What's New in 2019
- ‘The society to which we belong seems to be dying or is already dead. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but clearly the dark side is rising. Things could not have been more odd and frightening in the Middle Ages. But the tradition of artists will continue no matter what form the society takes...' Anne Lamott, author of seven non-fiction books, and the forthcoming Hallelujah Anyway, and two novels, Imperfect Birds and Rosie. Our Comment.
- An endorsement from Anthony Fitzgerald for our English Language Editing Service: 'The result? A book that reads like it's written by a native speaker for only 13% of the price a complete translation would have costed. Thank you, writersservices.'
- The Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award 2020 is open to any novelist or short story writer from around the world who has been published in the UK or Ireland. No entry fee. First Prize £30,000, shortlisted authors get £1,000. Closing 13 December.
- An essential read for children's authors is Suzy Jenvey's special series for WritersServices, the four-part Essential Guide to Writing for Children. The first article looks at the all-important question of age groups and what you should be aware of in writing for each one. The second part is - Before You Write: What is My Story Going to be? The third part deals with Starting to Write and the fourth part is about Submitting Your Work to Agents and Editors. This series by a hugely experienced children's editorial director and agent helps you get started on your own story or develop what you're already working on.
- Our links: celebrating the wide world of crime and mystery, The State of the Crime Novel: A Roundtable Discussion with Crime Authors | CrimeReads; asked to explain "Why the novel matters", my first question is: "Well, does it?" Why the novel matters; are you a country girl or a city boy? Would a week in Las Vegas be a dream or a nightmare? Fiction and the power of place; the move to children's lit as consciousness-forming propaganda, Children's literature has become horribly right-on | The Spectator; and audiobooks and podcasts alike have been booming across the past few years, The Publishing And Podcasting Industries Are Getting Even Cozier.
- Have you been working on your book? Are you now ready to submit to publishers or to self-publish? We offer the widest range of editorial services on the web, tailored to writers' requirements and carried out by our professional editors, Our Services for writers.
- More links: the wave came and went; digital found its niche, but print asserted its ongoing value, In search of the new frontier; presented as an infographic, The Most Well Read Regions | UK Reading Habits | The Book People; a bit of a reckoning in our corner of the world, showing the fault lines in our community, We Need Noir - Because the Truth Is Dark, Messy, and Sometimes Ugly | CrimeReads; when Artemis first came out, the combination of lore and science fiction plus fantasy, I presumed hundreds of people had done that before, Q & A with Eoin Colfer.
- 'Poets are naturally keen to see their work in print but it's actually quite hard to get a first collection taken on by a publisher. This is because most poetry lists are pretty small...' Getting your poetry published.
- 'Writers cannot choose their own mood: with them it is not always hide-tide, nor - thank Heaven! - always Storm.' Charlotte Bronte in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘I had always wanted to be a writer as a child but couldn't spell out this dream to myself because during the Cultural Revolution all writers were condemned. To be a writer was the most dangerous profession. I wrote my first poem aged 16 and destroyed it. When I was working spreading manure in the paddy fields aged 16 and 17, I was always writing in my head...' Jung Chang, author of the bestselling Wild Swans, Empress Dowager Cixi (with Jon Halliday) Mao The Untold Story and the just-published Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister, about the sisters who helped shape modern China, in the Observer. Our Comment
- Inside Publishing is a 19-part series looking at publishing from the writer's point of view. Our article on Copyright: 'Unless there is a very good reason, authors should in general seek to retain copyright in what they write. The most obvious exceptions are if a writer is employed by a newspaper, journal or company, when the writer is producing the work as part of their job...' On Children's Publishing: 'Age groups are an important element of the way publishers look at publishing for children. The storyline and language must be appropriate for the intended age-group and this is where many writers who haven't written for children before are likely to go wrong...'
- Our new page Copy editing services covers our six services working on writers' manuscripts, a range which includes our top of the range Writer's Edit and English Language Editing. We offer free samples and free short written assessments on most of these services, which are provided by our skilled professional editors. We are transparent about our rates and our high quality copy editing services are also very good value.
- Our links: overall visitor numbers were up at the 2019 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., where rights trade was brisk and events addressed timely topics including Brexit, feminism, racism, and climate crisis, Frankfurt 2019: Big Crowds, Upbeat Industry, Social Purpose; Writing well is hard. All writers know this. So why don't we talk about it more? Demystifying the Writer's Fear of Failure | Literary Hub; these days, a huge following on social media, particularly Instagram, is a must for a book deal, What's an Influencer Worth to Books? You don't expect an author with more than 100 million copies of her books sold into 36 languages and 120 countries to tell you that she's out on a limb, Cornwell's New Spacewalk: 'Not Just About Putting a Flag on the Moon'; and writing the book had broken me open, filling me with a giddy joy, On the Darkness, Strangeness, and Unbridled Joy of Children's Books | Literary Hub.
- We have a new page which gives an editor's take on using pdfs, So what's wrong with PDFs? 'If you need your file to be edited, PDF is not the ideal format; in fact, it is practically the worst format you can choose. Why? Precisely because PDFs are designed not to be tampered with or changed. When you stop to think about it, editing is no more or less than a process of changing - and correcting - your file...'
- More links: writing books - which requires solitude and stamina and more solitude, Deborah Levy Beats Writers' Block by... Swimming | Literary Hub; speaking with editors about three areas of expansion, YA Publishing Widens Its Lens; one of the most daring writers working (in my opinion), Joyce Carol Oates Talks Crime Fiction, Character, and Cats | CrimeReads; and when the "Queen of Crime", who counts London gangsters such as Krays' rival Eddie Richardson as friends, gives you an order it would be foolish not to listen, Martina Cole: Best-selling author says she is 'victim of snobbery in publishing' | Books | Entertainment | Express.co.uk.
