Philip Pullman calls for authors to get fairer share of publisher profits
theguardian.com – Monday March 5, 2018
Philip Pullman has called on publishers to stop damaging “the ecology of the book world” and start giving authors a fairer share of the money their books earn.
Speaking in his capacity as president of the Society of Authors, the His Dark Materials author hit out at the fact that while profit margins in publishing are rising, the money authors are paid is going down.
“To allow corporate profits to be so high at a time when author earnings are markedly falling is, apart from anything else, shockingly bad husbandry. It’s perfectly possible to make a good profit and pay a fair return to all of those on whose work, after all, everything else depends. But that’s not happening at the moment,” said Pullman. “I like every individual editor, designer, marketing and publicity person I deal with; but I don’t like what publishers, corporately, are doing to the ecology of the book world. It’s damaging, and it should change.”
Owlkids Books named finalist for Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year
quillandquire.com – Sunday March 4, 2018
Toronto’s Owlkids Books has been shortlisted for this year’s Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year. The awards are given to publishers representing six international regions, as selected by publishing houses, associations, and other books institutions.
Writers, editors offer pet peeves to mark National Grammar Day
prdaily.com – Sunday March 4, 2018
Editors wish people would think about their grammar every day—and those professional nitpickers are using an upcoming holiday to sound off about what drives them nuts.
March 4 is National Grammar Day, and to mark the occasion, we at PR Daily solicited writers’ and editors’ biggest gripes when it comes to linguistic lapses.
Whether it’s in the form of improper punctuation, misapplied homonyms or a lack of care when speaking off the cuff, word nerds can all agree: Bad grammar is like nails on a chalkboard.
Annick Press named finalist for Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year
quillandquire.com – Friday March 2, 2018
Toronto’s Annick Press has been shortlisted for this year’s Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year. The awards are given to publishers representing six international regions, as selected by publishing houses, associations, and other books institutions. This is Annick’s second nomination since the inaugural awards in 2013.
Also nominated for this award in the North America category are Toronto’s Owlkids Books and Editions D’eux from Sherbrooke, Quebec.
SoA challenges publishers to reveal how much they pay authors
thebookseller.com – Friday March 2, 2018
The chief executive of the Society of Authors has challenged publishers to reveal how much they pay writers in their annual financial accounts.
Publishers' profits have grown while authors' pay has shrunk in recent years, Nicola Solomon has argued in an articlefor The Bookseller. As a result, the chief of the trade body is calling on publishers to state in their financial accounts how much they pay authors, illustrators and translators in advances, royalties and secondary income.
Should you enter a writing contest?
seattletimes.com – Thursday March 1, 2018
Yes, yes, yes you should. Writing contests offer many benefits, not the least of which is a deadline. There’s nothing like a deadline to force you to put your posterior in a chair and some words down on paper. You can also win prize money, get published, establish credibility, build your writer’s platform and grow a readership. The first step is to enter. It can be daunting, but to grow as a writer, you need to send your work out into the world. Contests offer that opportunity.
Welsh to scout for Eccles Fisher
thebookseller.com – Wednesday February 28, 2018
Rosie Welsh, previously of the Jonathan Clowes Literary Agents and The Wylie Agency, is joining Eccles Fisher Associates as a literary scout.
Welsh, most recently an agent at Jonathan Clowes for over two years, was previously a royalties manager at Wylie for over three years.
Berthoud joins Jo Unwin's agency
thebookseller.com – Wednesday February 28, 2018
Ella Berthoud is joining Jo Unwin as a literary agent at JULA, and will build a list focusing on literary, reading group and children’s fiction.
Berthoud published her co-authored books The Novel Cure (Canongate) in 2013 and The Story Cure (Canongate) in 2017 with Susan Elderkin. As well as being a successful artist, she is a bibliotherapist at The School of Life.
Stop writing and learn to be a better writer
thedrum.com – Tuesday February 27, 2018
A woman walks up to a construction worker in Manhattan.
“Excuse me young man,” she says. “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”
He puts his pickaxe down and wipes his brow. Finally, he speaks.
“Lady, you gotta practise.”
He’s right. Every skilled, or would-be skilled, tradesperson needs to practise. But what does practise mean? For copywriters, specifically? It might seem obvious. You write. As much and as often as you can.
Ads. Blog posts. Emails. Landing pages. Scripts. Sales letters.
The more you write, the better you get. Right? Wrong.
Book clinic: why do publishers still issue hardbacks?
theguardian.com – Sunday February 25, 2018
Q: Years ago, I read that publishers were going to end the practice of bringing out hardback editions before paperbacks. But it never happened. Why do they still do this, and does anyone apart from libraries buy hardbacks? I never do.
Phil Goddard
A: From Philip Jones, editor, the Bookseller
Yes, hardbacks are still popular. Hardback fiction brings in about £70m annually (roughly 20% of the printed fiction market), according to sales data from Nielsen BookScan.
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