Writers' Market 2010 | Reviews

'This packs a lot of information into its 976 pages and is very good value for money at £12.99.'

‘Writers’ Market has an overtly commercial and practical aim, which is to help you find a publisher.’

'The result is a useful handbook for any writer, which delivers a great deal of useful information in an easily accessible form.'

This huge book is a relatively new addition to the range of reference books for UK writers. Published by David and Charles, it is based on the formula used by their parent company, F & W Media, in their book with a similar title covering the US.

This packs a lot of information into its 976 pages and is very good value for money at £12.99. At the front of the book there are 25 useful articles from a wide range of writers and publishing professionals, amounting to a systematic series of pieces grouped together. They cover subjects such as ‘Learning to Write’ (Simon Brett), ‘Writing from Experience’ (Caro Fraser), ‘Creating Believable Characters’ (Sophie Hannah), ‘Poetry Publication’ (Neil Astley), ‘The Publishing Process’ (Caroline Taggart) and so on.

The listings are very full and detailed, and are clearly laid out. The ‘Inside Info’ often contains some really useful insights and the tips are also sometimes very helpful. The book is comprehensive, with listings, for instance, of poetry and music publishers.

With its sub-title ‘Your Guide to Making Money from Your Writing’ Writers’ Market has an overtly commercial and practical aim, which is to help you find a publisher. This clear angle of approach makes the book rather brisk and also useful to authors who are going for this route, although it does not cater much for self-publishers.

The editor Caroline Taggart points out that only about 20% of people who describe themselves as writers earn all of their income from writing and 10% of the writers earn 50% of the overall money, so there’s not much left for anyone else. If you want to work out how to sell your own writing more successfully, Writers’ Market is a good place to start.

Although it is the 2010 edition this was published in spring 2009. The result is a useful handbook for any writer, which delivers a great deal of useful information in an easily accessible form. It doesn’t yet have the status of its established rivals, the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and The Writer’s Handbook, but is beginning to give them a real run for their money.