- Putting together 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'.
- 'Read, read, read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window.' William Faulkner in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘First of all, I'm always writing from a point of view. I decide what the purpose of the scene is, and at least begin with some purpose. But, even more important, from whose point of view is this scene seen? Because then the narrative will take on somewhat the sound of the person who is seeing the scene...' Elmore Leonard, author of 45 novels, including Fifty-two Pickup, The Switch, Freaky Deaky, Get Shorty and Cuba Libre. Our Comment.
- An Editor's advice on planning, part of our 7-part series, 'Some people like to know exactly what they're doing before they start writing. They make very elaborate diagrams of the plot, note what each character is doing and when - this is particularly useful if you're writing a story which depends very heavily on a complex series of events coming together at just the right moment. Some writers focus on building detailed descriptions of their characters, so they know how they will react in any given situation, and then put them into the action. Once they've made a plan, they stick to it, but they then make a note of the ideas they have as they work, and then go back later and see if they can be incorporated into the story. If not, they might be worth using elsewhere...'
- Links relating to 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., now in full swing, amazing deal for first-time author, HarperFiction signs six-figure deal with debut author Abigail Dean; Bowker announces huge rise in US self-pubishing, Number of Self-Published Titles Jumped 40% in 2018; and is it friend or foe to the book business? Netflix sees itself as publishing's partner.
- Do you want some help with your writing but don't quite know what you want? Are you a bit puzzled by the various services on offer, and not sure what to go for? This article will show you how to work out which is the right editorial service for you. Choosing a service. Alternatively, email us and we'll do our best to help.
- More links: In the Golden Age of British detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s, four women were universally considered the four Queens, Dorothy L. Sayers: A Crime Reader's Guide to the Classics | CrimeReads; are his life story and his career too good to be true, How Seamus Heaney Became a Poet of Happiness | The New Yorker; and a writer who happened to win an award, I was proud my literature award. Then came the talk of ‘box-ticking' | Chitra Ramaswamy | Opinion | The Guardian.
- 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 service, unique to WritersServices, edits your collection to prepare it for submission or self-publishing. Both can provide the professional editorial input you need.
- Links about prizes, very much the topic of the week: the Austrian playwright who had publicly suggested that Sarajevo's Muslims had massacred themselves and denied the Srebrenica genocide, 'A troubling choice': authors criticise Peter Handke's controversial Nobel win | Books | The Guardian; and two reactions to splitting the Booker between two authors, Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo win Booker Prize 2019; and is this a fudge? Booker judges try to have it both ways | Books | The Guardian.
- A new addition to our Endorsements page: 'I've used two services with this company: The Editor's Plus Report and the Writer's Edit. I am completely satisfied with the service I received and said service has led to the completion and publication of my first novel: Lightforce. I would recommend any of these services to any aspiring author.' Jason Handleman, author of Lightforce (Everything Changes Book 1).
- ‘The first thing you must remember: An editor does not add to a book. At best he serves as a handmaiden to an author. Don't ever get to feeling important about yourself, because an editor at most releases energy. He creates nothing.' editor Maxwell Perkins in our Writers' Quotes.
- ‘Before the actual placing of words on pages, The Testaments was written partly in the minds of the readers of its predecessor, The Handmaid's Tale, who kept asking what happened after the end of that novel. Thirty-five years is a long time to think about possible answers, and the answers have changed as society itself has changed and as possibilities have become actualities. Margaret Atwood, author of 17 novels, including The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, which is shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize, in the Sunday Times Culture. Our Comment.
- Our article on How to get your book translated into English (without it costing the earth) asks writers with a manuscript which needs translating or has been written in English by a non-native speaker: "if your English is good enough, what about translating your book yourself, or writing in English, and then getting your translation polished and copy edited by a professional editor who is a native English speaker?" This could be a cost-effective way of reaching the international English-speaking market.
- English Language Editing is a polishing service for writers who have translated their work into English or written it in English when it is not their native language. If you need to make sure it's good enough to publish, or send to a publisher, this service is for you. Acknowledging the growth of world English, English Language Editing is designed for the many non-native English speakers throughout the world who want to publish their work in English.
- There are two poetry competitions, two short story competitions and one wonderful competition for a debut novel still open on our Writing Opportunities page.
- Our links: as the publishing world grinds its way towards 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., An Unsolicited Manuscript Becomes a Hot Pre-Frankfurt Property; how one author drew on his own childhood experience in setting up a bookshop, Diary of a small town sensation: how the Wimpy Kid author built his dream bookshop | Books | The Guardian; how one author's 'wholly one-sided and indecorous obsession with another author' led her into looking at famous rivalries, Headbutts, snark and furious obsession: a toxic history of literary rivalries | Books | The Guardian; and an economical opportunity to have your work reviewed by a professional editor before you begin querying and submitting, Manuscript Evaluations: What They Are and What to Expect | Jane Friedman.
- Our Services for Writers - just a list of 20 services to help you get your work ready for publication.
- More links: where do prize-winning authors find their inspiration? How to write a Booker contender - by Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and others | Books | The Guardian; for Martina Myers, a high school English teacher on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, a novel which seemed too good to be true, Do Works by Men Toppled by #MeToo Belong in the Classroom? - The New York Times; and a troubling plagiarism accusation when two authors have been mining the same historical events, Jojo Moyes Has Been Accused Of Publishing A Novel With "Alarming Similarities" To Another Author's Book.
- The Web as a Research tool - there are some sensational research resources for writers on the web. The search engines and other directories have made these accessible.
- In our Writers Quotes, the great northern Irish poet Ciaran Carson, who died this week: ‘If you know exactly what you are going to say in a poem, that poem will be a failure. Besides, there is no interest or fun, in saying what you already know.'