What's New in 2015

'The speed with which Penguin Random House has moved to do a world English language deal for Ehrlin's bestselling picture book, The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep, is an indication of how much the big publishers are now relying on self-publishers to produce saleable books. Once the author has established a market, it's easy to see why the publishers want to jump on board...' News Review is entitled 'Penguin Random House swoops on Ehrlin's bestseller'.

'The laureateship meant an awful lot more to me than any prize I got, because it happened at home. It takes Ireland a while to accept one of its writers, because there's a very dissenting tradition in Irish writing. Writers are never telling wonderful stories about Ireland, they're telling interesting stories about Ireland, and Ireland doesn't necessarily appreciate that...' Anne Enright, author of The Green Road and the Booker Prize-winning The Gathering, in the Observer in this week's Comment.

Our 19-part Inside Publishing series gives you an insider's take on the publishing world, covering everything from subsidiary rights to the world Engllish language market, from advances and royalties to the writer/publisher financial relationship. 'There's no escaping the fact that publishers and authors are essentially in an adversarial position. Even in the very best and most supportive publisher/writer relationships there is the tension caused by the fact that authors would like to earn as much as possible from their writing and publishers to pay as little as they can get away with. Understanding this is part of working your way through the relationship so as to come out of it in the way that best suits you as the writer...'

The 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, which closes on 16 September, is our Writing Opportunity. It is open to writers of any nationality who can show a previous record of publication in creative writing in the UK and Ireland. The First Prize is £30,000 and five shortlisted writers will each receive £1,000.

Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? Writers coming to WritersServices for help with getting their work into shape for submission or self-publishing often have difficulty with working out which service they should go for. The services have been designed to suit a wide range of requirements, so whatever you want we've probably got it covered.

Our links of the week: the bestselling author asks the question, Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? - The New York Times; Amazon has just introduced a new model that's likely to be much more disruptive in the long run - Amazon Underground, where paid apps go to be free, How Amazon Underground will affect content pricing and business models - Joe Wikert's Digital Content Strategies; Author Ruth Galm received upwards of 60 rejections from agents for her first novel, Into the Valley, On Writing, Rejection, and Persistence; and an inspiring story about how quality and persistence paid off in the end, How the Tiny Graywolf Press Became a Big Player in Book Publishing.

Getting Your Poetry Published has some suggestions on how to get started with this. 'Don't even try to approach publishers until you have a collection-length amount of material to offer. Your chances will be much better even then if you can point to publication of your poems in magazines. Don't waste any time trying to get a literary agent to represent you..'

More links: There you sit, day after day, alone at your computer, trying to bang out 500 words or so because that's what they say writers are supposed to do, Why Indie Authors Need Writing Communities; a strong argument for diversity in publishing, We Need Diverse Diverse Books ‹ Literary Hub; and Bill Clegg's debut novel, Why the Most Famous Agent In Book Publishing Is About to Become a Famous Novelist Too | Vanity Fair.

'The simple way to arrive at an appreciation of poetry is to read it - and then to read it again.' Desmond Flower in our Writers' Quotes.