9 November 2015 - What's new
9 November 2015
- The recent Digital Census 2015 revealed some surprises in the responses. In the book trade in general there's been much talk of a slowdown and reversal in the speed of ebook adoption, accompanied by a revival in the fortunes of print. So what exactly did the Census reveal? Digital Census has plenty of surprises is the title of this week's News Review.
- Our series of six articles on writing in different categories covers a wide range of genre writing - Crime, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Romance, Non-fiction, Historical fiction and Memoir and Autobiography. So, if you're a genre writer, we've probably got an article on the genre you are interested in.
- The Brunel University African Poetry Prize 2016 is open to poets who were born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African and who have not yet had a full-length collection published. It closes on 30 November and the prize is £3,000 - and a lot of kudos.
- 'Well, I wrote one and nobody wanted it. I wrote a second and nobody wanted it. I wrote the third and nobody wanted it. And then I went back to the newspaper to see if I could get a job. I thought, you've really failed. Like usual. Loser, loser, loser...' Patricia Cornwell, whose latest book is Depraved Heart, in the Observer magazine provides our Comment, Becoming a writer, the hard way.
- Which service should I choose to help me get my work into good shape for submission or self-publishing? This is the question our page Which service? answers and it then goes on to give a quick rundown on our 20 editorial services for writers, which we think is the biggest you can find on the internet.
- Our links: so what exactly do you feel you owe your readers? What Do Writers Owe Readers? ‹ Literary Hub; Michael Bhaskar argues that a saturated market and retail consolidation will drive change in publishing over the next five years, BookBrunch - Publishing 2020: the next five years; "Books in translation" is not a genre. It just means books from other languages. These behave like books written in English, BookBrunch - Taking stock: literature in translation; and Recording an audiobook well, as opposed to merely mechanically, is as much a performance as a stage play or a film, says Nicholas Jones in BookBrunch - Reproducing the inner voice.
- Advice for Writers is a really useful page which takes you into our archive and helps you explore our 5,000 pages of information for writers.
- More links: the author of Harry Potter is writing for children again, JK Rowling: I'm writing a children's book under my own name - Telegraph; if you think you've gotten over the practice of sounding words out, you're probably wrong. Although people watching you read will see you read silently and without moving your lips, part of you is still sounding out the words, You Will Always Read Like a Child, According to Science; and Jessica Faulkner on a programme that opens doors to literacy, learning and a lifetime of opportunity, BookBrunch - Book Aid International's Children's Corners.
- New in our Writers' Quotes, 'You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money's in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.' Larry Niven
