Hardie Grant UK
firstwriter.com – Monday September 4, 2023
An independent publishing and media business working with authors and brands to create high-quality books, magazines, websites and content across platforms.
The Best Global Magazines for Growing Writers and Artists
theteenmagazine.com – Saturday September 2, 2023
Scrolling on Instagram for several hours at a time, to try and get your work recognized? I might have the perfect way for you to get your work recognized while saving your time, simultaneously! Often, the best way to get your creative work to as many people as possible is by submitting to growing magazines.
Yes, it may seem like doing so won't do much good to your work, but trust me, growing magazines are the ones that will eventually rise to the top. With eye-catching aesthetics and magnificent formatting, global magazines are the perfect opportunity for growing writers and artists to showcase their excellent work to the WORLD!
I have personally submitted to a few global magazines myself, such as the Curio Cabinet Magazine and the Poetic Reveries. There is nothing that can match the happiness a writer gets when they see their name in a published magazine with several other talented writers.
Not only is it a great feeling, but it allows you to feel so much better about your skill and, if anything, rejections only strengthen your perspective! At least that is what my major takeaway from reaching out to these thriving magazines was and I hope you, too, step outside of your comfort zone and try these growing, youth-led poetry and art magazines out!
So, here they are, the top five thriving global magazines from the ever-trending platform for skilful, creative and outstanding writers and artists, Instagram.
DHH Literary Agency unveils new logo and 'extensive' website overhaul
thebookseller.com – Saturday September 2, 2023
The DHH Literary Agency has rebranded its logo for the first time since the company’s inception in 2008, and unveiled plans for an "extensive" website overhaul.
Managing director David H Headley employed the services of Leeds-based digital agency Ascensor to help with the rebrand. The company’s David Eggington also created the logo for Headley’s Goldsboro Books.
While the new logo is now up and running as part of the agency, the website overhaul will be an “extensive” project, the agency says, scheduled to take place over the autumn and winter months later this year.
New Literary Agent Listing: Arthur Barnard
firstwriter.com – Thursday August 31, 2023
Started working at the agency in 2019, after graduating with a degree in English from The University of Cambridge. In 2020 he began work as an assistant, expanding his knowledge across television, film and theatre. He currently holds the position of associate agent and is starting to build his own list of clients.
New Publisher Listing: Phoenix Moirai
firstwriter.com – Wednesday August 30, 2023
Started in 2014 as a graphic design, writing, and video production company, with a goal of growing into a full publisher. They have reached that goal and are currently accepting manuscripts from all writers, including unagented and first-time authors. They also created a forum for writers and readers to come together to be and find beta readers for their works in progress. This is also the platform in which writers submit their manuscripts for publication. No membership to the site is needed or requested to submit. Submissions are open to all genre writers, regardless of social media following or manuscript length. Simply wants to read and publish fresh new voices who may not fit in a simple genre bubble, and writers struggling to find a way to have their voices heard.
New Publishing Imprint Listing: Torva
firstwriter.com – Monday August 28, 2023
Imprint for bold ideas that ignite debate. Publishes expert voices who challenge how we live and work, and books that tackle some of the biggest questions about our world, from the birth of the universe to how we have a good life.
Testing Google’s Newest AI Writing Tool: Text FX
medium.com – Sunday August 27, 2023
When Google Bard was released, I compared it side-by-side with ChatGPT, and Bard was the clear loser.
Google quietly released a new AI-powered writer named The Text FX Project. My first impression is that this one is way cooler than Bard. But, I know the slick branding doesn’t matter much. What matters is how it performs.
I’m testing Text FX as I’m writing this article. I saw one person mention the new tool was launched on LinkedIn, but haven’t seen any positive or negative reviews about it yet.
Here’s what the homepage says about the project:
TextFX is an AI experiment that uses Google’s PaLM 2 large language model. These 10 tools are designed to expand the writing process by generating creative possibilities with text and language.
Text FX was created in collaboration with Lupe Fiasco, a rapper who also teaches a class on rap theory and practice.
The 10 different Text FX tools are: Simile, Explode, Unexpect, Chain, POV, Alliteration, Acronym, Fuse, Scene, and Unfold.
Let’s test it out each of them and see what they can do!
My children’s book about India was rejected because I’m white
whyevolutionistrue.com – Saturday August 26, 2023
As you may recall, several years ago I wrote a children’s book called Mr. Das and his Fifty Cats. In 2022, I mentioned it (and my travails finding a home for it) here, where I gave a brief description:
“Mr. Das and his 50 cats” [is] a fictional work that is actually based heavily on a real person: Birendra Das, one of India’s most famous sweetmakers (his business, K. C. Das and company, is famous in Kolkata). I stayed with Mr. Das in Bangalore (now called “Bengaluru”) to do “field work” observing his life and his cats, and found that he indeed had around fifty cats, whose names I learned. Around these facts—and the knowlege that Mr. Das took all of those cats in as strays—I wove a fictional tale about the cats invading the factory in times of famine and eating all the milk, cream, and yogurt. (Indian sweets are heavily laden with sugar and dairy products.) The story of how that led to the closure of Mr. Das’s sweet business, and then how the cats fixed the situation in the end, is the subject of my book.
I quite liked the story, as did others, including parents of small children and school teachers to whom I vetted the book (the story is meant for kids from about first to fourth grades). I got a lot of good suggestions before it arrived at its final incarnation.
Eventually, on the advice of my agent (who doesn’t handle non-science books), I sent the manuscript to a well known agent in England, who worked with a very famous illustrator. They both liked the book a lot and agreed to provide illustrations, which, given the fame of the illustrator, would almost guarantee publication.
I got a few illustrations, but then: radio silence. This lasted for months, and every six months I’d email to ask what was going on. I’d get some reply that finding a publisher was still in the works. Then, more radio silence. This went on for several years, and I grew increasingly depressed.
Literary Agents - Unfit For Purpose?
dailykos.com – Saturday August 26, 2023
Like many authors, I’ve long wondered what added value agents add to the publishing industry. Disclaimer: I have never had an agent, and I value Independent Publishers.
I shall not mention this agent’s name and I will paraphrase what she wrote to the Twitter (X) Writing Community. So it wasn’t a personal reply, this counts as an announcement.
She said that when a writer is passed over by an agent, the writer shouldn’t assume it was a quality of prose issue. And that she just passed on a “most delightful, well-written manuscript”. One that she felt sure was going to sell.
An agent’s job is to sell books to publishers. Some also edit. Let’s think for a moment about the art of selling. (Disclaimer: ex sales manager.) If I am trying to sell a product, I don’t give a damn whether or not the salesperson “falls in love with” or “has a special spark” about it. No, I want him to make his quota, preferably more.
Lex raises $2.75M for its AI writing tool that helps writers get past blocks
techcrunch.com – Thursday August 24, 2023
Lex, an AI-powered writing tool, today said it has raised a $2.75 million seed round led by True Ventures. The company has been spun out of Every, which Lex’s CEO Nathan Baschez helped start.
Baschez described Lex as a “modern writing platform,” emphasizing that ‘modern’ in this case means inclusive of AI. In the CEO’s eyes, the use of AI in writing tools is the continuation of the centuries-long arc of improvements to the practice of writing.
According to Baschez, most writers today do not use AI in their workflow. That claim tracks with what I have heard from my friends in the larger writing community. Lex, then, has to not only build a solid writing service in a market that has a number of incumbent and low-cost tools, but also get writers interested in using technology that some folks expect to take away their jobs.
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