There Is No Such Thing as 'Too Similar' When Publishers All Want the Same Book
jezebel.com – Wednesday October 9, 2019
A few years ago, when I was shopping my now-shelved first novel, an industry insider told me to put the word “girls” in the title. “Girl” novels were big at the moment: Gone Girl, Girl on the Train, The Girls. But a few months later, I was told I had to change the title. There were too many novels about girls.
That is pretty much the way the publishing industry works. Once a title becomes wildly popular, rival imprints rush to get their hands on books that are slight variants on the same conceit until they have too many books on the same topic—say, a woman with a substance abuse problem who witnesses a crime—and once that topic is oversaturated, they move on to something else. In a recent Buzzfeed article, historical fiction novelist Kim Michele Richardson said that details in bestselling author of MeBeforeYou Jojo Moyes’s new novel are too close for comfort to those included in her own work. However, in an industry that frequently gets stuck on the same idea, the similarities in their work look more like byproducts of how well both women know which details are required of their genre, and the fact that many books are becoming difficult to distinguish from one another.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday October 9, 2019
Publishes: Fiction;
Markets: Children's
Always on the lookout for authors and artists with creative ideas to enhance and broaden their list of children's books. See website for submission guidelines.
New Agent Listings: Amy Fitzgerald; Josephine Hayes; and Rory Scarfe
firstwriter.com – Wednesday October 9, 2019
Amy Fitzgerald, Josephine Hayes, and Rory Scarfe are agents at the Blair Partnership, handling between them fiction and nonfiction for adults, children, and young adults, and screenwriters. Submit to them by email.
New Agent Listing: Chelsea Eberly
firstwriter.com – Tuesday October 8, 2019
Chelsea Eberly is a new agent at the Greenhouse Literary Agency. She handles fiction and nonfiction for adults, children, and young adults, and is open to material that has the potential to stand out in the US marketplace.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Monday October 7, 2019
Publishes: Poetry; Reviews;
Areas include: Literature;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Publishes poems and reviews of recent poetry collections. Submit via online submission system.
New Literary Agency Listing: Rachel Mills Literary
firstwriter.com – Monday October 7, 2019
Handles nonfiction in the following areas: Biography; Current Affairs; Food; Health; Memoirs; Narrative Nonfiction; Nature; Popular Science; Psychology; Sustainable Living; Upmarket; Wellbeing
Send submissions by email.
What Is A Book Coach? A Guide To Seeking And Becoming One
bookriot.com – Friday October 4, 2019
Are you still scratching your head trying to work out just what exactly a book coach is?
Here’s the scenario:
You’ve got a great idea for a book, you read copiously, and you’re a pretty talented writer (if you say so yourself). You’ve read On Writing by Stephen King and The Writing Life by Annie Dillard and you’re acquainted with copious theories on plot and pacing and characterisation, but you just can’t seem to get that New York Times bestselling book from your head to paper.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday October 4, 2019
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction; Poetry; Scripts;
Areas include: Short Stories;
Markets: Adult; Children's; Youth
Publishes work by young writers aged 13-22, including novels, memoirs, graphic novels, poetry collections, short stories, and one-act plays. See website for full guidelines.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday October 4, 2019
Publishes: Essays; Nonfiction; Poetry; Reviews;
Areas include: Literature;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Magazine dedicated to publishing long poems and sequences. Publishes unpublished poems of at least 75 lines (but no book length poems). Also publishes essays on aspects of the long poem and reviews of books featuring long poems or sequences. Send submissions by email as Word file attachments. Does not accept poems submitted in the body of emails. See website for full guidelines and submission months. Poems submitted outside submission months will be discarded.
New Literary Agent Listing: Jan Baumer
firstwriter.com – Friday October 4, 2019
Fiction > Novels
Allegory; Literary
Nonfiction > Books
Business; Health; Memoirs; Parenting; Religion; Self Help; Spirituality; Wellbeing
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