7 April 2014 - What's new
7 April 2014
- 'Following on from a buoyant Bologna Book Fair, recent figures show that children's books are doing well on both sides of the Atlantic. Now that the UK and US economies are both coming out of recession, this is probably no longer because parents are prioritising books for their children. Perhaps it might be because they have seen the advantage that having their own books at home gives children. There is a high demand for middle grade fiction and in YA the trend is towards great realism. It's become apparent how much YA sales are boosted by adult purchase for their own reading...' News Review
- This week's Writing Opportunity is the 12 Winchester Writers' Festival competitions, closing on 16 May. Entry fee £7 for each and attending the Festival is not necessary.
- 'I do not wish to write prose that draws attention to itself, rather than the world it describes. I write quickly partly because of my own boredom threshold. The experience of being absorbed in a book is one of the best experiences you can have. There is a way of engaging with a larger readership. It is troubling that what we regard as important books are basically taking no part in the cultural conversation in this country.' Nick Hornby, author of A Long Way Down and About a Boy in The Times, quoted in or Comment column.
- We have a series of six articles on writing in different categories, including SF and Fantasy, Crime, Romance and Non-fiction, to provide some background on how to approach different genres.
- Our Success Story this week is Jax Miller, whose first thriller has just been sold around the world in a two-book deal. Her agent, Simon Trewin, said: ‘My Kindle almost caught fire with the speed I was clicking onto the next page.' Other Writers Success Stories featured on the site.
- Our links this week include an account of the Bologna Book Fair - BookBrunch - A writer at the 2014 Bologna Book Fair; a radical look at ebooks, 'The ebook revolution hasn't even begun' - Telegraph; and How Self-Publishing Led Amazon to German Ebook Dominance | Publishing Perspectives. An especially intriguing article from agent Andrew Lownie describes how this very impressive agency goes about its business BookBrunch - How the Andrew Lownie agency places its authors.
- 'To be a writer is to sit down at one's desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone - just plain going at it, in pain and delight. To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again, and once more, and over and over...' John Hersey in our Writers' Quotes.
