Ebury Launches PRH UK’s First Christian Imprint
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday September 17, 2025
Ebury has announced Ebury Vine, the first-ever Christian imprint at Penguin Random House UK. The publisher said the launch is in response to a clear market need, with a resurgence of Christianity around the world, particularly among young people. Charisa Gunasekera, formerly of SPCK Publishing, has been named Ebury Vine's commissioning editor. Gunasekera will also acquire titles for Rider, Ebury's spirituality imprint.
Both imprints sit in Ebury’s Self hub alongside Vermilion and Happy Place Books. The Vine logo, designed by Lucy Thorne, "represents its aims to draw on the deep roots of Christianity to cultivate curious minds and inspire faith-informed growth," said Ebury Self publishing director, Olivia Morris.
"It’s been a pleasure to welcome Charisa to Ebury and see her entrepreneurial flair at work building the fantastic launch list," Morris said in a statement. "Our Rider imprint has long been successful in publishing faith-focused hope and healing, and so this launch is a fitting way to build on this heritage and mark out our ambitious intent to grow this space. There is so much to come. We are excited to reach new audiences and support fresh author talent to flourish here at Ebury."
The Ebury Vine list's first title, Waiting for Jesus: An Advent Invitation to Prayer and Renewal, by author and pastor Rich Villodas, is out on September 18. Gunasekera acquired rights from PRH US, and will publish the book alongside the PRH Christian US Division, which was created last October.
New Literary Agent Listing: Taj McCoy
firstwriter.com – Monday September 15, 2025
I am building my list in Adult Fiction and Non-Fiction, Young Adult, and Middle Grade, as well as looking for illustrators. I’m passionately seeking BIPOC and queer creators who highlight parts of their cultures and experiences. I am an advocate for body positivity in publishing, and love to highlight intersectionality. I aim to widen the entryway for marginalized authors into the publishing industry, and to normalize Black joy, fat joy, celebrations of culture, and love without limitations.
‘It’s a horror story’: budding author loses almost $150k to publishing scams
thepost.co.nz – Sunday September 14, 2025
Looking back, it’s obvious it was all a scam.
But at the time, unmedicated for bipolar disorder and suffering alcoholism, the budding author didn’t think twice about promises of success from fourpublishing houses he now knows are fake.
The Auckland-based author, who the Sunday Star-Times has agreed not to name, spent about $150,000 over two years trying to get his books published and promoted all over the world and has nothing to show for it.
At the time, his unmedicated bipolar disorder meant he suffered from mania, he says, and he was delighted by the idea of massive sales and success with his book
“They would smooth talk me, they would praise my work and tell me how wonderful it was and how it was selling rapidly all over the world and how I'd be really rich soon, and just pay more money for this, and so they they'd throw something at me to pay for.
“They already had my credit card details, so I'd go, oh yes, OK, and so they would play some music while they took some money off my credit card, and then that would be the end of it.”
As Disruption Sweeps Publishing, A Crowdfunding Platform For Books Finds A Niche: Connecting Authors with Publishers
forbes.com – Saturday September 13, 2025
Marijn Wiersma wants to challenge how women think about their careers.
"Don’t confuse grit with well-being," advised Wiersma, a corporate anthropologist based in the Netherlands and founder of Incredible Impact, a company focused on unlocking women’s potential as entrepreneurs and leaders, at the launch of SOS: A Navigation Guide for Women at Work, which she co-authored and published earlier this year. She pointed to an often-overlooked health disparity: women live longer than men, but often spend a greater proportion of their lives in ill health.
Wiersma and her multi-generational co-authors— banker Chantal Korteweg, veterinarian Lidewij Wiersma and management trainee Tessel van Willigen—had gathered for a stop on their book tour at Bibliothèque, a wine bar in SoHo in New York City.
The four authors, each at different stages of their careers, collectively published SOS through Publishizer, a platform to connect authors with publishers, working with Morgan James Publishing. They sold more than 600 copies through a preorder campaign.
Former Tattered Cover Co-Owners Launch Publishing Venture
publishersweekly.com – Saturday September 13, 2025
Industry veterans Kristen Gilligan and Len Vlahos, the former co-owners of Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, have launched a new venture: Left Field Publishing. Left Field will publish both adult and children’s books and, Gilligan and Vlahos emphasize, are committed to acquiring only those books that the two are passionate about. Left Field will be distributed by IPG.
