23 August 2021 - What's new
23 August 2021
- ‘I always wanted to write books, and always crime. I'd read Agatha Christie as a child and in the late 1980s I discovered the US crime writer Sara Paretsky. I thought: wow, these are the kind of books I want to write - books with strong female protagonists with a brain and sense of humour; women who didn't have to get the guys in for the heavy lifting. I wanted my characters to be three-dimensional, and if some of those characters happened to be gay, they were not defined by it. Val McDermid, whose latest book is 1979, who is the author of 45 books which have sold over 17 million copies worldwide, in the Sunday Times magazine.
- An Editor's Advice is our seven-part series on how to become a better writer. On Genre writing: 'I've been reading science fiction, fantasy and crime novels since I was a teenager, and I can spot when a writer doesn't fully understand the mechanics of their chosen genre. It may not matter to a casual reader but it really matters to the fans, and if they don't like what they find, they'll be telling their friends why the novel is rubbish. So, what do you do about it? How do you become a successful genre writer?...'
- Last year we launched the Writer's edit, a top-level new service for writers who want line-editing as well as copy editing. Does your manuscript need high-level input from an editor to help you get it into the best possible shape for submission or self-publishing? This may be the service for you, offering the kind of editing which publishers' senior editors used to do in-house on their authors' manuscripts and which is now hard to find. Our other copy editing services.
- Another big crop of links, these are from writers: the feedback from my readers is what drives me to keep writing, From Unconsecrated Ground: PW Talks to Lynda La Plante; I suddenly heard a burst of noise upstairs... Who's There?: Every Story Is a Ghost Story - The Millions; whether it's the language, the tradecraft or the folk legends of American Mafia life, it reads like a voyage through the underworld, The Power of Reading Mario Puzo's The Godfather as an Immigrant Story ‹ CrimeReads; a new poet laureate is announced, Scotland's new makar Kathleen Jamie: ‘Poetry is at the heart of our culture' | Poetry | The Guardian; and suppose you've played any video game in the past twenty years. In that case, you'll know there are two camera positions developers can use, Second Person Point of View: What it is & How to Use it - The Art of Narrative.
- Our Children's Editorial Services help you to get your children's book ready for publication or self-publishing. Have you found it difficult to get expert editorial input on your work ? Do you want to know if it might find a publisher? Or are you planning to self-publish?
- It may surprise you to know that the first of Julie Wheelwright's Top Ten Tips for Nonfiction Writers is: 'Story, story, story. Make sure that your story can sustain several chapters and tens of thousands of words. Keep asking yourself: Why would anyone want to read this story?'
- Links to stories from the publishing world: since the start of the Covid pandemic, there's been a rise in instances of government censorship of books, Censorship on the Rise Worldwide; more than 60 bookshops launched in the UK and Ireland in the past 18 months, ‘I'm giddy to be here': the risk-takers who opened bookshops during Covid | Booksellers | The Guardian; with in-person talks and signings out of the question, would the whole system collapse? Authors, Publishers, & Booksellers On The Future Of Book Promotion; an excellent article explaining this to writers, The Value of Book Distribution Is Often Misunderstood by Authors | Jane Friedman; another takeover of a major independent as consolidation continues, Hachette Book Group Will Acquire Workman Publishing for $240 Million; and the realities of indie publishing life, Richard Charkin: Notes From a Small London Publisher.
- From our Endorsements page: on English Language Editing: 'The result? A book that reads like it's written by a native speaker for only 13% of the price a complete translation would have costed. Thank you, writersservices.' Anthony Fitzgerald
- More links about writers and writing: how lockdown has changed a small children's publisher, Ask An Editor: Tom Bonnick, Nosy Crow senior commissioning editor; plagued by fake pornographic e-books listed under her name, Author Szereto 'horrified and angry' over Amazon fake e-book scam | The Bookseller; like almost every other children's writer I know, my overwhelming desire is to get children reading, Tackling complex themes for children; 'There's more than one way to burn a book', Kate Clanchy and the new censorship in publishing | The Spectator; and only 2-4% of children's books published in English are translated, The Most Popular Children's Books From Every Country In The World.
- Don't give up the day job. Perhaps you've even been indulging in thinking about it as you lay on the beach this summer, or more likely spent your precious holiday working on your latest novel. But how practical is it? Is it something you can realistically aspire to, or just a distant fantasy? What are your chances of making your dream come true?
- 'It is a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it.' W. H. Auden in our Writers' Quotes.
