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21 October 2019 - What's new

21 October 2019
  • ‘I had always wanted to be a writer as a child but couldn't spell out this dream to myself because during the Cultural Revolution all writers were condemned. To be a writer was the most dangerous profession. I wrote my first poem aged 16 and destroyed it. When I was working spreading manure in the paddy fields aged 16 and 17, I was always writing in my head...' Jung Chang, author of the bestselling Wild Swans, Empress Dowager Cixi (with Jon Halliday) Mao The Untold Story and the just-published Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister, about the sisters who helped shape modern China, in the Observer. Our Comment
  • Inside Publishing is a 19-part series looking at publishing from the writer's point of view. Our article on Copyright: 'Unless there is a very good reason, authors should in general seek to retain copyright in what they write. The most obvious exceptions are if a writer is employed by a newspaper, journal or company, when the writer is producing the work as part of their job...' On Children's Publishing: 'Age groups are an important element of the way publishers look at publishing for children. The storyline and language must be appropriate for the intended age-group and this is where many writers who haven't written for children before are likely to go wrong...'
  • Our new page Copy editing services covers our six services working on writers' manuscripts, a range which includes our top of the range Writer's Edit and English Language Editing. We offer free samples and free short written assessments on most of these services, which are provided by our skilled professional editors. We are transparent about our rates and our high quality copy editing services are also very good value.
  • Our links: overall visitor numbers were up at the 2019 Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two., where rights trade was brisk and events addressed timely topics including Brexit, feminism, racism, and climate crisis, Frankfurt 2019: Big Crowds, Upbeat Industry, Social Purpose; Writing well is hard. All writers know this. So why don't we talk about it more? Demystifying the Writer's Fear of Failure | Literary Hub; these days, a huge following on social media, particularly Instagram, is a must for a book deal, What's an Influencer Worth to Books? You don't expect an author with more than 100 million copies of her books sold into 36 languages and 120 countries to tell you that she's out on a limb, Cornwell's New Spacewalk: 'Not Just About Putting a Flag on the Moon'; and writing the book had broken me open, filling me with a giddy joy, On the Darkness, Strangeness, and Unbridled Joy of Children's Books | Literary Hub.
  • We have a new page which gives an editor's take on using pdfs, So what's wrong with PDFs? 'If you need your file to be edited, PDF is not the ideal format; in fact, it is practically the worst format you can choose. Why? Precisely because PDFs are designed not to be tampered with or changed. When you stop to think about it, editing is no more or less than a process of changing - and correcting - your file...'
  • More links: writing books - which requires solitude and stamina and more solitude, Deborah Levy Beats Writers' Block by... Swimming | Literary Hub; speaking with editors about three areas of expansion, YA Publishing Widens Its Lens; one of the most daring writers working (in my opinion), Joyce Carol Oates Talks Crime Fiction, Character, and Cats | CrimeReads; and when the "Queen of Crime", who counts London gangsters such as Krays' rival Eddie Richardson as friends, gives you an order it would be foolish not to listen, Martina Cole: Best-selling author says she is 'victim of snobbery in publishing' | Books | Entertainment | Express.co.uk.
  • Putting together Your submission package - 'given the difficulty of getting agents and publishers to take on your work, it's really important to make sure that you present it in the best possible way. Less is more, so don't send a full manuscript, as it's very unlikely to be read. Far better to tempt them with a submission package that will leave them wanting to see the rest of the manuscript'.
  • 'Read, read, read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window.' William Faulkner in our Writers' Quotes.