Novelist Keshava Guha to become Aevitas UK's first literary agent in India
thebookseller.com – Friday April 25, 2025
Novelist, journalist and publisher Keshava Guha is joining Aevitas Creative Management UK (ACM UK) as a literary agent, effective immediately. Guha will be based in India, where he will build an international list of clients, primarily in non-fiction – across history, biography, social science, psychology, music and sport – but with select fiction projects.
He was previously a senior editor at Juggernaut Books and is the author of Accidental Magic (HarperCollins Publishers India) and The Tiger’s Share (John Murray). As a journalist and essayist, he writes about politics, culture and sport.
5 Writing Tips from C.S. Lewis
nofilmschool.com – Wednesday April 23, 2025
Learn how to world build from the guy behind Narnia.
When I was a kid, I devoured every fantasy novel I could get my hands on, and that includes the Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. I found the books to be incredibly accessible and to hold up as an adult.
Of course, Lewis wrote many more stories that have become part of our cultural lexicon, from The Screwtape Letters to the Space Trilogy and many more.
Today, I wanted to dissect some writing tips from the prolific author.
C.S. Lewis has an uncanny ability to connect with people of all walks of life through his direct writing that had some noisy hooks.
There are five lessons I think writers of any persuasion would benefit to learn from him.
Get ready to write your book: 5 tips on becoming an author
poynter.org – Wednesday April 23, 2025
My new book arrived on my doorstep today: “Writing Tools for the College Admissions Essay.”
If you are counting, that makes 21 books with my name on the cover as editor or author. But it is only with the last eight, published by Little, Brown, that I have identified myself as an author. Since 2006, more than a half million of my books have found their way into print. This includes digital books, audiobooks and translations into eight languages.
I am not as productive as Stephen King, who has written a good book on writing, but eight books in fewer than 20 years seems like a good run.
What is the secret of productivity? (I am thinking more and more about that question as I get ready to teach in a new Poynter program this June on supporting the work of aspiring book authors.)
I don’t want to leave you in suspense. So here are a few ideas to launch your new writing career.
The Power Of BookTok: Why TikTok’s Book Community Is Driving A New Era In Publishing
forbes.com – Monday April 21, 2025
What began as a cozy nook on the corner of the internet, has quickly transformed into a global phenomenon. As of 2025, #BookTok has accumulated 370 billion views, with over 52 million creations jumping on board–skyrocketing bestsellers, reviving backlist titles and informing reading habits worldwide1.
At its core, BookTok thrives on community-driven content: emotional reviews, hot takes, character impersonations and viral recommendations land these reads on the feeds of not just the literary set, but diverse audiences around the world.
To help publishers tap into this momentum, we’ve compiled strategies, insights, and case studies on the Publisher Insights Hub to make the most of the BookTok boom.
‘Balancing Output with Input’: Margaret Rogerson on Writing Fantasy, Taking Breaks, and Balancing Inspiration and Hard Work
thecrimson.com – Tuesday April 15, 2025
When a reader opens the pages of a fantasy novel, they might relish in anticipation of entering a new, imaginative world and a thrilling and delightful reading experience. But, what does writing fantasy novels look like? What is the journey and the daily routine of an author who creates these fantastical universes, traveling between foreign places from one novel to another?
While such questions might seem abstract and difficult to answer, sitting down and talking to the authors who have experienced them offers exciting insights. This column, “The Daily Desk,” strives to answer these questions: What is an author’s daily routine, and what can we learn from their writing experiences?
“A hug in book form”
A New York Times and internationally bestselling author, Margaret Rogerson began her career with the young adult fantasy standalone “An Enchantment of Ravens” in 2017, continuing with “Sorcery of Thorns” in 2019 and “Vespertine” in 2021.
