
New Literary Agency Listing: Julie Crisp Literary Agency
firstwriter.com – Monday August 2, 2021

Open to submissions and looking forward to considering any fantasy, science fiction, historical, bookclub, crime/thrillers. Would be particularly pleased to consider diverse and own voices novels.

Abbott, Peace and Cha headline Noirwich Crime Writing Festival
thebookseller.com – Saturday July 31, 2021

Megan Abbott will deliver this year's Noirwich Crime Writing Festival Lecture, focusing on adaptation and crime writing in the era of Netflix and HBO.
The festival is now in its eighth year and will run from 9th–12th September, delivered by the National Centre for Writing and the University of East Anglia (UEA). This year's festival will be a hybrid programme with in-person creative writing workshops at Dragon Hall, as well as free online events to extend the reach to international audiences.
Joining Abbott in topping the bill are David Peace and Korean-American novelist Steph Cha, who won the Los Angeles Times Book Award for her crime fiction novel Your House Will Pay (Faber). The programme will also include a showcase of new voices in crime writing from UEA’s MA programme and a celebration of over 50 years of creative writing at the university. Further programme announcements will be made in the coming weeks.

New Literary Agent Listing: Chris Combemale
firstwriter.com – Friday July 30, 2021

Looking for a broad range of literary fiction and commercial fiction with an unexpected hook, from psychological suspense to speculative and fantasy. In non-fiction he is interested in memoir, essay, and expert-driven projects across subject areas with special attention to technology, food, pop-science, economics, and any book that asks big questions about forces of change.

New Publisher Listing: Blue Star Press
firstwriter.com – Thursday July 29, 2021

Focuses on the arts, creative processes, wellness, and witty non-fiction.

New Magazine Listing: Beir Bua Journal
firstwriter.com – Thursday July 29, 2021

Interested in conceptual poetics of new language, women's issues, motherhood, slanted unreality, polarity and plurality of time, religion, Ireland's history. Would love more Irish women experimental poets.

What's in a Blurb?: The History of Book Blurbing
bookriot.com – Wednesday July 28, 2021

It’s cliche, but books are judged by their covers. For one thing, often the cover lets the reader know what kind of book they are buying. White woman in a gown or a shirtless muscle-bound man: romance. Bright cartoon picture superimposed with san serif: young adult. Dark with silhouetted figure in the mist: mystery. Dripping font titles: probably horror. So, let’s say you’re a genre reader, have found your section in the bookstore, and are trying to find something new. The next thing to examine are the blurbs. If Neil Gaiman stans see he’s read and endorsed a book, they will be more likely to give it a try. Haruki Murakami says this book is a must read? Then read you must.

New Magazine Listing: Mythaxis Review
firstwriter.com – Wednesday July 28, 2021

A cutting edge publication that seeks to present art and artists at the axis of curiosity and the energetic core of the creative act. Looks at books, movies, music and more.

New Literary Agent Listing: Jake Allgeier
firstwriter.com – Wednesday July 28, 2021

Has a fondness for genre fiction that utilizes classic genre conventions to reveal timely issues, particularly in horror and detective novels. In nonfiction, he enjoys historical nonfiction and pop culture books with LGBTQ+ themes.

New Literary Agent Listing: Margaret Danko
firstwriter.com – Monday July 26, 2021

Actively looking for attention-grabbing voices especially literary fiction with teeth, historical fiction with a dash of magical realism, fresh literary and commercial suspense, spooky contemporary and fantasy YA, narratives with a deep sense of place and history, quirky and heartwarming family stories, and rom-coms full of charm and whimsy. She is also interested in nonfiction in the areas of humor, lifestyle, popular science, health/wellness, true crime, politics, and current affairs. She does not represent Middle Grade or picture books.

Conservative children’s publisher Brave Books debuts with ‘Elephants Are Not Birds’
nypost.com – Sunday July 25, 2021

A new conservative publishing house wants to get the “wokeness” out of bedtime.
Launching this week, Brave Books will focus exclusively on stories for kids, and offers parents “a conservative alternative to the current cultural activism that our children are being taught in schools, in the entertainment they watch and the books they read,” according to their website.
Company CEO Trent Talbot, who had his first child a little more than a year ago, conceived of Brave Books when, he said, he started to notice “that there is a real war going on for the hearts and minds of our kids. And everywhere I looked was propaganda,” the Montgomery, Texas-based dad told The Post.
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