Winners

I hope everyone had an amazing Halloween!!

I've just put all the entries into a hat, and i've gotten my lovely assistant (my little sister) to pull the first three names out.

First winner: Anne R Allen (grand prize)

Second winner: Wendy Sparrow

Third Winner: Grace Scully

Thank you to everyone for entering - i really appreciate it :)

I'll be contacting the winners and sending prizes shortly

Reminder: Halloween Competition!!!

Hey all,

Just a little reminder that we're still going Halloween mad here and on the forum, and offering three halloween themed sur/prizes! All you have to do is click here and leave a comment to be entered!

There will be a grand first prize, second prize and third prize!!

Winners will be announced on the 31st of October!

Now the theme of the prize is obviously going to be all things spooky, but will also include abit of an irish spin to it!!

All you need to know about the Third act

Dear God, i'm drooling . . .



Source: Dresden Codak

The Google Deal Thinkens . . .

The Federation of European Publishers (FEP) has asked for all European works to be excluded from the revised Google Settlement. The FEP has held face-to-face discussions with the Association of American Publishers (AAP) at the fair to press its case.

The AAP is one of the two plaintiffs that originally brought a lawsuit against Google over its digitisation programme, and is currently renegotiating the deal with the internet giant.
The FEP, which represents publishers associations from 27 countries including the UK, said neither the AAP nor the second plaintiff, the US Authors Guild, "had a mandate to negotiate on behalf of their international counterparts". Read more here

Following this,

European books could be removed from a revised Google Settlement, according to one of its chief architects. The development followed a row over Google's book scanning programme at the 61st international Frankfurt Book Fair, held last week.

According to various reports Professor Roland Reuss, a literature professor from Germany's Heidelberg University, struck out at Google and the Settlement, negotiated in the US by the Association of American Publishers, and the US Authors Guild with Google. He described Google's lofty ideals as "just a whole garbage of hysterical propaganda", and warned of a threat to traditional publishing, saying "you revolutionize the market but the cost is that the producers of goods in this market will be demolished". Read more Here

Well, what are your thoughts?

To Cater or Not to Cater...

...this is the question.

Hey, all, it's Jenna again! First off, I'd like to apologize for my absence from the blog and the forum. I was sick for a good while, I had exams to study for, my grades in my AP classes were floundering...and, well, life just kind of reared its head and said "forget the blogging, I'm going to throw all sorts of curveballs at you and keep you from doing ANYTHING! HA!"

Anyway...

Lately, one of the major discussions between my writing friends and I has been whether or not to cater to the market. Whether or not to try and write to the trends, whether or not to find an agent and write to what they want to see, and whether or not to "follow the crowd" and "write what everyone else is writing."

Honestly, I can see where everybody comes from, no matter what side they happen to be standing on. Personally, however, I just write what I want and then try and find a place for it. To some, that sounds like the more difficult path, but to me it just makes more sense. The market changes so rapidly and so unpredictably that to try and anticipate and cater to it is like trying to predict the way the river will go. Sure, it flows generally in the same direction, but it's so full of twists and turns and rough currents and obstacles that you're never quite sure what's coming until you get there.

Maybe the "secret," if there really is one, is a mixture of both. Maybe the trick is to write what you want, but purposely include elements of things that have proved to be popular. I don't know. I just try to write what I want and then work around the market, instead of allowing it to dictate my words and my life.

Of course, I love debates, and I'd love to hear your opinions! So, everyone, I have a...

QUESTION FOR THE COMMENTS:

Would you ever write for the market? Why or why not?

COMPETITION ALERT: HALLOWEEN!!

Ok, Halloween is almost here ( i absolutely LOVE this holiday) so to celebrate the Writer's Chronicle forum and blog are going to have a competition for some spooky prizes!!

There will be a grand first prize, second prize and third prize!!

Winners will be announced on the 31st of October!

Now the theme of the prize is obviously going to be all things spooky, but will also include abit of an irish spin to it!!

So, what do you have to do to enter?

Just leave a comment to this entry, telling me your favourite spooky book or film?

The comment gives you one entry, and additional entries can be gained from the following:

+10 for actually posting an introduction thread on the Writer's Chronicle Forum
+7 for alreading being a member of the forum
+5 for joining the Writer's Chronicle Forum
+3 for being a blog follower already

+2 for becoming a blog follower

+2 for doing a blog post about this contest

+1 for listing the contest on your blog/website

+1 for tweeting about the contest/posting on facebook

You must let me know in the comments if you are doing these things, and link to the appropriate places.

Contest is open to everywhere in the world

Novel News: 30th September

So, to add on top off yesterday's electronic news, Bookseller has an article about how divided publishers are over the actual pricing of e-books. An overwhelming majority of publishers believe that e-books should be less expensive than the printed version, but only 15% support Amazon.com flat-rate of $9.99 on front-list titles, a survey from the Frankfurt Book Fair has suggested. The survey indicates that publishers remain unsure about how much cheaper e-books should be, with the FBF saying that the industry remains "completely divided about appropriate e-book pricing".

Also, more e-news! Disney is going digital!! The Walt Disney Company (DIS) pushed into the digital book market today, hoping to corner the first generation of digital book-savvy kids with a new distribution model: selling $79.95 annual subscriptions to readers, providing online access to 500 Disney storybook titles in digital form.

According to the NY Times, the project will target children aged three to twelve. Onscreen, the digital pages turn like pages in a print book. The site will provide online pronunciation advice, quizzes, games, and a number of the books will have actors read the story out-loud, complete with music. via MediaBistro On a personal note - Disney have books!?!?!?!

Related to e-news, is the announcement by Neil Jones, founder and chief executive of Interead, said his COOL-ER ebook reader has become the best selling gadget of its kind in Europe.

"It's in fact tens of thousands that we've sold in only three months.

"We launched on the 29th of May. We are already in profit."

Read more here, sounds like quite a system - to rival sony and kindle! Via SkyNews

NEWS FOR FANTASY LOVERS via BookSeller,

Gollancz associate publisher Jo Fletcher has acquired a "major" new fantasy series that will open in 2011. Fletcher bought world rights to three books by Elspeth Cooper from Ian Drury at Sheil Land Associates.

The first title, Songs of the Earth, is due out in early 2011, with Trinity Moon and The Dragon House following subsequently.

Fletcher described Cooper as "a winner". She added: "There is no shortage of good books out there, but when you read a really great novel you know, instantly, that you have an absolute gem in your hands. This is one of those rareties: an unputdownable fast-paced adventure with characters who leap off the page at you and leave you begging for their stories."

The books follow novice knight Gair, whose gift is being able to hear the songs of the earth, creating magic from them. But in the Holy City where he lives, that makes him a witch. Gair is condemned to death, but with help from "an unlikely source" he escapes to a secret retreat in the western isles, where he can learn to master his new skills.

Chased by an "implacable witchfinder", Gair must also help in the fight against "a renegade Guardian is striving to tear down the Veil that will release evil, uneathly monsters into the human world".

IMO, Sounds like an excellent series, definitely one to watch me thinks!