10 February 2020 - What's new
10 February 2020
- ‘Lots of aspiring writers ask me, "How do you write a book without offending people you love?" And you have to make a decision to be honest. I mean it's painful, but I want to write a book that is true to my moral core and that is true to my characters. Writing the abortion storyline, I found that really frightening because I was brought up as a Catholic, it went into my bones and the fear was real...' Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married, Rachel's Holiday, Anybody out There? and 14 other novels, in The Times. Our Comment.
- There are 19 articles in the Inside Pubishing series, Children's Publishing provides an introduction: 'Long regarded as the Cinderella of the publishing world, children's publishing has enjoyed a remarkable rate of growth and is now seen by many as one of the most exciting areas to work in. This is not just because of the Harry Potter phenomenon, as many other children's authors such as Jacqueline Wilson, Philip Pullman and Judy Blume have also produced megasellers which have proved attractive to children all over the world.'
- From the same series Print on Demand: 'Print on demand is a now widely-used printing technology which delivers, literally, print on demand. It has the power to change the way books are published radically, and even publishers are using it on a very much greater scale. Some writers are still not yet familiar with its possibilities...'
- Calling all American self-publishers - The new Selfies Book Awards US is closing on 29 February. Eligible titles in the adult fiction category must have been self-published in the United States during the calendar year 2019 by authors who live in the US. The Prize is $1,000 plus $5,000 worth of trade advertising and free display at five trade shows in 2020-21. Run by Publishers WeeklyInternational news website of book publishing and bookselling including business news, reviews, bestseller lists, commentaries http://www.publishersweekly.com/ and Bookbrunch, this is sure to get US book trade support for the winner.
- Four other Writing Opportunities are still open.
- As well as our highly-regarded Copy editing service, which will help you prepare your manuscript for submission or self-publishing, we have Manuscript Polishing, which provides a higher-level polishing service, English Language Editing for those for whom English is not a native language, our new Writer's edit, providing line-editing, and Proof-reading. Get the right level of editorial support for your needs. Our low-cost services represent exceptionally good value. Contact us to discuss what you want.
- Our links, a bumper crop this week: how will the book world be affected? Virus Impacts Publishing In and Out of China; for readers, the anonymous author holds a simple and compelling promise, Who's in charge? How Anonymous became a star in publishing | Sarah Ditum | Books | The Guardian; a torn scrap on which I'd written hurriedly a name and the plot number of a grave, How to Write Autofiction About Your Family Without Losing Your Mind | Literary Hub; and are you a Serious Author, an author of genre fiction, or a clueless dilettante? What Your Choice of Dialogue Tags Says About You | Jane Friedman.
- It may surprise you to know that the first of Julie Wheelwright's Top Ten Tips for Nonfiction Writers is: 'Story, story, story. Make sure that your story can sustain several chapters and tens of thousands of words. Keep asking yourself: Why would anyone want to read this story?'
- More links: the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, New Literary Prize Will Award Over $100,000 to a Female Novelist - The New York Times; a bestselling phenomenon, with over 48 books and more than 100 million copies of her books in print in the US, Mary Higgins Clark Dead at 92; and take part in this by reading all the winners, Women's Prize for Fiction to mark 25th anniversary with 'Winner of Winners' contest | The Bookseller.
- Authors often find it difficult to write their own synopsis for submission to agents and publishers, which is where our Synopsis-writing service can help. If you're preparing to self-publish and having difficulty with your blurb, our Blurb-writing service from a professional copy-writer will make your book stand out.
- American Dirt is getting a lot of attention. Three articles look at dfferent aspects of this: is it part of the literary vs. genre divide, which is centuries old? American Dirt Is The Latest Shot Fired in the Genre Wars | CrimeReads; this well-meaning nonsense got us, the readers, nowhere, American Dirt's problem is bad writing, not cultural appropriation | Nesrine Malik | Opinion | The Guardian; and mixed reaction from myriad publishing professionals, Publishing's ‘American Dirt' Problem.
- In our Writers' Quotes from T C Boyle: 'But then, that's the beauty of writing stories - each one is an exploratory journey in search of a reason and a shape. And when you find that reason and that shape, there's no feeling like it.'
