The Novel Factory newsletter

 With details of competitions and more:

 

May Your Words Be Merry and Bright!     Welcome to the last edition of our monthly newsletter in 2021! Below you can find details of our Giving Tuesday donation to Room to Read - thanks to everyone who purchased Novel Factory in November - 20% of your payment is going to help improve the lives of people around the world. We're sharing an article by ProWriting Aid which lists a load of fantastic Christmas gift ideas for writers, including software, literary inspired cocktails, a notepad for writing in the shower, and much more. We've got a few updates on Novel Factory 3.0 new features, then of course the usual competitions and useful free writing resources. Wishing you a Happy Writing Christmas and an Imagination Filled New Year!           £1,865 donated to Room to Read     We're pleased to report that we were able to donate £1,865 to Room to Read. Even better, at this time other donors are matching donations, so the Novel Factory donation amounts to a total of £3,730. Thanks to everyone who purchased a licence in November, it's part of your licence fee that is going to help teach vulnerable and disadvantaged people to read. The donation matching is still happening right now, so if you're able to make a donation - even if it's only a few pounds or dollars, please do consider doing so - you could make a huge difference in someone's life and make the future a better place. ProWriting Aid's Christmas Wishlist for Writers ProWriting Aid have put together a fantastic list of gifts that are perfect for writers. It goes beyond the usual moleskine notebook and fountain pen - these gifts include software, magazine subscriptions, noise-cancelling earbuds, distraction free laptops and so much more. Latest Updates: Novel Factory 3.0 Turn Back Time We're pleased to report that a first cut of the Turn Back Time feature has been released. This is a Version History feature, which allows you to open previous versions of your draft and compare them to the current version. So if you've deleted some text you want back - you can simply 'Turn Back Time' and go and get it. Once you've found what you want, you can either copy out the correct section, or replace the entire text with the previous one. To access this feature, click the button indicated: It's still in very early stages and we're planning a few tweaks to make it better already, so if you have comments or feedback please let us know! Turn Back Time is currently available on Scenes in the Manuscipt section, and in Short and Extended Synopses in the Planning section, but we intend to add it across the site. Change to Saving Flow Following feedback, we've also made a slight change to the saving flow so that instead of opening ' in situ' many boxes now open in a popup. We will shortly be adding a settings function so that users who prefer the old way can set that as their preference. Other updates We have also made a slight change to the custom window selection interface - in other words, on Characters, Locations etc, where you choose which panels you would like to show or hide. We believe the new user design is more streamlined and easier to use. We've also been sniffing out and squashing bugs. Notes on accessing updates Web app users will see the changes as soon as they are deployed. Desktop users, your software will automatically update when it notices the changes, and then you should also see them the next time you log in, without having to take any action. Next priorities We know many of you are champing at the bit to move from Version 2.0 to Verson 3.0 and many of you are hungry for other features, so please bear with us and we are very grateful for your patience and ongoing support. Our small team is working on the following priorities next: Adding the Timeline feature Adding Import from Word for existing novels Ensuring all V2 features are present in V3, including Chapter Heads, custom plot templates and exporting all data Completing function to transfer V2 novels to V3 Adding notifications Upcoming Novel Writing Competitions Exeter Novel Prize Deadline 1st Jan Entry Fee £18 First Prize £500 plus Trophy Eligibility (writer) Authors currently without representation, whether or not they have been published. Eligibility (submission) The competition is for the first ten thousand words (including synopsis) of a novel. Genre All genres excluding children’s, but including Young Adult and New Adult, are acceptable. Click here to visit the Exeter Novel Prize website Author Mentor Match Deadline 14th Jan Entry Fee FREE First Prize Mentorship Eligibility (writer) Unpublished writers of young adult, middle grade, and select adult novels, about to start querying (or have only queried lightly) who are looking to find an agent and/or traditional publisher for their manuscript. Eligibility (submission) A completed manuscript for Middle Grade, Young Adult or Adult Genre All genres Click here to visit the Author Mentor Match website Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize Deadline 12th February Entry Fee £12 First Prize £1500, networking dinner and editorial consultation Eligibility (writer) Women over 18 resident in the UK, who have not had a full length novel previously published. Eligibility (submission) Unpublished, and must not have been accepted for future publication or self-published. Genre All genres except picture books Click here to visit the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize website Click here to view the full list of Novel Writing Competitions Free Writing Resources Each month we bring you a selection of our favourite free resources from around the web: What Editors Want is a wonderful podcast to help you learn more about the publishing industry, and what editors want. Click here to check it out. Power Thesaurus is a great online thesaurus that goes beyond the obvious and offers an almost endless rabbit hole of similar words. Click here to visit. This is a fantastic article which covers the important topic of Foreshadowing. Find out why you need to do it and how to master it here. In case you missed it, here's an article from our blog on the differences between Eastern and Western storytelling and how you might be able to take advantage of it to creative effect. Click here to read the blog. The Novel Factory NF House, East Chevin Road, Otley United Kingdom