::mslexia magazine issues::


	HELEN DUNMORE • EMMA TENNANT • JILL DAWSON • CAROL RUMENS • MARCELLE D'ARCY SMITH

	EDITORIAL THIS issue is all about change: the changes happening in the book trade - and the changes we could be making in our lives at the start of this new year. The lead feature, ‘The Age of the Bestseller’, grew out of my curiosity about the changes I’d noticed in my local bookshops. I had the sense there was something important afoot. And I was right. Bookshops – and publishers – have started reorganising themselves around the bestseller. And that spells danger for small presses and independent bookshops. Later in the magazine, Anna Davis explores the recent trend for novelists to become journalists - and vice versa. It makes me wilt just thinking of all the new hoops we need to jump through. Stick with Mslexia and we’ll give you as much guidance as we can. Speaking of guidance, quiet and retiring Kath Murphy passes on her tips for the reluctant networker, Sarah Salway urges us all to construct our own Masterclasses in writing. And Zena Davis describes the perfect New Year’s workout - for the brain. Debbie Taylor Editor			Contents: Issue 12 Winter/Spring 2002 Special features AGENDA: THE BOOK TRADE The Age of the Bestseller Debbie Taylor charts developments in the book trade since the demise of the Net Book Agreement and discovers a Jurassic Park, where huge publishing conglomerates battle with giant bookshop chains – and small publishers and independent bookshops face extinction. Welcome to the Age of the Bestseller. THE MSLEXIA INTERVIEW Novelist Helen Dunmore talks to Debbie Taylor › Read from the interview › Read the Author's Method › Browse interviews OTHER FEATURES Hacked off? Publishers seem increasingly keen to sign up novelists who are seasoned hacks with ready-made publicity credentials. Anna Davis on a disturbing trend. The art of plagiarism Sarah Salway argues that reading - and, yes, imitating - other authors is one of the best ways to develop true craft. Networking for introverts To succeed these days writers have to put themselves about in the big bad world. Kath Murphy offers some gentle advice for the reluctant networker. MIND AND BODY: Spring-clean your brain Fifteen minutes of yoga breathing a day will create the ideal conditions for writing. Zena Davis reports. New Writing AUTOBIOGRAPHY Poetry and prose selected by controversial diarist Emma Tennant › Read new writing 12 › Browse new writing REGULARS • Letters • First Person Singular Astrid Klemz is enmeshed in a capitalist conspiracy • News • Getting Started… writing for children • Nuts & bolts Defamation and libel, working from home, refreshing stale prose - and aromatherapy for authors • The Blank Page: COLOUR with Margaret Wilkinson › Try this workshop › Browse workshops • Guide to guides: New Year’s resolutions • Poetic forms: Linda France's regular tutorial on the main poetic forms: Ballade with a specially-commissioned example by Carole Satyamurti • The Slush Pile at Gordon and Radice • Word Surgeon: Dr Ingrid K tackles a case of Slow pace BOOKS Literary analysis: Albertine by Jaqueline Rose Reviews: Poetry, Biography, Romantic bestsellers, Short stories Small press fiction: Jill Dawson dips into our box of small-press and self-published prose Best ever books by women Carol Rumens chooses Complete Poems by Marianne Moore List profile Serpent's Tail Bedside Table Marcelle D'Argy Smith DIRECTORY Competitions, submissions requests, grants, courses, events, contacts, venues › Add me to the Mslexia listings

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