23 September 2019 - What's new
23 September 2019
- 'Every time you write a poem you start again. Sometimes things happen quickly, sometimes it can take years for a poem to find its proper mode of habitation. I think as writers we enter into a contract of trust, with ourselves, with our friends, with our editors, with our readers, when sending a poem out. Yes, practically, we have to think about stopping work on a poem. But isn't it more about when a poem is properly ready to be part of a useful exchange? Deryn Rees-Jones, poet and author of The Memory Tree, Signs Round a Dead Body and Quiver, and editor of Modern Women Poets, in the PBS's Poetips. Our Comment.
- My Say gives writers a chance to air their views about writing and the writer's life. So we have Dominae Primus on her impressions of Writersservices, now and then, Richard Hall on "Write about what you know" - does this adage always make sense? Mary Garden on Writer's Block. Send us your contributions, ideally 200 to 400 words in length and of general interest. Please email them to us.
- Closing on 21 October, the Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2019 is open to all poets internationally. The entry fee is £5/€6/$7 per poem and the 1st Prize is £2,000, 2nd Prize £1,000 and 3rd Prize £500 plus 20 commendeds.
- Are you getting ready to publish your book - perhaps planning to self-publish? WritersServices offers a suite of nine services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish. Services for Self-publishers
- Our links: "Write every day, every second of the day. Is this a joke? Everyone Writes. But Is Everyone a Writer? - The New York Times; are they "punishing an author for her human rights advocacy", Hundreds of authors protest after Kamila Shamsie's book award is revoked | Books | The Guardian; turning around the fortunes of Barnes & Noble, B&N's James Daunt Isn't Daunted At All; in an era plagued by deep fakes and online disinformation campaigns, we still tend to trust what we read in books. But should we? It's a Fact: Mistakes Are Embarrassing the Publishing Industry - The New York Times; and everyone wants to write a book, or to say they have written a book. Publishing a book is still an honour, a point of pride, An Agent Explains the Ins and Outs of Book Deals - Electric Literature.
- Are you thinking of submitting your book to an agent? Try our Finding an Agent page or Your Submission package. Our Submission critique service may also help, as it's essential to get your package into the best possible shape before you start submitting.
- More links: the new Waterstones Children's Laureate on why children's engagement with books must be encouraged at every opportunity, Cressida Cowell warns industry will become 'dead in the water' without school libraries | The Bookseller; publishers allege copyright infringement, the audiobook company asserts fair use, Points, Counterpoints: The Publishers v. Audible Lawsuit Lines Are Drawn; the Chocolat author urges publishers to support existing writers in their careers rather than pursuing one debut after another, Joanne Harris speaks out against publishing's focus on debuts | The Bookseller; and after two decades of immense popularity, this style of storytelling fell out of fashion, The Golden Age Detective Fiction Renaissance | CrimeReads.
- Advice for Writers is a really useful page which takes you into our archive and helps you explore over 7,000 pages of information for writers.
- In our Writers' Quotes: 'It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop.' Vita Sackville-West
