
Franklin: 'toxic competition' in large publishers
thebookseller.com – Friday October 16, 2015

The atmosphere in some large publishing houses is "toxic" as imprints are forced to compete against each other for big titles, Profile Books' owner Andrew Franklin has said.
Speaking yesterday (15th October) about the merits of being an independent publisher in the "CEO Talk" at Frankfurt Book Fair, along with Marcos Pereira, founder and c.e.o of Editora Sextante, Franklin said camaraderie in smaller houses could be better than larger ones.

Reclusive novelist Dominic Cooper: what do writers do when the words no longer come?
newstatesman.com – Friday October 16, 2015

In 2013, a local paper reported on a strange script chiselled into a stone that had baffled not only historians but US code-breakers for decades. The mystery was solved when Cooper stepped forward and said that he was the secret poet.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday October 16, 2015
Publishes: Fiction; Poetry;
Areas include: Short Stories;
Markets: Adult; Children's; Family; Youth
Publishes themed anthologies of fiction and prose by adults and children. See website for details.
New Literary Agency Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday October 16, 2015
Handles: Fiction; Nonfiction;
Areas: Autobiography; Beauty and Fashion; Business; Cookery; Crafts; Culture; Current Affairs; Design; Finance; Health; Lifestyle; Psychology; Science; Self-Help;
Markets: Adult; Children's; Youth;
Treatments: Commercial; Literary
Send query by email with the word "Query" in the subject line, and the first chapter or 10 pages pasted into the body of the email. See website for specific agent interests and approach one agent only. No plays, screenplays, or poetry. Also offers self-publishing services.

PFD launches digital publishing spin-off Ipso Books
thebookseller.com – Thursday October 15, 2015

Literary agency Peters Fraser & Dunlop (PFD) has launched a spin-off digital publishing business, Ipso Books, to publish both backlist and frontlist writers. The move follows similar ventures by other agencies: Ed Victor Ltd launched Bedford Square Books in 2011, and Curtis Brown set up Studio 28 last year.

Great books that publishers rejected – quiz
theguardian.com – Thursday October 15, 2015

Man Booker winner Marlon James says he was turned down 78 times before getting published, and his long search for recognition is not unique. Find out how much you know about the history of literary rebuffs with our quiz on the great rejected books.

The Therapeutic Value in the Process of Writing a Memoir
huffingtonpost.com – Wednesday October 14, 2015

Ever since my beloved brother's death by suicide I had held onto his diaries avidly protecting them, always maintaining some vague undefined hope that I would one day do 'something' with them. I didn't know it would take over twenty years and I didn't know that what began as an ode to my brother would morph into an unparalleled journey of healing for me.

Travis Heermann writing in a foreign universe
stuff.co.nz – Tuesday October 13, 2015

As the start of a promising writing career it left a lot to be desired. Travis Heermann, 45, from Nebraska in the US, got the first novel he wrote accepted by a literary agent in New York, who sold it to a publisher. Unfortunately the agent and the publisher were both crooks and he "never got a dime."

A manifesto for all writers
thebookseller.com – Monday October 12, 2015

"There are too many adjectives in publishing already," writes Carla Douglas, an editor based in Kingston, Ontario. "We need to bridge the self-pub/trad-pub divide" she tells us in her manifesto, "do away with these distinctions and let writers be writers." And as she develops her point here, note that Douglas is talking not only to the industry that surrounds such talent but also to the writers, themselves: "Focus on the writing, publish however you like, but publish well."
Writing competition to promote legacy of Cromarty geologist Hugh Miller
pressandjournal.co.uk – Monday October 12, 2015
A new writing competition has been launched to promote the legacy of the renowned Black Isle geologist and writer Hugh Miller.
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