2 April 2018 - What's new
2 April 2018
- ‘I was given the audio versions of some Harry Potters, read by Stephen Fry, and realised I could match the sound of the words to their shape on the page... Once I heard those Harry Potter books, I could then memorise them. To this day, I know the first three pretty well perfectly...' Leo Carew, whose much-heralded fantasy first novel The Wolf has just been published by Headline and whose website features wild places he's visited, with fabulous photos. Our Comment, From dyspraxia to publication.
- Have you managed to find a publisher for your work and are now enjoying the thrill of knowing that your book will soon be published? Or are you planning to publish your own book? If you're wondering what happens next, here is an outline of the processes involved. Preparing for publication.
- Submissions are now open for this year's Polari First Book Prize, which celebrates the very best debut books that explore the LGBT experience, whether through poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction. Deadline for submissions is 1 May. Books must have been published in English by a writer born or resident in the UK.
- Are you looking for an assessment of your book? Which Report? helps you work out which of our three reports might be the right one for you. Or do contact us, we'd be glad to advise.
- Our links: working as a literary agent means being privy to a full canon's worth of submitted novels that the world will never see, The Year in Trump Novel Pitches: An Agent's Lament | Literary Hub; Amazon also has a Donald Trump problem, No Sympathy for Amazon | The New Republic; and 'I spent much of this winter living on an abandoned island in the Hebrides, writing my second book', Going off Grid.
- 'You are a first-time author without an agent and you receive a contract to publish your book - just how do you evaluate it? Is it fair or biased against the author by prevailing industry standards? Is your publisher looking out for your interests as well as his own - or wording the clauses in a way only advantageous to the company?' Why your book contract needs vetting.
- More links: reading is crucial, as are new digital storytelling tools, European Children's Bookstore Conference: Internet-Generation Readers; a multimedia sequence which explores the 1981 New Cross fire coming from the poet 'who has made the most exciting contribution to poetry', Jay Bernard's ‘personal and brave' poetry wins Ted Hughes award | Books | The Guardian; and for a few years now, I've been intrigued by the writers who manage to produce both fiction and nonfiction work, The Writers' Roundtable: Fiction vs. Nonfiction.
- 'I always write in the morning. I was pleased to hear lately that Rousseau, too, after he got up in the morning, went for a short walk and sat down to work. In the morning one's head is particularly fresh. The best thoughts most often come in the morning after waking while still in bed or during the walk.' Leo Tolstoy in our Writers' Quotes.
