31 May 2021 - What's new
31 May 2021
- 'Editors can be stupid at times. They just ignore that author's intention. I always try to read unabridged editions, so much is lost with cut versions of classic literature, even movies don't make sense when they are edited too much. I love the longueurs of a book even if they seem pointless because you can get a peek into the author's mind, a glimpse of their creative soul. I mean, how would people like it if editors came along and said to an artist, "Whoops, you left just a tad too much space around that lily pad there, lets crop that a bit, shall we?" Monet would be ripping his hair out.' E A Bucchianeri, author of Little Month of Saint Joseph, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly, Faust and 5 other books.
- From our nineteen-part Inside Publishing series, you can read up on Copyright: 'Many writers worry about losing their copyright. Before sending out your manuscript it is always advisable to put a copyright line consisting of the copyright sign ©, the year and your name on the title page...' and Subsidiary Rights: 'My first job in publishing was in a subsidiary rights department. I'm ashamed to admit that I accepted the job without having much idea what subsidiary rights were. Many writers may feel just as vague about this part of publishing, so here's a quick breakdown...'
- Our 20 Services for Writers is just a list of our writers' editorial services.
- Our links about writers: I had always thought that I would be a writer, Never too late: ‘In my late 40s I realised writing a novel had become like Everest' | Life and style | The Guardian; death of celebrated children's author, whose book sold 50 million copies, Eric Carle: Very Hungry Caterpillar author dies aged 91 - BBC News; new author has written a scorching portrait of the British class system, Author Natasha Brown On Writing The Debut Novel Of The Summer | British Vogue; winner reflects on her writing process, The Selfies children's fiction winner Kate Claxton on her self publishing success; and writing historical fiction, What the Romans smelled.
- Are you hoping to submit your book to publishers? Will you plan to do this through an agent? Finding an agent shows you how to go about this: 'Many writers see being taken on by an agent as the first step in getting taken on by a publisher, because it is so difficult to get publishers to pay attention to unagented writers...'
- 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.
- Links from the publishing world: Publishers WeeklyInternational news website of book publishing and bookselling including business news, reviews, bestseller lists, commentaries http://www.publishersweekly.com/'s inaugural book show, U.S. Book Show: An Oprah-Style Kick Off; a once-thriving literary subgenre, Why the YA dystopia fad sparked by The Hunger Games finally crashed and burned - Polygon; and a new scheme dreamed up by used booksellers, Authors to earn royalties on secondhand books for first time | Booksellers | The Guardian.
- If you need to get your material typed up, but can't face doing the job yourself, Typing manuscripts is a service for writers who have an old or handwritten manuscript which needs typing before they can proceed with reworking, submission or publication.
- Links on writers' affairs: so many fantasies of what the writer's life is like, The End of Editing; writers and critics are raising questions over the role that agents and estates play in limiting access to biographical material, The reputation game: how authors try to control their image from beyond the grave | Philip Roth | The Guardian; and the challenges facing historical novelists, A rollercoaster called Romanov: the joys of hidden historical heroines.
- From our Writers' Quotes: 'I don't need inspiration from real children. The real test is the child within me.' The late, great Eric Carle, who died this week.