Finally working on that novel as you self-isolate? You’re not alone

Les apprentis romanciers sont aussi légion au Royaume-Uni.

Il y a quelques semaines, la maison d'édition française Gallimard admettait être débordée par les envois de nouveaux manuscrits – et demandait aux apprentis écrivains de cesser, pour un temps, l’envoi de leurs productions. Au Royaume-Uni, la situation est exactement la même : les agents littéraires sont débordés par les demandes d'auteurs en herbe...

If you’re one of those people who always said they would write a novel if only they had the time: this is your moment. As more budding writers self-isolate due to the coronavirus and finally knuckle down on their manuscripts, the publishing industry has already seen a surge in submissions.

2. Literary agent Juliet Mushens, of the Caskie Mushens agency, usually receives between 10 and 15 appeals for representation a day from new writers. Last Monday alone, she received 27.

3. “I am all in favour of it,” she said, of the increase. “I think it’s great if people can use [the time they have at home] productively.”

4. Literary agent John Jarrold is also receiving more messages from would-be authors. “I am seeing an upturn in email queries rather than actual submissions of finished manuscripts, and I expect that to continue.”

5. With the virus dominating headlines, is it wise to write a novel about it to land a publish

ing deal? Not neccessarily. Jarrold, who specialises in science fiction and fantasy, is expecting that many writers who contact him will have novels about pandemics and apocalypses.

6. But on Twitter, Phoebe Morgan, editorial director at HarperCollins, counselled writers against shoehorning the coronavirus into their plots. “My reasoning: I don’t think anyone wants to remember this when they’re trying to escape. Fiction is fiction.”

7. One encouraging side-effect of the crisis is that new writers may have a better chance of getting their work read at the moment, as agents and editors gain time from working at home. “I am getting more reading done and I signed a new client from my slush pile just yesterday,” Mushens said.

1. novel roman / budding en herbe / to knuckle down on se mettre sérieusement à travailler sur / publishing édition / surge forte hausse.

2. usually généralement / appeal for representation demande de représentation / alone ici, rien que.

3. all totalement / to be in favour of sth être favorable à qqch, approuver qqch.

4. would-be aspirant / upturn reprise / query question / actual réel / to expect (s’)attendre (à).

5. to dominate headlines faire la une des journaux / wise sage, avisé, judicieux / to land ici, obtenir, décrocher / deal contrat.

6. editorial director directeur(-trice) de la rédaction / to counsel against déconseiller / to shoehorn sth into sth faire rentrer qqch dans qqch (en forçant) / plot histoire, intrigue / reasoning raisonnement / to escape s'évader.

7. side-effect effet secondaire / editor directeur de publication / to sign ici, signer un contrat avec / slush pile tas de manuscrits non sollicités soumis à un éditeur.