4 February 2019 - What's new
4 February 2019
- 'I've wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember, and along with that came a very clear vision of where I'd write. Though I read many books in which people wrote in secret, magical places - nooks in elderly oak trees, in wardrobes, while stowed away at sea - my own vision was rather more grand. As a child, I would write in exercise books, at the kitchen table, and sometimes I'd dream of being a proper writer, and how, when I was, I would write where a proper writer would. I would write in a big house, set high over parkland (I was reading a lot of Jane Austen), and would pick out my words on a kick-ass, hefty typewriter (they hadn't invented computers yet, of course) which would sit in the centre of an enormous mahogany desk...' Lynne Barrrett-Lee, author of 8 novels, including Julia Gets a Life and Barefoot in the Dark. Our Comment.
- Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers who are starting out, taking you from Promoting Your Writing (and Yourself), from Self-publishing: is it for you? to Keep up to date and Submission to publishers and agents. 'Your research into publishers and agencies should encompass what they say about submissions. Even if you think it makes no sense for them to bar you in this way, there's no point in sending your manuscript to a publisher which does not read its slush-pile or an agent who specifies that no unsolicited material should be submitted...'
- Calling young poets! Our latest Writing Opportunity is The Christopher Tower Poetry Competition 2019, which is open to 16-19 year-olds resident in the UK. There's no entry fee and the prize is a very attractive £5,000. Closing on 1 March.
- Several other competitions are still open.
- 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, which is the biggest you can find on the internet.
- Our links: this may be the question you really want answered, How Long Should You Keep Trying to Get Published? | Jane Friedman; the extraordinary story of a prize-winning writer who couldn't attend his award ceremony, Behrouz Boochani: detained asylum seeker wins Australia's richest literary prize | World news | The Guardian; and the latest trends in book covers, Dazzling, Blocky Book Covers Designed for Amazon, Instagram.
- A recent Endorsement of our services: '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.
- More links: this author is confident that, as long as authors put out the best versions of the best books they can write, readers will come, The Fans Are Out There; the amazing story of a successful editor who became an even more successful author and has now been exposed as a fraud, What Will Happen to Dan Mallory? and a famous writer with a very unusual point of view, Someday, Joyce Carol Oates Will Curl Up with a Cat and Read Finnegans Wake | Literary Hub.
- WritersServices editor Kay GaleWritersServices editor who has worked for many years as a freelance editor for number of publishers. on The Slush pile: 'When I started working in publishing over thirty years ago it was part of my job to check through the pile of unsolicited manuscripts that arrived on a daily basis, and like every other enthusiastic young editorial assistant, I dreamed of finding the next bestseller in the ‘slush pile'. I was soon disillusioned..'
- From our Writers Quotes 'If you wish to be a writer, write.' from Epictetus.
