New Literary Agent Listing: Logan Harper
firstwriter.com – Friday November 12, 2021
Seeking a variety of character-driven fiction and is particularly drawn to women’s fiction, book club fiction, psychological thrillers, domestic suspense, horror, mystery/crime, upmarket and literary fiction. She is always eager to read and champion underrepresented voices and perspectives.
Woke Twitter is ruining literature
spectatorworld.com – Thursday November 11, 2021
When Democratic strategists look back on how woke theology cost them key races in 2021 — never mind the coming flood of the midterms — they will discover the #MSWL. Hidden away on Twitter, it’s one of the actual headwaters of all things blindly woke, the way the mighty Mississippi begins as a shallow stream. It’s part of the reason we have drag queens reading to our kids in public libraries and Virginia doesn’t have Terry McAuliffe as governor.
#MSWL is a hashtag meaning “manuscript wish list.” For anyone interested in publishing fiction, the road to a book deal is complex. Publishers aren’t interested in reading manuscripts sent directly to them because most are truly horrible. They will only consider reading those submitted by literary agents on behalf of authors. These gatekeepers are forced to root through mountains of garbage to find something they can sell to a publisher and thus claim a commission. They are scavengers of a kind.
New Magazine Listing: Spelt Magazine
firstwriter.com – Thursday November 11, 2021
Publishes poetry and creative non-fiction that has something to say about the rural experience. Send up to six poems or up to two pieces of creative nonfiction (up to 1,500 words each) in the body of an email.
Follow the journey of the story with this short story writing workshop
ygknews.ca – Wednesday November 10, 2021
Who better to learn short story writing from than Patricia Robertson, former Kingston Frontenac Public Library Writer-in-Residence?
Robertson will lead Sentence by Sentence: the Journey of the Story on Tuesday, November 23 at 7 p.m. via Zoom.
If you have no writing experience or are worried that you don’t already have a detailed outline in mind before you begin writing, that’s not a problem. Learn how the very process of writing can help you discover what you want to write about.
“It’s a misnomer to describe writing as ‘discovering what you want to say.’ The fact is that you don’t know what you want to say in advance of the journey,” explains Robertson. “You’re taking a leap into the unknown. All you know is what to take with you — your laptop, a cup of coffee, and your imagina tion. Believe it or not, whole novels have been written using this method.
7 Habits That Will Boost Your Writing Productivity
makeuseof.com – Wednesday November 10, 2021
Maybe you're a freelance writer, spending your time writing how-to articles for online publications. Or, maybe you're a novelist, burning the midnight oil to create the next New York Times Bestseller.
No matter what type of writer you are, there's one struggle all writers have in common: staying productive. After all, writer's block, looming deadlines, and distractions can easily take your mind off the task at hand.
Luckily, there are plenty of steps you can take to improve your productivity right now. And who knows, they might just improve your writing too.
Varuna launches publisher and agent program
booksandpublishing.com.au – Tuesday November 9, 2021
Varuna, the National Writers’ House has launched a program to connect Australian writers with the publishing industry.
Pitch Me! provides the opportunity for writers ‘to cut through the complex business of literary representation and to have their work assessed by agents and publishers’.
‘Finding a way into the industry and creating those opportunities to have your work reviewed for publication can be hard, and an obstacle for many talented writers,’ said Varuna creative director Amy Sambrooke. ‘The intention of Pitch Me! is to create opportunities for writers who have already been selected for a highly competitive Varuna Fellowship, who have completed a draft manuscript, and who are now looking for editorial feedback and connections in the publishing industry.’
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.
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