-
-
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-
You'll find us not just here, but also on Facebook.
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
“Make me forget I’m reading a book”
Our guest literary agent explains what he wants from a manuscript submission. It may surprise you…
Once I get through the hyperbole and overblown salesmanship of most covering letters, it is all about my relationship to the prose.
In the case of fiction (which it usually is) I am looking for a voice. Simple as that.
I am not so concerned about Read more
Literary agent runs away screaming
Can a simple comment on a submission make a literary agent howl with horror? Yes, absolutely, according to this agent’s guest post:
Let’s start with the science bit – every day by email, post, carrier pigeon and osmosis I receive 10 unsolicited approaches from unrepresented writers out in the big wide literary firmament.
These come from all genres. There’s fiction (from coming-of-age to fin-de-siècle), non-fiction (from ‘My 38 Years As a Bank Manager’ to ‘Mucus – the bodily secretion that changed the world’), poetry (from love poetry to stalker poetry), cookery books and academic texts to verse drama – usually about earwigs taking over the world for some reason. Read more
Grumpy old literary agent’s Christmas
Every year we go to a friend’s for a Christmas drinks thing – you know the score – the same bunch of people, the same canapés, the same wine and the same easy chat. All good stuff.
Conversation hovers around those safety zones of film (did you see?, wasn’t X great?, have you joined lovefilm? etc), music (do you remember that brilliant album by x?, Radiohead were great at Glastonbury – shame we had to watch it on skyplus etc) and books. Yes books.
Remarkably there are still some people out there who value books and who enjoy the fact they don’t have screens, they don’t require batteries and they can (just about) survive an accidental dip in the bath. All good. I enjoy chatting about all of this but something stopped me cold in my tracks last year. I was 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 »