Turning Pages: When it's good to break the writing rules
smh.com.au – Sunday August 26, 2018
Sometimes the writer doesn't need a gentle muse when facing a blank page. Sometimes the writer needs a pep talk from a coach, the kind that gets you out in the drizzly dawn doing push-ups and feeling good about it.
If that's your bag, then Catherine Deveny is your woman. The comedian and writer who describes herself as "Atheist, Feminist, Dyslexic" runs regular writing classes for her Gunnas (as in "I'm gunna write a book some day"). For her students, that day is today. And she'll do everything short of push-ups to motivate them and destroy their procrastination and fear.
Judging from the website testimonials, her Gunnas adore her. So I was intrigued to see her in action at the recent Bayside Literary Festival, talking about "The Twelve Things They Don't Tell You About Writing".
I was particularly struck by one piece of advice that was exactly the opposite of what most creative writing teachers tell their students: "You don't have to read a lot".
Why millennial pink is the colour of money for book publishers
inews.co.uk – Sunday August 26, 2018
In recent years the mid-tone blush colour commonly referred to as “millennial pink” has taken over fashion, interior design, branding and publicity. Now publishers are also latching on to the colour’s marketability.
The number of pink books published in the past two years has risen sharply. Titles such as the Man Booker Prize-longlisted The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer, Jenny Zhang’s Sour Heart and Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman all feature the hue on their covers. The cover of Sweetbitter, a novel by Stephanie Danler which was adapted into a Netflix series, was redesigned and reissued with a salmon-pink cover.
2019 edition of Writers' Handbook now available to buy
firstwriter.com – Saturday August 25, 2018
The 2019 edition of firstwriter.com’s bestselling directory for writers is the perfect book for anyone searching for literary agents, book publishers, or magazines. It contains over 1,300 listings, including revised and updated listings from the 2018 edition, and over 400 brand new entries.
#shareyourrejection is exactly the hashtag we need right now
artshub.com.au – Thursday August 23, 2018
It hasn't quite taken off in Australia yet, but hopefully that is only a matter of time. Maybe Peter Dutton will get us started.
#shareyourrejection is the latest hashtag to highlight the reality of rejection in the arts and creative industries, and to show once again that resilience is key to any creative career.
This will make you laugh and wince and understand the poetic power of revenge.
Clare Barron: 'My best advice? Write the ugliest, clunkiest play you can imagine'
standard.co.uk – Thursday August 23, 2018
In our Play Talk series, playwrights discuss the joys and struggles of the writing life. This week, Clare Barron talks about her Susan Smith Blackburn Award-winning play Dance Nation, which has its European premiere at the Almeida next month.
A bestselling author reveals his 3 techniques to overcome writer’s block
cnbc.com – Thursday August 23, 2018
Experiencing writer's block can be both frightening and frustrating for anybody working on a project with a deadline fast approaching.
Unfortunately, this inability to produce content within a specified period of time can strike at any moment.
And bestselling Hay House author Charlie Morley is no stranger to this common setback.
Nurturing the literary landscape
thebookseller.com – Tuesday August 21, 2018
Literary fiction has lost status over the past quarter century, becoming marginal to our wider culture, argues New Statesman editor Jason Cowley in forthright terms in an interview in this week’s issue, reigniting the debate kicked off by Arts Council England’s report last December (Literature in the 21st Century) on what ACE reckoned were serious threats to literary fiction in the current climate.
Cowley may sound a touch nostalgic in his lament for the glamorous publishers of yesteryear, but many will think he has a point—particularly given that shrinking review space and the loss of dedicated literary editors has diminished the public profile of literary work over the past few years. This has made it a tougher arena than ever to establish new names and find a readership for experimental work, a task which was surely never easy anyway.
Publishers Association corrects key figure on author pay
thebookseller.com – Sunday August 19, 2018
The Publishers Association (PA) has admitted a key figure it released on author pay was wrong; in fact authors received more money from publishers in 2016 than previously thought, with the figure first cited close to £190m out.
Writing in The Bookseller this week Stephen Lotinga, c.e.o. of the PA, said that a report released by the trade body in March, conducted by Frontier Economics, incorrectly calculated that the total payments consumer authors received in 2016 were £161m, based on advances, royalties, secondary licensing and rights.
However, Lotinga said the correct figure with the inclusion of advances stood at around £350m - a leap of £189m.
The report caused a furore when it was originally released earlier this year, with the Society of Authors (SoA) calculating that writers received around 3% of publishers' turnover in 2016 when taking into account the £161m figure, while publishers' profit margins were much higher.
Indie publishers unite for new podcast
thebookseller.com – Sunday August 19, 2018
Canongate, Faber and Profile imprint Serpent's Tail are launching a fortnightly podcast to champion independent publishing, authors and bookshops.
Read Like a Writer is hosted by journalist Anna Fielding and each episode will feature authors recommending their favourite books, often around a theme such as childhood favourites or favourite classics, and talking about their own work. They will also discuss their favourite local independent bookshop and its importance in their lives.
The first episode, featuring Matt Haig, has been released, with Shaun Bythell, Gina Miller, Sarah Perry, Elizabeth Foley and Beth Coates all lined up for future episodes.
How #ShareYourRejection Reminds Us That Failure is Normal
comicsbeat.com – Sunday August 19, 2018
Big news. There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Any success we have is accompanied by years of work and often countless failures. As someone who has faced rejection more times than they could shake a stick at, finding the #ShareYourRejection hashtag on Twitter was a lightning bolt to the soul (in a good way). It all started when Saeed Jones, author and co-host of Buzzfeed’s popular AM2DM show, Tweeted about a recent rejection he recieved.
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