Snuggle under the covers

This week, curl up with a good (virtual) book.

Once upon a time…
So you’ve just finished your first novel. You’ve read some of it to your family, and all of it to your cat. The family was enthusiastic, and the cat’s reaction has not put you off. How to get published?

What you need is the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, available as a brick-sized paperback, or electronically via the Gateway to Websites (select "Books", where the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook is a Key Link). The Yearbook comes as part of KnowUK, that mega collection of directories, manuals and so much more, which is a Westminster Libraries subscription site – outside the library, you will need your barcode number to use it.

It is not prettily presented. What you see is a lot of headings with little crosses by them. But if you click, for instance, on the cross alongside "Books", you reach an extended list which includes "Getting started". Click the cross by that and the meat starts to appear: "Choose the right publisher or agent", "Prepare your material well", "Write a convincing letter"… and so on. Good advice from a reliable source.

Elsewhere there is testimony from successful writers in various genres. And for poets, playwrights, artists and illustrators there is equally useful advice and encouragement.

Every word from the book version of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook is here on the website, and it should be bang up to date. Now where are my notes? Ah, here we are "It was a dark and stormy night…"

In your ear – and on your screen
Oneword is a digital radio station. OK, you say, so why include it in a roundup of useful websites?

My excuse is that Oneword radio and their website are interdependent. Words are the business of the radio broadcasts: novels, travel books, children’s books, non-fiction and books about books… eighteen hours a day of books read on the air.

Where the website comes in is to supply the schedules, alongside background articles, podcasts and - if you prefer - the broadcasts themselves as streaming audio to your computer. There are lots of opportunities to buy things: not just audio books, but also DVDs, CDs, downloads, and so on. But you don’t have to buy anything, just listen and read.