Twitter Events Connect Agents and Writers
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday December 20, 2017
It’s a 21st-century twist on the traditional over-the-transom manuscripts: Twitter pitch events. While authors have been making initial connections online with agents for several years, since author Brenda Drake launched the Pitch Wars contest in 2012, Twitter events have exploded in popularity in the last year or two. Besides #PitMad, the Twitter offshoot of Pitch Wars, these days authors and agents can establish a connection via #DVPit (for diverse books), #PitDark (horror/mysteries), #PBPitch (picture books), #KidPit (children’s literature, from board books to YA), #SFFPit (Science Fiction and Fantasy), and other hashtags.
Literary fiction under threat, ACE report concludes
thebookseller.com – Sunday December 17, 2017
Arts Council England has pledged to engage with more bookshops, fund more writers and lobby the government to provide tax relief to independent publishers following a report finding that “the general trend for literary fiction is a negative one”.
Literary fiction writers can no longer live off their books as sales slump
inews.co.uk – Friday December 15, 2017
The idea of the penniless artist shivering and starving in gloomy cellar for years as they pen another great tome has become a reality for the writers of literary fiction, according to research by Arts Council England. The average author now earns less than minimum wage with an annual salary of just £11,000.
Writers Institute gives aspiring authors a Pathway to Publication
military-technologies.net – Friday December 8, 2017
Technological changes have rocked publishing over the last few years, creating new opportunities for authors. While some pursue the traditional path of placing a book with a publisher, others are distributing and promoting books themselves with a wide range of services. At the 2018 Writers’ Institute, the University of Wisconsin–Madison will help writers make sense of today’s confusing publishing landscape and find their own route to success.
Reese Witherspoon, David Fincher Slapped with Multi-Million Dollar Suit for "Copying" Gone Girl
thefashionlaw.com – Friday December 8, 2017
Reese Witherspoon made headlines in 2012 for being one of the leading forces behind the making of the $370 million-grossing film “Gone Girl.” Now the actress/producer is among a group being sued by a writer who claims the "Gone Girl" novel and screenplay is a blatant rip-off that consists of "striking and substantial similarities" to a copyright-protected screenplay she wrote 7 years earlier and shopped around to literary agents for publication.
Easy listening
thebookseller.com – Friday December 8, 2017
Agents are on my mind. At last week’s AudioBook Revolution conference, a number of agents raised concerns about how publishers are demanding audio rights when they also buy print. The charge was led from the podium by Curtis Brown agent Alice Lutyens, backed from the floor by her colleague Cathryn Summerhayes, and informed by agent Ivan Mulcahy. It was a debate I had been told no-one wanted to have. Now it feels urgent.
Hachette UK buys Jessica Kingsley Publishers
thebookseller.com – Friday December 1, 2017
Thirty years after it was founded, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP) has been bought by Hachette UK for an undisclosed sum.
The indie publisher specialising in social and mental health sciences is set to become an imprint of John Murray Press under Nick Davies. Its founder Jessica Kingsley will work with the company on a consultancy basis until mid-2018 when she will retire.
Get the free newsletter | Submit a news item or article | Get Writers' News for your website
