A Guide for Aspiring Authors
universityobserver.ie – Tuesday March 24, 2026
In order to be a writer, one must form a writing habit. Pick a dedicated time in your schedule where you write. It does not matter how long you write for or what time you select. The key is consistency. Building this habit requires you to take yourself, and your writing seriously.
I recently attended an event at Chapter’s Bookstore, hosted by the Romantic Novels Association, a professional body dedicated to raising the prestige of romantic fiction. At the event, the association’s chair and director, Seána Talbot, spoke about the importance of respecting your desire to write as much as your other commitments.
For students, this might look like setting deadlines for your writing goals just as you would with your assignments, or informing your roommates that you need some quiet time in the same way you do when you study.
Build a community:
It can be much easier to motivate yourself to do something when you belong to a group with the same interests or goals. If you are not in a literature or creative writing degree, this can be harder to find as a student. That said writing groups you can join as a student still exist.
UCD Lit Soc hosts regular writing sessions where students from all courses can come together to write and share their work with others. Volunteering with organisations such as Fighting Words also gives access to events with other writing and literature enthusiasts. This is a great way to meet people with the same interests and sometimes network with others from the industry.
£10.5M investment to establish North East Centre for Writing and Publishing
placenortheast.co.uk – Tuesday March 24, 2026
Building on one of the North East Combined Authority’s key areas of investment for the region, it is teaming up with Northumbria University to establish the creative hub in Newcastle.
The centre, a partnership with the charity New Writing North, has already received £5m from the government’s Cultural Development Fund and £1m from Newcastle City Council.
Now, Northumbria University has committed £2.5m, with a further £2m to come from NECA, set for approval later this month, taking total funding to £10.5m.
The intended location is the grade-two listed Old Post Office on St Nicholas Street, subject to approval. The building underwent a £5.8m renovation in 2016 and was used as offices until it was put on the market by NBS in July last year.
Can anyone get a book deal? What it takes to be a novelist in 2026
eu.usatoday.com – Sunday March 22, 2026
Consolidation, fewer imprints and editorial bottlenecks are reshaping how fiction book deals are acquired and developed in today’s publishing market.
“From Pitch to Publication” is a series taking readers behind the curtain of modern publishing as a business.
I’m so accustomed to rejection that I brace myself for every email – even before opening. Even when good news may be waiting after that click.
Writers, and all creatives to an extent, have to get accustomed to “no.”
About 81% of Americans feel that they have a book in them, according to an often cited survey reported in The New York Times (from the early 2000s). Many aspire to write and publish a book in their lifetime, but only a small fraction see their work formally acquired and announced each year. A little over 2,000 fiction writers announced deals in 2025 on Publishers Marketplace.
What's it like to write a bestseller? We followed Lucy Score for a year to find out
This year, one of those deals announced is mine: My debut young adult novel, “How to Kill a Chupacabras," was acquired by independent publisher Tiny Ghost Press. I almost dismissed the email confirming the offer as another rejection.
Horror novel reportedly pulled from publication after suspected use of AI during writing process
independent.co.uk – Saturday March 21, 2026
One of the largest book publishers in the U.S. has pulled an upcoming horror novel on Thursday after widespread accusations that the author used artificial intelligence to write it.
Hachette Book Group was approached by apparent evidence, collated by The New York Times, that the novel “Shy Girl” by Mia Ballard appeared to be AI-generated. A day later, the company said it was removing the book from publication and from Amazon as well as Hachette’s websites.
The publisher said that Orbit Books, one of its publishing divisions, decided not to publish “Shy Girl” after reviewing the text, adding that the book will be discontinued in the UK, where it was published last fall and has sold around 1,800 print copies, according to NielsenIQ BookData.
How to write your first children's book - meet the experts
knutsfordguardian.co.uk – Saturday March 21, 2026
Cheshire has produced generations of award-winning children’s authors, from Lewis Carroll to contemporary luminaries such as Alan Garner. Now, in World Book Day month, we discover what it takes to pen a hit for young readers.
