30 October 2017 - What's new
30 October 2017
- Newly released figures show that ebook revenues in the US have declined again. In the first half of 2017, e-book sales declined by 4.6%, according to the AAP. All other categories, apart from paperback books saw increased revenues in the same time period, with some astounding growth. News Review
- From our 19 part Inside Publishing series, The Relationship between Publishers and Agents: 'Why do publishers need agents? Actually they don't need them, although they have come to rely on them. In many ways publishers would prefer to deal direct with unagented authors. It's authors who need agents. Writers need someone to sell their work and then to look after their relationship with their publishers...'
- From the same series, Print on demand is a now widely-used printing technology which delivers, literally, print on demand. It has the power to change the way books are published radically, and even publishers are using it on a very much greater scale. Some writers are still not yet familiar with its possibilities.
- As an aspiring writer, you should certainly start by writing an outline. I explain how to do this in this Masterclass. You solve a lot of problems with an outline. It is far easier to correct your mistakes if you write an outline than if you sat down and wrote, ‘Chapter One' at the top of a piece of paper and started writing. If you work that way, it will take an awfully long time to correct your mistakes. Our Comment is from Ken Follett, author of The Kingsbridge Series and The Century Trilogy, whose latest novel is Edge of Eternity. It's tempting to quote again from the helpful Masterclasses on his website.
- Our links: Michael Bhaskar warns that the strong performance of the book market over the past few years should not disguise the challenges ahead, It's going well - but don't get complacent; why chapter word count is so darn important to writers, Chapter Length Matters. Here's Why; from a goldmine of information about what's most popular with young readers around the world, YA Reading and Writing Trends from Wattpad's 60 Million Users; and this matters whether you're an indie author or have a traditional publisher, Checking Book Proofs in Three Simple Steps.
- Joanne PhillipsUK-based freelance writer and ghostwriter. She has had articles published in national writing magazines, and has ghostwritten books on subjects as diverse as hairdressing and keeping chickens. Visit her at www.joannephillips.co.uk' The Business of Writing for Self-publishing authors offers terrific advice for all writers: 'Self-publishing authors - also known as ‘indie' authors or author-publishers - have had a steep learning curve these past few years. Getting to grips with the various sales channels available to them, producing top quality ebooks and paperbacks, and finding a place in mainstream outlets have left many writers struggling to keep up with the paperwork. What follows is a brief guide to the essentials your self-publishing business needs - because it is a business, even if you only publish one book!'
- More links: 23 years on from Killing Floor - the first Jack Reacher story - his thrillers are a publishing phenomenon, dominating the fiction charts, sparking film adaptations starring Tom Cruise, and enthralling millions of fans, How Lee Child is breaking cover on Jack Reacher secrets - BBC News; what a difference a decade or so makes, how writers down under have prospered, Australia: The Big Not-So-New Thing; and nothing about Britain's 900 independent bookshops adds up, Philip Pullman is right - discounting is the true book lover's enemy | Patrick Barkham | Opinion | The Guardian.
- Earlier this year we launched our latest new service, the Writer's edit, a top-level service for writers who want line-editing as well as copy editing. Does your manuscript need high-level input from an editor to help you get it into the best possible shape for submission or self-publishing? This may be the service for you, offering the kind of editing which publishers' senior editors used to do in-house on their authors' manuscripts - and which is now hard to find.
- From our Writers' Quotes, Albert Camus:'Bad authors are those who write with reference to an inner context which the reader cannot know.'
