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July 2008
The website for writers
News Review
- 'The past decade has seen the most extraordinary rise in the number and visibility of literary prizes. They come at us from every direction and seem to get bigger and more attention-grabbing all the time.' News Review looks at the proliferation of book prizes.
- 'The stand off between the Internet retailing giant, Amazon, and the biggest trade (general) publisher in the UK, Hachette, is continuing.' News Review looks at Amazon's plans and how they affect authors.
- This year's Cape Town Book Fair shows dynamic growth but elsewhere in Africa Book Aid needs support from all of us to deliver books to school-children and students.
- Wikipedia's 683 million visitors give it a head start against new competitor Citizendium. News Review reports on how they're slugging it out.
- Rights tussles dominate the news, as American publishers look towards international and e-books for expansion in a declining market. News Review on the changing picture.
- 'Children’s authors have staged a stunning rebellion against age-ranging on children’s books. More than 50 British authors, led by Philip Pullman and all five children’s laureates... have launched an extraordinary campaign. News Review investigates.
Comment
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'Books are the most important thing in life to me... It's a need to process life, instead of just taking what life throws at you and being passive, a need to take life and make something of it.' Sophie Hannah in the Independent on Sunday
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‘What I have described are the birth pangs of a golden age. The market for the printed book is now global; the opportunities for the digital book are almost unimaginable. To be a writer in the English language today is to be one of the luckiest people alive.' Robert McCrum in the Observer
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'There are more books sold than ever before, the market is growing and more people are reading... I think the trade should be confident and optimistic.' Luke Johnson, Chairman of Borders UK in Publishing News.
Writers' Quote
'Publishing is a very mysterious business. It is hard to predict what kind of sale or reception a book will have, and advertising seems to do very little good.'
Thomas Wolfe
Review of The Self-Publishing Magazine
Our reviewer concluded: 'You wouldn’t really compare it to the other magazines reviewed here, but for anyone who is thinking about self-publishing it provides advice and reassurance.’
Writers' magazines reviews index
Writing for the web
Writing effectively for the web is quite different from writing for the printed page. Our latest new checklist shows you how to write web pages to attract and keep visitors.
Digitisation at the London Book Fair 1 and 2
What is the digital future and has it already arrived?
This is a two-part report on the excellent LBF seminars on digitisation, the subject of the moment as far as the book world is concerned. Chris Holifield's two articles provide a summary, and focus on issues most relevant to writers.
Five Tips for Promoting Your Book Online
Sherry Rifkin, author of LoveHampton, says you need to be thoroughly tech-savvy to promote your book online, and gives her quick guide to what you can do to promote your book around the world.
Ten Tips for nonfiction writers
Julie Wheelwright, programme director, MA Creative Writing Nonfiction, City University, London gives a helpful checklist for nonfiction writers.
The ABC Checklist for New Writers: Professionalism
We've published six extracts from The ABC Checklist for New Writers: How to Open Doors and Get Noticed the First Time Around by Lorraine Mace and Maureen Vincent-Northam. This useful book gives succinct answers to the many problems writers face, making it an indispensable reference for the budding writer.
The series covers Agents, Editors, Keeping records, Marketing, Professionalism and Titles.
Help for Writers
Check out this page to find links to the huge number of useful articles on this site.
Changes in the book trade
This new series by Chris Holifield looks at the book trade and investigates how fundamental changes in how it works are affecting writers.
The sixth looks at copyright under pressure, as two developments - digitisation and the Internet concept of everything being free online - challenge authors' key control of their intellectual property.
The first article is on Bookselling, the second on Publishing, the third on Print on demand, the fourth on Self-publishing - 'really great' or career suicide? and the fifth on Writers' routes to their audiences.
My Say
Timothy Hallinan's 'The Writing Session' offers 6 tips on how to approach your writing: 'The universe has a vast amount of material to offer you, free of charge, for your book. If you write regularly, you’ll recognize that material when it comes along. It could, ultimately, be the thing that either saves your book or takes it to a higher level.'
Success story
Our latest Writer's Success story is Jhumpa Lahiri, whose latest collection Unaccustomed Earth went straight to the top of the American bestseller lists, even though it is both literary and a collection of short stories.
WritersPrintShop
We have revamped our WritersPrintShop website with lots more information. If you're thinking about self-publishing, this is the place to find out what's involved. If you're ready to go ahead, our high quality service is second to none and there's an economy version for those who want to tackle some of the work themselves. You can estimate the cost for yourself.
We Watch the web for writers
Our huge section on technology and the web, and how writers can make use of them.
Choosing a Service
Are you having difficulty deciding which service might be right for you? This useful new article by Chris Holifield offers advice on what to go for, depending on what stage you are at with your writing.
Our Editorial Services for writers
Check out the 16 different editorial services we offer, from Reports to Copy editing, Typing to Rewriting.
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WritersServices.com Magazine July 2008