Blogs

Welcome to the hub of ideas, solutions, and ruminations of all things writing, from writing a book to its publication. Leveraging the expertise and experience of hundreds of writers, editors and literary professionals to bring you fresh, crisp, and useful knowledge about the literary world.

A house on the beach & a young couple walking towards the shore.

The Summer I Turned Pretty Book: The Complete Guide to Jenny Han’s Beloved Trilogy

Some books arrive quietly. They slip onto the shelf, accumulate a modest readership, and wait. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han did the opposite. First published in 2009,...

Set of different types of hats with custom patches on them.

Famous First Lines of Books: 50+ Iconic Opening Lines & What Makes Them Work

You are standing in a bookshop. You pick up a novel you have never heard of. You read the first sentence. In those three seconds, or fewer, something happens. Either...

A stack of books with a cup of tea and a pair of reading glasses besides them.

Best Book Club Recommendations for UK Readers 2026

There is a particular kind of urgency that arrives at eleven o’clock at night, when you close the last page of a book and immediately need to talk to someone...

A stack of ladybird books with a toy tractor, sheep and butterflies around them.

Best Ladybird Books For Young Readers & Parents

There is something unmistakable about a Ladybird book. The weight of it, that satisfying, pocket-sized hardback, barely bigger than a child’s hand. The smell of the pages. The full-colour illustration...

A bunch of kids huddled together learning about poems in a library..

Different Types of Poetry for Kids, Parents and Teachers

Picture the scene. Your child comes home from school with a single instruction scrawled in their homework diary: Write a poem. They sit at the kitchen table, pencil hovering, staring...

A bunch of kids huddled together reading books while seated on the library floor.

The Best Children’s Books for Ages 9–12: A Complete UK Reading Guide

There is a moment in every child’s reading life that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. It happens somewhere between the end of picture books and the beginning of whatever comes...