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Insider tip
The biggest key to voice is not worrying about it. Bad style often comes from trying too hard to imitate the style of other writers. Gotham Writers' Workshop: Writing Fiction-
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The 2011 Yearbook – do you need it?
Filed under: Authors and Books, Getting Published, Writing Advice
The brand new Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook is published today, 30 June!
I’m always excited but slightly anxious at the prospect. I love the look of the uncreased cover, the perfect un-thumbed pages and the unbroken spine (I’ve never been one to treat books very well – does that make me a bad book person?). I can’t wait to give it a quick smooth, a quick fan and a quick sniff before I get out the post-its and spoil another perfect copy with my scribbles and coffee stains.
But what about you – the reader? Do you need a new copy? Read more
The open-minded agent
There’s an agent-author conversation which crops up in a variety of ways all around the web and it goes a bit like this:
Hotshot literary agent: “If you don’t get my name right, make spelling mistakes and fail to follow the submission guidelines on my website, I won’t look at your work. I’m not interested. You’re wasting my time.”
Brilliant new writer: “Agents are totally stuck-up. They’re fixated on Read more
Giveaway: Win The Pindar Diamond!
Five lucky readers of this blog will each win a copy of this brilliant new book from Bloomsbury.
We are giving away 5 copies of The Pindar Diamond (RRP £11.99) by Katie Hickman.
Bloomsbury author Katie Hickman spoke at our recent How To Get Published conference and is also a guest blogger for this site – see her posts How do you begin a novel? and Read more
I’ve finished so I’ll get started
Filed under: Getting Published, Writing Advice
With the 104th edition of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook now safely at the printers, I’ve hit a bit of a mental slump.
After months of hard work – updating all those 5,000 or so listings, adding new ones, updating articles and making room for more – the buzz of having finished what I started has been short lived.
This is the pattern – I’ll rush to the finish line and then find it’s followed by a strange feeling of Read more
Win tickets to Latitude festival!!
Hurrah, the festival season is well and truly here and our colleagues at Bloomsbury are running a competition for writers to win tickets to Latitude. Check it out below!
Write your own Tiny Play about Britain and you could win weekend camping tickets for two at Latitude Festival 2010.
As part of the prize you will see your Tiny Play performed in a set by Craig Taylor, the author of One Million Tiny Plays About Britain, and actors on Saturday 17 July at 9.40pm in the Latitude Literary Arena and Sunday 18 July at 6.20pm in the Latitude Theatre Arena. Read more
You are so beautiful to me
Filed under: Authors and Books, Marketing Yourself
There are days when I get inundated with photos. I open submission after submission and they fall out, showing me stunning author after stunning author.
Nice as it is to put a face to the work, it’s really not necessary. Very few readers will judge a book by the author photo – it’s all about the writing. The one exception to this might be Read more
Arvon giveaway winners
We’re pleased to announce the 5 winners of our recent Arvon book giveaway.
We’d like to congratulate Ann Mckenna, Veronica O’Brien, Funmi Oyedokun, Claire Rogers and Rebecca Townsend, who each win a copy of The Arvon Book of Life Writing, published by A&C Black.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on the website as we’ll be running more book giveaways soon!
Writers’ & Artists’ conference
I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who attended our ‘How to Get Published’ conference yesterday. It was a terrific day with lots of engaging chat and some excellent questions.
I was part of the team of organisers but happily I still managed to listen in to many of our guest speakers.
Literary agent Carole Blake spent a moment despairing at the name ’slush pile’, preferring to call it Read more
How do you begin a novel?
Filed under: Authors and Books, Writing Advice
A guest post from Bloomsbury author Katie Hickman, who is speaking on ‘How I Got Published’ at the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook writers’ conference on Saturday 19 June:
When I first started writing I used to think that there was nothing in the world quite as intimidating as a blank sheet of paper. A thought I was reminded of only a few days ago when staring at one myself, waiting for the inspiration to begin my new novel, the next in the series after The Pindar Diamond.
There is something about it that Read more
Your favourite book anecdote?
Hearing on the radio that the great physicist Michal Faraday was apprenticed to a bookbinder and bookseller, which gave him seven years’ free access to reading material, reminded me of another of my favourite book-related anecdotes. The shots that killed 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 »