New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Monday January 22, 2018
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction;
Markets: Children's; Youth
Publishes fiction and nonfiction for teens and young adults. Send complete ms with full synopsis by email only. Prefers Word and PDF files. Response only if interested.
Why Writing Network Startups Are Banking On Serialized Storytelling
forbes.com – Sunday January 21, 2018
The publishing industry might not be as buzzy as film or TV, but it still attracts its share of startups: Startup database Angel List currently holds 2,261 companies under the "publishing" rubric, at an average valuation of $3.7 million.
Granted, many of these are news curators or offer website templates, but of the fiction-centric startups, the success stories are built on a strongly engaged base of users. How do these writing networks chase engagement? They master the art of page-turning addiction.
Serialized storytelling isn't new. Serialized folklore and literature includes Homer, Dickens, and 1,001 Arabian Nights. The concept adapts to new formats: Pulp fiction has profited from their heroes' endless exploits since the dime store novel, and the 1920s-era Stratemeyer Syndicate further improved on the model with ghostwritten series like Nancy Drew, the Bobsey Twins and the Hardy Boys. These books promoted previous stories at the front of the book and often ended with previews teasing the title of the next installment — and the syndicate even instructed writers to end chapters and even pages mid-scene. The result was a literal $0.50 page-turner.
firstwriter.magazine final issue - out now
firstwriter.com – Sunday January 21, 2018
This month sees the launch of the last ever issue of firstwriter.magazine.
firstwriter.magazine has been published twice a year since 2002, making it probably one of the longest-running online journals on the internet. All good things must come to an end, however, and issue 32 will be the last issue of firstwriter.magazine. Managing Editor, J. Paul Dyson, gave the following explanation about the decision to end the long-running publication:
Award-Winning Author Judy Blume Shares 6 Inspiring Tips From 50 Years of Writing (and 85 Million Books Sold)
inc.com – Sunday January 21, 2018
When I was a kid I loved to read Judy Blume books: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Blubber, Deenie, Freckle Juice, Superfudge. They addressed themes and issues other books I was reading at the time didn't cover. Her stories spoke directly to me, as if she could see right into my curious, hyper-sensitive, insecure pre-teen head.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 17, 2018
Publishes: Fiction;
Areas include: Romance; Women's Interests;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Contemporary
Imprint which aims to push the boundaries of sexual explicitness while keeping the focus on the developing romantic relationship. Submit novels up to 50,000 words via online submission system available on website.
New Literary Agency Listing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 17, 2018
Handles: Fiction; Nonfiction
Areas: Adventure; Autobiography; Biography; Business; Cookery; Crime; Culture; Fantasy; Health; Historical; Lifestyle; Mystery; Politics; Romance; Science; Sci-Fi; Spiritual; Sport; Thrillers; Travel; Women's Interests
Markets: Adult; Children's; Youth
Treatments: Commercial; Contemporary; Literary; Popular
Send first three chapters (fiction), proposal (nonfiction), or complete ms (picture books) via online submission form on website.
Job opportunity: Assistant Editor, Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., New York
publishersmarketplace.com – Tuesday January 16, 2018
Bloomsbury has an exciting opportunity for a publishing professional to strengthen and expand our successful academic list in the field of Literary Studies.
How to Keep Writing When Every Day Is a Blow to the Gut
huffingtonpost.com – Monday January 15, 2018
Most writers I know have put themselves on a news diet, but even if you’ve done that it’s impossible to escape the bad news altogether—nor do most of us want to be completely checked out. The s**tstorm we’re contending with in our country—#MeToo, our erratic weather, nuclear threats, a Twitter presidency—is leaving most of us feeling anxious at best. Few writers I know are able to wield their anxiety into well-crafted scenes. Most are distracted (for good reason!) and yet the new year is supposed to be about new beginnings, right?
Five Rules for Writers
nationalreview.com – Saturday January 13, 2018
As a professional writer, I’m always trying to improve. I’ve studied the work of the top writers. I’ve debated great opening sentences with colleagues. I’ve thought long and hard about things like serial commas, concluding that they are good and necessary (don’t @ me).
These days, I’m not only a professional writer, but also a teacher of writing: I run the journalism program at Hillsdale College. The best way to learn how to write is to write, because experience offers the soundest instruction. Yet my students and I also consult sources such as The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, whose best advice has become a famous dictum: “Omit needless words.”
Q&A: Kelvin Kong on launching K2 Literary agency
quillandquire.com – Friday January 12, 2018
After more than a decade working in various aspects of publishing, from managing print production to editorial to selling rights at Kids Can Press, Kelvin Kong has launched his own literary agency. K2 Literary represents a small list of authors including Matt Cahill, Andrew Wilmot, and Teri Vlassapoulos.
Q&Q asked Kong – who recently left his post as agent and rights manager at the Rights Factory, and who continues to teach literary rights management for Ryerson University’s publishing certificate program – about his new endeavour.
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