For me, it’s Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree. My daughters opt for Dame Lynley Dodd’s unlikely canine hero, Hairy Maclary. Friends and family suggest other titles – Shirley Hughes’ We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Lauren Child’s Charlie and Lola, Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo, Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter. They’re all stories that endure – enthralling and inspiring young readers and making indelible marks on fresh imaginations in a way fiction rarely does as we mature.
In Warrington, international best-selling author Curtis Jobling traces his success back to childhood inspirations.
Author, publisher not blood-sucking vampires of unpublished material
businessinsurance.com – Saturday March 21, 2026
In a decision that may unsettle no one more than the nation’s supply of fictional boyfriends, a federal judge has clarified that the brooding, alluring, faintly menacing young man — so often encountered lurking in the corridors of young-adult fantasy — belongs not to any single author, but to the culture at large.
A judge in the Southern District of New York this week issued a ruling that might be described, depending on one’s temperament, as either a victory for creative freedom or a reminder that certain literary archetypes are lurking in the public-domain the same way vampires and werewolves seem to find themselves in the pages of certain types of books, according to Publishers Weekly.
The author Tracy Wolff, whose “Crave” series has populated bestseller lists with vampires, intrigue, and hormonal peril, was found not to have plagiarized anything at all.
One book after another: indie publisher Joffe Books continues to rise
thebookseller.com – Friday March 20, 2026
To enter Joffe Books’ office, one must first navigate several levels of a dark and dimly lit stairwell in a Shoreditch office block – a heart-racing endeavour in more ways than one. But on reaching it, a New York loft-style haven of light and space beckons. A more informal and talkative office atmosphere than some traditional publishers, there is a palpable sense of energy – perhaps aided by the smorgasbord of luxury chocolates in the kitchen. A permanent fixture, I am told.
I am here to speak with founder and chief executive officer Jasper Joffe and editorial director Rachel Slatter, not long after the indie made yet another acquisition, the Severn House list. This takes the imprint count to five, with turnover cresting £10m, Joffe says. Much of this is generated by the digital-first company’s e-books base, but print is growing, up 16% in 2025 to £231,000 through NielsenIQ BookScan.
New Literary Agent Listing: Duvall Osteen
firstwriter.com – Friday March 20, 2026
Represents debut, award‑winning, bestselling, and notable authors. Handles literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and graphic novels. Interested in writing rooted in place, especially the global South, as well as multigenerational storytelling, crime, and literary suspense. Seeks books across genres with original, immersive voices and strong potential.
Layoffs, Moves at Penguin Young Readers as Dial Imprint Shuttered
publishersweekly.com – Thursday March 19, 2026
Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers established in 1961, has been closed, resulting in layoffs and moves within PYR.
A representative at Penguin Young Readers confirmed the closure, but declined to offer further comment or details regarding the names and number of staffers affected. According to industry sources, several individuals are being let go from PYR, and three Dial editors are being moved over to G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, where the Dial books will be absorbed.
The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize Is Open for Entries
brittlepaper.com – Tuesday March 17, 2026
Since 2009, the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize has been one of the most internationally minded literary prizes for emerging writers anywhere in the world, and it is now open for entries for its 2026 edition. The deadline is 11.59pm BST on 30 June 2026.
The prize accepts work in three categories: fiction, poetry, and life writing. This year, for the first time across all three categories, it also welcomes entries in translation, with the cash prize split equally between author and translator if a translated work wins. There are no restrictions on age, gender, nationality, or background. The one condition is that entrants must not have published a book-length work. Winners in each category receive £1,000 and publication in Wasafiri magazine; all winners and shortlisted writers are also offered a mentoring scheme in partnership with The Literary Consultancy, along with a one-year print subscription to the magazine.
The judges this year are Ellah Wakatama OBE, also chair of the Caine Prize for African Writing, who leads the panel, with Santanu Bhattacharya judging fiction, Jen Calleja judging life writing, and Mona Kareem judging poetry. Wakatama has said she is looking for stories of hope, resistance, love, and joy. Calleja, whose own work straddles memoir and translation, says she appreciates life writing that places the reader beside the writer as events unfold. Bhattacharya is looking for fiction that enlightens, engages, and entertains in ways we do not often see.
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