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April 2010
29 April 2010
How Successful Writers Maintain Confidence
"There are no universal, cookie-cutter techniques writers can use to keep up their hopes and dreams. Each writer is unique, with an individual temperament, culture and developmental process. But here are some general suggestions all writers can consider to help soldier through periods of doubt."
28 April 2010
Cory Doctorow Boycotts the iPad
"The iPad’s DRM restrictions mean that Apple has absolute dominion over who can run code on the device—and while that thin shellac of DRM will prove useless at things that matter to publishers, like preventing piracy, it is deadly effective in what matters to Apple: preventing competition."
26 April 2010
Why Men Don't Read Books
"Like many boys, I grew up watching pro wrestling. I knew that Jericho was not only a huge star, but a genuinely smart, charismatic guy who had some incredible stories to tell. In an attempt to convince the editorial board, I brought in Chris's videos, action figures, CDs, anything I could think of to prove to a skeptical room that this guy was a big deal and his book would work. Nobody was buying my pitch. Nobody had heard of Jericho. So here's what happened--and I swear this is true."
19 April 2010
Andrew Wylie, Feared King of the Publishing Jungle
"Once a more than slightly feral predator, however, Wylie has now become something far more menacing in the literary undergrowth. In a business environment where many of the principal publishers, booksellers and rival literary agents are reeling from the remorseless depredations of recession and digitisation (the IT revolution), he can make a good claim to be the most powerfully composed and uniquely global writers' representative on either side of the Atlantic, a king of the book publishing jungle."
16 April 2010
Ninety-year-old Wins Poetry Prize
Proving once again that you're never too old.
14 April 2010
The Future for Book Editors
"There has been a flurry of thoughtful and true articles lately lamenting the devaluation of the editor. But enough lamentation! We all know the publishing industry of yore is long gone. What about the future? In the Internet free-for-all book editors may become more, rather than less important. The editor is the author’s interface with the world at large; the other roles in publishing houses, as they are now configured, may become obsolete in the digital future. Publishers may devalue editors, but writers and agents don’t."
14 April 2010
Bonanza for Book-buyers
"Whatever the outcome of this era of transformation, for now these are bonanza days for book buyers."
09 April 2010
Proper nouns come into play in Scrabble rule change (UPDATE)
So the news reports about proper names being allowed in Scrabble is a beat-up. Apparently, it only applies to a spin-off called Scrabble Trickster.
09 April 2010
End of the MoreWriting writers' site
After a run of five years, MoreWriting is about to close down. The site was set up by Dr Gordon Brooks following the demise of the BBC's Get Writing site and became a popular place for new and experienced writers to congregate. However, despite having over 1800 members, activity has waned in recent times.
07 April 2010
Proper nouns come into play in Scrabble rule change
Nooooo...
03 April 2010
"Mortification" Exposes Writers' Worst Moments
Mortification is a new book that reveals the worst moments of a writer's public life.
"The list of things that can go wrong at a public reading is endless. Will anyone show up? Will they listen? If they listen, will they ask unanswerable questions? Or worse, will there be no questions at all? Will the audience be stifling yawns? Will the reader before you be brilliant while you stumble over your words? Will you forget how to speak? Choke on your tongue? Lose a tooth mid-sentence?"