Publishers Going Rogue: Bonnier’s SelfPub Platform
goodereader.com – Friday March 17, 2017
Despite a rocky relationship with the digital publishing revolution as recently as five years ago, a number of traditional publishers have not only made room on the shelves for indie authors, they’re building their own self-publishing avenues. But whereas companies in the US like Random House and Macmillan have bought up existing small-time presses in order to capitalize off of anyone with a book dream, others companies are actively launching those platforms.
Now, Swedish publisher Bonnier is launching its own platform called Type & Tell, and on the surface it’s much of the same talk startups have been saying for years: total creative control, anyone can publish a book, all that stuff. Initially, it sounds like old news, except in Type & Tell’s case, there are some out of reach services in the works that authors typically can’t get all in one place, and certainly not in anything considered an affordable option.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday March 17, 2017
Publishes: Essays; Fiction; Nonfiction; Poetry; Reviews;
Areas include: Criticism; Literature; Short Stories;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Publishes short stories, poetry, essays, novel excerpts, literary criticism, book reviews, and interviews. Prose should be no longer than 8,000 words. No previously published submissions. See website for full guidelines.
London Book Fair 2017: For Publishers, Business Is Booming, but Brexit Means Uncertainty
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday March 15, 2017
The 2017 London Book Fair officially opened today, and at the fair’s opening press conference LBF director Jacks Thomas smiled as she raced through her slides. For the second year in a row, Thomas noted, publishers headed to London with fairly strong sales in the U.K. (and the U.S.), with literature in translation growing, children’s and digital audio surging, and print books—and bookshops—looking especially resurgent.
But following Thomas on stage at Olympia’s Grand Hall, a panel discussion broke down the potential effects of the looming Brexit on publishers, one day after British lawmakers cleared the way for the formal work of leaving the E.U. to begin.
London Book Fair 2017: More Evidence of a Print Renaissance in the U.K.
publishersweekly.com – Tuesday March 14, 2017
In his opening keynote at the London Book Fair’s pre-conference, Quantum, Steve Bohme, research director at Nielsen Book Research U.K. ran down Nielsen’s just-released 2016 book industry stats, which showed British print book purchases on the rise for the second year in a row.
“In 2016, consumers turned up their printed book purchases by around 4%,” Bohme told attendees. “And with higher prices boosting spending, we saw spending on printed books by U.K. consumers up by 7%."
The sums on creative writing degrees don't add up. So why do we do them?
theguardian.com – Monday March 13, 2017
When I tell people I’m doing a creative writing degree there are two questions that people usually ask: the first is “Why?’” and the second, “How?”
The “how” is an interesting place to start. With university course fees rising and incomes for writers falling, the financial outlook of a creative writing degree is at best optimistic, and at worst downright crazy.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Monday March 13, 2017
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction; Poetry; Scripts;
Areas include: Drama; Short Stories;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Annual literary magazine, publishing poetry, short stories, short plays, and creative nonfiction. Send 3-6 poems, up to 25 double-spaced pages of short fiction (or one or two short pieces of 1-3 double spaced pages), play scripts up to 10 minutes, or up to 25 double-spaced pages of nonfiction. Accepts work both by post and by email. See website for full details.
Writing Competition Seeks To Discover New Irish Talent
hotpress.com – Saturday March 11, 2017
An African-themed short-story and poetry competition aims to promote aspiring, emerging and established writers based in Ireland.
The competition marks Africa Day 2017 and this is the third year that the it will take place. Irish Aid has again teamed up with The Irish Times on an African-themed short story and poetry competition for writers of all ages.
DHH literary agency to hold writer pitch sessions
thebookseller.com – Saturday March 11, 2017
D H H Literary agency is to hold pitch sessions for unrepresented writers next month.
Five agents will be available for a 10-minute slot for an individual pitch session and each writer will receive "honest and valuable feedback". The agents are approaching this with a view to finding new clients. The pitch sessions will run from 4pm to 7pm on 12th April at Library Club on St Martin’s Lane.
Each writer will only be able to approach one agent on the team, with information on the event and each agent available on the DHH website. Writers will need to email their work in advance to apply for a place. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 5th April.
Don’t like the way you write? An artificial intelligence app promises to polish your prose
qz.com – Friday March 10, 2017
I am a professional writer, but I often hate my writing. I wish it was more concise and powerful. And it certainly doesn’t read as smoothly as the work of my literary heroes. Recently, I began to wonder: Could a software program make me better at my job?
The Hemingway App, an online writing editor created in 2013 by brothers Adam and Ben Long, promises to do just that. “Hemingway makes your writing bold and clear,” the site claims, so that “your reader will focus on your message, not your prose.” If you listen to the app’s advice, it will rid your writing of run-on sentences, needless adverbs, passive voice, and opaque words. There’s no guarantee you’ll crank out the next Farewell to Arms—but the goal is to get you closer to Ernest Hemingway’s clear, minimalist style.
From 'alibi' to 'mauve': what famous writers' most used words say about them
theguardian.com – Friday March 10, 2017
When Ray Bradbury was asked to contribute his favourite word for the 1995 book The Logophile’s Orgy, he chose cinnamon: “The word cinnamon derives, I suppose, from visiting my grandma’s pantry when I was a kid. I loved to read the labels on spice boxes; curries from far places in India and cinnamons from across the world.”
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