15 April 2024 - What's new
15 April 2024
- ‘I always quote Kurt Vonnegut. He said in the early part of his career he was dismissed as a science fiction writer and that critics tend to put genre books, including sci-fi, in the bottom drawer of their desk... It's true. I get the New York Times every Sunday. In 37 novels, I've never had a stand-alone review. I'm always in the crime round-up. But I don't really mind because on the back pages in the bestseller lists, I'm always very well represented. I've had editors and publicists say, "Sorry about the New York Times" but I've gotta be honest: I don't care... The crime novel is just a framework to tell any story you want to tell and the reason you're in the bestseller list is the readers know that...' Michael Connelly, author of 40 novels, which have sold over 84 million copies worldwide, and also executive producer of the Bosch & Bosch: Legacy, Lincoln Lawyer and Ballard tv series, in The Times.
- The latest new article in the Worldbuilding series deals with magic: 'One of the principal differences between fantasy novels and their real world-based counterparts is the presence of magic. Magic, however, is a ticklish subject; get it right, and your story transports the reader into a new, heady world; get it wrong, and the story can quickly descend into unintended comedy. In this article, I'll look at some of the uses - and limitations - of magic in fantasy worldbuilding...'
- Our new six-part Worldbuilding series is designed to help fantasy, romantasy and science fiction writers think about the various things they need to consider when constructing the world in their novel: 'Fantasy fiction is a niche market, but a very popular niche market. It is particularly popular among new writers, and I suspect this is a consequence of growing up on a diet of best-selling fantasy fiction over the last couple of decades...' The other titles in the series are: 1: Character names in fantasy novels, 2:The basics of writing fantasy fiction, 3: Geography and physical location, 4: Technology and 5: Culture.
- Advice for writers gives you access to the mass of information for writers which you can find on our website.
- Do you want some help with your writing but don't know quite what you want? Are you a bit puzzled by the various services on offer, and not sure what to go for? This page can help you work out which service is right for you. Choosing a service.
- Links for children's writers: Claire Wilson on children's publishing, The Bookseller - Features - Nibbies Literary Agent of the Year Wilson on the state of the UK children's market; brisk trading on the first day of a packed 61st Bologna Children's Book Fair, The Bookseller - News - Bologna 2024 opens with a Young Adult and graphic novel-fuelled bang; publishers are eager to return to business as usual, Bologna 2024: A Swinging Spring, But Challenges Remain for Middle Grade; and book fairs are back in business, The Bookseller - Editor's Letter - Bologna builds back.
- If you're looking for a report on your manuscript, how do you work out which one of our three reports would suit you best? Which Report? includes our latest top-of-the range service, the Editor's Report Plus, introduced by popular demand to provide even more detail. This very substantial report takes the form of a chapter-by-chapter breakdown and many writers have found that this detail helps them to get their book right. Through our specialist children's editors we can offer reports on children's books.
- The wonderful Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2024 is now open. Poets from anywhere in the world aged 11-17 years and writing in English are eligible and there's no entry fee. The Top 15 winners get publication in the Foyle Young Poets 2024 Anthology. Here are three of last year's winners talking about the Foyle Young Poets and their poems on the Children's Poetry Summit blog.
- From our Endorsements page: 'Thank you for forwarding the Editor's report containing the excellent professional advice and observations which I, as a first-time writer sorely needed. I will re-work the novel as suggested and would like to resubmit it for another editing overview in due course. Please thank the Editor for her supportive comments and again thanks to you for providing a superb service with the best value I have had for £180 in many a long year.' Den Harding, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, UK.
