New Publishing Imprint Listing: CF4K
firstwriter.com – Friday May 21, 2021
Books for children, including Sunday school and Home school titles.

New Literary Agent Listing: T.S. Ferguson
firstwriter.com – Friday May 21, 2021

Looking for young adult and middle grade fiction across all genres that combines high-concept, hooky stories with writing and voice that feel standout. An addicting, page-turning quality is always a plus! He has a special place in his heart for dark and edgy stories (including but not limited to horror), fairy tales, mythology, action-adventure, LGBTQ stories, graphic novels, and stories by and about under-represented voices. He is not the best fit for sports-centric stories, high sci-fi, or non-fiction.

New Book Publisher Listing: Partisan Press
firstwriter.com – Thursday May 20, 2021

Not for profit publisher of working class poetry. Aims to create an awareness of and involvement in working class culture as well as to promote a progressive vision that will move our class and our society forward toward a more just and peaceful future.

A New Force in Fiction: The Novelry.
digitaljournal.com – Tuesday May 18, 2021

Last year, there was a boom in books with sales up by 8.2% in the USA, propelling the publishing industry to $25 bn. Sales of fiction in the UK were up a whopping 25% last year, defying predictions. While J.K. Rowling remains the top-earning author worldwide, there’s room for more at the table in the bookshop!
Home alone, many aspiring authors have been tucking into online creative writing courses, and novelists have found a home at the worldwide writing school The Novelry. Founded by Booker-listed author Louise Dean, the school takes a radically different approach to teaching fiction writing. It all starts with story. According to The Novelry, page-turners don’t happen by accident; they’re constructed. So a writer’s year at The Novelry begins with pairing the author’s desires, interests and experiences to the all-time bestselling books. Borrowing a phrase from T.S. Eliot, if you start with a bang, you won’t end with a whimper. Every writer gets a co-pilot with a bestselling author at their side for the big write, and recent guest tutors have included Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train) and David Nicholls (One Day.)

Don’t Self-Publish A Book Before Answering These Crucial Questions
forbes.com – Monday May 17, 2021

While it might be true that self-publishing a book is now easier than ever, it could also be said that self-publishing a successful book might be more difficult than ever.
In 2018 alone, more than 1.67 million books were self-published, so the competition is fierce. It’s not enough to self-publish your book on Amazon and expect readers to find it among millions of other books. As a best-selling author myself, I believe there are many questions you should ask yourself before self-publishing a book, but here are the most crucial questions:

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.
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