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11 May 2015 - What's new

11 May 2015
  • Trends on ebooks show a backwards shift. Whilst in 2012 there was a rapid shift towards ebooks, this has now reversed itself in favour of print books. To some extent this seems to be because ebooks are losing their novelty, but there's a real change in buying patterns, particularly amongst heavy readers. News Review.
  • A while ago we thought it might be fun to add some fictionalised stories of how out editorial servoces work. So we have 13 stories, from How an Editor's Report helped Catherine to How Copy editing turned Tony's work into a publishable manuscript and Manuscript Typing helped John to get his father's wartime diary into good shape for publication.
  • 'What I love about fantasy is that it is all about the world, and that world can be showcased in so many different ways, be it film, games, books or artwork. That's part of the reason fans feel so passionately about fantasy. There are already 35 fan fictions about the Summoner trilogy on Wattpad, for example.' Taran Mathan, author of just-published Summoner, Book One: The Novice, which has already attracted more than six million reads on Wattpad, in the Bookseller, quoted in our Comment column.
  • In our archive there are some great serialisations - take a look at How Not to Write a Novel: Confessions of a Midlist Author by David Armstrong: 'Every week, agents and publishers receive hundreds of manuscripts from would-be authors. Of these, fewer than 1% will make it into print. David Armstrong was one of these, his first crime novel, Night's Black Agents, was plucked from the slush pile at a major publisher and published to acclaim...'
  • Our links this week: if you're a fan of the author who sadly died this week, this is an interview about her writing which might interest you, BookBrunch - Ruth Rendell on Wexford, mad and bad people, and the vigilance of the writer; true story: In 2007, the Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid was catapulted into the literary spotlight with his second book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. He's now working for Wolff Olins as Chief Storytelling Officer, Why Companies Need Novelists | Fast Company | Business + Innovation; and the prevailing mythology around tech is that the giant internet companies will dominate globally, just as they do nationally, How fast does your e-book grow | The Bookseller.
  • Then there's a thoughtful artice about freelance editing services, like those that WritersServices offer, Self-Publishing Boom Boosts Freelance Editing Services | Mediashift | PBS; now it's Australian booksellers' turn to benefit from this author's generosity, James Patterson, world's biggest-selling author, backs bookshops with donation; and one commentator's objections to the legalese which surrounds online book purchases, What if printed books went by ebook rules? | OUPblog.
  • Our tips on Entering competitions are worth a look if you're planning to do this. Our Writing Opportunities page is a good place to check out what's around and what's still open.
  • 'A merely great intellect can produce prose, but not poetry, not one line.' Edward Thomas in our Writers' Quotes.