12 October 2015 - What's new
12 October 2015
- This week's story was to have been on the rise in support for short stories, until, that is, Marlon James had his stunning Man Booker Prize win last night. It might have been expected that an American would win this year for the first time since the Prize was opened to novels in English from across the world... News Review on how it's gone to ‘an uncompromising and exhilarating Man Booker winner'.
- 'Read voraciously and read forensically, whether it's stories you admire or stories you detest. There is a lesson in every one, tricks to steal, potholes to avoid. Treat every story like a crime scene. Take it to pieces. How many adverbs are there? How much does the narrator know? How long are the sentences?...' Mark Haddon, nominated for the 2015 BBC Short Story Award for Bunny is this week's Comment.
- Our ten-part WritersServices Self-Publishing Guide by Joanne PhillipsUK-based freelance writer and ghostwriter. She has had articles published in national writing magazines, and has ghostwritten books on subjects as diverse as hairdressing and keeping chickens. Visit her at www.joannephillips.co.uk takes you through the process step-by-step. 'Self-publishing has changed so much over the past few years it's hard to believe it was once looked down upon by the publishing industry as the last resort of the vain and desperate. At the time of writing many self-publishing authors are identifying with the term ‘indie author', which acknowledges that to professionally publish today, you don't actually have to do everything yourself!...'
- We're coming up to the 31 October closing date for the National Poetry Competition 2015. Open to poets across the world, this prestigious and valuable prize offers a first prize of £5,000 and nearly £6,000 in other prizes for a single poem. This week's Writing Opportunity.
- Another closing date looming now on 19 October is for the Troubadour International Poetry Prize, a less well-known prize with the same top prize money.
- Have you translated your work into English? Now you need to make sure it's good enough to publish, or send to a publisher. Our new Translation Editing service provides a polishing service for non-native English speakers who want to publish their work in English.
- Our links of the week: Andy Mulligan, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, reflects on the differences and similarities between the crafts, BookBrunch - The excitement of getting lost; the gatekeepers have always been publishers, book retailers and the media but now DBW claims that Authors Are the New Gatekeepers to Large Audiences | Digital Book World; Egmont publisher Cally Poplak's take is that although children are increasingly discovering books through digital and new media brands, books still matter, Children's Conference: 'Old-fashioned' publishing skills 'still relevant' | The Bookseller; and the blurb in all its different meanings, including book cover copy and endorsement, The Curious Case Of The Book Blurb (And Why It Exists) : NPR.
- Under 24 different headings we have hundreds of recommended links to sites, including Interesting Literature, a new one, and Writers Online Services. Share with us any new links you'd recommend.
- More links: is it a wrong turning for publishers to make editors an endangered species? Why the End of Editors in Digital Publishing is a Mistake - Publishing Perspectives; Waterstones has taken Kindle devices off most of its shelves due to "pitiful" sales, Is it now the time for something completely different? | The Bookseller; and a thoughtful article which throws light not just on celebrity bio pubishing but on publishers' profits on these potentially blockbusting books, Is an Amy Schumer Essay Collection Worth $10 Million? | The New Republic.
- 'What makes an exceptional poem/poet? DNA, luck, reading a lot, independence of mind, solitude, silence, curiosity, patience, pride, humility' Glyn Maxwell, judge of the National Poetry Competition in Ask the Judge, quoted in our Writers' Quotes.
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