Bournemouth to host return of Romance Writing Festival
bournemouthecho.co.uk – Monday September 14, 2026
BOURNEMOUTH will become the heart of romance fiction this autumn as it hosts the return of the Romance Writing Festival.
Taking place at the Marsham Court Hotel on Saturday, October 3, the festival will bring together bestselling authors, literary agents, and publishing professionals for a day dedicated to romance storytelling.
Highlights of the 2026 programme include a live interview with Sunday Times bestselling author Katie Fforde, hosted by BBC South’s Edward Sault.
Internationally acclaimed author Sharon Kendrick, who has sold more than 30 million books worldwide, will lead a masterclass on story ideation, alongside bestselling novelist Sue Moorcroft.
Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship for Early-Career Fiction Writers
www2.fundsforngos.org – Saturday September 12, 2026
Deadline: 13-Oct-26
The Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship Program offers a year-long mentorship, classes, professional development opportunities, and a $2,000 stipend to an early-career fiction writer whose work explores experiences of embodied difference.
The fellowship supports writers who have not yet published a book and whose fiction examines the complexities of inhabiting bodies of difference. The programme is open to writers worldwide, regardless of nationality or country of residence.
About the Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship Program
The fellowship is designed to support an emerging fiction writer in developing their craft and advancing a story collection or novel in progress.
BBC Writers Open Call - An Important Update
bbc.co.uk – Friday September 11, 2026
At BBC Writers we're always thinking about how we can make our writer development opportunities more accessible and easier to navigate. As part of our ongoing commitment to discovering and developing new writing talent from across the UK and Republic of Ireland, we're making some changes to the way writers apply for our professional development opportunities in 2026/27.
A Single Point of Entry
The Open Call 26/27 will be a single application route for writers applying to three of our regular talent development programmes:
All applicants will automatically be considered for our Voices and Scripted opportunities as usual, but this year applicants who identify as deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent can also indicate if they would like to also be considered for the Writers’ Access Group.
This single point of entry is designed to make the process clearer and more accessible, while ensuring that we continue to identify and support a broad range of talented writers.
Publishing Industry Sales Up in First Half of 2026
publishersweekly.com – Thursday September 10, 2026
Helped by an especially strong June, in which total sales were up 11% over a year ago, revenue for the 1,416 publishers that report results to AAP’s StatShot program increased 3.9% for the first half of 2026.
Adult fiction sales were up 8.2% for the six-month period, driven by a 19.3% jump in June thanks in large part to strong sales of Theo of Golden, released in October 2025, which sold more than 55,000 copies, according to Circana BookScan. Children’s/YA fiction sales rose 1.7% in June and 2.6% for the first half of the year.
Adult nonfiction sales also rallied in June, up 7.1%, but sales were still down 3.5% for the year-to-date. The much smaller children’s/YA nonfiction category had a 38.3% increase in June sales, and a 24.3% gain for the first six months of the year.
Major UK and US Christian publishers unite in landmark deal
premierchristian.news – Thursday September 3, 2026
Two of the Christian publishing world’s most established names are joining forces after UK based SPCK Group acquired US publisher Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., creating what the companies describe as the world’s leading independent Christian publisher of theology, biblical studies and Christian trade books.
The deal, announced on 2 September, brings together organisations with more than 300 years of combined publishing history and a backlist of more than 5,000 titles.
Under the agreement, SPCK will provide sales, marketing and distribution for Eerdmans titles in the UK and other international markets, while Eerdmans will provide the same services for SPCK Group books in the United States and Canada.
The Ugly Review Opens Submissions for Issue II, Themed “Metamorphosis” | Submit by September 15, 2026
brittlepaper.com – Thursday August 27, 2026
The Ugly Collective has opened its call for submissions for the second issue of The Ugly Review, themed “Metamorphosis.” The editors are seeking fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and photography/art that explores transformation in all its diverse, weird, beautiful, violent, and quiet forms.
The theme spans four broad directions: physical transformation tied to the body, illness, migration, gender, or aging; inner transformation rooted in grief, love, faith, or unlearning; social and environmental transformation touching cities, ecosystems, technology, and revolution; and magical or speculative transformation drawing on myth, portals, and the uncanny. The editors are especially interested in voices from Africa and the diaspora, and work that engages language, culture, and spirituality in new ways.
HarperCollins Launches Manga Imprint
publishersweekly.com – Tuesday August 25, 2026
Amid a momentous week for American manga publishers, which included both the American Manga Awards and annual AnimeNYC convention, HarperCollins announced the launch of a new manga imprint, Kazé.
The publisher is rolling out the imprint in partnership with the existing Kazé publishers in France and Germany, which distribute manga for the European market and were acquired by HarperCollins last year. Kazé US will build on that brand for American readers of all ages.
In the announcement, HarperCollins called Kazé “a collaborative, creator-focused imprint dedicated to publishing the latest and most exciting manga, manhwa, and manhua for English-language readers,” meaning it will publish Korean and Chinese comics in addition to Japanese.
The imprint will officially launch in fall 2027 under the leadership of HarperAlley and Kazé publisher Andrew Arnold. HarperAlley launched in 2020 with a focus on graphic novels for children, before expanding into adult graphic novels, manga, and manhwa in 2024.
The Vanishing Male Novelist
mindingthecampus.org – Tuesday August 25, 2026
Here’s an interesting question: how many white American men born after 1984 have had a literary piece published in the New Yorker? The answer is zero. How did we get here, and who let this happen?
Every literary generation used to produce its Roth, Updike, Bellow, Wolfe, McCarthy, or Franzen. Today’s literary establishment shows no interest in producing young men of comparable prominence, especially if they’re straight and white. This is not a new or underdiagnosed problem; in fact, it appears to be a point of pride for the new generation of literary critics and publishers alike. Penguin Random House has no problem publishing its demographics yearly and celebrating the slow but consistent decline in white editorial staff.
Acclaimed novelist Joyce Carol Oates had no issue tweeting that “a friend who is a literary agent told me that he cannot even get editors to read first novels by young white male writers, no matter how good; they are just not interested.” And, without a hint of irony, followed up that statement with “this is heartbreaking for writers who may, in fact, be brilliant, & critical of their own ‘privilege.’” Although she is willing to recognize that young white men may be talented and barred from literary opportunities, she cannot help but equalize the statement with ludicrous notions of “privilege” where there is anything but.
Author invitation scams: How writers can spot fake offers
bitdefender.com – Tuesday August 25, 2026
Scammers are targeting authors with fake invitations to appear at well-known book festivals, conferences, podcasts and radio programs.
They impersonate real organizations and employees, praise the author’s work and, eventually, demand payment for an appearance, promotion or special placement.
Key takeaways
- Scammers are impersonating real book festivals, employees, interviewers and literary organizations
- The initial invitation may contain personalized praise gathered from online reviews, summaries and author websites
- The scams usually lead to a request for a fee for participation, promotion, placement, production or another supposed benefit
- Authors should verify invitations through the organization’s official website and contact details before responding, paying or sharing files
Real book festivals are being impersonated
Earlier this year, the Edinburgh International Book Festival has warned authors about fraudulent emails inviting them to its August festival.
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