What's New in 2017
- Did you know that China publishes more books per year than the US? Or that it's in India that people devote the most time to reading books? Some interesting but rather bald figures from Goodreader.com show that the US with 304,914 books published a year comes second to China's 440,000, the world's highest number. Russia is third with 120,000, followed by the UK. News Review
- We have two Writing Opportunities this week, the MslexiaStylish and lively site for quarterly UK literary magazine read by 12,000 'committed' women writers. Good range of quality writing, information and advice with news, reviews, competitions and interviews, all presented in a friendly fashion. Praised by Helen Dunmore as 'astute, invigorating and above all an excellent read.' www.mslexia.co.uk Women's Poetry and Pamphlet Competitions 2017, which are open to women of any nationality from any country. Entry fee: £7 for up to 3 poems and £20 for a collection of 18-20 poems of 20-24 pages. The prizes are: Poetry Prize £2,000 plus two optional extras, Pamphlet Prize: Publication of the pamphlet by Seren BooksClick for Seren Books Publishers References listing in 2017. Closing on 19 June.
- Other Writing Opportunities which are still open.
- Two more articles from our Inside Publishing series: Children's publishing - '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...' and Vanity Publishing - 'It is natural for writers to be eager to get published but it pays to be wary of the vanity publishers who will take your money and give you very little in return... the author is effectively conned into paying over a sometimes quite substantial sum by the publisher's willingness to publish their book. Once the money is handed over, the publisher produces the book, but often very little is done to market it and the sales can be minuscule...'
- 'But what is just as obvious - and what is too often overlooked - is the fact that from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, that fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, that they continually cope with frustration as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things...' the great Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of Where the Wild things Are, in his 1964 Caldecott Medal Acceptance Speech for that book provides thsi week's Comment.
- 'Hardly any authors can copy edit their own writing. It is notoriously difficult to spot the errors in your own work. So professional copy editing does make sense, either if you are trying to give your work its best chance when submitting it or, even more crucially, if you are planning to self-publish...' Getting your manuscript copy edited
- Our links: websites are in no way old hat. You may not need a fax machine in the 21st century, and you can certainly manage without a photocopier - but a website should still be as important to a writer as their laptop, notebook and thesaurus, Has social media made author websites obsolete? | The Bookseller; a new approach to your book being out of print, My book went out of print, but I have a plan to revive it - The Washington Post; for nine decades, the New York Times bestseller lists have been the industry gold standard when it comes to obtaining a seal of approval that will make readers sit up and pay attention, but now Online top ranking: what does Amazon Charts mean for the book industry? | Books | The Guardian; and hungry players such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are spurring on the number of dramatic rights deals being struck, Trade rides boom from TV and film | The Bookseller.
- Our Services for Writers - just a list of 20 services to help you get your work ready for publication.
- More links: with all of the glamour and glitz that can come out of the YA world, it's easy to forget about the rest of children's literature. No, not board books or picture books: I'm talking about middle grade, Spotlight on Middle Grade - Publishing Trends; thoughts on writing from 'a fearless, clear-eyed writer, with a pure approach to her craft and an irreverent, passionate take on life', Jamaica Kincaid on How to Live and How to Write | Literary Hub; with the expectation that geekiness is an embrace of whiteness, what happens when you are in fact not white? The Millions: Dragons Are for White Kids with Money: On the Friction of Geekdom and Race - The Millions; and do you really need hushed page-flipping; the sound of two covers sliding against each other as a book is returned to its spot on the shelf; the quiet murmur of, "Have you read this one?" Amazon (AMZN) bookstore in New York City: The first one sucks the joy out of buying books - Quartz.
- The latest addition to our Writers' Quotes is an especially cynical one from Dorothy Parker: 'If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they're happy.'
- And if Quotes float your boat, try More Writers Quotes and Even More Quotes.
- 'If you're ever lucky enough to score an early success as a writer, as happened to me with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, for the rest of your life there's a before-the-fall and an after-the-fall. You look back at the books you wrote before the searchlight picked you out and they read like the books of your innocence; and the books after it, in your low moments, like the strivings of a man on trial. ‘Trying too hard' the critics cry...' John le Carre, author of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, in an excerpt from his new memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, in the Guardian provides this week's Comment.
- 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' The Business of Writing for Self-publishing authors offers terrific advice for all writers: 'Self-publishing authors - also known as ‘indie' authors or author-publishers - have had a steep learning curve these past few years. Getting to grips with the various sales channels available to them, producing top quality ebooks and paperbacks, and finding a place in mainstream outlets have left many writers struggling to keep up with the paperwork. What follows is a brief guide to the essentials your self-publishing business needs - because it is a business, even if you only publish one book!'
