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Insider tip
"Imagining how a story might work on stage can inform the dramatic action of your novel. Looking to see how the dialogue and subtext might develop and reveal a character can help you to reveal the characters in your narratives." » Read more from Derek Neale, OU Lecturer in Creative Writing
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iPad book versions: a risk worth taking?
Filed under: Authors and Books, Digital publishing
Simon Winchester tells us – from an author’s perspective – what’s involved in making a book version for the iPad.
The final weeks before the birth of a new book are always exciting and nail-bitingly tense for its author – and as I have a book about the Atlantic Ocean coming out in October, this is the waiting-outside-the-headmaster’s-study moment, with me hoping against hope all will be well.
But this year things are rather different, Read more
Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2011 – now available
Filed under: Authors and Books, Getting Published, Writing Advice
It doesn’t seem long ago that I was writing a post to announce the publication of the 2010 edition of the Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook. How time flies when you’re having fun…
That’s not far from the truth when it comes to the Children’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook. I love putting this book together for the simple reason that I love what’s in it. I truly think the content is more than good – it’s great: Read more
What can writing tutors do for you?
I sometimes hear people say that writing courses produce carbon-copy writers who know nothing about the publishing industry – writers whose work is bland, formulaic and self-absorbed.
Nonsense.
At least, in my experience.
I did an MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa Uni. All the tutors are publishing professionals and their aim is to help apprentice writers to become authors. And they’ve a pretty good strike rate too, with many writers going on to get agents, publish work or find jobs in the industry.
So what exactly does the course offer that you couldn’t get working alone? I’d say that the course structure is 50% about developing your craft and 50% about developing business sense.
Workshops and one-on-one meetings with a tutor are Read more
Make yourself heard
Filed under: Authors and Books, Festivals and Events
You’ve written a novel. That’s good. It’s being published. That’s better. You’ve been asked to perform a reading at a literary event. Very encouraging, but give it some thought before you accept – unless you’re an actor or a school teacher.
When you last sampled your own book, perhaps for the umpteenth time, was it Read more
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
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
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
Number One tip for writers
Filed under: Authors and Books, Writing Advice
Venture inside the writing process, says guest blogger Laura Jane Cassidy:
Often when authors are asked to give their number one tip to aspiring writers, they reply with ‘Read, read, read’.
I know that reading is important, but I think rewriting is even more so.
When you read a book you are looking at the finished product, and in most cases it’s the result of a lot of rewriting. I watch an insane amount of movies, but that doesn’t mean Read more
Whose book idea is it anyway?
How often as writers do we suffer the pain of seeing an idea we had thought of suddenly launched as someone else’s bestseller?
I commonly get asked at writing festivals how authors can be sure that ideas they submit to publishers and agents won’t just be pinched and developed by someone else. My answer is Read more
A taste of success
Filed under: Authors and Books
Despite it being dreary weather outside, I’m hot and bothered. I’m feeling the heat from my ever pressing deadlines.
Believe it or not, I’m in the throes of getting the 2011 edition of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook ready for press. There are new articles to edit, listings to update, pages to make up, the jacket to finalise and the index to compile.
This will be the eighth time I’ve put the Yearbook together and 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.-
Tweet and Win! We are giving away free copies of our 2011 yearbooks - and you can win one in less than a minute. Visit our competition page now to be in with a chance...
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 »