Skip to Content

15 October 2018 - What's new

15 October 2018
  • 'So, true story... I was asked once during a Q&A session whether I would use a ghostwriter to write my own memoir. Ha ha ha, everyone in the room laughed. Funny question. ‘But really... would you?' my questioner insisted. I thought for a moment and then came up with a surprising answer: ‘Yes!' And the reason is that if I wanted to make it a damn good read, I would need another person's perspective on my life story...' Kay Weitz, ghostwriter of 10 published memoirs with an 11th due out in 2018. Our Comment
  • From our Archive, Writing for Children: Rule Number One - Read More than You Write by Sarah Taylor-Fergusson: 'Author opinion falls into two camps on this one, with some writers maintaining that reading fiction while writing is a very bad thing. To this I might say that if you have been working for years as a published author, and you have that degree of sophistication, dexterity and confidence, then maybe sometimes yes. But for the majority of us who are not at that level...'
  • You've only got 10 days to enter the UK Poetry Society's highly prestigious National Poetry Competition! It's open to any poet from across the world aged 17 or over at the time of entering and entry fees are £7 for your first poem, and £4 per poem thereafter. Members of The Poetry SocietyLively and well-presented UK site supporting poetry with 4,000 members internationally and some thoughtful content. www.poetrysociety.org.uk can enter a second poem for free. The First Prize is £5,000 with 9 other cash prizes.
  • Other live Writing Opportunities.
  • 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, Translation editing for those for whom English is not their native language and our new Writer's edit, providing line-editing. Get the right level of editorial support for your needs at a sensible price. Contact us to discuss what you want and take advantage of our free samples - and written assessments on most of these services.
  • Our links: a report back from this year's Book Fair, Frankfurter Buchmesse 2018 Records a Mild Increase in Attendance; a page of links to articles about the 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. in Publishers WeeklyInternational news website of book publishing and bookselling including business news, reviews, bestseller lists, commentaries http://www.publishersweekly.com/, International Publishing, Book Fairs and Trade Shows, Translation, Foreign Rights, International Bestsellers; some fascinating insights into writers' approaches to their writing, How I write: Man Booker shortlist authors reveal their inspirations | Books | The Guardian; and when you're marketing what feels like your 100th thriller - as an author or for a publishing house - you might feel like you've run out of things to say, How to Write Better Marketing Copy.
  • Are you struggling to get someone to look at your poetry? Our Poetry Critique service for 150 lines of poetry can help. Our Poetry Collection Editing, unique to WritersServices, edits your collection to prepare it for submission or self-publishing. Both can provide the professional editorial input you need.
  • More links: a publisher asks: is it fair to blame editors for their authors' big, baggy novels? Booker judges shouldn't blame editors for overlong novels | Books | The Guardian; a link to the video of the author's wonderful acceptance speech for the Penn Pinter Prize, which looks at the question: 'Are you an African writer?', and is entitled 'Shut up and write', Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - PEN Pinter Prize 2018 - YouTube; and, if an indie author wants to best market herself, she's going to need to crack on and start with an author website, DIY: Building an Author Website.
  • 'The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not.' Kurt Vonnegut in our Writers' Quotes.