9 November 2020 - What's new
9 November 2020
- ‘We can't really take in everything we read in a book. When you think about what you remember of a book a month or a year later, it's a distillation - sometimes you remember an image or a scene or a moment in the plot, or an idea in an essay. You don't actively remember the entire experience, at least not consciously. My father used to say that culture is what's left when you've forgotten everything... Claire Messud, author of The Emperor's Children, The Burning Girl, The Last Life and The Woman Upstairs in the Observer.
- From Tom Chalmers, formerly of IPR, two articles about rights for self-publishers, which are also illuminating for writers working with publishers: Self-publishing - the rights way and How to get your book in the hands of an international audience. 'It's a fact that most self-published authors understand the process that takes them from a written manuscript to a published book, but few realise the additional elements that make publishing a profitable business. Rights licensing is arguably the most vital element in this equation. Whether it's selling translation rights, audio rights or optioning the film rights, these all help balance the book's books...'
- The most recent addition to our range of reports is the Editor's Report Plus, a substantial report which offers chapter-by-chapter commentary on your manuscript, with a helpful blueprint for any further work which is recommended. It gives you the kind of expert advice which is usually only available from an in-house editor, which is why it has quickly become our most popular report.
- Our links on writers and writing: a really helpful article about writing non-fiction, Common Reasons Nonfiction Books Don't Sell | Jane Friedman; an author who is alarmed by the ever-growing impact of the internet on our lives, Our gravest danger; a delicious and exciting setting includes the place, weather, time of the day, nature, trees, animals... you name it, The Most Haunting Settings in Crime Fiction | CrimeReads; in October 1920, the world had the first opportunity to read a murder mystery by a new writer, 100 years of Agatha Christie: a retrospective on the Queen of Crime - The Boar; and, more on Christie, a murder takes place in a misty Himalayan hill resort, 'Queen of crime' Agatha Christie goes to Bollywood - BBC News.
- Our Services for Writers is just a simple list of what Writersservices offers, with links to the individual pages. We've been going for 19 years now and take pride in our wide range of services - the largest on the web - the professionalism of our editors and the good value we offer.
- Links relating to bookshops, Black Lives Matter and Children's books: Independent shops have been "more agile", Covid: Small shops better at surviving virus than big ones - BBC News; Black Lives Matter in publishing, ‘There Are Tons of Brown Faces Missing': Publishers Step Up Diversity Efforts - The New York Times; a surge in interest following the protests over the summer sparked by the killing of George Floyd and by Black History Month, Black-owned bookshops call for more diversity in UK publishing | Books | The Guardian; two new reports into representation in children's books are published, Children's books eight times as likely to feature animal main characters as BAME people | Books | The Guardian; and first-time writer has spectacular success, S&S sells Steadman's middle-grade series in 23 languages | The Bookseller.
- Getting your poetry published: 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. Should you be considering self-publishing?
- 'The best advice on writing was given to me by my first editor, Michael Korda of Simon and Schuster, while writing my first book. 'Finish your first draft and then we'll talk,' he said. It took me a long time to realize how good the advice was. Even if you write it wrong, write and finish your first draft. Only then, when you have a flawed whole, do you know what you have to fix.' Dominick Dunne in our Writers' Quotes.