jonathan Yardley on Jessica Cutler's novel of life on Capitol Hill, in the Washington Post

'Develop your own voice'

20 June 2005

'My advice to budding authors is always the same: go the distance on the story. Work over it again and again. Hone your writing until it flows like running water. Be patient, because it takes time for characters to reveal their true natures, and the story will only have integrity when the people in it are believable. Practise your craft as much as you can. Don't be like the many people who are more in love with the image of being a writer than the writing itself.

Above all, develop your own voice. Don't strive to be a second-rate Shakespeare or Dickens. Concentrate on becoming a first-rate version of yourself.'

Tim Bowler, author of Apocalypse, in Writers' ForumBritish writers' magazine which is highly recommended for all writers. It features wide range of news and articles which help writers to improve their work and get published: www.writers-forum.com magazine

Publishers' most powerful marketing tool

13 June 2005

'There's never been a better time for publishers, authors and the book trade. Optimism is high: sales are rising, books make prime-time television every day, bookshop coffee bars are springing up in every high street and independent bookstores are enjoying a revival. Yet I can't help feeling the industry is still dragging its feet and slow to embrace new ideas.

It's only relatively recently that publishers have recognised their greatest assets - the authors themselves - are on their doorsteps, but it's my belief that many publishers are still under-utilising their most powerful marketing tool.

Not long ago, authors were seen as almost incidental to the marketing process and it took programmes such as "Parkinson" and "Wogan" - hungry for guest celebrities to fill their airtime - to propel authors into the big time and turn them into household names. Publishers - some but not all - began to get wise to the idea of the author as "the brand" and cultivate the fledgling celebrity in his or her own right...

We have the technology and the media. Consumers want to know about the person behind the book. Authors are willing to play their part. So who is holding them back?'

David Freeman, founder of www.Meettheauthor.co.uk, in the Bookseller

'A test of absolute faith'

6 June 2005

'Writing a novel, I discovered then, in that initial fumbling stage, is a test of absolute faith and absolute endurance. It puts you in a position of vulnerability at the same time as handing you a wand. For me, it felt like wading out into the sea on a raft in the dark and staying there all night, drifting and surging, worrying a lot, until the morning comes up and you can see where you are. That's when the real work begins - the task of getting all that colour, all those images and meanings succinctly, with the right pitch.'

Diana Evans, on writing her first novel 26a, in the Observer