22 June 2014 - What's new
22 June 2014
- Richard Hall, author of Theatres of War, chooses in his My Say to ask the question: "Write about what you know" - does this adage always make sense? 'For those planning a contemporary novel it may be sound advice to write about what you know. But what about writers of historical novels? They cannot have personal knowledge of anything before the recent past...' Other columns from writers in our My Say series. If you have something you'd like share with us about your writing, please send your article to us.
- Our Blurb-writing service is just what you want if you're a self-publisher struggling to write your own. Our Synopsis-writing service may be able to help when you've got stuck trying to put together your synopsis. Or perhaps you'de like a report on your screenplay, tv script or play from our Scriptwriting Assessment service?
- 'A week or two back we linked to a recent article in Publishing Perspectives, Yawn No More: Americans and the Market for Foreign Fiction, about the annual BEABookExpo America, commonly referred to within the book publishing industry as BEA. The largest annual book trade fair in the United States Global Market Forum, this year focusing on books in translation. It showed that progress is being made to overcome American publishers' traditional reluctance to take on translated work from the rest of the world. Various different publishing models are being tried, which is important since the extra costs of translation have to be recouped somewhere...' News Review - at last, a mini-boom in translations.
- Our Writing Opportunity this week is the exciting New Children's Author Prize 2015, set up by the National Literacy TrustUK-based organisation which has campaigned since 1993 to improve literacy standards across all age groups. Excellent research information and details of the many initiatives the charity is currently involved in. www.literacytrust.org.uk. It also has a useful page of news stories on UK literacy, which links to newsletter http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/TheLibrary.aspx and Bloomsbury Children's Publishing. You need to be a UK citizen and the closing date is 30 September, although entries received by 30 June need only pay a £15 entry fee.The Prize is a publishing contract with Bloomsbury, along with an advance of £5,000 and an exclusive print run of the new author's work.
- Our 19-part Inside Publishing series gives you an insider's take on the publishing world, covering everything from subsidiary rights to the world Engllish language market, from advances and royalties to what the sales department does.
- This week's links: Author Tim Parks on the uncertain future of long novels, firstly in his blog which sparked it off, Reading: The Struggle by Tim Parks | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books and then in an article in the Independent, Internet spells end of long, complex literary novels, says author Tim Parks - News - Books - The Independent. Then there's Molly Flatt's thoughtful report from Writing in a Digital Age, BookBrunch - Shaping the twenty-first century writing life; more on Amazon-Hachette, Amazon is not your best friend: Why self-published authors should side with Hachette - Salon.com; the international story on Wattpad, How Developing Markets Fuel Wattpad's Explosive Growth | Publishing Perspectives; and 6 Reasons Why English Writers Should Self-publish in Germany | Publishing Perspectives.
- ‘I never wanted to be a writer. At first I wanted to be a violinist but I just wasn't good enough. My love of stories came, I suppose, from my father, who used to read books to me like King Solomon's Mines. I've loved adventure books ever since. Writing historical fiction means I do lots of research, so my study's covered in notes and bits of paper. It helps me get under the skin of my subjects...' Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth, Sepulchre and Citadel in The Times, quoted in our Comment column.
- Our page of New Articles on the site helps you make sure you've seen the new material we've put up, but you can also find it on the Magazine page.
- 'This manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don't consider it rejected. Consider that you've addressed it 'to the editor who can appreciate my work' and it has simply come back stamped "Not at this address". Just keep looking for the right address.' Barbara Kingsolver in our Writers Quotes.