April 2006
The website for writers
News Review
- Are they 'killing literature' in Australia, or is this just another instance of the effects of globalisation? News Review investigates.
- UK book sales grow by 8%, with a boom in children's sales, and the supermarkets' and online share of the total soaring. News Review looks at the latest Books and the Consumer study.
- 'The focus at the world’s biggest children’s book fair has shifted from co-editions to fiction and film deals, with film scouts much in evidence.' News Review on Bologna
- ‘The heart says Olympia, the head says ExCel.’ The Bookseller. News Review looks at book fairs in general and the debate surrounding the new Docklands venue for the London Book Fair.
- 'Many writers may not realise how very profoundly print on demand technology is changing the publishing world... As it gets harder to find a publisher, more and more authors are deciding to try publishing their own work. News Review looks at POD and self-publishing.
Comment
- 'Writing is a discipline, much like playing a musical instrument; it requires constant practice and honing of skills. For this reason, I write seven days a week.' Dan Brown, in the Bookseller
- 'What constitutes a snippet? We might begin by stipulating that no snippet shall be as large as a full witticism.' Roy Blount Jr, humorist, the new president of the Authors Guild of America, on how to handle Google.
- 'People everywhere love stories and want to hear about hopes, dreams, disappointments, misunderstandings, rewards, loss - the human lot. ' Maeve Binchy on why she is part of Quick Reads, in The Times
- 'Books have to be a product infused with permanency. We've got to get back to the experiential side, where it's not the throwaway supermarket item you don't really care about but something you have a deep connection to.' Rick Vanzura of Borders in Publishing News
Writers' Quote
- ‘The blog is certainly another tool for writers out there to
break their way in. But being a blogger does not make you a great
writer.'
Julie Powell, who has just won the Blooker
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.
Writing Handbooks
Inspired Creative Writing serial
The 3rd excerpt from Alexander Gordon Smith's stimulating Inspired Creative Writing from the brisk and entertaining 52 Brilliant Ideas series is about learning to see the world in a new light, taking in all the detail:
'Look at things you wouldn’t normally look at and see them in a new light... It may be a cliché, but there is a story behind everything. Your job as a writer is to look for the detail that brings that story to light. '
Check out our special WritersServices offer on the book!
Review of The Right Way to Write, Sell and Publish Your Book
Our reviewer felt that Patricia Fry's guide to successful authorship is useful for all writers:
'What makes this 300 page book worth reading is that it is approachable. Most writers already know what they have to do, but Patricia Fry makes it easy to own up to the parts of the business of being a writer you tend to ignore and what to do about it.'
Masterclasses at the London Book Fair: Writing for children
Excellent advice from Philip Ardagh, Meg Rosoff, Siobhan Dowd and Geraldine McAughrean, who said: ‘Don’t write about what you know about, write about what you don’t know about, taking children to a place they’ve never been to before’.
Masterclasses at the London Book Fair: Fiction
Advice for writers from Sara Paretsky, Margaret Atwood (‘My feeling is, do whatever you like, then worry afterwards about what you’re going to do with it.’) and Joanna Trollope (‘I do set myself so many words a week… a few thousand…')
Masterclasses at the London Book Fair: Screenwriting
Our first report from the London Book Fair looks at writing for TV and the big screen. Share insights from Deborah Moggach, Tim Firth, Amy Johnson and Christopher Hampton if you're tackling this challenging genre.
We Watch the web for writers
Bob's Journal goes into its 5th volume
Bob on the use of parentheses, those convenient but tricky things:
'Discover in passing that one use of parenthesis is similar to a way in which teenage girls use ‘like’...'
Headers and Footers
The latest in our series on using MS Word shows you how to add Headers and Footers, an essential task for numbering your manuscript pages.
John Jenkins on the Orange Prize longlist, whether crime or romance sells best and the centenary of one our of our best-loved poets laureates, John Betjeman:
'As a poet he never took himself too seriously but his satire had the sharpness of Swift. The dagger was concealed beneath calculated fogeyish charm.'
The Editor's View, written by the Editor of Writers' Forum magazine.
A brief history of paper
This is the first in our new series about Looking after your books. Did you know that paper was invented by the Chinese in 2,400 BCE or that rag-based papers are much superior to those made from wood-pulp?
Your comments from our survey on self-publishing
Some fascinating quotes expressing both your hostility to self-publishing and your enthusiasm for it.
We investigated your attitudes to self-publishing, with fascinating results
Our new survey
Looks at your book-buying habits
Review of Writing fantasy and science fiction
Our reviewer said: 'an excellent guide for anyone interested in writing and publishing science fiction and fantasy. Lisa Tuttle knows the genres and the industry incredibly well and draws on her own wealth of experience to provide exactly the right kind of information and advice for the budding writer.'
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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WritersServices.com Magazine April
2006
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