June 2005
The website for writers
News Review
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News Review looks at the forthcoming big bonanza of Harry Potter sales, other bestselling children's authors and the new competition for a children's novel.
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News Review looks at two BookExpo panels discussing corporate synergies and world right deals. Stephen Page of Faber thinks: ‘I want to take a big baseball bat to the idea of global publishing. It is fantasy.’
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At BookExpo ‘There's a lot of schmoozing going on, but real work gets done and you can really set up books coming down the pike.’ But new titles in the US soared last year to 195,000.
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News Review looks at the success of a children's author who is already well-know for her writing: 'We can look forward to a splendid sequence of films – and to the chance to read the books which have now been plucked from the obscurity of the backlist.'
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Visa International recently estimated that global e-commerce sales grew last year by a whopping 56% to £79 billion ($150 billion). News Review looks at how this affects books.
Comment
- 'Ordinarily it is the dumbest business on the planet, taking nine months to a year - or more - to shepherd a manuscript through editing and production' Jonathan Yardley's views on publishing, in the Washington Post
- ‘My advice to budding authors is always the same: go the distance on the story. Work over it again and again. Hone your writing until it flows like running water... Above all, develop your own voice.' Tom Bowler in Writers' Forum
- 'There's never been a better time for publishers, authors and the book trade... Yet I can't help feeling the industry is still dragging its feet and slow to embrace new ideas.' David Freeman in the Bookseller on why publishers are not using their most powerful marketing tool.
- 'Writing a novel, I discovered then, in that initial fumbling stage, is a test of absolute faith and absolute endurance.' Diana Evans, on writing her first novel 26a, in the Observer
- 'Libraries' biggest problem is the neglect of their core area: books. The public library service now holds fewer than two copies for every UK resident, and spends just 9p in the pound on books.' Bookseller editorial
Writers' Quotes
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'Writing is a strange synthesis between the two parts of your mind: the analytical side and the side that knows nothing at all, and you have to allow the dreaming side free rein.’
Rose Tremain
Writing Handbooks
Writing Biography and Autobiography by Brian D Osborne
The third of three excerpts from this title from the A & C Black Writing Handbooks series looks at planning the work and finishing it:
'When you do tackle a particular section or chapter it is tempting to sit down before a blank screen, or a blank sheet of paper, and simply start writing. However, a bit of pre-planning can make for a much more productive process...'
Review of Writers' News magazine
The third in our series of magazine reviews.
Our reviewer 's view was that: 'Writers’ News two-in-one package also represents excellent value and is recommended for writers who want to keep in touch, find out about markets and improve their writing.'
Calling all black and Asian poets
Your chance to make your views heard in a new survey funded by Arts Council England. But hurry - you've only got till 30 June!
Links
Check out our just-overhauled 18 pages of carefully-chosen links for writers, which range from Writers' Online Services to Web Resources. Please email us with any good children's sites you recommend for our new section.
Try our new survey
See below
Our Editorial Services for writers
Check out the 15 different editorial services we offer, from Reports to Copy editing, Typing to Contract vetting. Our latest new service is Synopsis-writing.
New Writing 14
This gives writers the chance to submit unpublished work for the British Council's new anthology.
Bob's Journal goes into its 4th volume
Bob is afflicted by the kind of technical problems which drive you mad - especially when it's just ten minutes to your deadline for delivering your current EasterEnders script:
'Stare at screen in appalled disbelief. Try again. Same thing happens. Feel sweat break out on brow. Tell myself to stay calm... With hollow laugh ask myself which is falling apart faster: my laptop or me?'
Results of our survey on getting a publishing deal
Our fascinating new survey looks at your experiences with trying to get a publishing deal. The conclusions are:
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Write what people want
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Try up to 10 publishers or agents
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Don't ignore self-publishing
Other surveys and results - see below.
Waterstone/Faber Children's novel competition
Check out this new opportunity to win a publishing deal.
Be positive: coping with criticism
Take a look at what the experts say about dealing with criticism in a positive and constructive way.
John Jenkins looks at literary prizes, in particular the new Decibel Prize, recently awarded to highly successful author Hari Kunzru and at the unpublished writers' need for stamina and determination: 'How does anybody take 10 rejections and come back to succeed with number 11?... I wonder if authors ever fully cost the time it takes to write a book. Do those who self-publish calculate their time at so much an hour – £10, £30 or even £300?
The Editor's View, written by the Editor of
Writers' Forum magazine.WritersPrintShop
Our design, print and distribution service for self-publishers. The latest addition to the service is our WritersPrintShop online bookshop, which will sell your book for you on the Internet as soon as it's published.
We Watch the web for writers
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WritersServices.com Magazine May
2005
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