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Insider tip
Ensure that no key elements of your work, particularly your signature, will be concealed by a frame or mount. Paintings should be signed at least 15mm into the canvas/paper.
Artist's Guide to Selling Work-
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What a new writer needs to get right
Filed under: Getting Published, Marketing Yourself
Why can some authors do everything badly and get away with it? Do you need to be unique? Or good at branding? Guest blogger Suzanne Collier of Book Careers.com explains all
Careers consultant Suzanne Collier
Even in today’s climate I am still speaking to authors who don’t do their research.
They somehow have gone down the self-publishing route, scraped together the cash to print 3,000 lovely hardback books which are sitting in their garage (or even worse they are paying storage for at a warehouse) without any thought about Read more
How do you choose a character name?
However tempting it is to think that you can name the characters in your novel after those who’ve crossed you in real life, doing so could land you in serious trouble – as one writer has been discovering. Read more
Self-publishing vs vanity publishing. Confused?
Filed under: Getting Published, Marketing Yourself
I often get letters or phone calls from confused and sometimes worried authors, unsure whether or not to sign a contract with a publisher who’s raved about their book idea but is asking for a ‘contribution towards the cost of publishing the book’. The amount varies, but frequently it runs into the thousands.
Authors owe it to themselves to be very clear on one point Read more
Hay Festival: How to Get Published
Filed under: Festivals and Events, Getting Published
I was very pleased (but really quite nervous) to learn that the Hay Festival has relocated my workshop on account of a large demand for tickets.
The new venue has a capacity of 98 – quite a difference from the 30 faces I expected to be addressing. But I’m big and ugly enough to know that Read more
Discover the art of the rewrite
Filed under: Authors and Books, Writing Advice
Guest blogger author John Simmons on how to be even more creative
A designer friend of mine who loves conundrums, said to me last week: “Sometimes the more cornered you are, the more fun you have.”
That struck a chord with me as a writer. I’ve become increasingly convinced of the creative value of writing to constraints. It sounds counter-intuitive but constraints do liberate.
I’ve recently put this theory to the test in a [...] Read more
Top five tips for submitting your manuscript
Filed under: Getting Published, Literary Agents
I’ve just received a very short, badly written book. I was about to write a scathing critique saying ‘don’t take on this project’ when I did my preliminary Google check, just to see if the author was in the public eye, or if there was anything else I needed to know. The vital bit of info proved to be [...] Read more
The freedom that comes your way but once
Filed under: Authors and Books, Writing Advice
Plunge in and don’t hold back, says guest blogger novelist Mavis Cheek
Novelist Mavis Cheek
When I wrote my first novel, 23 years ago, I had a freedom that comes a novelist’s way but once – the freedom of being a hitherto unpublished author, the freedom of being a writer untainted by success. And it is a joy. The novice can plunge in and apply any rules, tricks, tweaks and lessons learned without fear or favour.
The virgin author can imagine everything and know nothing for certain – including whether or not [...] Read more
Writing courses: Would I? Should I? Could I?
Filed under: Festivals and Events, Writing Advice
‘Should I do a writing course?’ is a question often on the lips of new writers.
Some quickly talk themselves out of it, believing the adage that writing is a solitary pursuit, to be battled out alone. (Picture the traditional scene – the lonesome writer, holed up in the box room, banging away on their typewriter surrounded by scrumpled bits of paper, reference books and stained coffee mugs.) But in modern times, with a plethora of writing courses on offer, writers needn’t lead such a lonely existence. Read more
When is a friend not a friend?
Filed under: Getting Published, Literary Agents
I get a number of submissions where the author, in their covering letter, mentions that they have put the manuscript out to a number of friends, all of whom loved it. They laughed, they cried, they think he/she should be published. This tells me nothing except that the author has kind friends. Read more
Espresso Book Machine: is this its best shot?
I’m a bit disappointed. I wanted to test out the Espresso Book Machine, the new printing gizmo that’s hyped up to be as revolutionary as the Gutenberg press. But I can’t, because it’s broken.
The UK’s first Espresso Book Machine is located on the ground floor of Blackwell’s bookshop on Charing Cross Road, London. (There’s a video of a demonstration model above.)
It prints ‘books on demand’ and its looks have been likened to a large photocopier, which is true. This truly is an unlovely piece of kit. Read more
Buy the 2011 Yearbook
The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is available at a discount from our online bookshop. Get all the information, contacts and advice you could need.On camera: Jon McGregor
"Being longlisted for the Booker Prize changed everything - it was the launchpad for my writing career." Click to view our video with novelist Jon McGregor »
On camera: Justin Cartwright
"Just write... If you're any good you may not know it, but certainly someone else will." Click to view our video with novelist Justin Cartwright »
On camera: Julie Myerson
The novelist and journalist Julie Myerson on how she got that all-important first publishing deal. Click here to view our video exclusive »