Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2004 2004: A Directory for Writers, Artists, Playwrights, Writers for Film, Radio and Television, Designers, Illustrators and Photographers [Paperback]

The publication of Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is an annual event as regular and as cheerfully welcome in its red jacket as Father Christmas. Here is the usual feast of information, fully updated for 2004, about getting your writing or artwork published; but this year the cover has a sleeker, more modern, design. The content layout has had a smart makeover too. Now it's less cluttered and easier to read.

Eoin Colfer, the novelist who writes this year's foreword, observes "Every possible scrap of information needed by the upcoming or established writer is included". And it certainly isn't just a list of publishers--although of course they're there. There are also listings relating to film, TV and radio and theatre producers as well as a remarkably detailed list of newspaper and magazines both in Britain and elsewhere in the English speaking world, along with dozens of helpful articles. Then there are sections on copyright, finance, societies, prizes, festivals and picture research. And for this, the 97th edition, there are new articles on ghost-writing, adaptation and distribution.

Where else could you find, in one compact volume, a list of magazines and newspapers that accept cartoons, full instructions for proof correction, contact details for artists' residencies in Tuscany and an advisory article about getting poetry published? If you have the remotest idea that you might ever attempt to sell even the most modest written fragment or the tiniest photograph or drawing then you'd better buy this first. --Susan Elkin

The Writers’ and Artists Yearbook is back for its annual appearance. It’s kept the shiny bright-red, chunky housebrick look of 2004 and remains, as last year’s novelist commentator Eoin Colfer observed, rammed with "every possible scrap of information needed by the upcoming or established writer." This year’s foreword writer Maeve Binchy describes it as "like a magic carpet that would carry the writer anywhere . . .like a scaffolding on a building, it sort of suggests that it is half possible to climb up this unreal dream mountain of becoming a writer." Every year one can expect a comprehensive directory of publishers as well as all the essential articles on writing fiction and non-fiction, approaching publishers, getting an agent, correcting proofs, copyright and libel law, marketing, self-publishing, navigating research facilities and the like. But then every year things get better. This year’s edition boasts over 400 new entries within the listings section as well as new articles on libraries, digital television and radio. The ‘Getting Started’ section is now at the front and includes articles for both magazines and books. New articles include: ‘Understanding the Publishing Process’; a ‘Year-In-View of the Publishing Industry’; ‘The Writers Ultimate Workspace’ concerning the difficulties of writing from home, and ‘The Role of the Literary Agent’ by the late Giles Gordon—one of the great literary agents to whom this year’s edition is dedicated. There is also a new feature by Helen Weinstein entitled ‘Inside the BBC’ for those who want to break into the world of the beeb. Add to that the 'Notes From Successful Authors' section—which this year includes Joanne Trollope, Simon Winchester and JK Rowling—and you have all the reasons you need to get up-dated.

In short, the Writers’ and Artists Yearbook is a comprehensive course that gives you the best possible chance to succeed. If you are a photographer, a poet, a cartoonist, or a writer of any kind this will prove to be the most important book in your library.-- Larry Brown --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'A Must for established and aspiring writers'

'Full of useful stuff. It answered my every question.'

'An entrance ticket to the world you longed for.'

'Packed with tips and professional insight.'

'Practical, sensible and comprehensive.'

The best selling guide to markets in all areas of the media, completely revised, redesigned and updated, with a Foreword by Eoin Colfer (author of the bestseller Artemis fowl). New articles in this edition include: Ghost wring; distribution; Adaptation. Listings include newspapers and magazines, book publishers and literary agents, TV and film producers, websites, picture agencies and libraries, societies, prizes, festivals and editorial services.

Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is packed with essential information on markets in all areas of the media. Revised and updated annually, with many new features each year, this best-selling directory, now in its 97th edition, gives full details of magazines, newspapers, book publishers, literary and artists' agents, theatre, television and radio producers, picture agencies, societies, prizes, creative writing courses, festivals and much more.

The No. 1 Bestseller
Recommended by the Writers' Guild

The best-selling handbook for writers and artists, offering a comprehensive, up-to-date directory of media contacts and a wealth of practical advice and information.

The 2004 edition has been completely revised and updated and has many new features:

Foreword by Eoin Colfer.

New, clear, user-friendly page design to help the reader find their way more readily.

Completely new and fully exhaustive index, including both company and publication names and classified entries.

