5 April 2021 - What's new
5 April 2021
- ‘When an editor works with an author, she cannot help seeing into the medicine cabinet of his soul. All the terrible emotions, the desire for vindications, the paranoia, and the projection are bottled in there, along with all the excesses of envy, desire for revenge, all the hypochondriacal responses, rituals, defenses, and the twin obsessions with sex and money. It other words, the stuff of great books.' Betsy Lerner, editor, agent, and author, whose best-known book is The Forest for the Trees, ‘about writing, publishing and what makes writers tick'.
- Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers who are starting out, taking you from Improving your writing to Self-publishing: is it for you? to Keep up to date and Submission to publishers and agents. 'Be prepared to redraft your work and to rethink it. Many new writers assume that their work will immediately be ready for publication, but the truth is that many highly successful writers produced several drafts of their first work before they got it published.' and 'When you've got your work into the best state you can, put it on one side for a few weeks and then look at it afresh. You'll be amazed what difference a fresh eye will make.'
- The Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award 2021 is annual this year and closes on 1 July. It's open to writers writing in English and resident within the British Commonwealth and Eire, who have not yet published or self-published a full-length book. There's no entry fee. The First Prize is £10,000 and runners-up get £1,000.
- Get some professional help. If you're self-publishing, you need good quality copy for the cover. Our Blurb-writing service can provide a professionally written piece of cover copy. Submitting to agents but finding it difficult to write your own synopsis? Commission a Synopsis which will present your manuscript in the best possible light for submission.
- Links from writers: the Game of Thrones author just signed a massive deal, George R.R. Martin Signs Massive Five-Year Overall Deal with HBO (Exclusive) | Hollywood Reporter; investigating two genres, What's The Difference Between a Thriller and a Mystery? Pacing. ‹ CrimeReads; at least they decided the author was female, Have Italian Scholars Figured Out the Identity of Elena Ferrante? ‹ Literary Hub; and can writers describe the world from the point of view of characters from other cultural backgrounds? Writers grapple with rules of the imagination | PEN | The Guardian.
- If you are submitting your work to an agent or directly to a publishing house, check through our guidelines to give it its best chance. Making submissions.
- Links from the publishing world: enabling freelance writers and authors to bargain collectively with businesses that hire them, Authors Guild Asks Members to Support PRO Act; publishers grateful for new grants, Indies facing 'tough' market welcome ACE Culture Recovery Fund grants | The Bookseller; more consolidation from the merger and takeover frenzy, HarperCollins to Acquire HMH Trade; and discussion on the state of the publishing industry, Publishing Industry Insiders Share Insights into Opportunities, Challenges Ahead.
- Do you want some help with your writing but don't know quite what you want? Are you a bit puzzled by the various services on offer, and not sure what to go for? Choosing a service.
- A miscellany of links: a really stimulating article - if monetary rewards were all that mattered to potential authors, the list of people for whom writing a non-fiction book might make sense would be vanishingly small and works of fiction are even less likely to succeed financially, On the Behavioral Economy of the Book World ‹ Literary Hub; books based upon past investigative documentaries, The fact checking thriller writer; a fiendish new literary conundrum, ‘This is not an easy treasure hunt': puzzle book offers readers chance to win €750,000 golden casket | Books | The Guardian; a new grant to support writers, World of Books launches SoA award.
- 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...'
- 'I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.' Erica Jong in our Writers' Quotes.