New Literary Agent Listing: Aiden Siobhan
firstwriter.com – Friday September 22, 2023
Loves any story that is diverse, heartfelt, beautifully written, and makes them stay up reading until 3 A.M. Send them your trope-filled, high-stakes, addicting novels that will hook them so well they’ll have to draw fan art (and they will)!
Prototype Publishing announces new writing prize
thebookseller.com – Thursday September 21, 2023
Prototype Publishing, along with partners Monitor Books and frieze magazine, has announced the Prototype Prize, a new, bi-annual prize for published or unpublished writers and artists working at the intersections of different literary and artistic forms.
The prize of £3,000 plus publication by Prototype will go to the best book-length project by a writer or artist resident in the UK or Ireland. A second prize of £2,000 plus publication by Monitor Books will be awarded to the best proposal for a short-form work. Both prize-winners will have an excerpt of their work published by frieze.
The judges for the inaugural prize are Bhanu Kapil pictured, Tom McCarthy and Elizabeth Price, who will work alongside an editorial board from the publishers.
New Publisher Listing: Henley Hall Press
firstwriter.com – Thursday September 21, 2023
An independent publisher of thought-provoking non-fiction books.
Our categories are: farming, politics, history, garden design and that all-encompassing category ‘misc’.
No cancel culture here. We are happy to publish books that challenge received wisdom – or wokedom – and we support the work of the Free Speech Union.
We aim to publish just two to four books a year. This is to devote the time to help your book succeed in a crowded market.
Amazon restricts authors from self-publishing more than three books a day after AI concerns
theguardian.com – Wednesday September 20, 2023
The company announced the new limitations after an influx of suspected AI-generated material was listed for sale but said that ‘very few’ publishers will be affected
Amazon has created a new rule limiting the number of books that authors can self-publish on its site to three a day, after an influx of suspected AI-generated material was listed for sale in recent months.
The company announced the new limitations in a post on its Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) forum on Monday. “While we have not seen a spike in our publishing numbers, in order to help protect against abuse, we are lowering the volume limits we have in place on new title creations,” read the statement. KDP allows authors to self-publish their books and list them for sale on Amazon’s site.
Amazon told the Guardian that the limit is set at three titles, though this number may be adjusted “if needed”. The company confirmed that there was previously no limit to the number of books authors could list a day.
It’s About Time!
altaonline.com – Wednesday September 20, 2023
Heed the advice of some literary heavyweights to create an ideal writing routine.
The perfect writing routine! Every writer dreams of it, and every writer knows, deep down, that there is no such thing. There are simply too many variables at play—ambition, temperament, material circumstances—to reach a one-size-fits-all solution. But! Could one identify the building blocks of the perfect routine, to be applied to individual writing practices on an ad hoc basis? Here is an attempt, with copious supporting examples.
RULE NO. 1: SCHEDULE DISCRETE FOCUS BLOCKS
Writers with day jobs may fantasize about having long expanses of unstructured creative time, but let’s be honest: there is no greater drag upon a writing practice than having the full day available for it, which practically guarantees a long, flabby drift rather than a focused effort.
In a practice that is all about increments of labor, the first step is to define your daily dose.
Reilly appointed literary agent at Colwill & Peddle
thebookseller.com – Wednesday September 20, 2023
Milly Reilly has joined Colwill & Peddle as a literary agent. She brings with her a list of non-fiction and literary fiction authors, including Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad, among others.
Reilly started her career at First Story before joining Jo Unwin Literary Agency in 2017, originally as Unwin’s assistant. She said: "Kay and Charlotte are phenomenal agents. Their transparent and collaborative ethos is a force for good in the industry, and I’m delighted to be joining their agency.
"I am so grateful to Jo and the wider team – Rachel, Donna and Daisy – for my time at JULA, and all that I’ve learnt at the company. It has been a joy and privilege to work with such intelligent and inspiring colleagues, and I will miss them very much."
Seager and Maidment promoted at Madeleine Milburn
thebookseller.com – Tuesday September 19, 2023
Chloe Seager has been promoted to director of Children’s and YA at the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency (MMA). Moreover, Olivia Maidment has been moved up to the newly created position of head of books, working closely with the directors to implement strategy.
Seager has been at MMA since April 2019, regularly negotiating six- or seven-figure deals for her clients in the UK and the US. Her authors include Katie Kirby, Anna Fargher, Jo Harwood and Kathryn Foxfield. She also represents authors including Maisie Chan, winner of the Jhalak Prize and Branford Boase and Danielle Jawando, winner of the YA Book Prize, among others.
Since Seager’s arrival at the agency, her authors have also bagged five Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month slots, one Indie Children’s Book of the Month Slot and one Barnes & Noble Book of the Month slot.
Fight Club’s Chuck Palahniuk on the secret to writing a great novel
telegraph.co.uk – Sunday September 17, 2023
Nothing good emerges from nothing. Years back, Max Brooks and I were alone in an otherwise empty lecture hall. His book World War Z (2006) had become the all-time bestselling zombie novel, but I suspected it wasn’t about the walking dead. OK, it was and it wasn’t.
Talking about his childhood, and his father, Mel Brooks, Max said, “We never ate in restaurants because, all through dinner, men would line up at our table to tell my dad their best jokes. Every Jewish dentist dreamt of making his hero, Mel Brooks, laugh.” And laugh he did, whether or not the joke was funny, while his wife, Anne Bancroft, graciously played along with the performance. Relaxing it was not.
Here, I saw my opening. “Your mother?” I asked, “Is World War Z really about your mother?” This wasn’t a random guess. The last year of his mother’s life coincided with the year in which Max had been writing the book. His eyes got, well, misty, and he said, “No one’s ever caught that.”
Traditional Publishing in the 2020s
By G. Miki Hayden
Instructor at Writer's Digest University online and private writing coach
firstwriter.com – Friday September 15, 2023
Don’t abandon all hope ye who want to enter into traditional publishing this decade, but you might consider changing what you’re looking for.
I recently had an article covering self-publishing on this site, for which I interviewed some writers who have been self-publishing. I wanted then to discuss what we call “traditional publishing” and thought about who I might interview for such a piece.
Indeed, I know people who publish traditionally, but the idea of interviewing most seemed useless because they have been putting out their books in the mainstream for quite a while, decades in some cases. Talking to them wouldn’t give the great majority of us who wish we were in their shoes much information. And much of traditional publishing still follows the same model, but it has changed.
So let’s start with what traditional publishing is. The authors are the supplicants, first-off to gain an agent who knows the publishers and their needs and will sell for the selected clients.
I am in Print launches £1,000 writing prize with Canelo
thebookseller.com – Thursday September 14, 2023
The I Am In Print events brand has partnered with independent publisher Canelo to host its inaugural Novel Award for unagented writers of unpublished adult fiction worth £1,000.
The prize, sponsored and judged by digital publisher Canelo, is open to writers globally and entries for completed manuscripts, written in English and across eight genres. The first prize includes £1,000 and a one-hour online consultation with a Canelo editor.
Additionally low-income writers can enter for free, and those who fall within underrepresented groups and members of the I Am In Print writing community The Writing Sphere, may receive a 50% discount upon application. Submissions close on 9th October at 10 a.m.
As part of the award entry ticket, access to a selection of masterclasses will be offered by Canelo on 30th November. The winners will be announced publicly at this live event.
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