Summary: The 2002 (15th) edition of every creative writer's yellow-covered networking manual contains over 5,500 alluring snippets of information for anyone who works anywhere in the writing industry or who would like to. This year, The Writer's Handbookfeatures--as well as the usual updated listings of publishers, magazines, newspapers, Web sites, agencies, associations and organisations--a range of new essays, including Bob G Ritchie's Diary of an Aspiring Writer, David Hooper on Libel, Gareth Shannon on Negotiating Contracts, advice on how to sell poetry and on the bestsellers market, and a pithily written but soberly damning (anonymous) evaluative article about writing courses.
It's commendably thorough. Take magazine listings, for example. They occupy 80 pages and are a useful source of addresses, both e-mail and postal, phone numbers and contact names for publications ranging all the way from Ace Tennis Magazineto The Veganand from Your Horseto BBC Homes and Antiques, taking in The Stageand TESon the way. Use these if you think you could write for such titles. And if your novel, textbook, collection of poems or whatever is written but you have no publisher then The Writers' Handbookprovides a pretty detailed list of all the major publishers and 20 pages of small presses with an indication of the areas each covers, so you can start hawking your wares around the circuit.
But take care. Media personnel and situations change constantly. Always phone the outfit you're interested in, using the number Turner has provided you with, before you make a formal approach. Ask for the name of the person you should deal with. Some of the particulars listed in The Writer's Handbookmay already be out of date which is why you can't escape the need to replace your copy of this helpful and potentially inspiring reference book annually so that at least the information is as current as possible. --Susan Elkin