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November 2010 - Writers Magazine

News Review

  • 'So, what has changed in the world of short stories? Well, the biggest change is that the internet has made short stories more viable by creating the possibility of publishing them online and using the internet to find an audience for them. Because of the brief form, short stories can be read online or even printed out, which, just like poetry, gives them a head-start over novels. The short form also suits a time-pressured audience with an increasingly short attention span.' News Review looks at what's happening.
  • 'A recent posting on Publishing Perspectives took the reader to their article on Pitchapalooza, written by authors David Henry Sterry and his wife Arielle Eckstut, the duo known as The Book Doctors. The Book Doctors invented ‘Putting Your Passion Into Print’, now known as Pitchapalooza. This is an American Idol for books, where writers get one minute to pitch their books to a panel of book professionals. The panel then critiques their idea, evaluating everything from character to plot, presentation to marketing, title to comparative books, befriending booksellers to finding an agent... ' News Review reports.
  • 'E-book sales are astonishing'. So, given publishers' latest focus, are readers switching to e-books at a staggering speed and is the whole market for books set to change radically within a short space of time? The evidence for this is actually a bit contradictory. News Review takes a look at the latest studies.
  • 'So what’s the situation with the UK’s small funded literature sector in the light of the enormous cuts which were announced last week by the new coalition government? Literature is very much the poor relation when it comes to Arts Council funding, with theatre, music and art all taking very much larger slices of the pie. Arguing, quite reasonably, that literary fiction is quite well provided for by commercial publishing houses, most of the literature money is spent on poetry, with a small amount going to pay for the publication of literary translations and some to programmes to support and develop writers.' News Review investigates.
  • 'The recent Children’s Bookseller Conference in London focused on a part of the publishing industry in relatively good health. Children’s book sales have suffered less than adult books as a result of the recession and they are only down 2% in the UK against an overall figure of 4%. To be fair, this is partly because the sales of the Stephenie Meyer titles (which are categorised as young adult) have bumped them up, but there is still a greater sense of confidence in the children’s sector...' News Review reports.

Comment

  • 'I always look back to that and tell people if I had given up then, if I had said well I tried it and I'm not good enough, it didn't work out, I would still be practising law right now... I think so much of whatever we do in life is about hard work and it's about luck... Emma Giffin, author of Heart of the Matter in the Bookseller.
  • 'I always look back to that and tell people if I had given up then, if I had said well I tried it and I'm not good enough, it didn't work out, I would still be practising law right now... I think so much of whatever we do in life is about hard work and it's about luck... Emma Giffin, author of Heart of the Matter in the Bookseller.
  • 'Fundamentally, though, the need for publishers endures, even if not in their current form. Readers will be best served by publishers who can marry the best of what is sometimes labelled "legacy" publishing to the new means of developing and delivering what readers want and writers need. And if that marriage is achieved, then the persistent reporting of the death of old publishing will continue to be mere exaggeration.’Stephen Page, MD of Faber and FaberClick for Faber and Faber Publishers References listing, in the Guardian blog.
  • 'Of course, it didn't hurt that we had begun to write fiction that's hugely enjoyable to read. And maybe that's the key part of the answer.  Maybe our present success has something to do with escaping from the weight of misery that was at the heart of The Well of Loneliness: the tradition Radclyffe Hall established of writing about crippled and damaged lives...' Val McDermid in the Independent on Sunday on making lesbianism mainstream.
  • Poet to crime writer: 'Both have a massive preoccupation with structure. In a poem, every word has to be in the right relation to every other word. In a crime novel, if you are going to have a big revelation in chapter 30, you have to plant the information in chapters three and 11.' Sophie Hannah in the Independent on Sunday
  • 'I can think of no end of talented authors who are today poorly or even negligently represented. Is it fair to deny them the possibility of better representation simply because the more atherosclerotic parts of our industry consider competition to be ungentlemanly? The lifeblood of business is competition. Other industries thrive on it: we can too. Peter Cox of Redhammer Management

    Specialises in works with international potential.

    Unpublished authors must be professional in their approach and have major international potential, ideally book, film and/or TV.

    Submissions via agents website

    Children's clients include Donna Ballman, Peggy Brusseau, Gary Bushell, Brian Clegg, Maria (MG) Harris, Lucy Johnson, Amanda Lees, Michelle Paver, Kellie Santin, David Yelland.

    and Litopia, in the Bookseller.

Writers' Quote

‘I will never stop writing. People often ask when I will retire, but I say it’s none of their business. Writing defines who I am. I love the feeling of holding a finished book in my hands, and then I can’t wait to start the great adventure of writing the next one.’
Barbara Taylor Bradford

 John Jenkins' October column

John's column recounts how he won the heart of his prospective mother-in-law through a volume of Bryon's poems and provides a glowing review of a travel book which takes you in the footsteps of the poet.

