Home » 23 May 2016 - What's new
23 May 2016 - What's new
'This year's BookExpo in Chicago seems to have been rather a disappointment. The amount of exhibitor floor space was down by 20% to 25% and the Digital Zone was especially empty. As Publishers Lunch put it, "The ever-diminishing 'digital discovery zone' is rather unpopulated and undiscovered, making it perhaps the saddest place on the floor."...' Author stars were teh redeeming feature.This week's News Review
How to put together your Submission Package - 'Given the difficulty of getting agents and publishers to take on your work, it's really important to make sure that you present it in the best possible way. Less is more, so don't send a full manuscript, as it's very unlikely to be read. Far better to tempt them with a submission package that will leave them wanting to see the rest of the manuscript'.
Both closing on 13 June, our Writing Opportunities are the MslexiaStylish and lively site for quarterly UK literary magazine read by 12,000 'committed' women writers. Good range of quality writing, information and advice with news, reviews, competitions and interviews, all presented in a friendly fashion. Praised by Helen Dunmore as 'astute, invigorating and above all an excellent read.' www.mslexia.co.uk Women's Poetry and Pamphlet Competitions 2016, which are open to all women poets. Poetry Prize: £2,000 plus two optional extras, a mentoring session with the editor of The Poetry Review, and a week's writing retreat at Cove Park. For the Pamphlet Prize: publication of the Pamphlet by Seren BooksClick for Seren Books Publishers References listing, plus £250.
Tips for writers is our 8-part crash course for writers, taking you from Promoting your writing (and yourself) to Learn on the Job, from Keep up to date to Submission to publishers and agents. 'Think about the market for your book. Research the category and read widely to see what other published writers in this area are doing. Which writers are successful and why? Visit bookshops and analyse what you find there. If you are reading this you are probably already writing, but it really is worth thinking right from the beginning about your readers, as that makes it far more likely you'll eventually find them...'
'It always starts with instinct. Feeling a visceral excitement when I'm reading, that I'm being dragged deeper and taken somewhere I don't already know, through a voice I haven't heard before. For me, the voice is pretty much key. Some editors are plot hounds and understand genre, but I've never really been that person. For me, at least in fiction, it's always the voice...' Editor Rebecca Saletan of US literary imprint Riverhead on Lithub provides this week's Comment.
Our links: following John le Carré, who asked (unsuccessfully) to be removed from the 2011 Man Booker International Prize shortlist because "I do not compete for literary prizes", How to turn down a prestigious literary prize - a winner's guide to etiquette | Books | The Guardian; if you want to read the whole article from which our Comment comes, Interview With a Gatekeeper: Riverhead's Rebecca Saletan | Literary Hub; Don't underestimate the commitment it will take to realize your story and write a book. Boil your project down to its core components to see your project through to the end , Six Things You Need To Write A Book | BookBaby Blog; and I get nostalgic for the days before money invaded the internet, Bookslut was born in an era of internet freedom. Today's web has killed it | Books | The Guardian.
The Web as a Research tool is fantastic for writers: 'There are some sensational research resources for writers on the web. The search engines and other directories have made these accessible. But it helps to understand a little about how they work.'
More links: a first children's book offering what's been described as 'a fully-formed fantasy world', 'Magical' children's series to Canongate | The Bookseller; the ebook market in India is at the cusp of a major revolution, The New Era of Ebooks in India | Digital Book World; a young poet has seen her name recognition spike rapidly since Beyoncé incorporated her poetry in the HBO-released visual album Lemonade, Warsan Shire's Sales Spike After 'Lemonade' Shoutout; and a more serious take on this story, very comforting to poets, Warsan Shire, the Woman Who Gave Poetry to Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' - The New York Times.
Do you want some help with your writing but don't quite know what you want? Choosing a Service will help you work out which is the right editorial service for you so you can self-publish or find an agent and publisher.
'Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.' Annie Dillard in our Writers' Quotes.
We're catching up with the Magazines for November and December, which are packed with a fantastic range of Comments, News Reviews and Links.
'The most crucial thing is to learn the craft: how to string sentences together, how to make your dialogue sound like real people, how to properly pace a story, how to develop interesting characters.'
— Stephen Coonts
Inspired Creative Writing
March Competition 04
Crime writing
In the Future, Will We All Be Freelancers? - Publishing Perspectives
3 Types of Contracts Every Writer Should Understand | Jane Friedman
Is Trump Ruining Book Sales? | New Republic
'Publication is not all it is cracked up to be'
How Seamus Heaney Became a Poet of Happiness | The New Yorker
Self Publishing: It Takes An Army | ASJA Confidential
'A reasonable living'?
There are at least a dozen food-related works of fiction published in the US last year:
Val McDermid: 'It Doesn't Get Easier, It Gets Harder!' | Literary Hub
The Editor's View Feb 05
Fledgling theatre company looking for a play
'It's like a new shoot'