12 June 2017 - What's new
12 June 2017
- 'Stop reading so many articles on the internet about how to write. You're allowed one a week. Instead, spend that time actually writing. Write for 15 minutes every day. Set a time in advance, set a timer. Try to write at the same time every day. Your subconscious will get used to the idea and will start to work like a reliable water spout...' Advice in our Comment column Just do it from Naomi Alderman, author of Disobedience and The Power, which has just won the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, in the Guardian.
- You have until 2 July to enter your abstract submission for Haus of Liberated Reading's Twin Anthology. Essays, short stories and poetry from writers from across the African diaspora are eligible. A small fee will be paid but the main prize is inclusion in the anthology to be put out by 'the home of radical writing and the literature of decolonised minds'.
- From Tom Chalmers of IPR, two articles about rights for self-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 announcement of the winner of the Man Booker International Prize this week highlights again the growing importance of literary prizes in the international book world. News Review.
- Literary magazines with one week's response time is Sandeep Kumar Mishra's useful list, recently added to the site. They range from literary fiction to non-fiction and include science fiction and fantasy, popular non-fiction, politics, flash fiction, reviews, humour, social issues, the economy, lifestyle, horror, artwork and much more. If you've ever despaired at how long magazine submissions can take, or wanted to extend your range, this is the list you need.
- Our links: I see the same weaknesses again and again. Here are the biggest problems that afflict novel queries and how you can fix them, How to Immediately Improve Your Query Letter's Effectiveness | Jane Friedman; the self-publishers who have made it big, Buying houses in cash and selling millions: meet self-publishing's 'hidden' authors | Books | The Guardian; a wide-ranging article about Flash Fiction, Protean Miniatures: The Adaptability and Sustainability of Flash Fiction - Los Angeles Review of Books; and consuming dystopian science fiction has quickly become a popular coping mechanism for Americans trying to adapt to (or resist) the sometimes-dark reality of 2017, More science fiction can help us create a better tomorrow.
- 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, Translation editing for those for whom English is not a native language and our new Writer's edit, providing line-editing. Get the right level of editorial support for your needs. Contact us to discuss what you want.
- More links: one of the world's richest poetry prizes with her latest collection, Falling Awake, Alice Oswald takes £37,000 Griffin prize with 'breathtaking' poetry | Books | The Guardian; few things are as treasured by writers as privacy, that place where you can tune out the world and live in the alternate one on your page, Joseph Kanon: There Is No Better Place to Write than the Library | Literary Hub; and a spirited attack on 'cultural appropriation, Enough with this ghettoisation of culture | Arts & Culture | Free speech | spiked.
- Have you ever wondered why you don't win any of those competitions? What can you do to improve your chances? Our tipsheet on Entering Competitions.
- 'Writing is a necessary joy. It's the only way to understand other people, their stories and hopes, their articulated or mute selves. The job of the writer is to put that into words which, afterwards, will seem inevitable.' Philip Henscher in our Writers' Quotes.