Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2003 > Reviews > Publish yourself!

Author's product rating:   

Degree of Information	High
How interesting was the book?	Interesting because I'm interested in that subject
How useful was it?	Very useful
Would you read it again?	Yes
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	Full of information and practical advice
Disadvantages:	Not all information is updated in new editions

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Ciao illustration here shows the 2003 edition of the Writers' and Artists' Handbook, whereas this is a review of the 2006 edition which includes a foreword by Terry Pratchett as well as advice from J.K. Rowling, Mark Billingham, G.P. Taylor, Isabel Losada, Joanna Trollope, Simon Winchester and Maggie Gee. Terry Pratchett tells us that he bought his first copy of the book secondhand at the age of 13 or 14; he gives advice on how to be a professional boxer, ending by saying that becoming a writer is very similar except that it is not about boxing.

New articles in the 2006 edition include 'How to get ahead in cartooning' by Martin Rowson, 'I think I need an agent' by Mark Le Fanu of the Society of Authors, 'Year-in-view of the publishing industry' by Joel Rickett, 'How to attract the attention of a literary agent' by Alison Baverstock and 'Approaching a poetry publisher' by Roddy Lumsden.

The first section is dedicated to newspapers and magazines and features an article on writing for each of these. The listings include national and then regional newspapers in the UK and Ireland and magazines in the UK and Ireland. The magazines listed here are, however, limited, and this is one area that should be expanded. Following this are newspapers and magazines overseas, although they are in fact only those of major English-speaking countries. This section ends with a listing of syndicates, news and press agencies.

The second section is entitled Books and begins with twenty articles or 'notes', several of which are by successful authors such as J.K. Rowling and Joanna Trollope. Everything from ghostwriting through book distribution and writing for the children's book market is covered. There are FAQs about ISBNs and an explanation of the Public Lending Right. Listings in this section include book publishers in the UK and Ireland, book publishers overseas (here again these are limited to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA), audio publishers and book clubs.

Section three, covering poetry, is a mere seventeen pages long. There are just two articles on publishing poetry, followed by a listing of poetry organisations.

The fourth section on television, film and radio is more extensive. There are articles on adaptations from books, writing for television, writing drama for radio, digital broadcasting and BBC broadcasting rights and terms. The listings cover national and regional television and radio; digital, satellite and cable television; digital audio broadcasting and television, film and independent radio producers.

Section five is another brief one with just one article on writing for the theatre and a list of theatre producers.

Literary agents are focused on in the sixth section, which has four articles, three of which look at how to get an agent. There are listings of literary agents in the UK and Ireland, as well as the overseas countries, which this time are not limited to English-speaking ones.

The next two sections are for artists. Art and Illustration gives advice on freelancing for beginners, how to get ahead in cartooning, and winning the greeting card game. There are two listings here: the first is of art agents and commercial art studios, the second of card and stationery publishers that accept illustrations and verses.

Section eight, entitled Picture research, has articles on the freelance photographer and the picture research revolution. Listings here cover picture agencies and libraries as well as card and stationery publishers that accept photographs.

The book then returns to giving information for writers, now concerning the Society of Authors and the Writers' Guild, together with lists of other societies, prizes and awards and festivals. Bringing us into the twenty-first century is a section entitled Writers and artists online, with articles on E-publishing and setting up a website, followed by listings of websites for both artists and writers.

The section on Resources for writers gives details of writers' retreats, digital imaging, indexing and correcting proofs. There are listings of libraries, courses, editorial, literary and production services as well as government offices and public services.

Copyright and libel law in both the Uk and the US are dealt with in the penultimate section. Details of Copyright Societies for both writers and designers/artists are given.

The final section is on finances for writers and artists and focuses on income tax, social security contributions and benefits as well as including a list of FAQs.

I personally bought this book because my son and I were publishing a DVD on learning French. Even though it came under the section on books, I found the article by G.P. Taylor on 'Notes from a successful self-publisher' particularly helpful and encouraging. I also found it useful to browse through the listings of magazines and newspapers, noting down any that I thought would consider publishing a review of our DVD. We were successful in having reviews published in both the TES and the School Librarian Journal: the latter was a publication I would otherwise have been unaware of, and it published a particularly comprehensive review. We were able to quote comments from both these reviews on our own website as well as within our listing on Amazon, which I am sure has helped considerably in marketing our DVD.

I do wonder whether perhaps it would make more sense to publish two separate books, one for writers and one for artists, each one of course then being cheaper and lighter to handle. Nevertheless, there is a wealth of information here for any one aspiring to publish their work.

The book contains 832 pages and is priced at £13.99, published by A & C Black
The 2007 edition, with a foreword by Ian Rankin, is already available on Amazon at the price of £9.89.