How did I get here? My Writer’s Journey from Reluctant Author to Movie Option
By Geri Spieler
Author
firstwriter.com – Sunday April 15, 2018
I have numerous requests asking me to write about my journey from a reluctant author to having a movie option for my book. It all startyed with a Tweet.
Here is how it goes:
I had no intention of writing a book. As I’ve said to many friends and strangers, I had no aspirations of being an author. Books take too long and are too difficult to write.
Well, we know that changed. It was a circumstance that turned me into an author. It began as a curiosity when I was approached by a would-be presidential assassin, Sara Jane Moore, the 45-year-old mother and doctor’s wife who pulled a gun from her purse, took aim and fired a bullet at the head of President Gerald Ford and missed his head by a mere six inches.
Man Booker International Prize shortlist a boon for small publishers
theconversation.com – Friday April 13, 2018
Six books, six languages, two former winners and a bonanza for independent publishers: the Man Booker International Prize – the UK’s most prestigious prize for translated fiction – has announced its 2018 shortlist. Whittled down from a longlist of 13 titles spanning the globe, the six titles to make the cut are translated from Arabic, French, Hungarian, Korean, Spanish and Polish.
This year’s nominations have been selected by a panel of five judges, chaired by novelist Lisa Appignanesi with fellow writers Hari Kunzru and Helen Oyeyemi alongside poet and translator Michael Hofmann and journalist Tim Martin. The shortlist includes Han Kang and Deborah Smith – who won the prize in 2016 for The Vegetarian – and László Krasznahorkai – who won the prize in its former iteration in 2015 – when it was awarded for an achievement in fiction evident in a body of work.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday April 13, 2018
Publishes: Fiction; Interviews; Nonfiction; Poetry; Reviews;
Areas include: Literature;
Markets: Academic; Adult;
Preferred styles: Experimental; In-depth; Literary; Serious
An international, online literary magazine, focusing on the latest trends in literature. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, interviews and many more interesting articles can be found. New articles are welcome.
New Literary Agency Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday April 13, 2018
Handles: Fiction; Nonfiction
Markets: Adult
Treatments: Popular
Open to approaches from both new and established authors. Represents general and genre fiction and popular nonfiction. No poetry, drama, or genre SFF. Send query by email with synopsis and first chapter / 10 pages pasted into the body of the email (no attachments).
There's no female conspiracy in publishing – your book might just not be good
theguardian.com – Wednesday April 11, 2018
When I first saw the #MisandryInPublishing hashtag, I assumed it was a joke. How could anyone actually believe that there is a bias against men in an industry that has historically prioritised the work of men, and paid them more for it? How?
I soon realised the hashtag was the work of a male author who was complaining about female agents and writers who had spurned him — myself in particular. Though I had not yet read his book, I had retweeted a meme about male authors being bad at writing female characters, which he didn’t like. It was enough to put me in his crosshairs.
Adam Kay: 'We're all obsessed about peeking under the hood of interesting lives'
list.co.uk – Monday April 9, 2018
Ahead of his appearance at the London Book Fair, the doctor-turned-comedian talks about why memoirs matter
The London Book Fair 2018 kicks off this week with 25,000 publishing professionals about to descend on London's Olympia for a jam-packed three days of everything literary. As expected the festival has secured a plethora of big-name authors to take part and discuss their work and issues in the industry. Ahead of the festival we spoke to Adam Kay: ex-doctor, comedian and best-selling author of This is Going to Hurt: Memoirs of a Junior Doctor. He'll be leading a session alongside publishers Pan Macmillan about the recent surge in popularity of memoirs by normal people.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Monday April 9, 2018
Publishes: Poetry;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Contemporary; Experimental; Literary; Satirical; Serious; Traditional
Established to support the arts through the sharing of poetry in our online journal, at readings, workshops and by making public the transformative power of poetic expression.
We hope to contribute to the expansion of a community of poets, to establish a creative outlet that does not discriminate by age, race, or sexual orientation in order to offer voice to all and to represent poetry in its many forms, styles, perspectives, and intentions.
Best of London Book Fair 2018: we pick some of the highlights
list.co.uk – Saturday April 7, 2018
Every year the great and the good of the literary world descend upon London for three intensive days of author talks, panel discussions and seminars on the most pressing issues facing publishing today. With nearly 200 events taking place, the LBF's behemoth programme is daunting to even the most seasoned of industry professionals. But this year, we've got your back. Whether you're an aspiring scribbler or simply an ardent bookworm, our guide will help you make the most out of the LBF.
How Trump Is Shaking Up the Book Industry
politico.com – Saturday April 7, 2018
Donald Trump’s election victory plunged America’s elite, liberal and coastal circles into an identity crisis, as journalists and pundits who had been so sure of a Trump loss grappled with charges of insularity and willful disregard. They penned introspective essays and took deep dives into the statistics only to conclude that they were indeed elite, liberal and coastal.
But in sleek SoHo penthouses, Brooklyn brownstones and Upper West Side cafés, a community that is perhaps the ultimate bubble—the New York fiction publishing industry—is still struggling to come to terms with its isolation. They are asking themselves how literature became so detached from the contours of American life in so many parts of the country. The perspectives of the white working classes and the rural poor, the demographics that handed Trump the presidency in 2016, have been largely absent from the novels printed every year. And as these demographics become increasingly central to the country’s political conversations, the publishing industry is wondering what it needs to do to change.
Twitter Is Roasting Bad Male Authors And Their Crappy Writing
junkee.com – Tuesday April 3, 2018
The world is full of bad writers, and a huge portion of them are dudes. It’s just science! One thing that crappy male authors are particularly guilty of doing is describing women incredibly badly.
While men writing incredibly lazy, sexist and anatomically-incorrect descriptions of women in novels is something of an evergreen issue, this particular batch of mockery sprung up from a particular tweet.
Author Gwen C. Katz posted an incredibly interesting example of a male writer convinced that he had written an ‘authentic female protagonist’.
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