According to its mission statement, Left Field is committed to publishing “powerful, beautifully-told stories that fall outside the traditional lines.” It will focus on authors “whose work blends genres, expands minds, and invites conversation.” Gilligan added in an email to PW that “instead of asking authors to squeeze into a narrow lane, we meet the work where it lives and help it thrive in the marketplace.”
Vlahos added, “We’re drawn to books that zig when the market expects them to zag, stories that don’t fit neatly into one category, authors who color outside the lines.”
Vlahos should know: the two were inspired to launch Left Field after Vlahos’s agent had shopped his seventh novel, The Story of Oog—which, Gilligan said, is a crossover read that does not really fit into any one genre—to publishers to no avail.
Five Pointers for Writing a Genius (Even If You Aren’t One)
crimereads.com – Saturday September 13, 2025
"[H]ow do I write a genius level character and, more specifically, a character who is much smarter than I am?"
As a fan of the mystery genre, I grew up reading about these intellectual titans. Sherlock Holmes and his quickfire deductions, Hercule Poirot’s touting of his little grey cells.
I adored reading about these genius detectives, but I never thought too much about the process of creating them.
Yet, when I wrote my story, The Return of Moriarty, I finally had to contend with the strange question; how do I write a genius level character and, more specifically, a character who is much smarter than I am?
It seems almost paradoxical. If I can create characters who exceed my own intelligence, can I go to a party and act wittier than I am? It seems bizarre to tackle a character with faculties you don’t yourself possess and, after finishing the novel, I was surprised to find the same question being asked by aspiring writers across the community.
And yet, my journey to answer this question was fascinating, and the solutions I discovered so chock full of literary theatrics, that I thought it only right to put all my best answers in one place; a set of five tips and tricks for writing a genius, even if you aren’t one.
Charlotte Ingham on writing a slow burn romance
culturefly.co.uk – Wednesday September 10, 2025
The only thing I love more than reading a slow burn romance—one where I have to fling the book on the bed simply to scream, “Why is nobody kissing?”—is getting to write one instead. For me, the best tension comes from the almostmoments. Where the chemistry is so off-the-charts that you’re convinced something is finally, finally, about to happen, only for fate to intervene (or for the characters to be too completely, hopelessly, oblivious) and you’re left kicking your feet in simultaneous glee and frustration.
A Match Made in Hell allowed me to take this to another level, thanks to the lust trial. In order to escape Hell, Willow must complete seven tasks by resisting the seven deadly sins, but it’s particularly tricky when the person tempting her to give in to lust is the one person she’d love to give in to.
But one almost moment isn’t enough. For a slow burn to truly work, it has to be built up from lots of little almosts. As excited as I was to write that scene, I first had to lay the groundwork for that will-they-won’t-they moment, using both the earlier sin trials, along with the time they spend together in between, to allow their budding friendship to build into something more.
New Literary Agent Listing: Philippa Sitters
firstwriter.com – Wednesday September 10, 2025
Has a broad range of interests, representing novels up and down the literary-commercial scale, as well as non-fiction, from highly illustrated to serious non-fiction. Diversity within her list is an ever-present priority.
New Magazine Listing: Chainmail Poetry
firstwriter.com – Monday September 8, 2025
A global community project based on the belief that all art is in conversation. We invite you to read our latest poem, identify a resonant line, and incorporate it into a poem of your own. The written word is human connection, and we are all connected through this chain.
Spooky Middle Grade Still Sells
publishersweekly.com – Saturday September 6, 2025
Publishers and agents are seeing an increase in spooky—not scary—tales for middle grade readers.
With editors looking for shorter, more plot-driven middle grade projects these days, agents have seen an uptick in the horror genre for younger readers.
In 2023, the Bram Stoker Awards, presented annually by the Horror Writers Association, added a middle grade novel category, which Regina Brooks, president of Serendipity Literary Agency, cites as “clear recognition from the industry that this space is thriving.” She adds, “We’re definitely seeing more horror submissions. The strongest projects deliver age-appropriate scares, often blending horror with mystery, humor, or fantasy. They feature relatable characters, fresh concepts, and offer thrills that still feel safe and satisfying for young readers.”
Brooks points to Tony Jones’s “Essential YA and Middle Grade Horror” online roundup from earlier this year as a source spotlighting fresh titles in the genre, including Alice Nuttall’s debut The Zombie Project and Larry Hayes’s The Nightmares of Finnegan Quick.
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