Author Bernardine Evaristo on her award wins, activism, and what inspires her writing
womanandhome.com – Sunday November 7, 2021
Bernardine Evaristo is a British author and academic. In 2019, she became the first black woman to win the Booker Prize for her eighth book, Girl, Woman, Other. She is a professor of creative writing at Brunel University London and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her new book, Manifesto on Never Giving Up, is an intimate and inspirational memoir about her journey as a writer. She was Chair of the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction. Bernardine lives in London with her husband.
Meet SoCal’s Newest Indie Publishers
pasadenanow.com – Sunday November 7, 2021
On October 15, 2021, I released my second book with local indie publishing house, GoldScriptCo. On that Friday, GoldScriptCo threw me a book release party at Mantra Coffee Company and B&B in Azusa (the very same spot of my first book launch nearly two years ago when Black Was Not A Label made its way into the world) for my newest baby: Count It All Loss, a chapbook of poetry. Serendipitous? Yes. Honestly, in more ways than one.
You see, I had no plans to publish a book this year. I didn’t have a manuscript and between work and pandemic fatigue, I haven’t been doing as much creative writing as I’d like. Despite this, GoldScriptCo and I collided in such an uncanny way that I’ve come to identify it as nothing less than divine. I became friends with one of GoldScriptCo’s founders, Alexa Johansen, through one of my students at the start of this year. Alexa and I talked poetry and writing and I soon learned she was working on a chapbook. We had scattered communication over the next few months and I didn’t get to really meet her until June when she was releasing said chapbook, a lovely collection of poetry titled Dear Girl.
Writing competition: Win professional coaching and be published in The Herald
heraldscotland.com – Sunday November 7, 2021
IS the pen mightier than the sword? Without a doubt. More people have attached themselves to Sir Walter Scott, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Burns, Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton and Charles Dickens than ever embraced Attila the Hun! The sword might threaten into submission but the pen leads us willingly into all sorts of worlds and adventures for sheer pleasure.
Mighty Pens must be even mightier then – but never more so than when partnering The Herald in a great new writing competition. So, are you looking for something to do as the winter draws in? Well, the last writing competition jointly presented by The Herald and Mighty Pens was so successful that we could not resist creating another chance for readers to become writers.
Are Grammarly and Ginger’s writing tools worth it? We asked a writing teacher
fastcompany.com – Sunday November 7, 2021
I’ve been a professional writer for more than a decade, but only recently started teaching the subject to undergrads. I soon realized that the standards for getting a high mark on a college-level paper are that it needs to be either “close to publishable” or “ready for publish”—meaning students’ final drafts need to be polished enough for public consumption to earn an A.
Since my students don’t have luxury of a personal editor, I started encouraging them to use online tools, like Grammarly, as a safety net when blazing through a final draft at 2 a.m. That was, until using Grammarly gave me an existential crisis.
Authors share the writing habits that got them on the Giller short list
rmotoday.com – Friday November 5, 2021
Some authors get to work right after their morning coffee; others write late at night by the glow of their smartphones. Some struggle to stave off distractions; others embrace them as part of the creative process.
The Canadian Press asked the finalists for the Scotiabank Giller Prize to share the habits that help them put words on the page. Their emailed responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency opens first UK branch
thebookseller.com – Thursday November 4, 2021
The Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency will open a London branch in 2022, marking its first UK presence.
The new outlet, which follows branches in Amsterdam and Stockholm, will open on 1st January 2022 in response to the agency receiving a higher volume of fiction written in English.
Agency founder Paul Sebes said: "After a branch in Amsterdam and a second in Stockholm, this is a logical step. Both the Dutch and Scandinavian branches are doing very well, and we have been getting so many manuscripts originally written in English – not just from English-language countries but also from other parts of the world – that starting a London branch made sense.
PEOPLE TO PEOPLE, Elizabeth Ann Atkins on coaching new writers through their first book
youtube.com – Sunday October 31, 2021
Elizabeth Ann Atkins of Two Sisters Writing and Publishing is known as "America's Book Coach." With dozens of titles to her own credit, she says she can help you do the same.
Harper UK to Buy Pavilion Books
lunch.publishersmarketplace.com – Saturday October 30, 2021
Harper Collins UK will acquire Pavilion Books, including six of its imprints: Collins & Brown, Pavilion, Portico, Robson, National Trust and Pavilion Children’s. Pavilion owner and publisher Polly Powell will keep two imprints, Batsford and Pitkin, and operate under the name BT Batsford. (That’s the previous name, under which Batsford operated until going into receivership […]
AI Comes to Audiobooks
publishersweekly.com – Saturday October 30, 2021
Could this be magic? Over the past decade, audiobook sales, driven by digital audio, have exploded. Sales in 2020 exceeded $1.3 billion, up 12% over 2019. The percentage of Americans 18 and older who have listened to an audiobook is now 46%, up from 44% in 2019. One thing hasn’t changed, however: the arduous production process for audiobooks.
But what if it could be done in a fraction of the time, weeks instead of months? And what if it could be done for a fraction of the cost, hundreds of dollars instead of thousands?
Introducing AI-enabled automated audiobook creation.
New Literary Agent Listing: Becca Langton
firstwriter.com – Friday October 29, 2021
Looking for new stories in all shapes and sizes, from middle grade and graphic novel to teen and YA fiction. Reads widely but loves books with compelling voices, twists and brave new ideas. In YA she would love to see some Queer fantasy, rom-coms with plenty of ‘com’ and contemporary stories told from a new perspective. For younger readers she love/hates the books that make her cry and is on the search for characters that stay with her long after the final page. High-stakes adventure stories are welcome as are graphic novels and books that make you want to read just one more chapter…
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