Karen Stevens's collection of essays offers practical advice and inspiration for those embarking on the long, lonely journey of writing a novelAccording to Karen Stevens, "writing a novel is the longest and loneliest journey a writer can embark upon". Her collection of essays by established and new writers splits that journey into four stages: inspiration, research, voice and form. There is also practical advice from a literary agent and an editor who notes honestly that "chance does play a part" in getting published. Lionel Shriver is equally frank about what comes after the acceptance of your first novel: "struggle and disappointment". Although Hanif Kureishi candidly admits, in an excellent piece from 2002, that "most writers do not entirely understand what they are doing", these essays are both perceptive and inspiring. Alison MacLeod writes beautifully on the voice of a novel: "It is the unknown quantity every novel needs." Kishwar Desai admits to being driven by "the demons of insecurity" to over-research, and Jane Feaver, writing about form, advises authors to develop "an alertness to the collective materiality of words". But all agree with Wena Poon: the process of writing a novel is a "strange and wondrous journey".PublishingPaperbacksEssaysPD Smiththeguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
With a larger screen and waterproof design, Amazon's new Kindle Oasis is for well-heeled readers who struggle to put down a good book. Starting at NZ$400, the Oasis has dropped in price but is still the most expensive Kindle by far. In return it steps up to a 7-inch screen, with the extra space... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2017-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The writer and editor promoted Joseph Conrad and DH Lawrence and deserves recognition as a great literary tastemakerThe first question worth asking of Helen Smith’s A-grade biography of Edward Garnett (1868‑1937) is just how many manuscripts passed across the desk of this publishers’ reader in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 solves a big problem for Microsoft: How do you market the Surface Book as a performance notebook when it’s two years out of date? As our review shows, by making it bigger and faster, with longer battery life.With the Surface Book 2, Microsoft brings 8th-generation... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2017-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Following its annual PubU conference, the ECPA launched a new Art of Writing conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Nov. 8, attracting over 100 authors ahead of its 18th annual Christy Awards gala. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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William Collins has acquired an "unflinching" account of war through women’s eyes by journalist Christina Lamb, exploring "how rape became a weapon of mass destruction". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's latest e-reader lets you read underwater, listen to audiobooks with Audible, and download books anywhere over LTE. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2017-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Turtles All the Way Down is best-selling author John Green's first novel since 2012's runaway success, The Fault in Our Stars. While that book tackled the issue of teens with cancer, this book centres on a protagonist suffering from anxiety and obsessive-compulsive thoughts and behaviour. Green,... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2017-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hello! I’m Carolyn Kellogg, books editor of the L.A. Times. Let’s get to this week’s newsletter. THE BIG STORY Matthew Weiner concluded “Mad Men,” the show he created, with a shelf of Emmys and the ability to do anything he wanted. It’s not as easy as it sounds, he told Meredith Blake, explaining... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alan Hollinghurst was born in 1954, so he is now in his mid-60s. It is well to remember this when you read The Sparsholt Affair. Like The Line of Beauty, the book that won Hollinghurst the Man Booker prize back in 2004, The Sparsholt Affair is a long and densely detailed novel. Also like the... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2017-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Scholarly Kitchen looks at gender bias in scholarly publishing and peer review. And an IGI Global journal is newly indexed by Elsevier's Compendex. The post Researching Gender Bias in Peer Review; Indexing an Info Systems Journal appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Bookseller's acting children's editor Caroline Carpenter and children's news reporter Heloise Wood give their thoughts on Philip Pullman's La Belle Sauvage. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers and agents report positive meetings and rights sales, and Frankfurt responds to political disputes by reaffirming its commitment to freedom of expression. The post Frankfurt Book Fair: Booming Business for Trade Visitors, Reflections of German Politics Play Out appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookishFirst is being marketed to publishers as a promotional site that can expand discoverability, connect with readers and generate prepublication buzz for books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Drawn from an 'eclectic mix of innovation' and from 10 countries, the 2017 FutureBook Award shortlists showcase work in traditional and startup publishing. The post FutureBook Award Shortlists Reflect Diversity in Publishing Innovation appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pamela Butchart will write two novels about Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven for Hodder Children’s Books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Like certain comets, books by Jeffrey Eugenides appear only rarely. Since 1993 he has dropped a novel a decade: The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex, which won a Pulitzer Prize, and most recently The Marriage Plot. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson indicated that President Trump’s tensions with CNN should not factor into the federal government’s blessing of AT&T’s proposed $85-billion purchase of Time Warner Inc., which owns the cable news network. “I don’t know what the relevance is of CNN... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bestselling author Harlan Coben shares his five writing tips, including "Write like there is a knife against your throat." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two recent books take readers into the pressure cooker that videogame development can so often become. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2017-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers from across the Christian fiction spectrum attended workshops, lectures, and meetings over three days during the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference (ACFW) in Grapevine, Tex., from Sept. 21-24. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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