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Insider tip
How to Get an Agent: "Follow your instinct – more often than not it will be right." » Read more on securing the services of a good agent by Philippa Milnes-Smith-
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Ghosts of writing past, present and future
Filed under: Authors and Books
Do you have the skills to be a good writer – and are you naturally curious about other people? It could be that becoming a ‘ghost’ is just right for you… Read more
What presents did you get?
Filed under: Writing Advice
I hope you had a lovely Christmas and that you managed to give and receive some thoughtful gifts.
I think the ideal gifts for a writer are notebooks to jot ideas in, book tokens to enable a relaxing hour or two browsing in a favourite bookshop, tasty nibbles to have to hand as you write, and much more!
I did discover that Margaret Atwood has a gift list for beginning novelists, which would work equally well for birthdays too, while this Bookaholic blogspot features some interesting items – such as bookshelf wallpaper!
What gift did you most want this Christmas, what did you get, and what did you give this year to your writer friends? Read more
Merry Christmas everyone!
Filed under: Festivals and Events, Getting Published
Wishing all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year – may 2010 be your most successful writing year yet!
We expect you’ll be getting to grips with your writing projects during the holidays. So, to help you along the way, we’ve set up a dedicated email address, especially for you to ask any burning questions about getting published.
Simply email your question to writersandartists@acblack.com by 4 January 2010 – it couldn’t be easier.
Please note that we won’t be able to Read more
Warning – this post contains expletives!
Filed under: Writing Advice
Have you been following the recent fight for the Christmas number one? The ’surefire’ winner – Joe McElderry, winner of The X Factor – has been beaten by an internet campaign to get the anarchic (and expletive-filled) ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage Against the Machine to the top.
Despite being asked very nicely, the band couldn’t resist letting fly with their not-safe-for-radio version when they performed on BBC Radio 5 last week. The clue might be in the lyrics: ‘F*ck You, I won’t do what you tell me’…
But what does this have to do with writing? Well, two things really. One is that the public are not always catered for and Read more
All I want for Christmas is an agent…
Filed under: Literary Agents
A literary agent must be at the top of a fiction writer’s list to Father Christmas (along with a Go Go Hamster – who doesn’t want one?!).
And that’s because the vast majority of fiction publishers rely on literary agents to filter submissions and approach them with the cream of the crop.
Getting an agent is not only your gateway to the publishers, but also the best way to Read more
We announce the winner!
A big thank you to everyone who took part in our recent competition!
We asked you to write a pitch for your book in 20 words or fewer, for a chance to win a place at the ‘Insider Guide to How to Get Published’ conference.
In the end we had hundreds of entries and the standard has been extremely high. It’s been a tough call choosing a winner, but finally we picked someone whose entry really sparked our imaginations and left us wanting to read more.
So a big congratulations to Read more
Splicing the strands
A guest post from Derek Neale, Lecturer in Creative Writing at The Open University:
This is the last in my series of blogs, offering some thoughts about how drama might
improve your fiction.
What have James Joyce’s Ulysses and Graham Swift’s novel Last Orders got in common? Not a lot, you might think. But you’d be wrong. The answer is time frame – the action of both is set over a single day.
You may not always want to confine your story to 24 hours, but knowing your Read more
Tell us about your writing zone
Filed under: Authors and Books, Writing Advice
Where do you write? You’ve probably seen those articles in the newspapers about ‘writers’ rooms’. It’s almost as if there’s a magic to the physical space where a writer writes.
Pictures of a writer’s room usually feature personal items: photos pinned to the wall, objects collected on travels, gifts from other writers. Perhaps even, at this time of year, we can imagine a sprig of holly on top of that meaningful ethnic carving that sits shyly on the desk.
All those things are important. I enjoy Read more
A different way of working on a picture book
Filed under: Art and Illustration, Writing Advice
I’ve come across a website that gives artists a new outlet, and anyone who feels inspired, a new creative tool. It’s very much in the beta stages at the moment, so you will have to bear with its quirks for a while yet.
Storybird is a site where you can set out a short story using the library of images they have uploaded, and then see your very own picture book on screen. They will Read more
Competition for young writers
Filed under: Competitions and Offers
I’ve just been on the phone with the people at Right Words, who are running a competition for young writers. The idea is to produce a piece of writing inspired by the issue of child soldiers, and it’s a reminder of just how powerful a means of communication – and understanding – writing can be.
The competition is open to 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.-
Win, Win, Win! We are giving away 5 copies of Qatari Voices, a collection of essays which will inspire new writers. For details of how to enter this giveaway go to 'The Accidental Writer' >
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 »