Finally working on that novel as you self-isolate? You're not alone
theguardian.com – Friday March 27, 2020
There’s been a rapid rise in submissions from would-be authors since the coronavirus outbreak. If you’re dusting off your manuscript, here are some things to keep in mind...
If you’re one of those people who always said they would write a novel if only they had the time: this is your moment. As more budding writers self-isolate due to the coronavirus and finally knuckle down on their manuscripts, the publishing industry has already seen a surge in submissions.
Literary agent Juliet Mushens, of the Caskie Mushens agency, usually receives between 10 and 15 appeals for representation a day from new writers. Last Monday alone, she received 27.
“I am all in favour of it,” she said, of the increase. “We all know that social distancing is going to be crucial to how we combat the virus and I think it’s great if people can use that time productively – whether it’s learning the guitar, like one of my clients is, or writing that novel. And perhaps it’s also about people who have already written that novel but were too scared to hit send – they are realising that life is too short and you have to seize the day!”
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday March 27, 2020
Publishes: Fiction
Markets: Adult
Preferred styles: Literary
Publishes literary fiction novellas between 20,000 and 60,000 words. Send blurb, bio, and summary by email. See website for full guidelines.
New Literary Agent Listing: Luba Ostashevsky
firstwriter.com – Friday March 27, 2020
Interested in nonfiction popular science projects, written by either research scientists, medical or mental health professionals, or journalists. Not comfortable representing fiction, cookbooks, YA, self help, nor business or politics (unless directly about science).
Lights, camera, fiction: a film lover’s guide to writing a novel
irishtimes.com – Thursday March 26, 2020
I have always had a yearning to capture the visual. When I was very young, and before I owned a camera, I’d use my fingers as a frame and peer through them to see what a photograph of the scene before me would look like.
I went on to study film at third level, and when I set out to write my debut novel, You Have to Make Your Own Fun Around Here, I decided that I wanted the reader to see the story unfolding in their mind’s eye, much like a film.
I asked myself, if I was to make a film of this novel, what would it look like? Whose perspective would work best? How could I heighten the narrative’s impact through the use of pictures and visions? The film student in me was excited at the prospect of creating a visually driven story, and putting the storytelling skills I’d gained at film school to good use.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday March 25, 2020
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction;
Areas include: Adventure; Autobiography; Biography; Crime; Current Affairs; Health; Historical; Humour; Romance; Self-Help; Thrillers; Travel;
Markets: Adult; Children's;
Preferred styles: Literary
Accepts submissions via online submission system between 10am and 4pm on the first Monday of each month.
Our Books, Our Shelves: BE A QUITTER, or HOW TO WRITE THE NOVEL OF YOUR HEART
themarysue.com – Tuesday March 24, 2020
Sometimes, you quit.
Quitting isn’t something we’re taught to do, especially not as writers. Established authors share stories of rejections and perseverance. Of the manuscript they refused to give up on. That they published to great acclaim and poo-poo on those editors who rejected them! It’s supposed to inspire—and goodness knows we need all the inspiration we can get in this field.
When I was in graduate school, I started writing my first novel. A novel that my mother recently retrieved from the depths of her house, printed and spiral bound. “In five years, we can put that on eBay,” my dad said, while fixing himself a burger. “Absolutely not!” I said. Probably should’ve snatched it from Mom when I had the chance. (Please, if in five years you see an eBay listing titled “K M SZPARA UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT RARE,” report it.)
Are you a new or emerging writer from a working-class background?
irishtimes.com – Monday March 23, 2020
Are you a new or emerging writer from a working class background? Would you like to be published alongside an Impac Award-winner, a Booker Prize-winner, two Sunday Times Short Story Award-winners, a senator, playwrights and poets? What about a professional development programme with the help of leading publishers and the Irish Writers Centre.
Well, now is your chance. Next spring, The 32: An Anthology of Working Class Voices will be published in Ireland and the UK. It will include 16 well-known contributors and 16 new and emerging writers. We are launching the search for those new writers today in The Irish Times.
Shakespeare in lockdown: did he write King Lear in plague quarantine?
theguardian.com – Sunday March 22, 2020
While those of us stuck in self-isolation or working from home watch TikTok videos and refresh liveblogs, a meme has been going around that claims Shakespeare made use of being quarantined during the plague to write King Lear. The Bard supposedly took advantage of the Globe’s lengthy closure to get on top of his writing in-tray – coming up with Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra to boot. If you weren’t panicky enough about how little you’ve achieved recently, this is surely a way to feel worse. Why aren’t you finally dusting off that novel or screenplay you’ve been itching to write? It’s what the Bard would do, surely.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Thursday March 19, 2020
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction; Poetry
Markets: Adult
Preferred styles: Literary
Publishes books of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Accepts submissions through competitions and open submissions ($25 submission fee) via online submission system.
Winchester Poetry Festival launches best new writing competition
hampshirechronicle.co.uk – Sunday March 15, 2020
AN ANNUAL poetry competition celebrating the best in new writing for 2020 has been launched.
The Winchester Poetry Prize is organised by the Winchester Poetry Festival and is open to poets from around the world.
This year’s entries will be judged by Andrew McMillan, whose first collection, physical, was the only poetry collection to ever win The Guardian First Book Award and was the Poet in Residence at Basingstoke Discovery Centre in 2012. He is also a senior lecturer in the Manchester Writing School.
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