9 March 2020 - What's new
9 March 2020
- ‘Do your homework. This is a very competitive genre and you need to be aware of not only current novels, but current television series and films too. There is nothing worse than working on a story for months only to find out it has already been done. I would also advise that you learn how to write a treatment of no more than two or three pages, because as a writer, you need commissions, be it in publishing, television or film...' Advice for aspiring crime screen writers from London Book & Screen Week ambassador Lynda La Plante, author of 33 novels, including The Legacy, Widows and Buried (published in April) and many TV series, including Widows and Prime Suspect in Bookbrunch.
- 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.
- Closing on 31 May , the International Welsh Poetry Competition 2020 is open to all with an entry fee of £6 for the first poem, then a sliding scale. The 1st Prize is £500, 2nd Prize £250 and 3rd Prize £100.
- Health Hazards is our special series about the various health risks for writers, including the dreaded Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. If you know you're spending too much time at a keyboard, it's worth making sure you're being careful about how you're sitting, your eyes and your wrists. Although Coronavirus may be the main health risk you're focused on at the moment, these special writers' risks are worth thinking about.
- And if Coronavirus is giving you more time at home to think about your writing, you could use it to explore the mass of information on the site. Advice for Writers.
- Our links: writers who have predicted plagues, Fever dreams: did author Dean Koontz really predict coronavirus? | Books | The Guardian; every minute with her kids is work lost, and each minute writing subtracts from precious, un-price-able joy, Karen Russell on Motherhood and Money | Wealthsimple; are there a limited number of story plots to go around? How Do You Write a Mystery When Every Plot Is Taken? | CrimeReads; and Anthony Horovitz on banning children's books, In defence of modern children's books | The Spectator.
- WritersServices can provide a range of services working on your manuscript, to help you get it ready for submission or self-publishing. We are UK-based, offer exceptional value and our skilled professional editors have been working on writers' manuscripts for 17 years. We have recently introduced free samples and free assessments on most of these services, please see the individual service page. Copy editing services.
- More links: Malory Blackman's book examines life in an alternative Britain where black people dominate national life and have most of the money, Noughts & Crosses author hits back at race-bait claims | Books | The Guardian; the publishing powerhouse behind best-selling authors like Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin and Judy Blume, is on the block, Simon & Schuster Is Up for Sale - The New York Times; the argument over 'no platforming', Debate over Scottish Poetry Library's 'no platforming' stance continues | The Bookseller; and, more controversy, Woody Allen's memoirs: this is the behaviour of censors, not publishers | Jo Glanville | Opinion | The Guardian.
- 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.
- From Edna O'Brien in our Writers' Quotes: ‘My advice to writers, whether they are inspired or repelled by my work, is to read and reread, write and rewrite, keep to the grindstone, do not be swayed by fame or adulation, the work is the absolute prize.'
