November 2006
The website for writers
News Review
- 'Covered in blood' - News Review looks at O J Simpson's If I Did It and the media storm it caused.
- The last week has seen the sale announced of Blackwell and Readers Digest in an ongoing frenzy of acquisitions. News Review reports.
- News Review looks at audio, which has: 'huge potential to grow its profile, reach new markets and cross-fertilise print and digital publishing. The key is to treat audio as it own medium rather than a lesser version of a book.’ The Bookseller
- News Review reports on the latest agency scam involving Hill & Hill - a curious case involving fantasy comments from publishers.
- A Creative Commons license has worked well for the Friday Project on Tom Reynolds’ Blood, Sweat and Tea. The free download has led to 20,000 downloads but sales of nearly 30,000 copies.
- 'If Sobol manages to get the 50,000 entries that they reckon will constitute the cut-off, the competition will earn $4,250,000, a very good return for setting up a small website, doing a bit of judging and awarding a $100,000 prize.'
Comment
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'Books transported me to a place that was filled with endless possibilities, and it was all so much better than whatever it was I was doing in real life.' Jennifer Kaufman, author of Book Lover, in Stella
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'I could not have written Equinox had it not been for those 25 non-fiction titles that preceded it. ' Michael White in Publishing News
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'In 2006 the novelist has become a cross between a commercial traveller and an itinerant preacher... in just over a generation the novel has gone public in the most astounding way.' Robert McCrum, in the Observer
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'We are concerned about the messages that are being sent to consumers about the value of books if we just price promote everything at the expense of other forms of promotional activity…' John Makinson of Penguin
Writers' Quote
'The last thing one knows in constructing a work is what
to put first.'
Blaise Pascal
See also Finding an
agent for how to go about getting someone to represent you.
The view from a publisher's desk
This is the third in a series of articles by Tom Chalmers, MD of Legend Press, giving a publisher's view of the submission process and what a publisher is looking for.
This month: The Writers' x-factor:
'Think about what you offer that no one else does and concentrate on developing this. New is always interesting as long as it doesn’t go too far for the sake of it... who is going to read your work, who do you think it will appeal to?'
Where next for the web
Web 2.0 is the next development for the Internet, and then there's Web 3.0. So what does it all mean?
Vanity publishing
The latest in the Inside Publishing series deals with how to avoid being conned by the vanity publishers.
T S Eliot Prize 2006
This year's shortlist has just been announced and there's also a new School Shadowing Scheme, the first for a major poetry prize.
What is RSS?
Our latest Writers Web Watch article explains this 'Push' technology which allows new web content to be sent to you if you have expressed an interest.
Deleting Data
The latest new article in our Writers Web Watch section on technology deals with deleting data from magnetic disks:
'At the end of its useful life, or whenever you plan to pass a computer on, it is vital to ‘scrub’ the data off the hard disk. This is a task to be taken seriously.'
Some compliments from those who have used the site
‘I love visiting your web site each week for updates - there is just
so much fantastic information there.’
Megan from Australia
Our new audio section
Check out our new audio section. This shows you how to record your work using the facilities built into your computer. You can start with Preparing your story and How to start recording.
It's easier than you think, so get recording! We'll provide a site for you to podcast your work soon.
Working with an agent
It can be hard work finding an agent to represent you. Make sure though that, when you set up the relationship, you do so in a professional manner. Our new page shows you how to get the most out of this key relationship.
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
Coaching.
Bob's Journal goes into its 6th volume
Bob's RSI seems to have receded and work on his thriller is going well:
'Seem to have reached the stage where the plot has its own momentum... 'Characters keep wanting to say things I don’t want them to. They want to go off on tangents, like people in real life’
Our new competition spirits you into the the world of poetry. Enter now and win a copy of the brand-new Poetry Writers' Yearbook.
John Jenkins on Julian Barnes' wonderful novel Arthur and George, how authors choose titles, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine's support for New Orleans and whether men can write romance:
'Put it this way, are there any greater romances than Romeo and Juliet, Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary?'
Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Flaubert were pretty good at it.'
New agency listings
New on the site - the bang up-to-date 2007 Writers' and Artists' Yearbook worldwide agency listings. Check out the UK and Ireland, US and international agencies lists
Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2007
This is the 100th edition of this extremely useful book, which the Society of Authors calls 'A must for established and aspiring writers.'
Ian Rankin's Foreword
Shows how the bestselling crime writer used the book to help him find a publisher:
'Getting into print requires nerve, stamina, luck, stubbornness and talent. Even established authors can feel as though they’re climbing a mountain. Think of the Writers and Artists’ Yearbook as your sherpa.'
The Editor's View, written by the Editor of Writers' Forum magazine.
WritersPrintShop
We have revamped our WritersPrintShop website with lots more information. If you're thinking about self-publishing, this is the place to find out what's involved. If you're ready to go ahead, our high quality service is second to none and there's an economy version for those who want to tackle some of the work themselves. You can estimate the cost for yourself.
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