New Literary Agent Listing: Alexandra Weiss
firstwriter.com – Monday May 17, 2021
Represents fiction and nonfiction picture books, middle grade, young adult, graphic novels, and select adult nonfiction.
How women conquered the world of fiction
theguardian.com – Sunday May 16, 2021
From Sally Rooney to Raven Leilani, female novelists have captured the literary zeitgeist, with more buzz, prizes and bestsellers than men. But is this cultural shift something to celebrate or rectify?
In March, Vintage, one of the UK’s largest literary fiction divisions, announced the five debut novelists it would be championing this year: Megan Nolan, Pip Williams, Ailsa McFarlane, Jo Hamya and Vera Kurian.
All five of them are women. But you could be forgiven for not noticing it, so commonplace are female-dominated lists in 2021. Over the past 12 months, almost all of the buzz in fiction has been around young women: Patricia Lockwood, Yaa Gyasi, Raven Leilani, Avni Doshi, Lauren Oyler. Ask a novelist of any gender who they are reading and they will almost certainly mention one of Rachel Cusk, Ottessa Moshfegh, Rachel Kushner, Gwendoline Riley, Monique Roffey or Maria Stepanova. Or they will be finding new resonances in Anita Brookner, Zora Neale Hurston, Natalia Ginzburg, Octavia Butler, Ivy Compton-Burnett. The energy, as anyone in the publishing world will tell you, is with women.
New Magazine Listing: Booklaunch
firstwriter.com – Friday May 14, 2021
Carries extracts from new and newish books. Its editorial balance is largely towards non-fiction but also accepts novels and poetry. (See past issues on website.) Tabloid format with space for approx 1,600 words per page. Does not run extracts at less than a page. Charges for inclusion. Has the largest print run of any books magazine in the UK. Page rate a fifth of that of rival publications. Uploads and archives every print edition. Helps its authors to record audio tracks to its YouTube channel. Contact by email for ratecard.
10 tips on how to get your first book published
harpersbazaar.com – Thursday May 13, 2021
Speaking at our inaugural literary salon, Ali Smith said, "A really good book, like a buoy in the ocean, will surface no matter how stormy the weather." Yet, for debut authors, it can seem like an impossible task to get your manuscript in front of the right person’s eyes. This is why we asked three publishing experts – Alexandra Pringle, group editor-in-chief of Bloomsbury whose portfolio of authors includes William Boyd, Esther Freud and Patti Smith; Karolina Sutton, literary agent at Curtis Brown who represents Margaret Atwood and Malala Yousafzai; and Bazaar’s former editor-in-chief, Justine Picardie – to share their wisdom on how to seal the deal and ensure your work rises above the competition.
New Literary Agent Listing: Sulamita Garbuz
firstwriter.com – Thursday May 13, 2021
Gravitates primarily towards nonfiction, with an emphasis on books with a social justice bent. Her areas of specialty include narrative nonfiction, memoir, psychology, science, and journalism. She is also looking for character driven literary fiction, and is especially excited by novels that use speculative or dreamlike elements to explore current social dynamics, stories of obsession and women misbehaving, and narratives about immigration and the 2nd generation experience.
How I write: For crime writer Kathy Reichs there are three phases to her routine
stuff.co.nz – Wednesday May 12, 2021
Forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has brought her own dramatic work experience to her thrillers. She continues the journey of Temperance Brennan in her latest novel, The Bone Code. Here she shares with The Dominion Post readers some of her thoughts on writing.
What's your writing routine?
My writing process unfolds in three phases. First comes the phase when my mind collects and stashes tidbits. Then I move to the paper phase, making lists, drawing charts, scribbling outlines. I ask myself, what if this, what if that. I consider plot twists, various endings. When all the imagining and weaving and juxtaposing are done, it’s on to the computer phase. Bum to the chair, eyes to the screen, fingers to the keyboard. I like to begin early in the morning, wrap up by mid-afternoon. Then I read or do more research.
HarperCollins Completes Purchase of HMH Trade
publishersweekly.com – Tuesday May 11, 2021
HarperCollins, the second largest trade publisher in the U.S., has completed its acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media. HC, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, agreed to buy the HMH trade division in March for $349 million.
In a letter to employees, HC CEO Brian Murray acknowledged that "many" decisions need to be made over the coming months surrounding the acquisition. Still, he noted that he has outlined an initial, temporary organizational plan that will be kept in place until a new, permanent structure has been conceived.
Town & Country UK magazine to close as publisher Hearst slashes jobs
cityam.com – Tuesday May 11, 2021
Town & Country UK magazine is set to fold as part of cost-cutting operation at publisher Hearst that will see up to a fifth of UK staff made redundant.
The luxury title, the British version of which was first published in 2014, is set to be scrapped as the company adapts to a decline in print media consumption.
The proposed move will also mean up to one in five UK staff face redundancy or will have their roles pooled. It is understood employees will be offered enhanced redundancy packages.
Hearst, whose UK titles include Cosmopolitan, Elle, Men’s Health and Good Housekeeping, has so far weathered the pandemic without making job cuts or using the furlough scheme.
Douglas Murray criticises transphobia letter, slamming 'left-wing bubble' of publishing
thebookseller.com – Monday May 10, 2021
Author Douglas Murray has criticised an open letter published in The Bookseller, which claimed UK book publishing is transphobic.
In the article for Unherd, a digital magazine which aims “to push back against the herd mentality with new and bold thinking”, Murray generally lamented the left-wing presence in UK publishing as well as criticising the letter urging acceptance of transgender rights published on 3rd May.
Murray's article, entitled "Publishing is now a Left-wing bubble", cited a US study comparing professions with voting preferences which showed 100% of those in publishing were left-wing. Murray, author of The Madness of Crowds (Bloomsbury) and associate editor of the Spectator, wrote: “To those with friends in publishing, despairing at the regular struggle session-style get-together they are now subjected to in which every conceivable centre-left political orthodoxy is celebrated, this is not a revelation. Although the survey in question is from the US, it is certain that a similar pattern can be found over here, too.”
GoodNovel hosts series of writing contests to strengthen author's creative welfare
prnewswire.com – Saturday May 8, 2021
GoodNovel, an international platform focusing on the creation of original online novels, has launched two writing contests – The Blessed Wolf and The CEO and Me – to celebrate its first anniversary. The two contests run till August and September, 2021 respectively and reach over 5 million readerships on the platform prospectively, with total prizes add up to over 40,000 dollars.
GoodNovel attracts readers from over 100 countries and authors from more than 50 countries. They are producing and consuming online stories in languages including English, French, Indonesian, Filipino, and Russian. Officially launched in April 2020, GoodNovel is featured as one of the Top3 reading Apps on Appstore and Google Play store ranked by grossing.
In the past year, GoodNovel has successfully held several writing contests on diversified topics, receiving thousands of works from online writing talents around the world, among which winning works received customized promotion and extra exposure. Correspondingly, winning stories gained great reputation for their edge over other novels and the authors also benefited greatly from their works.
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