6 April 2020 - What's new
6 April 2020
- ‘We're still getting submissions from agents around the world - it's clear that agents are working just as hard as ever. And when it comes to acquisitions, we've got a great video meeting in place. It's certainly weird, as an editor, not to be able to champion and enthuse in person (it has made me realise what a powerful thing that can be), but we're all aware that next year's schedules aren't going to fill themselves, and luckily the team at Little, Brown are receptive to being enthused at remotely...' Darcy Nicholson, editor at Sphere, Little Brown in Bookbrunch. Our Comment on Editing in Isolation.
- A Publisher's View is our four-part series from publisher Tom Chalmers on what publishers are looking for. What a publisher wants from submissions, Judging a book by its covering letter and synopsis, Making the submission and The changing face of publishing. 'While editors may well do some later tinkering, it shouldn't be sent in unless the writer feels it is a manuscript ready for publication, in terms of both grammar and content. Lines like ‘I know it needs some work', or ‘I think it's nearly there' show admirable humility but are an immediate put-off!...'
- The brilliant Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2020 is open to 11-17 year olds from all over the world writing in English. There's no entry fee and all 100 winning poets (top 15 and 85 commended) will be notified in early September 2020 and invited to an award ceremony in October 2020. Closing 31 July and there's some great stuff on their website.
- Our links: so how are writers managing life in isloation, Tiger King and a bloody mary: Hilary Mantel, Simon Armitage and other writers on lockdown life | Books | The Guardian; governments are cracking down on journalists and implementing sweeping restrictions, COVID-19 is spawning a global press-freedom crackdown - Columbia Journalism Review; their record of choices for the literature prize is spotty at best and in some cases purblind and scandalous, Why Don DeLillo deserves the Nobel - Gerald Howard - Bookforum Magazine; and how can we write a well-developed villain who is a worthy opponent to your protagonist? How to Write a Killer Villain | Jane Friedman.
- 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.
- More links: as he read John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series, "I began to see how he was doing it. I could almost see the skeleton under the skin, MY FIRST THRILLER: LEE CHILD; an astonishing list of children's resources, How Kids' Lit Is Responding to the Coronavirus; now is your chance to get yourself efficiently set up at home, How to Organize Your Home Office | Literary Hub; and it may never have felt so necessary to escape into the printed word, 'The perfect time to start': how book clubs are enduring and flourishing during Covid-19 | Books | The Guardian.
- 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?...'
- Even more links (a bumper crop this week!): if you happen to have been a teenage girl anytime in the last half-century, you likely need no introduction, Why We Can't Wait for Judy Blume's Books to Hit Movie and TV Screens | Vogue; a horrific but beautifully written article from the Indian author, Arundhati Roy: ‘The pandemic is a portal' | Free to read | Financial Times; and 'indie publishing is one of the best things I have ever done', The Selfies - questions for children's fiction winner Jemma Hatt.
- From our Writers' Quotes, the late, great P D James: 'It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.'
