Other News
Philosophy can read beautifully, but when put into practice, things can get a little hazy. TLC Client Jules Evans, who is also the co-organiser of the London Philosophy Club, has written a book that helps readers bridge the gap between philosophy and real life.
When Evans first came through TLC, his reader Sue Lascelles recognised a book that read well and that was perfect for Rider Books. Lascelles, who also works as commissioning editor for Rider Books, bought the world rights, excluding the US and Canada. The book is now due to be published in May 2012.
Evans writes about a dream school, where 15 of the world’s greatest and most influential philosophers teach the students the techniques that can help them improve their everyday lives. The book also includes real life stories from people who have learned how to actively pursue the techniques.
Click here to read more about it in the Bookseller article.
On 19th May, the judges for the Wales Book of the Year whittled down the longlist to three titles, including TLC reader John Harrison for his book Cloud Road: a journey through the Inca Heartland (Parthian, August 2010). Francesca Rhydderch, Chair of the English judges’ panel said: ”Whittling the Long List down from ten to a Short List of three was no easy task. Each of the ten books on the Long List was wonderful and unique, in our opinion. In the end, though, the three titles that made it to the Short List claimed their place there because they were pitch perfect from start to finish: their authors exerted an artistic control over their work (in three very different genres) that was supremely impressive.”
The competition is open to books of all genres and on 7th July, the £10,000 winner is announced. In addition to the shortlisting, John Harrison has also recently been elected to the British Guild of Travel Writers.
TLC is delighted for John and wish him the best of luck on 7th July. Click here to check out John’s website and learn more about his new projects.
TLC’s 15th birthday party yesterday culminated with speeches by former TLC clients Prue Leith, author of Leaving Patrick (Penguin Books) and Shelley Harris, author of Jubilee (Weidenfeld & Nicolson). Shelley ecstatically talked about her recent success with her novel and how TLC had helped her along the way. Click here to read Shelley’s story. Director Rebecca Swift concluded the evening with her speech about why and how she first established TLC and her many experiences with the company since 1996. She stressed the value TLC placed on finding dedicated and experienced editors and how TLC strived to continue their straightforward and honest approach.
Happy Birthday TLC!
Annie Proulx recently brought the North Platte River in Wyoming to the world, in her new “memoir” Bird Cloud. TLC reader Alan Wilkinson takes us from the Sandhills Range to the Niobrara, where he will be wandering for the next six months and blogging about his spell of solitude on the western Great Plains and a cattle ranch in western Nebraska.
A short extract from his blog, 23 days before his departure, reads “as to any rattle-snakes that may lie in wait for me under tree-stumps or rocks – well, to quote an old joke, I guess they’ll just have to take their chances. When I first met the ranchers they offered me the use of a .22. I instinctively declined, but may change my mind – not because I am scared of sidewinders, rather that it might make for a better story if I accepted. Besides, I have fired a .303, back in my sixth-form days, and rather enjoyed it. I got a pretty decent grouping, as I recall.”
Click here to follow Alan’s adventures.
Shortly before Christmas, TLC reader Linda Acaster decided to venture into the world of Kindles, Nooks, I-Pads and Sony readers, by creating her own ebook version of Torc of Moonlight : Special Edition, along with a collection of short ghost/horror fiction Contribution to Mankind and other stories of the Dark. You can sample her ebook and read more about her experience on her blog. 
“Miranda Millar effectively conveys the unexpected wonder of Waitrose…”
Alfred Hickling, The Guardian
Time travel, Bedlam and the mad Victorian painter, Richard Dadd. London, 1854: Nina, the wife of an ambitious doctor, is heavily traumatized by the death of her young daughter and then mysteriously transported to the capital 150 years later…
Click on the cover for more information about Nina in Utopia or go to Miranda Millar’s website.
As part of a series of interviews, Ink Sweat & Tears Webzine talks to practicing writers about their process and craft. The Webzine discusses the writing life with Sarah Bower and tries to find out what makes writers tick. The interview offers a glance at how writers structure their daily lives and their writing. To read the full interview click here.
Rodge Glass Presents A New Graphic Novel and Scottish Short Stories
From Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill, the book that’s causing a stir in Scotland. The Scottish Short story collection, The Year of Open Doors, edited by Rodge Glass, has toured around numerous festivals and represents the work
of 20 young writers from all over the world who are based in Scotland, some critically acclaimed, some brand new. There’s also an audiobook available on Chemikal Underground Records.
Dougie’s War is a new graphic novel by Rodge Glass and artist Dave Turbitt about the legacy of the war in the Middle East and the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome on returning veterans. A fictional story, but based on meticulously researched real life experiences of Scottish veterans, Dougie’s War shows that the fight doesn’t end when men and women leave military service. To read more about the project and check out an interview with Rodge, click on the cover.
Rebecca Swift’s article on how to write a synopsis originally appeared in the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, 2009.
Writing a synopsis
The dictionary definition of ‘synopsis’ (derived from the Ancient Greek meaning) is ‘a brief description of the contents of something’.
The purpose of a synopsis is to inform a literary agent or publisher of the type of book you are writing/have written in a concise, appealing fashion, conveying that you are in command of your subject matter. If you want your manuscript to be given serious consideration, a good synopsis is a crucial part of your submission.
The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook will inform you that most publishing houses no longer accept direct submissions but those that do (usually the smaller houses) will usually ask for a cover letter, synopsis and sample chapters rather than a whole work in the first instance. The same applies to literary agents. To put it simply, the sample chapters are to show how you write, and the synopsis is to tell the reader what happens when they have finished reading them. This will help inform the publisher/literary agent whether they think it is worth their while to read more. Then, if they do want to read more, they will ask you.
So, the bottom line is this – if you want to have your manuscript read in its entirety you must invest time in getting your cover letter and book synopsis right. I know from my experiences at TLC that many writers can get disconcerted and nervous by having to produce a synopsis and there are usually two reasons why.
To read the rest of the article, please click here.
In her article published in Pretext magazine, “When creativity meets commerce or the relationship between the publishing industry and the individual writers through the eyes of an interested observer”, Rebecca Swift examines the increasing commercial pressures on the publishing industry. The article is currently part of the University of East Anglia curriculum for the MA in Creative Writing.
“I remember the day when modern publishing in the UK ‘changed’. I was twenty-five and proud to be working as an editorial assistant at an independent publishing house that had helped bring about a revolution in the way the public viewed work by women writers.
Enter, one ordinary London afternoon circa 1991: a man in a suit. The kind of man that we dd not often see inside our offices. The ‘buzz’ was this was ‘the money-man’. We in the then large editorial department gathered round to listen to what he had to say. Editors at our company had, the gentleman informed us, hitherto been publishing by following ‘our tummy waters.’
‘Tummy waters’ , the money-man said, as if to a group of primary school children, which included the companies editorial directors, women who had been buying books with flare and commitment for many years, ‘ had to stop.’ He went on to explain the brilliance of his principle thus: ‘If for example, you get in two books and one shows promise but needs editing, and one is in a perfectly finished condition, you would take the one in the finished condition, wouldn’t you? Time after all is money. Editing is after all time. You follow?’ He scanned the room to see if through the fog of our basic, feminine, aquatic instincts we could sufficiently access his logic – as if publishing were some kind of Sophie’s Choice”.
Click here to read the entire article from Pretext Magazine, Vol. 10 (2004).