The rise of robot authors: is the writing on the wall for human novelists?
theguardian.com – Monday March 25, 2019
Artificial intelligence can now write fiction and journalism. But does it measure up to George Orwell – and can it report on Brexit?
Will androids write novels about electric sheep? The dream, or nightmare, of totally machine-generated prose seemed to have come one step closer with the recent announcement of an artificial intelligence that could produce, all by itself, plausible news stories or fiction. It was the brainchild of OpenAI – a nonprofit lab backed by Elon Musk and other tech entrepreneurs – which slyly alarmed the literati by announcing that the AI (called GPT2) was too dangerous for them to release into the wild, because it could be employed to create “deepfakes for text”. “Due to our concerns about malicious applications of the technology,” they said, “we are not releasing the trained model.” Are machine-learning entities going to be the new weapons of information terrorism, or will they just put humble midlist novelists out of business?
The agent, her authors and the legal battles worthy of a bestseller
smh.com.au – Friday March 22, 2019
Selwa Anthony is ensconced on an avocado-green leather sofa, a chihuahua reclining on either side of her. The leading literary agent is small but commanding, a diminutive grande dame with sharp brown eyes and long purple fingernails. As always, she is carefully coiffured and glamorously dressed, as if her next appointment were a cocktail party. But Anthony's mood on this warm afternoon is more defiant than festive. "Everything I've done in my life has been boots and all," she says.
Literary agents are behind-the-scenes people. Their job is to foster writers' careers and secure them good publishing deals: they rarely make news in their own right. Yet Anthony has had a central role in not one but two headline-grabbing court cases in the past year. First, she was in the thick of a battle over the estate of her friend Colleen McCullough, best-known as the author of the blockbuster outback saga The Thorn Birds. Then came the showdown with her former star client, bestselling mystery-romance writer Kate Morton. Anthony, who initiated the legal action against Morton, ended up feeling that her own professional reputation was on trial. In the witness box, she was grilled for hours. "It was terrible, terrible, terrible," she says, as sunlight streams into her harbourside Sydney apartment.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday March 20, 2019
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction;
Areas include: Biography; Crime; Horror; Sci-Fi;
Markets: Adult
Publishes fiction and nonfiction graphic novels. Send query by email or by post with one-page synopsis and at least eight pages of sequential art (up to 5MB if sending by email). See website for full guidelines.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Tuesday March 19, 2019
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction; Poetry;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Nashville-based independent press that aims to capture and better understand the Southern soul, Southern writing, and the Southern holler. Send submissions of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or graphic novels to the specific email addresses given on the website.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Monday March 18, 2019
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction; Poetry;
Areas include: Short Stories;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Print and digital literary magazine publishing creative writing that explores the relationship between humans and their environments, whether natural or man-made. Submit 3-5 poems or prose up to 7,000 words in July, August, November, or December, via online submission system. No submissions by email.
Alternatively, submit one poem or up to 500 words of fiction or nonfiction for online publication at any time of the year.
All write now: writing is a numbers game
montclairlocal.news – Sunday March 17, 2019
I woke up this morning to a rejection email in my inbox. It was for a short, lyrical essay I had written and submitted nearly a year ago. A piece I was quite fond of. A piece I was hopeful would actually find a home. The rejection hurt more than usual, as my piece apparently went through several rounds of consideration and came close to being chosen for publication. SO! CLOSE! ::shakes fists at sky::
Still, after the briefest of mourning periods, I opened up the spreadsheet in which I tracked my numbers of pitches and submissions, moved this particular publication to the “rejected by” column, and considered where I might send my piece next. And that was that. Onward!
Rick Christian leaves literary agency that transformed Christian publishing
religionnews.com – Friday March 15, 2019
As a San Diego high school student in the early 1970s, Rick Christian was frustrated when he heard radio commercials for best-sellers that ended with the words “available wherever books are sold.”
The books he wanted to read — Bibles, concordances and other Christian works — were hard to find in regular bookstores.
“I thought, ‘Someday I would love for Christian books to be available wherever books are sold,’” he said. In 1989, he set out to make that dream a reality as founder of Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Alive Literary Agency.
Stormzy launches search for 'best writer of a new generation'
theguardian.com – Thursday March 14, 2019
Less than a year after taking his first step into publishing with the launch of #Merky Books, the grime artist Stormzy has unveiled the New writers’ prize for authors under 30, to “promote the stories that aren’t being heard, and to find the best writer of a new generation”.
#Merky Books, a Penguin Random House imprint focused on fostering talent among young UK writers, is part of the musician’s growing #Merky empire, which also includes a record label and music festival. Its first book was Stormzy’s memoir, Rise Up, co-authored with the 25-year-old writer Jude Yawson.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday March 13, 2019
Publishes: Fiction; Poetry;
Areas include: Short Stories;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Experimental
Publishes poetry, flash fiction, visual poetry, experimental poetry, and any combination thereof. Manuscripts must be at least 50 pages. Send submissions by email.
Writer's Digest, Popular Woodworking publisher F+W Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
eu.usatoday.com – Tuesday March 12, 2019
The publisher of Writer's Digest, Popular Woodworking and other niche magazines has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid plummeting subscriptions and advertising revenue.
New York-based F+W Media asked for court protection from its creditors on Sunday after it nearly ran out of money, according to a court filing.
The company's publications include more than 50 specialized titles in arts and crafts, writing, design, knitting and the outdoors. It also publishes books, holds consumer and trade events and sells products online.
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