New Literary Agency Listing
firstwriter.com – Tuesday May 22, 2018
Handles: Fiction; Nonfiction
Markets: Adult; Children's
Handles high quality nonfiction, and adult and children's fiction. See website for examples of the kinds of books represented. Send query by first or second class post to one of the postal addresses shown on the website.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Monday May 21, 2018
Publishes: Poetry;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
A webzine featuring all forms of poetry by new, emerging and established poets, showcasing the best of contemporary poetry.
Traditional publishers’ ebook sales drop as indie authors and Amazon take off
geekwire.com – Saturday May 19, 2018
Ebook sales are dying. Ebooks are insanely popular.
If the short definition of cognitive dissonance is holding two contradictory ideas to be true, ebooks are about as dissonant as digital content gets.
Yet ebooks may also represent a chapter in the still-being-written story of how keeping track of what’s happening with content hasn’t always kept pace with the technology that’s transformed it.
Let’s start with the bad news. Two new sets of numbers covering 2017 show ebook sales are on the decline, both in terms of unit and dollar sales.
The first, released in April by market research firm NPD’s PubTrack Digital, saw the unit sales of ebooks fall 10 percent in 2017 compared to 2016. In absolute numbers, that meant the roughly 450 publishers represented saw ebook sales drop from 180 million units to 162 million over a year’s time.
The second, just released by the American Association of Publishers, reported a decline in overall revenue for ebooks, a year-to-year decrease of 4.7 percent in 2017. AAP tracks sales data from more than 1,200 publishers.
Chambers and HarperCollins launch writing bursary
thebookseller.com – Saturday May 19, 2018
Crime author Kimberley Chambers and HarperCollins have launched a writing scholarship, the 'Kickstart Prize', in association with Peters Fraser and Dunlop (PFD) Literary Agency and CrimeFest.
The prize, announced at Crimefest in Bristol on Saturday (19th May), aims to "kick open doors to writers who need a leg up into the world of publishing", through a £1,000 bursary to help with writing essentials, time with Chambers’ editor, writing tips and feedback, and an offer of representation from PFD.
Ireland's thriving literary magazine scene: space for tradition and experimentation
irishtimes.com – Saturday May 19, 2018
Reading the mission statements of Irish literary journals, a common theme emerges: the desire to offer writers the space to develop ideas that may not otherwise find a platform. From the more established titles such as Dublin Review, Crannóg and The Stinging Fly, which published its first issue 20 years ago this month, to more recent outlets like The Bohemyth, Banshee and gorse, fostering talent new and old is the backbone of “the little magazine”.
A vibrant journal scene with a roots-up feel to it has developed in Ireland in the past decade. There are currently in the region of 30 publications across print and online media seeking submissions multiple times a year. This has coincided with a growing enthusiasm for creative writing in general, with all of the major colleges in Ireland and many other cultural organisations offering programmes ranging from evening courses for beginners to two-year MFAs (Master of Fine Arts).
It Used To Be Perilous To Write Fanfiction
kotaku.com – Thursday May 17, 2018
Fanfiction is hardly a new phenomenon, but that doesn’t always mean it was safe to write. For a time, in certain fandoms, writing fanfiction could get you a letter from a lawyer. Now, however, the internet has given fandom enough leverage to allow the dubiously legal practice of writing about other people’s characters continues to flourish.
Fanfiction, the act of writing original stories based on someone else’s creative work, exists in a sketchy legal space. While derivative and transformative works are technically protected under fair use, many authors do not believe fanfiction falls in that category. Authors that still dislike or disallow fanfiction cite an experience that author Marion Zimmer Bradley had in 1992. Bradley not only liked but encouraged fanfiction in the initial stages of her fandom, but as the story goes, she realized that an upcoming novel of hers would touch on themes that were in a fanfiction she had read, and she reached out to the author to attempt to negotiate a deal so as to avoid a lawsuit. Although not all parties can agree on how much of Bradley’s novel had been written or exactly what the terms of the agreement were with this fanfic author, Bradley said that she decided to scrap the novel rather than risk a lawsuit. This story loomed large in the memories of authors like Anne McCaffrey and George R. R. Martin, who cited it as an example of what can happen if you don’t protect your copyright. While Martin allows fanfiction as long as you don’t send it to him, McCaffrey banned all fanfiction for her series Dragonriders of Pern from 1992 until 2004.
Journalism taught me about facts but writing a novel helped me understand truth
theguardian.com – Thursday May 17, 2018
I thought being a reporter could teach me everything there is to know about the difference between fact and fiction. I was wrong.
I always thought I had a handle on truth. Truth lives in facts, in what we know and can measure and prove. But there is truth beyond that, too – truth that lives in the stories we tell each other.
I learned this from Augustine. He was a friend of mine from Nagaland, a forgotten teardrop of unyielding land wedged between Bangladesh and Burma, high in the foothills of the Himalaya.
It is a part of India often neglected by the rest of the country: rent by a decades-old separatist insurgency that has yielded little appreciable liberty, scarred by drug dependency and high rates of HIV, suffering the dislocation and disconnection so many minorities endure in the face of an indifferent majority.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Thursday May 17, 2018
Publishes: Fiction;
Markets: Children's
Publishes picture books for children up to 1,000 words. Seeks fresh, original fiction on universal themes that would appeal to children aged 3-8. Generally does not acquire rhyming texts, as must also be translated into German. Send submissions by email as Word document or pasted directly into the body of the email. Authors do not need to include illustrations, but if the author is also an illustrator sample sketches can be included in PDF or JPEG form.
Writers Of all Ages Encouraged To Enter Africa Day Writing Competition
hotpress.com – Wednesday May 16, 2018
Now in its fourth year, the competition marks Africa Day 2018 celebrations and offers a platform for emerging talent, as well as established writers of all ages.
Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Ciarán Cannon has announced that Irish Aid has again partnered with The Irish Times on an African-themed short story and poetry competition.
Entries are invited across three categories: Primary School, Secondary School and Adult. Writers are invited to submit a short story or poem relating to the relationships and interactions between Ireland and Africa.
Novelist Tim Winton left 'deeply wounded' by axing of his publisher Ben Ball
smh.com.au – Wednesday May 16, 2018
Leading Australian novelist Tim Winton says he has been left "deeply wounded" by the decision of the country's biggest publishing company, Penguin Random House, to axe his highly respected publisher, Ben Ball.
Ball was appointed publishing director of the newly created Penguin Random House Literary division less than a year ago and has an illustrious career publishing literary heavyweights including Winton, Peter Carey, Robert Drewe and Sonya Hartnett.
Get the free newsletter | Submit a news item or article | Get Writers' News for your website
