22 August 2022 - What's new
22 August 2022
- ‘It's great that I can support my family by doing something that I love. It's great that I'm able to utilise the talent that was given to me and write stories that make people happy. When I'm writing, I'm all about myself and about the reader, so that's a great thing to have. I won't say that I never in my wildest dreams dreamt of huge amounts of success, but what I really wanted was to be able to do it for a living. The rest has just been what us Americans call gravy. It's all gravy now.' Stephen King, author of over 50 novels, novellas and short stories, including The Shining, Carrie, The Stand, It and The Shawshank Redemption, with sales of over 350 million books, in the Sunday Times Culture.
- We are launching a new series this week which will help you improve your writing. The Pedant: how to make your editor happy 1: Accents and dialects comes from one of our top editors, writing from years of experience. In this article I will explore the difficulties in writing in accents or dialects and suggest some simple ways round the problem. We all have an accent; there is no absolutely correct way of speaking English, or any language, for that matter...
The people reading this article, and by extension reading your book, boast an impressive range of accents. - 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...'
- It's been an unexpectedly busy time in the publishing world, so here are links to substantial articles about the DOJ antitrust case and its implications: the outcome of the antitrust trial which has been underway in Washington could reshape the kind of books Americans read - and who writes them, Op-Ed: How an antitrust trial could limit the books you read - Los Angeles Times; both sides made their closing arguments in court, The Bookseller - News - DoJ says PRH and S&S merger will create duopoly as trial over $2.2bn deal concludes; the DOJ says that the proposed merger announced in 2020 between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster would stifle competition, The possible effects of the Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster merger: NPR; a picture of publishing as a labor of love? Is Publishing About Art or Commerce? | The New Yorker; and more revelations from the coverage of the trial, The PRH Trial Has Revealed a Barely Hidden Scorn for Independent Publishers ‹ Literary Hub.
- 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 new 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.
- We also have two new services, The Cutting edit and Developmental editing service.
- 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...'
- More publishing stories: thanks to hit TV shows like Stranger Things, which reintroduced the public to the seminal role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, all types of tabletop games have become more mainstream - and they're exploding in growth, and raking in big bucks, The Great Nerdification; the latest on film and tv rights, The Bookseller - News - Streamers taking on 'less risky' TV and film rights as subscribers fall but market remains strong; the viral app has profoundly shifted how books get publicity and find new audiences, TikTok Has Changed Everything, Especially Book Publishing | Observer; and new trends in tv and film rights, The Bookseller - News - Surge in interest for rom-coms, stealth-help and 'cli-fi', agents and editors say; and a steady decline since 2017, Where Are Mass Market Paperbacks Headed?
- The Moth Nature Writing Prize 2022 is open to anyone over the age of 16 with an unpublished piece of nature writing. Entry fee €15 per entry. The Prize is €1,000 and a week-long stay at The Moth Retreat in rural Ireland. Closing on 15 September.
- Other live competitions.
- If you're looking for a report on your manuscript, how do you work out which one of our three reports would suit you best? Which Report? includes our new top-of-the range service, the Editor's Report Plus, introduced by popular demand to provide even more detail. This very substantial report takes the form of a chapter-by-chapter breakdown and many writers have found this detail helps them to get their book right. Through our specialist children's editors we can offer reports on children's books.
- Writers' links: from a two-book deal with a large publishing house to self-publishing, Why I've gone solo; a new author with huge sales, Colleen Hoover books: The author's success is due to much more than BookTok; Aster didn't expect much, ‘More zeros than I've seen in my life': the author who got a six-figure deal via ‘BookTok' | Books | The Guardian; probably the most famous poet in America, Amanda Gorman on Her Poems, Poetry Influences, and Inaugural Poem Message.
- From our Endorsements page: ‘This report is so incredibly helpful, both for improving Gone to the Sky and my future work. Absolutely worth its weight in gold.' Ada Fox, Virginia, US.
- More links from writers: shocking news from The Satanic Verses author, The Bookseller - News - Trade hails courage of Salman Rushdie and shares shock after New York stabbing; a call for unity among its members, The Bookseller - News - Society of Authors attempts to draw line under Harris criticism with call for unity; and few authorial choices are more important to the tone and verisimilitude of our stories, What's In a Name? ‹ CrimeReads.
- From our Writers' Quotes: The more you read, the more you write, and the more you free yourself to do so, the better writer you will become.