- Links on the writers' world and AI: what's crucial for agents is 'a keen sense of unseen advocacy and active engagement with publishers', The Bookseller - Trade Interviews - Lizzy Kremer, David Higham Associates m.d. | ‘We are conscientious in our contract work and we're proud of that'; horror is experiencing a literary boom with a record-breaking year of sales, The Bookseller - News - Record-breaking year for horror, as trade says fiction getting more ghoulish; horror fiction is having a moment, Horror novel sales boomed during year of real-world anxieties | Books | The Guardian; a tech sector dedicated to boiling things down has raised temperatures in some quarters of the publishing world, ‘We may lose ability to think critically at all': the book-summary apps accused of damaging authors' sales | Books | The Guardian; until we have a mechanism to test for artificial intelligence, writers need a tool to maintain trust in their work, Why I wrote an AI transparency statement for my book, and think other authors should too | Books | The Guardian; it's partly AI, partly a get-rich-quick scheme, and entirely bad for confused consumers, Amazon ebooks: Are the Mikkelsen twins running a scam? Here's our investigation - Vox.
- An essential read for children's authors is Suzy Jenvey's special series for WritersServices, the four-part Essential Guide to Writing for Children. The first article looks at the all-important question of age groups and what you should be aware of in writing for each one. The second part is Before You Write: What is My Story Going to be? The third part deals with Starting to Write and the fourth part is about Submitting Your Work to Agents and Editors. This series by a hugely experienced children's editorial director and agent helps you get started on your own story or develop what you're already working on.
- Have you ever wondered whether there's any point in entering competitions? Someone must be winning, but why is it somehow never you? It might be worth reviewing how you approach competitions, to see if you can achieve a better result. Our page on entering competitions may help.
- Links to writers' stories: 'Becoming an author has made me a more understanding and empathetic editor', Q&A: debut fantasy author James Logan; the Irish author on the allure of Elizabeth Jane Howard, the brilliance of Bernardine Evaristo - and why she won't be revisiting Philip Roth, Marian Keyes: ‘Books have one shot to impress me and if you miss, you miss' | Marian Keyes | The Guardian; novelist Louise Jensen on how her own experiences with the supernatural influenced her new novel, The influence of the supernatural; and a little knowledge about her real life protagonist, writes Leeanne O'Donnell, was just enough, Delicious nuggets.
- A Publisher's View is our four-part series from publisher Tom Chalmers on what publishers are looking for. What a publisher wants from submissions, Judging a book by its covering letter and synopsis, The writer's X factor and The changing face of publishing. On submitting your manuscript: 'While editors may well do some later tinkering, it shouldn't be sent in unless the writer feels it is a manuscript ready for publication, in terms of both grammar and content. Lines like ‘I know it needs some work', or ‘I think it's nearly there' show admirable humility but are an immediate put-off!...'
- If you're aiming at traditional publishing, Finding an agent and Working with an agent are two practical checklists to help set up and maintain this vital relationship: 'Try to find an agency which is ‘hungry' for new clients. To keep their workload under control, an established independent agent might take on something like four new authors a year, but only to replace four departing clients. This may seem obvious, but whether or not an agent is actively looking to build their list of clients is probably the single most important factor affecting how closely they are looking at unsolicited submissions...'
- Our last set of miscellaneous links: talking to writers, Carter Wilson Interviewed Hundreds of Writers - Here's What He Learned From Them | BookTrib; well known for her adult novel The L-Shaped Room, Lynne Reid Banks, author of The Indian in the Cupboard, dies aged 94 | Books | The Guardian; and a survey of 787 members of the Society of Authors (SoA) has found that a third of translators and a quarter of illustrators have lost work to generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, The Bookseller - News - A third of translators report losing work to generative AI systems, SoA survey reveals.
- Our Developmental editing service - 'If you are a new writer, setting out on your first book project, or a more experienced writer who wants to improve your skills, this service is for you. We will work with you to identify the areas where you need to develop new or better skills, to show you how to improve, and to support you as you expand your writing technique and bring your project to fruition...'
- ‘I never really think of children when I do my books. Babar was my friend and I invented stories with him, but not with kids in a corner of my mind. I write it for myself.' Laurent de Brunhoff, who died last week, in our Writers' Quotes.
