Julie McDonald commentary: Learn to write fiction and nonfiction at writers’ conference
chronline.com – Wednesday August 23, 2023
Do you want to write your memoirs? Are fictional characters running around in your head, begging for you to tell their story? Do you have a love story pining for release? Did you experience a chapter in life that would make a good piece for Chicken Soup for the Soul? Do you want to write for local publications?
Anyone interested in connecting with local writers and learning from published authors throughout the Pacific Northwest should consider registering for the all-volunteer-run Southwest Washington Writers Conference at Centralia College the weekend after Labor Day. All proceeds from the nonprofit conference benefit scholarships offered through the Centralia College Foundation. Each day, writers will receive a scrumptious lunch from Dawn’s Delectables.
Writers can select from among 24 workshops on Saturday, Sept. 9, and those who want more intensive training can register for the Friday master class on editing manuscripts and earning a paycheck writing for newspapers and magazines. To make that easier, we’ve invited two local editors, Eric Schwartz of The Chronicle and Krysta Carper of Lewis Talk and Thurston Talk, to meet with writers and discuss how freelancers can submit work for publication.
What are the manuscript submission details for Australian publishers?
artshub.com.au – Wednesday August 23, 2023
So you’ve written what you hope is a masterpiece, but what now? Navigating the Australian publishing scene can be tricky, as many organisations have specific dates and timelines in which they will accept your manuscript for perusal. Note, all publishing houses – from the small, independent ones to the large multinationals – are inundated with unsolicited material on a year-round basis, so it’s best to check with the individual companies their read times and designated opening dates for manuscript submissions.
Many can take from three to six months before your manuscript is considered and most, if not all, cannot provide editorial feedback if your work is declined. Before you submit, it’s also prudent and strategic to check the specific guidelines, including the word count, set out by each publishing house. (Some for instance, accept hard copies, while others prefer electronic attachments; some are also particular when it comes to the type and size of font used in your manuscript).
While the following list does not cover every publishing house in Australia, it includes some of the main players in the industry.
Where are today's modernists?
thebookseller.com – Wednesday August 23, 2023
A hundred years ago modernism was reinventing the rules of poetry with linguistic innovation and experimentation, pushing readers into a new relationship with the world via the word. Poets found fresh ways of expressing through style and form and publishers provided the engine room to connect their work with readers. So, what happened to this populism of the difficult? Today this tradition of experimentation has moved into underground channels where some of our most dynamic poets are creating incredible work, outside the earshot of major publishers.
Last year saw the centenary of The Waste Land. There were Eliot-themed events and even a festival called fragments, which took place across twenty-two City of London churches. The 1923 centenary should also be celebrated as a century ago this year was an incredible year for poetry. Wallace Stevens published Harmonium, his first collection of poetry completed at the age of 44. Stevens’ work brought a striking philosophical angle to modern poetry, demonstrating that everything that poetry could do existed in the imagination; not the world as it is, but as the mind – and language – perceives it.
Story Machine launches creative writing guides for writers ‘struggling to access opportunities’
thebookseller.com – Wednesday August 16, 2023
Story Machine has launched You Are a Writer, a series of creative writing guides written specifically with and for writers who struggle to access existing opportunities.
You Are a Writer, which comprises five guides to be published in 2024, aims to “champion everyday creativity and expand access to high-quality writing education”. Arts Council England has invested more than £40,000 from the National Lottery Project Grants to support the project, which was instigated by poet, performer and playwright James McDermott.
He said: “To train as a writer, I had to invest in studying for a BA, MA, and travel to and from London to train on various writing courses with high-profile companies.
New Literary Agent Listing: Molly O'Neill
firstwriter.com – Wednesday August 16, 2023
If I can visualize exactly how to form a web of connections around a book and its creator while I’m reading an early draft, then it’s a fantastic signal that I also know how to help that author or artist build their way into a meaningful, and potentially lucrative, career.
New Publisher Listing: Otago University Press
firstwriter.com – Tuesday August 15, 2023
Publishes books of scholarly and cultural significance that enrich society. Produces a range of non-fiction books on New Zealand and the Pacific, focusing on history, Māori/Pacific, natural history, contemporary issues, biography/memoir, essays and creative non-fiction, literature and the arts. Also publishes a small amount of poetry as well as New Zealand's longest-running and leading journal of new writing and art.
Publishing scammers are using AI to scale their grifts
vox.com – Sunday August 13, 2023
AI is, in theory, poised to disrupt work as we know it now. But it’s still facing the same problem every buzzy new tech product before it has faced: The VC funding is there, but the long-term business model is not, particularly for individuals. What do you do with a large language model AI at this stage, when all you know for sure is that it will produce text to order, in varying degrees of accuracy?
One fairly straightforward response is to try to sell that text. Preferably, you would want to sell it someplace where it doesn’t matter whether it’s accurate or not, or even where inaccuracy could become fiction and hence valuable: the book market. The book market is also, conveniently, the last textual medium where users are still in the habit of paying directly (even just a tiny bit). Publishing is currently the weak point that bad-faith AI users are trying to infiltrate.
Legally speaking, you can’t sell AI-generated text, because text generated by machines is not subject to copyright (with some exceptions). Nevertheless, the scammers and grifters who circulate along publishing’s underbelly are integrating AI into their existing scams and grifts. Publishers are reportedly investigating ways of using AI in discreet, closed-door meetings. And authors are on the alert for anything that looks like a smoking gun to take down what many of them believe to be an existential threat to their craft.
An author says AI is ‘writing’ unauthorized books being sold under her name on Amazon
edition.cnn.com – Thursday August 10, 2023
An author is raising alarms this week after she found new books being sold on Amazon under her name — only she didn’t write them; they appear to have been generated by artificial intelligence.
Jane Friedman, who has authored multiple books and consulted about working in the writing and publishing industry, told CNN that an eagle-eyed reader looking for more of her work bought one of the fake titles on Amazon. The books had titles similar to the subjects she typically writes about, but the text read as if someone had used a generative AI model to imitate her style.
“When I started looking at these books, looking at the opening pages, looking at the bio, it was just obvious to me that it had been mostly, if not entirely, AI-generated … I have so much content available online for free, because I’ve been blogging forever, so it wouldn’t be hard to get an AI to mimic me” Friedman said.
With AI tools like ChatGPT now able to rapidly and cheaply pump out huge volumes of convincing text, some writers and authors have raised alarms about losing work to the new technology. Others have said they don’t want their work being used to train AI models, which could then be used to imitate them.
Steed moves to Janklow & Nesbit
thebookseller.com – Thursday August 10, 2023
Hayley Steed is joining Janklow & Nesbit as a literary agent on 12th September, moving from Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency, where she has been since 2016.
Steed represents predominantly fiction writers, with clients including Clare Pooley, Alex Wilson, Leah Hazard, Heather Marshall and Yomi Adegoke. She was named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2019.
Steed said: “I’ve had such an incredible seven years at Madeleine Milburn. Being part of its growth from a team of four to the powerhouse it is now has been invaluable, as has working with Maddy herself. I’m going to miss the team there hugely, but am also excited for my next step at Janklow & Nesbit, where I know my authors will be welcomed and well supported. I can’t wait to find new talent. And to grow the commercial fiction list with my new colleagues.”
New Magazine Listing: ES Magazine
firstwriter.com – Wednesday August 9, 2023
Weekly lifestyle and culture magazine celebrating the thriving culture, art, fashion, beauty, food, film and theatre scenes in London.
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