Screenplay assessment fictionalised story

'Sarah had always been fascinated by the cinema. As a little girl going to see a film was her favourite treat and she was also interested in how movies got to be made. Her own favourites were the films with really good stories, like Titantic and Avatar, but she also liked the ones which were based on books, like Lord of the Rings and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...'

Our fictionalised stories of how our services have helped writers give you some idea of what they can do.

Magazine - Autumn leaves

Great review of WritersServices

We're complimented by Stuart Aken's review of our site in his blog for 27 July:

'It is the Resources pages that really make this site stand out from the crowd. Here you’ll find reviews of books and software, listings of agents, self-publishing facts, educational matters, health and safety advice, and there’s a new feature, reviewing writing magazines. You’ll see there is a great deal of information on this site. It’s well presented and easily navigated, which is as well, considering the number of pages. It’s a site I browse often and I think you’ll benefit from a good look at this one.' Read more.

Writing Memoir and Autobiography
Writing Historical Fiction
Writing Romance
Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy
Writing Crime Fiction
Writing non-fiction

John Jenkins' October column

John's column recounts how he won the heart of his prospective mother-in-law through a volume of Bryon's poems and provides a glowing review of a travel book which takes you in the footsteps of the poet.

Screenplay assessment fictionalised story

'Sarah had always been fascinated by the cinema. As a little girl going to see a film was her favourite treat and she was also interested in how movies got to be made. Her own favourites were the films with really good stories, like Titantic and Avatar, but she also liked the ones which were based on books, like Lord of the Rings and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...'

Our fictionalised stories of how our services have helped writers give you some idea of what they can do.

John Jenkins' November column

This month John has put together a hilarious collection of howlers, ranging from 'Man kills self before shooting wife and daughter' to 'College dropouts cut in half'.

Inside Publishing series

This extremely useful 19-part series is in the midst of being revised to take account of changes in the publishing world. The introduction, How the publishing business works, Advances and royalties, The Relationship between agents and publishers, Subsidiary rights, The English-speaking publishing world and The Marketing department have all just been brought up-to-date.

This second week we're on to The Frankfurt Book Fair, the Sales Department, the Production Department, Pricing and Distribution.

And the third week it's Books clubs and Direct selling.  

Agents' listings

Our agents' listings have been compiled from agents' own websites and other information they publish about what they're looking for. You can use them to research which agents to submit to.

The listings cover UK and US agents, with separate listings for children's agents in the UK, and international agents from all over the world.

Tips for Writers Our new series for writers:

Improving your writing, Learning on the job, New technology and the Internet, Self-publishing - is it for you?,  Promoting your writing (and yourself), Other kinds of writing, Keep up to date and Submission to publishers and agents

Previous magazines:

August 2010

July 2010

Magazine index

Help for Writers 

Check out this page to find links to the huge number of useful articles on this site, including Finding an Agent and Making Submissions.

The Writing Workshop Notebook by Alan Ziegler

Our reviewer Maureen Kincaid SpellerMaureen Kincaid Speller a reviewer, writer, editor and former librarian, is our book reviewer and also works for WritersServices as a freelance editor. concluded that: 'This is an unconventional book about writing, inspirational as much as it is practical, and focusing on an aspect of the writing process that isn’t much discussed. It would, I think, prove a valuable addition to the writing bookshelf if you are at all interested in the workshopping process and what it involves.'

We Watch the web for writers 

Our huge section on technology and the web, and how writers can make use of them, takes you from beginner-level articles to advanced technology.

Choosing a Service

Are you having difficulty deciding which service might be right for you?  This useful new article by Chris HolifieldManaging director of WritersServices; spent working life in publishing,employed by everything from global corporations to start-ups; track record includes: editorial director of Sphere Books, publishing director of The Bodley Head, publishing director for start-up of upmarket book club, The Softback Preview, editorial director of Britain’s biggest book club group, BCA, and, most recently, deputy MD and publisher of Cassell & Co. She is also currently the Director of the Poetry Book Society; During all of this time aware of problems faced by writers, as publishing changed from idiosyncratic cottage industry, 'occupation for gentlemen', into corporate business of today. Writers encountered increasing difficulty in getting books edited or published. Authors create the books which are the raw material for the whole business. She believes it is time to bring them back to centre stage. offers advice on what to go for, depending on what stage you are at with your writing.

WritersPrintShop

 

 

If you're thinking about self-publishing, this is the place to find out what's involved. If you're ready to go ahead, our high quality service is second to none and there's an economy version for those who want to tackle some of the work themselves. You can estimate the cost for yourself.

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