19 March 2018 - What's new
19 March 2018
- 'Becoming children's laureate has given me a voice. I'm determined to change the snobby attitude around picture books. Children's illustration is viewed as the poor relation to fine-art painting, yet it's children's first introduction to art and can have a profound effect on how they view the world. John Burningham's Granpa, which deals with the loss of a loved one, explains grief to a child far better than anything else...' Lauren Child, UK Children's Laureate and author of the Charlie and Lola picture books and the Clarice Bean and Ruby Redfort novels in the Sunday Times magazine. Our Comment
- The November Magazine has a new article from Jane Sandwood - Want to Be a Better Writer? - and masses of intriguing links: Why All Self-Publishers Need a Good Editor and 10 Novels Agents Have Already Seen a Billion Times, plus a month's worth of Comments and News Reviews.
- How to market your writing services online is a useful article from Joanne PhillipsUK-based freelance writer and ghostwriter. She has had articles published in national writing magazines, and has ghostwritten books on subjects as diverse as hairdressing and keeping chickens. Visit her at www.joannephillips.co.uk about selling yourself as a writer. 'Recently someone commented to me that I seem to be doing a pretty good job of promoting my writing services on the internet. I was touched by the observation - we writers get so many rejections that a little praise is especially gratifying. And I began to wonder - what does it take to market yourself successfully as a jobbing writer today?...'
- It's unusual to find a book chain boss who went into bookselling because he liked reading, but James Daunt, founder of Daunts bookshop chain in London, and CEO of the Waterstones chain in the UK, is that rare animal. Encouragingly, he still maintains that: 'Books still work and always will'. Daunt on bookselling is this week's News Review.
- A new addition to our Endorsements page: 'I've used two services with this company: The Editor's Plus Report and the Writer's Edit. I am completely satisfied with the service I received and said service has led to the completion and publication of my first novel: Lightforce. I would recommend any of these services to any aspiring author.' Jason Handleman, author of Lightforce (Everything Changes Book 1).
- From Tom Chalmers, formerly of IPR, two articles about rights for self-publishers, Self-publishing - the rights way and How to get your book in the hands of an international audience. 'It's a fact that most self-published authors understand the process that takes them from a written manuscript to a published book, but few realise the additional elements that make publishing a profitable business. Rights licensing is arguably the most vital element in this equation. Whether it's selling translation rights, audio rights or optioning the film rights, these all help balance the book's books...'
- Our links: an interview which caused a bit of a furore in literary circles, Will Self: ‘The novel is absolutely doomed' | Books | The Guardian; an indignant response from other writers, Authors hit back at Self's claim 'the novel is doomed' | The Bookseller; perhaps things are changing after all, How Self-Publishing Is Diversifying The Book World | Thrive Global; and something uplifting at last, Gone Girl's gone, hello Eleanor Oliphant: why we're all reading 'up lit' | Books | The Guardian.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, the biggest range you can find on the internet.
- More links: nothing beats the feeling of typing The End following the last scene of your manuscript, 3 Easy Cuts To Make When You Start Editing | Allison Maruska; new report exposes decline in diversity in romance writing, Romance so white? Publishers grapple with race issues amid author protests | Books | The Guardian; the editor who found a gap in the fiction market, Getting into writing - an interview with Jo Simmonds, editor of The Fiction Pool | Zeroflash; how do you explain the increasing popularity of serialised novels, Deferred gratification is dead? Tell that to fans of serialised novels | Stephanie Merritt | Opinion | The Guardian (yet again, they're having a good week!).
- 'There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you.' Beatrix Potter in our Writers' Quotes.
