Haymarket buys Bay Publishing Ltd as part of ‘digital transformation’
pressgazette.co.uk – Monday January 9, 2023
B2B and specialist publisher Haymarket has acquired Bay Publishing Ltd, which runs Health and Safety International, HSME (Health and Safety Middle East), and AWE International, which covers “the impact of industry on the environment”.
Haymarket said the purchase meant that “Bay Publishing’s global client base will have the opportunity to source the leads they need to grow their businesses via Audience Labs’ ability to create tailored content, customised marketing, webinars and more”.
Haymarket media group chief executive Kevin Costello said: “Adding Bay to our portfolio couldn’t have come at a better time. It plays to our digital transformation strengths and Haymarket’s known audience model, plus we are experts in producing brands in multiple channels.

New Publisher Listing: HopeRoad
firstwriter.com – Friday January 6, 2023

Promotes the best writing from and about Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, with themes of identity, cultural stereotyping, disability and injustices of particular interest.

New Literary Agent Listing: Dotti Irving
firstwriter.com – Friday January 6, 2023

Primarily interested in narrative non-fiction, in books that tell a story that rings true and speaks to a wider world.

United Talent Agency Grows Its Literary Business
nytimes.com – Thursday January 5, 2023

With the acquisition of the literary agency Fletcher & Company, UTA added hundreds of authors to its client roster. The deal comes amid consolidation in the entertainment industry.
When United Talent Agency, which represents celebrities like Chris Pratt, Timothée Chalamet, Kevin Hart, Bad Bunny and Lizzo, bought the esteemed London-based agency Curtis Brown last summer, it made a bold play for a bigger toehold in the book world. With the acquisition, UTA took on the estates of towering literary figures like John le Carré, Ian Fleming, Daphne du Maurier and A.A. Milne.
Now, UTA is expanding its ambitions even further by buying the literary agency Fletcher & Company, dramatically increasing its roster of contemporary novelists and nonfiction writers. The agencies announced the deal on Wednesday.

Two Fine Crows Books
firstwriter.com – Thursday January 5, 2023

Publishes books of nature and spirit.

The End of a Book World Mystery: A Suspect in Manuscript Thefts to Plead Guilty
nytimes.com – Wednesday January 4, 2023

Filippo Bernardini was arrested by the F.B.I. last year. He is expected to enter his plea on Friday, ending a yearslong saga that captivated the industry.
The mystery captivated the book world: For years, someone impersonated authors and agents, editors and publishers, trying to steal unpublished book manuscripts from high profile authors like Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Ethan Hawke, but also from debut novelists and writers of more obscure works.
Now, a resolution to the yearslong scheme is near. On Friday, Filippo Bernardini is expected to plead guilty to wire fraud in front of a magistrate court judge in Manhattan, according to an email from the office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York that was sent to victims on Tuesday.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Bernardini early last year, saying he had “impersonated, defrauded, and attempted to defraud, hundreds of individuals” over five or more years, gaining access to hundreds of unpublished manuscripts in the process.

New Publisher Listing: CGI (Chartered Governance Institute) Publishing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 4, 2023

Practical governance books and media on business skills; boards; risk and compliance; company secretarial practice; governance; and study texts.

New Magazine Listing: Story Unlikely
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 4, 2023

Seeks short stories of all genres and styles - as long as it's a story, we'll consider it. We prefer shorter fiction, but will accept up to 10,000 word pieces. We are concerned only with the quality of the story (both by the author's ability to write clean prose and their ability to in how to tell a story), and not by their pedigree (or lack there of).

New Literary Agent Listing: Kara Grajkowski
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 4, 2023

Looking for contemporary middle grade fiction; contemporary young adult fiction; and own voices.

Female-only Welsh publisher invites submissions from trans authors
telegraph.co.uk – Tuesday January 3, 2023

As part of a call for new writers, Honno says that the criteria for ‘women’ means ‘women or those who identify as women’
Trans and non-binary authors can submit work to a state-funded publisher intended for female writers, prompting concerns that it has “caved to ideology”.
Honno was established as an independent press in 1986 to promote writing by female authors in Wales, and receives government grant funding to continue its mission of exclusively putting out women’s literature.
However, the publisher has now issued a call for new writers that has invited those who “identify as women” to submit their work, stating that what it takes as the criteria for a woman will include people who are “non-binary and transgender”.
The open invitation has caused concern among authors who have worked with Honno, who fear the organisation has “caved to ideology” and removed a valued female-only service.
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