New Literary Agent Listing: Helen Lane
firstwriter.com – Thursday June 19, 2025
Represents Adult (and select YA) genre fiction. She is presently only open to Adult Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Romantasy, Fantasy Romance.
UK audiobook revenue up by almost a third last year
theguardian.com – Wednesday June 18, 2025
Income from audiobooks reached a record £268m in 2024, according to figures from the Publishers Association
Whether it’s plugging in to Benedict Cumberbatch reading Austen while doing the washing up or listening to Meryl Streep narrate Nora Ephron’s Heartburn on the way to work, the UK is increasingly getting into audiobooks.
Audiobook revenue generated by UK publishers rose by 31% between 2023 and 2024, with income from audiobooks reaching a record £268m last year, according to the Publishers Association (PA), the body representing UK publishers.
“We’re seeing a real demand for audiobooks given the unique way they fit into our increasingly busy lives,” said Debbie Hicks, creative director at The Reading Agency charity. “Audiobooks make reading more accessible, whether that’s for people with dyslexia or visual impairments, or simply those who struggle to find time to sit down with a traditional book.”
Many listeners value “the ability to multitask” that comes with audiobooks, added Hicks. “You can listen to audiobooks while commuting, exercising or doing chores. For young adults especially, audiobooks are a natural fit with how they live and read.”
Audiobooks have “soared in popularity over the past 10 years”, said Dan Conway, chief executive at the PA. “The same is true of podcasts, so clearly audio content in general is hugely on the rise.”
New Publisher Listing: Radio Society of Great Britain
firstwriter.com – Wednesday June 18, 2025
Publishes books for amateur radio enthusiasts.
New Magazine Listing: Emerge Literary Journal
firstwriter.com – Tuesday June 17, 2025
A quarterly online journal of poetry and prose dedicated to emerging writers and their words. We love free verse, flash and creative non-fiction – words with passion, voice, and place. We look for succinct images and dialogue that linger, narrative that we can take with us to bed at night, ideas used in magnificent ways. Bring us your castles. We read during specified reading windows only and submissions will always be free. We publish exclusively online quarterly, although an annual “best-of” print issue may be a future possibility. Accepts submissions in January, February, July and August.
New Literary Agency Listing: Ghosh Literary
firstwriter.com – Monday June 16, 2025
An independent literary agency offering worldwide literary representation for print and digital media and all allied rights, including motion picture, theatrical and multimedia rights.
My advice to young writers
thecritic.co.uk – Sunday June 15, 2025
You are, let us say, a “young writer” on the south side of 40, chastened by the findings of the latest industry survey — these show that the mean authorial salary is around £7,000 p.a. — but with your first book contract lying on the desk before you.
The Secret Author would like to congratulate you, whilst proffering a few tips on how you might be able to sustain the career on which you have so optimistically embarked.
Civility is all. The old adage about being polite to the people you meet on the way up as you may very probably meet them again on the way down was never truer than on Grub Street.
Have a smile ready for the shy girl checking the proofs at the Literary Review: she will doubtless end up editing Vogue. The junior assistant who brings in the tea at Front Row is almost guaranteed to be controller of Radio Four 30 years hence.
The same rule applies to book reviewing. The author of the feeble novel you trashed in 2019 will, inevitably, be judging the literary prize for which your darling work is entered in 2029; no slight is so mild that it won’t be repaid with interest decades down the line. The Secret Author is still having trouble with a woman whose book he made the mistake of mildly disliking back in 1995.
Watch your politics. Whatever your private ideological leanings, always publicly proclaim an attachment to the left-liberal Guardian/New Statesman/London Review of Books line. Nobody ever got anywhere in the modern literary world by saying that they voted for Brexit or claiming that Nigel Farage is unfairly maligned.
Similarly, make sure you return publishers’ diversity surveys with all the right boxes ticked. If you were privately educated and went to Oxbridge, either keep quiet about it, make wry, self-deprecating excuses, or say things like “at least at college you could meet real people for the first time”.
Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, always try to write for right-wing newspapers and magazines instead of left-wing ones. The former pay better, do so on time, tend not to muck you about editorially and give better parties.
New Publisher Listing: Hardie Grant
firstwriter.com – Sunday June 15, 2025
A global media and publishing business on a mission to help emerging ideas thrive. Since 1997, we’ve been creating culture, sharing stories, and re-imagining the way brands connect with audiences.
Five top tips for adapting a short story into a novel
scottishbooktrust.com – Saturday June 14, 2025
Former New Writers Awardee and recently published author Alessandra Thom shares her top tips for adapting a short story into a novel.
The step from writing short stories to novels can seem insurmountable. Writing a short story of a few thousand words is vastly different from a novel of tens or hundreds of thousands. If a short story is a drop of water, a novel is the loch it falls into. But if you can write a short story, you can write a novel. All the elements, though different, are there: building suspense, developing character, creating a compelling plot and a vibrant setting, utilising themes and motifs.
I wrote my first novel by taking a short story I’d already written and adapting it. Here are my five top tips to help you do the same.
Read, re-read, then read again
Read your short story from beginning to end, then read it again. If you can, print it out so you don’t fall into editing it. Go over it with a pen, or add comments on your computer, highlighting moments you think are intriguing. These could be moments where it’s evident you’re only seeing one side of a character, or moments where there is a plot door open that your characters don’t walk through, or simply moments that make you feel something.
You’ll learn what kind of novel you want to write by discovering what resonates with you, and what opportunities excite you.
10 Novels Agents Have Seen a Billion Times, and How to Make Yours Stand Out
electricliterature.com – Saturday June 14, 2025
It is not easy to write a book or get published. I’ve been a literary agent for almost 20 years, and I’ve written six books myself, most of which are tucked away in a drawer. As an agent, I receive hundreds of query letters every month, all vying for a spot on my list and a chance to go out to editors to see if they’ll get published, too. It’s daunting to say the least.
The first battle is figuring out what to write. Clearly everything has been done before, no? I see familiar concepts and tired storylines every day. But if there’s nothing new under the sun, how can writers stand out to agents and editors while also giving readers what they want and maybe taking advantage of trends?
There’s so much to say on this topic that I basically wrote a whole book about it. Writing Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life helped me better understand how writers can navigate the weird, opaque, and confusing publishing landscape. There are no shortcuts or sure things, but my bird’s eye view of the industry has given me some insight, starting with what to write.
Way back in 2017, I wrote about the novels literary agents see all the time. No more zombies, I said back then. Now, times have changed! You can write a zombie novel if you want! It’s time for an update. I’m back to tell you about 10 novels that fill agent’s inboxes these days, but also how you can make yours stand out from the crowd. You can write anything you want. The key is to think about the reader, too.
Hailsham Festival launches 2025 creative writing competition
sussexexpress.co.uk – Saturday June 14, 2025
CALL FOR ENTRIES! -SUBMISSION DEADLINE 1ST AUGUST. Creative writing has always played a big part in the Hailsham Festival and once again the Creative Writing team at Hailsham Festival is running their annual competition for writing short stories and poetry.
This year we are inviting submissions from junior, teenager and adult writers in the following short story and poetry categories:
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