24 September 2018 - What's new
24 September 2018
- 'I don't have writer's block, really. I do have times when I can't get the lead and that is the only part of the story that I have serious trouble with. I don't write a word of the article until I have the lead. It just sets the whole tone - the whole point of view. I know exactly where I am going as soon as I have the lead. That can take me three or four days and sometimes a week...' Nora Ephron, journalist, film director and author of screenplays such as When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, writing about writer's block. Our Comment.
- From our 19-part Inside Publishing series: on Copyright 'Many writers worry about losing their copyright. Before sending out your manuscript it is always advisable to put a copyright line consisting of the copyright sign ©, the year and your name on the title page...'
- On The Writer/Publisher Financial Relationship: 'There's no escaping the fact that publishers and authors are essentially in an adversarial position. Even in the very best and most supportive publisher/writer relationships there is the tension caused by the fact that authors would like to earn as much as possible from their writing and publishers to pay as little as they can get away with...'
- The August Magazine is out now and is linked to some great articles: Ray Bradbury's greatest writing advice, Six Great Blogs for Indie Authors, Everyone Needs an Editor and How to Blog a Book of Poetry.
- From our Endorsements page: 'As a total neophyte as a writer, I have been doing a huge amount of research suddenly as to what services are available to writers, on both sides of the Atlantic, and am amazed that you are able to have someone read a whole book and give a serious critique for just 180 pounds. I think that is incredible value for money, compared to other similar services that appear to be available out there. I hope to be back to you again for more assistance, once I've cleaned up my work! Martin Humphries, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- Our links: for all authors, a really useful article about the value of offering free content, Indie Authors and the Value of Free Content 2; with total sales doubling to $2.5 billion over the past five years, Audiobooks are booming, but how long will that last? facts/lines of poems/details of plot smear in my head but there's a simple solution How Do I Become One of Those Writers Who Remember Everything? Anna Todd's book has been read more than 1.5 billion times on Wattpad, and it's no surprise that $400M Fiction Giant Wattpad Wants To Be Your Literary Agent.
- Last year we launched the Writer's edit, a top-level new service for writers who want line-editing as well as copy editing. Does your manuscript need high-level input from an editor to help you get it into the best possible shape for submission or self-publishing? This may be the service for you, offering the kind of editing which publishers' senior editors used to do in-house on their authors' manuscripts and which is now hard to find. Our other copy editing services.
- If you are submitting your work to an agent or directly to a publishing house, check through the our guidelines to give it its best chance. Making submissions.
- More links: 'writing a crime novel is close to the middle of human experiences ranked by difficulty', Sara Gran: My Best Friends Are Books | CrimeReads; "We now have more international exhibitors than we do German-language exhibitors - it's like 65% to 35%."Coming up next week, Frankfurt Book Fair 2018 Preview; a heartfelt cry from a literary editor, Why yet more books about Nazis and the future make my heart sink | Sam Leith | Opinion | The Guardian; and the number of adults in the US reading novels and short stories has hit a new low, with the decline of almost 8% in the last five years, NEA Study Finds Small Dip in Adult Reading.
- Do you want to get your script accepted and produced for the stage or screen? This is one of the most competitive areas to get into, with very few open doors. The glamour and potential financial rewards are contrasted with the reality of rejection, or no response at all, which is what is actually experienced by many aspiring scriptwriters. Get your TV script, screenplay or play professionally assessed. Our Scriptwriting assessment service.
- 'Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.' Jane Yolen in our Writers' Quotes.
