May 2006
The website for writers
News Review
- 'Just when those in the book trade had resigned themselves to huge annual growth in the numbers of books published, US figures have plummeted, although UK numbers continue to soar. ' News Review looks at an astonishing discrepancy.
- 'The allegation of large-scale plagiarism has raised its ugly head in a too-good-to-be-true story of a young writer who appeared to be writing well rather too well for her age. ' News Review reports on Kaavya Viswanathan
- 'The audiobook market is set to jump into the new world of downloadable sound to meet the demands of the iPod generation... ‘many people who wouldn’t have previously considered buying an audiobook as a CD or tape said they would be interested in downloading one.’ Paul Smithson
- News Review looks at the book fair wars, with the surprise announcement this week that the Frankfurt Book Fair is setting up a direct competitor to the London Book Fair in its new home in ExCel in London’s Docklands.
Comment
- 'It is easy to understand the mindset of those who feel uncomfortable with reading... But reading is generally looked on as a pleasure even by those who avoid it - a pleasure to some but not for them.' Ruth Rendell, writing about her Quick Read The Thief in the Sunday Telegraph
- 'Trips to the library with my mother are, in my memory, even more thrilling than trips to the sweet shop, and when I got my eldest daughter a library card I felt as though I had bought her citizenship of that same fabulous world.’ J K Rowling, in support of the innovative Love Libraries scheme
- 'The law is therefore as everyone thought it was. Unless you copy the means of expression of facts and ideas, you do not breach copyright.' David Hooper in Publishing News , commenting on the outcome of the Da Vinci Code case.
- 'A publisher's job is to add value to the work they are about to bring into the world. An existing brand or franchise requires a great deal less risk and effort than an unknown author or a difficult subject.' Anthony Cheetham in the Bookseller.
Writers' Quote
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'People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.'
Logan Pearsall Smith
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Writing Handbooks
Inspired Creative Writing serial
The 4th excerpt from Alexander Gordon Smith's stimulating Inspired Creative Writing from the brisk and entertaining 52 Brilliant Ideas series is about style and learning to write naturally, developing your own style rather than trying to copy other people's:
'The style you choose to write in can say an awful lot about you. Don’t be shy and don’t be false, just act natural: like your sense of dress, your writing style should be personal and unique to you.'
Check out our special WritersServices offer on the book!
Books for the visually impaired
Our latest article explores the issue of books for the visually impaired, with many useful links. For self-publishers, it is easy to make your book available in large print if you wish to do so.
Google Desktop
The latest article in Writers' Web Watch shows how you can use the facilities of the Google Desktop to get the latest news, weather, share prices, maps and much more.
Free Verse
Why have so few new Black and Asian poets been published in the UK in the past 10 years and why is poetry publishing so far behind the amazingly diverse world of fiction? A new report investigates.
What poets can do to develop their writing
Helpful advice for all poets from the Free Verse report.
Our new audio section
Check out our new audio section. This shows you how to record your work using the facilities built into your computer. You can start with Preparing your story and How to start recording.
It's easier than you think, so get recording! We'll provide a site for you to podcast your work soon.
Care of books
The third part of our series on looking after your books shows you how to store, handle and shelve them. It joins parts one and two, History of paper and Properties of Paper
Masterclasses at the London Book Fair
Bob's Journal goes into its 5th volume
Bob ponders on names and where authors get them from, looks at TV reviews and applies a literary quiz to himself:
'Most overrated writer? Anyone who got a six-figure advance for their
first novel in the last twenty years.’
Your submission package
Our new page shows you how to put your package together and what you should send. Essential reading to make sure you give your work its best chance.
You might also like to consider using our Submission Critique service.
Copyright briefing
If you don't know the meaning of 'fair use' or 'the public domain, or even how copyright copes with the digital world, here's a quick update.
Headers and Footers
The latest in our series on using MS Word shows you how to add Headers and Footers, an essential task for numbering your manuscript pages.
John Jenkins on the banning of smoking, students' problems with the use of English and Bloomsbury's Harry Potter profits:
'The seventh and final book in the series is being written by J K now but the backlist, paperbacks and franchises will keep the bandwagon rolling... Wasn’t Bloomsbury the company which had so much faith in Potter that the first print run was only 500? '
The Editor's View, written by the Editor of Writers' Forum magazine.
We investigated your attitudes to self-publishing, with fascinating results
Our new survey
Looks at your book-buying habits
WritersPrintShop
We have revamped our WritersPrintShop website with lots more information. If you're thinking about self-publishing, this is the place to find out what's involved. If you're ready to go ahead, our high quality service is second to none and there's an economy version for those who want to tackle some of the work themselves. You can estimate the cost for yourself.
Review of The Right Way to Write, Sell and Publish Your Book
'What makes this 300 page book worth reading is that it is approachable. Most writers already know what they have to do, but Patricia Fry makes it easy to own up to the parts of the business of being a writer you tend to ignore and what to do about it.'
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