4 October 2021 - What's new
4 October 2021
- ‘I write in my head on the way home from work, or when mowing the lawn, or on a night out with friends. Sometimes I find the time to capture those words that are rolling through my mind, quivering and drumming and swimming, banging into each other until I can finally trick them and leak them out onto the page. And sometimes I don't. Writers are like that.' Karl Wiggins, indie author of Calico Jack in Your Garden and three other books.
- 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!...'
- Are you getting ready to publish your book - perhaps planning to self-publish? WritersServices offers a suite of nine services which help writers get their work into shape before they self-publish. Services for Self-publishers
- Links from the publishing world: a dearth of what can be called midsize publishers that fall between the Big Five and the many independent publishers with sales of $20 million or less, Where Have All the Midsize Book Publishers Gone?; there's more to authoring than conquering the blank page, Ten Things Nobody Tells You About the Publishing Industry; children's book criticised for using "harmful stereotypes", HarperCollins to remove Chinese character from Walliams book after criticism | The Bookseller; the long coronavirus lockdowns gave many of us a lot more time to read, Booksellers hope soaring sales will continue as we read more - BBC News; still avoiding international book fairs, For American Agents, It's Another Year of Managing the Frankfurt Book Fair from Home; and how did you get into publishing?; Ask An Editor: Ailsa Bathgate, Barrington Stoke editorial director.
- Have you managed to find a publisher for your work and are now enjoying the thrill of knowing that your book will soon be published? If you're wondering what happens next, here is an outline of the processes involved. Preparing for Publication
- Links from writers: deepening your appreciation of life, and empowering you as an agent of positive change? Can creative writing be taught?; writing a story that feels like a movie, Roy Peter Clark on How to Write Cinematically ‹ Literary Hub; when a former student of hers was murdered, Nicola Garrard set out to write a story challenging the racist stereotypes that had devalued his death, How grief and anger fuelled my inner city novel; and a thoughtful article reflecting on what makes an excellent Regency romance, Stephen Fry on the enduring appeal of Georgette Heyer | Books | The Guardian.
- Are you working to prepare your PhD for submission? Professional editing can help you improve the presentation of your work and iron out any grammar or spelling errors, so that you can achieve the best possible result. Our PhD editing service
- Are you thinking of submitting your book to an agent? Try our Finding an Agent page or Your Submission package.
- More links: a fascinating and well-informed article about one of the world's biggest literary prizes, Inside the Booker Prize: arguments, agonies and carefully encouraged scandals | Booker prize | The Guardian; the plight of the high street bookshop, Dave and Goliath: maverick writer Eggers makes a stand against Amazon | Books | The Guardian; are they being written out of novels at a similar rate to their extinction in the real world?; Animals have dwindled in novels since 1835. Is fiction undergoing its own extinction event? | Books | The Guardian; and personalised poetry collections, Faber and Wonderbly pioneer new personalised poetry platform | The Bookseller.
- Advice for Writers is a really useful page which takes you into our archive and helps you explore our more than 8,000 pages of information for writers.
- 'Some day people will put faith in poets, who saw things centuries ago in perfect clarity.' E.B. White in our Writers' Quotes.
