Skip to Content

Comment from the book world in September 2005

« Prev  

September 2005

  Next »

Why we need an independent Ottakar's

26 September 2005

'What lies at stake in the fate of Ottakar's is not the publishers' profit margin but the diversity of buying decisions which determine what is on offer in Britain's bookshops...

We need to broaden, not narrow, the gates through which new books, new authors and new ideas must pass before readers can find them. We need publishers who will take creative risks in the effort to lead public opinion rather than tailor their aspirations to filling the slots of a monopolist.

Which is why we need an independent Ottaker's. I'm not optimistic, but I haven't lost hope.'

Anthony Cheetham in the Bookseller

  • Share this

What's holding women writers back?

19 September 2005

'Back in 1999, when MslexiaStylish and lively site for quarterly UK literary magazine read by 12,000 'committed' women writers. Good range of quality writing, information and advice with news, reviews, competitions and interviews, all presented in a friendly fashion. Praised by Helen Dunmore as 'astute, invigorating and above all an excellent read.' www.mslexia.co.uk was launched, we conducted some research into women's willingness, compared with men, to submit their writing for publication. We discovered that, though twice as many women as men are writing, they are 50 per cent less likely to send off their manuscripts to publishers or agents, or to apply for writing grants.

So what's holding us back? Not lack of talent, that's for sure: poetry, fiction and newspaper editors regularly observe that the average standard of manuscripts submitted by women is higher than those submitted by men. I want to suggest that part of the problem can be traced back to the lack of support many women writers receive in their intimate relationships.'

Debbie Taylor, Editor, in Mslexia

'Just don't give up'

12 September 2005

'With perseverance, you can do anything you want. Just don't give up - you've got to stick with it. When I started writing I sold my first book very quickly. But after that, no one bought my next five books. For some reason - perseverance, I guess, or just plain stubbornness - I kept on writing, and the 7th book sold and I've been at it ever since... I am just finishing my 60th book - think of the career I would have missed if I had stopped writing when those first five books didn't sell.'

Danielle Steel, mega bestselling author in The Most Important Lessons in Life

Poetry is 'the ultimate miracle of language'

5 September 2005

'We who earn our living by the pen hold the poets in especial awe. We know that in a hundred years' time, when students of literature are saying "Eh? Martin Who? A N Who? Salman What Did You Say?, they will be reading Geoffrey Hill. Poetry is distillation. Poetry is saying something that no one else could say, and saying it in words that could not be paraphrased, still less translated. It is the ultimate miracle of language.'

A N Wilson in the Daily Telegraph