We've realised over the years that most of you don't have the time to read our manuscripts and give us feedback. So we're cutting you some slack - there will be no more annoying emails asking for your thoughts on work we've sent. We're going it alone. However, if you want to stay with us, read with us, help choose the best of the work that crosses into our laptops, then please email us the genre you like and we'll keep you in our decision making loop.

To all those readers who've helped us over...

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So we're at it again!
A new year means new submissions. It's an exciting time for us, and I have to confess I love to see the manuscripts arrive in our email box. Why? Because the novels are all so different - the creativity among new writers makes my heart race with excitement. I'm not sure if other publishers feel this excitement - I hope they do.
So bring it on - all writers who are engaged in or have graduated from an MA writing programme, send us your early chapters. We'll ensure the work ...
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I receive a lot of manuscripts from new writers. I send them out to book clubs and often read them myself. However, sometimes it's difficult to read beyond a few pages. The story becomes simply a collection of words and I no longer care what happens in the rest of the manuscript.
The main part of writing any story is making the reader care. You have to make us want to turn the next page. Grab our attention so that we don't notice that our supper is burning or that we have missed our stop on t...
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Let me begin by saying I don't enjoy science fiction. I have never yearned to read more sci-fi than I have ever tasted.
I read The Martian because I had to - it was a reluctant purchase for book group and I feared never getting beyond 20 pages. I hadn't seen the film and didn't care to, no matter that it was tagged as 'comedy'.
However, I have to say The Martian is brilliantly constructed and many new writers could take lessons from its author Andy Weir.
Throughout the read, I desperately needed...
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Publishing is evolving. When Hookline began, we were on the front line of changes. Lately we have felt as though we are standing still. We love the Hookline process of letting readers find manuscripts worthy of publication. However, it is time to speed up the process – over the years, we have lost out as good writers were snapped up by other publishing houses during our lengthy ten-month, two-stage selection process.

The first thing is to assure you all that book groups will remain an inte...

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Just because you type 'The End' doesn't mean the work is finished.
Find out what else might need to be done by visiting my guest blog at The Chipping Norton Literary Festival page:

http://www.chiplitfest.com/blog/meet-one-of-our-sponsors-hookline-books/



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So many unpublished writers are out there diligently working away at plot, character development and writing style. Brown envelopes are mailed to publishing houses and pushed into the reluctant hands of editors, who may only be on a shopping trip to Sainsburys (yes, it happens!) There is a desperation out there. So many writers want their work to be relished by readers.
It's a tough world - lot's of people telling stories while the majority of readers are engaged by a narrow field of best sell...
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All submissions for this year's Hookline Novel Competition have been typeset and the files have been uploaded to the printer - I love those words, 'uploaded to the printer'. It doesn't mean our work is done - in the next two weeks, we should be in receipt of the paperbacks and the floor will be littered as we pack them for our book groups and drive to the post office where everyone in the queue shoots irritating looks at our 30 plus boxes. 
But 'uploaded to the printer' means that we can have ...
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Much praise has been heaped on Charles Dickens this year - rightly so! His stories have engaged generations, and his depictions of life at the bottom of the ladder helped alter Victorian sensibilities. But I think we have to discuss why his work captivated so many readers over so many years.
My theory is his serialisation - his chapters, written for periodic journals, had to grab readers so they couldn't wait for the next episode to be printed. So often today, a novel might grab us in the firs...
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