New articles on Ghostwriting, Adaption, and Distribution, plus advice from published authors and other experts on getting started in the various fields covered.

Maeve Binchy has written the foreword to the 2005 edition.
Maeve Binchy is an award-winning author of several volumes of short stories and novels, including The Lilac Bus and Echoes (both adapted for television), Circle of Friends (adapted for film) and Scarlet Feather, which was an international bestseller for six months. Her latest novel, Quentins, was a number one bestseller in hardback and when published in paperback went straight to number one in the Sunday Times bestsellers list. Maeve Binchy was awarded
the Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Book Awards in 1999. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Foreword

I have in my time purchased several copies of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, yet there is only one copy on my bookshelf. This, I suspect, is a condition common to most authors. When other writers visit my bat-cave, sorry office, they don’t bother asking for a signed first edition of my book, instead they make off with my Yearbook secreted up their jumpers. This inevitably happens shortly after I have completed the laborious task of attaching colour-coded paperclips to pages of interest. I know what you’re thinking. Colour-coded paperclips. That explains a lot.

My obsession with the Yearbook began in the dark era of glitter eye shadow and ozone-puncturing hairdos known as the eighties. I had recently finished college, and like all males in their twenties, knew all there was to know about the world. The population in general, I decided with humble altruism, deserved the benefit of my wisdom. And the best way to reach my prospective public was through literature.

So I wrote a book. Not content with that, I designed the cover. Multi-tasking even before the phrase was coined. This book qualified as a book because it had many words and quite a few pages. Secure in my sublime self-delusion, I got hold of an industrial stapler, bound the whole lot together and crammed a copy into the nearest post-box. One copy would be sufficient, to the country’s foremost publishers. I settled back in the family chaise longue and waited for the publisher’s helicopter to land in the garden.

Seasons passed and the helicopter never materialised. Not so much as a postcard from the honoured house. Sighing mightily I widened my net, sending copies of my book to several other publishers. I got some replies this time. Would that I had not. Most were civil enough. We regret to inform you etc … the opening phrase that haunts every writer’s dreams. Still, at least they were polite. But a few less generic replies dropped onto my doormat. There was one note in which the handwriting deteriorated in spots, as the editor suffered from sporadic fits of laughter. A pattern was beginning to emerge. Could it be possible that my manuscript was flawed? Was there a chance that my presentation was not all that it could be? Did genius have to be packaged?

Help arrived in the form of an editor’s response. We regret to inform you … it began. Nothing new there. I was becoming inured. But there was an addendum pencilled below the type. Get the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. It’s worth the investment.

Reluctant as any Irish man in his twenties is to take advice from anyone besides his mother, I decided to act on this particular recommendation. The Yearbook paid for itself almost immediately. The mere act of purchasing the fat volume made me feel like a legitimate writer. I left the shop, making certain that my grip did not obscure the book title.

At home, I was amazed to discover that the Yearbook was not just a list of publishers. Every possible scrap of information needed by the upcoming or established writer was included (for more details buy the book. And if there are paper clips on this book, it is mine. Please return it) but what I needed to know was detailed under the heading Submitting Material. Next time, I vowed. Next time.

Next time turned out to be nearly a decade later. My self-esteem had recovered sufficiently to brave the SAE trail once more. So I wrote an introductory letter and an interesting summary of the book, and included the first fifty pages - double-spaced.

It worked. Two weeks later I had a publisher. Now I can’t put the entire thing down to the Yearbook, but it certainly played its part. In public of course, I take all the credit myself. I am a writer after all. But packaging and presentation in my opinion made the difference between desktop and trash, to use a computer analogy.

A few years later my brothers advised me that I needed an agent, as they were running short on beer money. Once again the Yearbook was consulted. Not only were the agents listed but they were categorised. These Yearbook people were cut from the same cloth as myself. I could almost imagine their desks stacked with coloured paperclips.

My research paid off, and in weeks I was sitting in a top-class hotel treating my new agent to a flute of champagne. Although she insists it was a glass of Guinness in a Dublin pub and she paid.

Since then, I haven’t looked back. Things are going well enough for me to be invited to write this Introduction. If you are published and reading this book, hide it away and beware those with baggy jumpers. If you are as yet unpublished, then keep the faith and make sure that all around you can see the title.

Eoin Colfer