- Backlist titles, because they are always available, offer opportunities to benefit from new publicity. The effect of changing exchange rates on publishing is shown by price increases at Wordsworth Editions. Backlist titles kept in print or available for print on demand are always in stock, meaning that all titles are effectively in play now, as Mike Shatzkin has just pointed out. News Review
- Our links: you've heard it before: write what you know. I wonder what you think of that, because, frankly, I don't think much, "Write What You Know" is Not Good Writing Advice | Literary Hub; over the years, I've written/co-authored and/or ghosted 16 books, all published in the traditional way-with a signed contract from a well-known publishing house and an advance, Self Publishing: It Takes An Army | ASJA Confidential; so, what if your editor has played a major part in fashioning your book? The delicate author-editor relationship as seen in The Insect Dialogues, reviewed; and by the end, I was so exhausted I might as well have read the damn thing. But I think I got away with it, James Bond, Lord of the Rings, Narnia - the books we most pretend to have read | Books | The Guardian.
- 'You are a first-time author without an agent and you receive a contract to publish your book - just how do you evaluate it? Is it fair or biased against the author by prevailing industry standards? Is your publisher looking out for your interests as well as his own - or wording the clauses in a way only advantageous to the company?' Why your book contract needs vetting.
- More links: this informative article shows the importance of rights income to publishers - and potentially to authors too, Rights Income For Uk Publishers In 2016; bestselling self-published authors attract producers because they have a proven track record if they stay on Amazon sales charts over time, 'Show me the money!': the self-published authors being snapped up by Hollywood | Books | The Guardian; writers love the idea of writing groups. Writing is, after all, a very lonely pursuit. You sit alone in a room wrestling your ideas onto the page, struggling to fend off the constant attacks of doubt, The 4 Hidden Dangers of Writing Groups | Jane Friedman.
- 'It can be hard work finding an agent to represent you. Make sure though that, when you set up the relationship, you do so in a professional manner Don't let your eagerness to find representation mean that things are left vague...' A useful checklist on Working with an Agent.
- If you haven't got to this stage yet, try our page on Finding an Agent: 'Try to find an agency which is ‘hungry' for new clients. To keep their workload under control, an established agent might take on something like four new authors a year (this figure came from two agents I spoke to recently), but only to replace four departing clients. This may seem obvious, but whether or not an agent is actively looking to build their list of clients is probably the single most important factor affecting how closely they are looking at unsolicited submissions...'
- From our Writers' Quotes: 'Writing for me is just like building a chair, making an artifact. The idea is that you build, create a story and cobble it together. If it stands up, that's good. If it stands up, it's comfortable, it's a good story, a good chair.' Scott Smith
- 'I don't blame the authors. They've got to make a living and a bigger advance that I can't afford to match is obviously something they have to consider. They know that the door is open if they ever get stuck in that hellish midlist place. But I feel that so many of the big companies lack imagination. Instead of going out there and finding their own talent, they're cherry-picking the bestselling authors...' Our Comment is from Karen Sullivan, Orenda Books, interviewed by Jasmin Kirkbride in Bookbrunch.
- The Booklife Prize in Fiction 2017 is open to unpublished or self-published novels in the English language. The entry fee is $99 and the Grand Prize is $5,000 but all entries also get a brief critical assessment of your manuscript. Categories are Romance/Erotica; Mystery/Thriller; Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror; General Fiction; Memoir/Autobiography; YA Fiction; and Middle-Grade Fiction.
- Five other attractive Writing Opportunities are still live.
- Our series of six articles on writing in different categories covers a wide range of genre writing - Crime, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Romance, Non-fiction, Historical fiction and Memoir and Autobiography. So, if you're a genre writer, we've probably got an article on the genre you are interested in.
- In the annual jamboree which is the annual Sunday Times Rich List three children's authors have featured for the first time. In another first from across the world, British authors have achieved Public Lending Right on ebooks. News Review
- Do you want to self-publish your work? WritersServices offers a suite of services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish, which includes Copy editing, Blurb-writing, Poetry Collection Editing, Typing manuscripts. Our Services for Self-publishers are just a few of the 20 services on offer.
- Links of the week: writing a book is really, really hard (surprise, surprise) and getting it published is a long goddam slog, 15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Publishing a Book | | Observer; a recent tweak in the way Amazon sells books has publishers and authors very worried, Amazon Steps Up Its Battle With the Book Industry | New Republic; allowing readers to step inside the minds of those who have shaped the world we live in, and to imagine the all-too human side of history, Historical Fiction is More Important Than Ever: 10 Writers Weigh In | Literary Hub; and three months ago, the New York Times cut 10 categories from its Best Sellers list, As best-seller lists are cut, a looming disaster for publishers | The Outline.
- How to market your writing services online is a useful article from 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 about selling yourself as a writer. 'Recently someone commented to me that I seem to be doing a pretty good job of promoting my writing services on the internet. I was touched by the observation - we writers get so many rejections that a little praise is especially gratifying. And I began to wonder - what does it take to market yourself successfully as a jobbing writer today?...'
- More links: a really useful article about crowd-funding, 7 things you definitely shouldn't do when crowdfunding a book | The Bookseller; three important issues facing the international book world, After His IPA Stint: Richard Charkin on Publishing's Challenges and Promise; I've known writers who've lost friends after becoming successful. I've witnessed authors nurse wounds and hold grudges, What Writers Need to Know About Envy.
- From our Writers' Quotes: 'I know that if I have been working on one paragraph and I have written it three times, it goes in the bin. Unless it comes straight out, it is wrong, it is awkward, it does not fit.' from Robert Rankin.
