Northern Writers' Awards 2017 open for entries with £40,000 to reward promising work
chroniclelive.co.uk – Tuesday December 6, 2016
Need a bit of financial support as you work on a novel or a poetry or short story collection? The £40,000 Northern Writers’ Awards could be just the job.
Writers from across the north of England are invited to submit their work in progress to organisers New Writing North.
Is making a living just from writing books a literary fiction?
irishtimes.com – Monday December 5, 2016
Rumour has it that there are only 12 writers in Ireland who can make a living from their books alone.
Of course, the figure changes with on the telling – dropping to seven, or rising to 20, perhaps even 30 – and while trying to guess the names of those on this privileged list makes for a good game, I’ve yet to uncover the research on which this supposed statistic is based.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Monday December 5, 2016
Publishes: Poetry;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Poetry magazine with a voice of "illumination, compassion, humanity, and reason", publishing continually online and sporadically in print when a volume is full. Send submissions by post with SASE or by email (preferably pasted into the body of the email). See website for full guidelines.
Andrew Wylie Makes First Appearance at Guadalajara
publishersweekly.com – Saturday December 3, 2016
The professional program at FIL opened with a keynote address from Andrew Wylie, one of the world’s most renowned literary agents. Wylie spoke about the role literary agents play today, especially as regards international markets. He observed, “The trouble with most literary agencies is that they are local and not global.”
E-books can be sold with reduced VAT, says EC
thebookseller.com – Friday December 2, 2016
European publishers and booksellers have welcomed the decision of the European Commission (EC) to allow VAT to be reduced on e-books, with sales now bound to go up, according to booksellers.
Brussels yesterday (1st December) released proposals for new tax rules, including delivering on its pledge "to enable Member States to apply the same VAT rate to e-publications such as e-books and online newspapers as for their printed equivalents, removing provisions that excluded e-publications from the favourable tax treatment allowed for traditional printed publications".
‘Writing a good sex scene is a skill you hone over and over again’
independent.ie – Thursday December 1, 2016
Is there anything worse than a bad sex scene in a book? (Apart, maybe, from a bad sex scene in real life.) There you are, mentally immersed in this fictional universe, lost in an invented world, and suddenly… a clumsy, clunky, cringy sex scene blunders into view, waving its unmentionables about, and breaks the magic.
Badly written sex scenes are jarring. They’re jolting. They just feel wrong, even more so if the book you’re reading is otherwise well-crafted.
How Reality TV Inspires My Writing
huffingtonpost.com – Wednesday November 30, 2016
Last year, I officially became a cord cutter and canceled my cable subscription. I had enough of spending $100/month wasting time watching mindless television. At first, it was great. I started reading more, going out more and finding new hobbies, but soon enough, I was craving the entertainment of television again.
When I went home to visit my parents, I gorged on Bravo and E! reality TV shows. I could watch an entire season of ‘Real Housewives’ without getting bored for a second; at the end, I actually felt let down that I had to wait months for the next season to come out. And then, I felt guilty for loving this ‘trashy television’ that most of my friends and family - and most of society - considers ‘garbage.’ I realized, though, that it doesn’t only provide entertainment; it also teaches me aspects of storytelling that I try to incorporate into my own writing.
Spread the Word launches new Life Writing Prize
thebookseller.com – Tuesday November 29, 2016
Writer development organisation Spread the Word is launching a new nationwide Life Writing Prize, thanks to a donation from writer Joanna Munro and partnership support from Goldsmiths Writers’ Centre, the Royal Society of Literature and Arvon.
The year 2017 will mark the first of this five-year scheme designed to boost opportunities for life writers within the literary prize circuit. The prize is worth £1,500 to the winner, who will also receive a week’s Arvon residential retreat, two-years’ membership to the Royal Society of Literature and a meeting with an agent or editor (as appropriate). Two highly commended writers will receive £500 and a session with a mentor.
Agent Jonathan Clowes dies
thebookseller.com – Tuesday November 29, 2016
Doris Lessing’s literary agent Jonathan Clowes has died aged 86.
He died at his home in France this morning (Friday 18th November).
His agency, Jonathan Clowes Limited, issued a statement saying: “It's with great sadness that we announce the death of Jonathan Clowes. Jonathan was a unique man who led a varied life - first as conscientious objector, then active communist and thereafter as a trailblazing and extraordinarily successful agent to writers such as Len Deighton and Doris Lessing. We will continue to embrace his renegade, and quietly commanding, spirit in all we do.”
He leaves a widow Ann Evans, director of the agency, who he had been married to since 1981.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Tuesday November 29, 2016
Publishes: Fiction;
Areas include: Crime; Erotic; Fantasy; Horror; Humour; Mystery; Romance; Sci-Fi; Suspense; Thrillers; Women's Interests;
Markets: Adult; Youth;
Preferred styles: Commercial; Literary
Send query by email with author bio and three sample chapters. No children's picture books, graphic novels, short stories, stand-alone novellas, or religious-based titles.
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