Taking Humor Writing Seriously
sfwa.org – Tuesday April 15, 2025
A few years ago, I was on a panel on Humorous SF at a convention (an occupational hazard, given what I write). I opened with well-rehearsed remarks about how there seemed to be a resistance to my beloved subgenre among major publishers. Before I could get very far, a person in the audience stood up and said, “Isn’t it true that there aren’t a lot of humorous sci-fi stories because they’re hard to write?”
Hmm…
I can’t argue with that. I view writing humor as drama+: A comic story must do everything a dramatic story does (it has to have characters the reader cares about and an engaging story), plus it has to make the reader laugh. Humorous genre writing can be considered drama++: It has to do everything a dramatic story does, plus make the reader laugh, plus contain genre tropes (aliens or robots for science fiction, magic systems for fantasy, dread for horror, and so on). I write satire, which adds another layer onto this formula—by now, I’m sure you can do the creative math.
New Literary Agent Listing: Lily Dolin
firstwriter.com – Tuesday April 15, 2025
She represents authors in both fiction and nonfiction, including YA, with books ranging from commercial to literary and everything in between. She is actively looking for novels with strong hooks, propulsive plots, dark and offbeat humor, and nuanced female perspectives. She especially loves sweeping family dramas, strange and unusual women in strange and unusual circumstances, and smart speculative bents. In nonfiction, she is looking for narrative nonfiction, memoirs, or essay collections that are funny, outrageous, shocking, emotional, or all of the above. She particularly loves food stories, true crime, pop culture, and untold history with a feminist angle.
Top literary agent and businessman Esmond Harmsworth dies at 57
dailymail.co.uk – Tuesday April 15, 2025
Esmond Harmsworth, one of North America's leading literary agents for business, entrepreneurship and management books, has died while on holiday in Mauritius. He was 57.
A half uncle of the 4th Viscount Rothermere, chairman of Daily Mail and General Trust plc, Esmond lived in Boston in the US, where he had a hugely successful business representing authors from across the publishing spectrum.
His clients included the New York Times bestseller and the number one Wall Street Journal business bestseller Breakthrough: Secrets of America's Fastest Growing Companies by Keith McFarland; Amanda Ripley's New York Times bestseller The Smartest Kids in the World – And How They Got That Way; and Michelle Hoover's acclaimed 2016 literary novel Bottomland.
New £10k writing prize launched at Sherborne Travel Writing Festival
thebookseller.com – Monday April 14, 2025
A new £10,000 prize for travel writing was unveiled at the Sherborne Travel Writing Festival on Sunday 13th April.
The annual prize will be awarded to a published British or European author whose work “encourages understanding between peoples and across societies, countering the division and isolation of the present day”.
Moreover, “as well as the boldness of the author’s ambition and the quality of writing, emphasis will be placed on books that enable readers to cross borders and so to draw together – on the page at least – our divided worlds”.
Any full-length, non-fiction (including creative non-fiction) travel book written by a British or EU national and published in English in 2024 or 2025 is eligible for the award; entries must be made by the author’s publisher or literary agent.
9 Companies Hiring Remote Freelance Writers In 2025
forbes.com – Sunday April 13, 2025
It’s no secret that one of the easiest side hustles or full-time freelance businesses to pursue, with minimal setup costs or time to launch, is freelance writing.
Freelance writing can be started even if you have minimal experience, and one of its other appeals is that you can get paid top dollar by the world’s leading B2B SaaS companies, all while working from the comfort of your home, as a digital nomad in Bali, or from the beach in the beautiful white sands of the Caribbean islands.
The freelance writing industry is experiencing a boom. Content marketing is a multi-billion-dollar sector, with more companies allocating this highly effective outreach method as part of their marketing budgets. Statista projects that global content marketing spend will almost double in the years between 2022 and 2026, reaching an eye-watering $107 billion next year.
So if you’re skilled in writing long-form content, providing detailed explanations, and contributing subject matter expertise instead of merely writing as a traditional journalist or generalist, then there is plenty of scope for you to build a thriving freelance writing business.
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