How to write rollicking rhyming stories
theguardian.com – Friday July 1, 2016
On the day started I writing my first children’s book, Squishy McFluff: The Invisible Cat! I didn’t deliberately set out to write it in rhyme. It just happened.
The first line that popped out was: “As Ava played out in the garden one day, when the air was all foggy, the sky rather grey…” I realised straight away that if I split the sentence, I had a perfect rhyming couplet. That set the scene for the rest of the book, and now I’ve written six of them, each one up to 2,000 words, all written in rhyme.
'In stressed times, we can take comfort in wildlife': why nature-writing is 'exploding'
firstwriter.com – Thursday June 30, 2016
Now in its third year, the Wainwright nature-writing prize has announced its shortlist, spotlighting what one judge called an “exploding” field, as more and more writers and readers are turning to this genre as a balm for the woes of modern life.
Lionsgate UK, Idris Elba Launch Writing Competition; ‘King’s Speech’ Producer Boards Jamie Vardy Biopic – Global Briefs
deadline.com – Wednesday June 29, 2016
Lionsgate UK and Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures are partnering to launch the Write To Green Light competition, designed to discover new creative voices for television in the returnable drama space. Lionsgate’s Zygi Kamasa and Elba will judge the entries alongside a panel of industry experts.
Mybestseller Launches Reading and Writing Platform Sweek
digitalbookworld.com – Tuesday June 28, 2016
Mybestseller announced today the launch of Sweek, a new global and mobile platform that allows readers to read and write both online and off. Writers can post stories that are available instantly at no charge.
Sweek is currently available on Android and the web, and will be available on iOS in July, when it will contain more than 20,000 stories and books.
Publishers need to help foster a love of reading
thebookseller.com – Tuesday June 28, 2016
Publishers need to work harder at creating the need for books as a product, rather than focusing on their brands, delegates to The Bookseller’s Marketing and Publicity Conference have heard.
Speaking during a panel entitled ‘Is our business like show business?: What we should (and shouldn’t!) learn from other industries', Chris McCrudden (pictured), strategy director at Golin PR, said that publishers should “create the need for product before they create the need for brand”, adding that at the moment that there are “lots and lots and lots of little campaigns trying to get you to buy a particular book, but nothing trying to get consumers to buy books in general”.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Monday June 27, 2016
Publishes: Articles; Fiction; Interviews; Nonfiction; Poetry;
Areas include: How-to; Literature; Short Stories;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Online journal publishing fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, articles on the craft of writing (both practical and inspirational), interviews with established writers, literary agents, editors, etc. excerpts from traditionally published works, photography and artwork. Submit online via website.
Books are making a comeback as sales rise again
theaustralian.com.au – Sunday June 26, 2016
“A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.” Luckily for dreamers and writers such as British storyteller Neil Gaiman, responsible for that quote, the printed book lives on.
Just as Michael Bodey wrote last week of the rude good health of the radio industry, against all expectations, the traditional book is making a comeback. Last year, for the first time in nearly a decade, book sales rose in Australia — by 2.4 per cent to $979 million. Add $410m in education sales and leading Australian publishers are starting to see a way through the digital disruption of the past decade.
How to Start a Freelance Writing Career for $0
sitepoint.com – Saturday June 25, 2016
You’ve heard the old saying: “You have to spend money to make money.” That’s true in almost every field of work, whether you want to open a restaurant or start a blog. The problem? Some people with entrepreneurial spirits have just enough to get by and not a penny more. Not everyone has a good amount of dispensable income to spend to start a career.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday June 24, 2016
Publishes: Essays; Nonfiction; Poetry; Reviews
Markets: Adult
Preferred styles: Literary
Publishes poetry, essays / creative nonfiction, reviews, art and photography. Submit up to five poems per issue. See website for upcoming issues and submit appropriate work by email.
Writing the Other: intensely practical advice for representing other cultures in fiction
boingboing.net – Thursday June 23, 2016
For more than a decade, science fiction and fantasy writers have handed around Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward's Writing the Other, an intensely practical and thoughtful guide to inclusive, representative writing that includes people of genders, ethnicities, races, and orientations other than the writer's.
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