14 December 2020 - What's new
14 December 2020
- ‘Just because you can write a full-length grownup novel there's no guarantee that you can transpose that ability to a children's book. In the end it was a collaborative performance both with (illustrator) Daniela Terrazzini and my children: I would read parts of the story to them and they gave instant and very direct feedback. They were very honest and sometimes pretty brutal. When a child doesn't like something they let you know - often by getting up and walking away...' Maggie O'Farrell on her first children's book, Where Snow Angels Go. She is also the author of the wonderful bestselling Hamnet, After You'd Gone, The Hand That first Held Mine, The Distance Between Us and four other novels, as well as a memoir, I am, I am, I am, in the Observer.
- Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers who are starting out, taking you from Learn on the job to Self-publishing: is it for you? to Keep up to date and Submission to publishers and agents. 'Before deciding to go for self-publishing, you should think through what is involved. Certain kinds of books lend themselves to this approach. If you have a book which you can sell after your lectures, or as a promotional tool, or there's some local or specialist interest in what you have written, then self-publishing can be a good idea. If you've written a novel and want to get it published, you should think hard about how you're going to market it...'
- Closing on 1 February, one of the very best children's writing competitions - The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition 2020 - is open to unpublished and unagented writers of children's fiction suitable for children/young adults aged somewhere between 7 and 18 years. There's no entry fee. The prize is a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000, plus an offer of representation from a top literary agent. Also on their website, MD Barry Cunningam's tips on writing for children, from the man who first signed up J K Rowling.
- Other comptetitions and prizes which are still live.
- 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 latest new service 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 on writers and writing: Tom Stoppard: "He was David to his friends, and, enormous though that company was, one couldn't help taking pride in belonging to it", John le Carré remembered by writers and friends; 'My ties to England have loosened': John le Carré on Britain, Boris and Brexit | John le Carré | The Guardian; from the author of the most beloved horror novels in the history of popular fiction, many of which have been turned into equally acclaimed and successful films, Stephen King Has Thoughts About Stephen King TV Shows - The New York Times; a completely different career which is indicative of many publishing trends, The Talented Ms. Calloway - Los Angeles Review of Books; and here's how to approach this form of writing, The Benefits of Writing Flash Fiction | Jane Friedman.
- Writing Biography & Autobiography is a serialisation from our Archives of the book by Brian D Osborne published by A & C BlackClick for A & C Black Publishers Publishers References listing. In the first excerpt, Managing the matters of truth and objectivity, the author says: 'Just as you need to remember that letters, reports, census forms, legal documents and so forth were not created simply for our convenience, so you also need to remember that what is written in them may not be true...'
- The inimitable Mandy Coe on Poetry as the Language of Child is this week's blog at the Children's Poetry Summit. Great blogs from Michael Rosen, Val Bloom, Brian Moses, Laura Mucha and many others.
- Links from the publishing world: it's great that it's not all gloom and doom, 'It's been a rollercoaster': how indie publishers survived - and thrived - in 2020 | Publishing | The Guardian; how have US bookstores weathered the storm? Amid COVID-19, L.A. bookstores face pivotal holiday season - Los Angeles Times; and a story of how much an industry can change and how much it can, or wants to, remain the same, Publishing saw upheaval in 2020, but 'books are resilient'.
- Here's a detailed article on how to prepare 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...'
- '"The cat sat on the mat" is not a story."The cat sat on the dog's mat" is a story.' John le Carré's verdict in our Writers' Quotes.
