
Books are back because Amazon likes them
ft.com – Thursday February 9, 2017

Ten years ago, as Jeff Bezos launched the Kindle ereader in New York, he declaredthat “the book is so highly evolved and so suited to its task that it’s very hard to displace”. Amazon’s founder was right: this spring, despite the digital upheaval unleashed by the Kindle, it will open a bookstore in Manhattan.
How print beat digital in the book world
straitstimes.com – Saturday February 4, 2017
If the media industry needed proof that it moved too quickly to devalue its print products on the way to chasing digital audiences, the book industry has been making a convincing case in the last few years. The rise of print book sales and decline in e-books in 2015 was no accident. Last year, the trend continued, and self-publishing in electronic form no longer seemed as good a bet as in previous years.

7 Details to Consider When Writing Historical Fiction
authorlink.com – Wednesday February 1, 2017

I’ve always considered myself a history buff and have written quite a few historical fiction novels requiring exhaustive amounts of research. Creating believable historical fiction means getting facts straight and making sure that your research and imaginative input inspires the most plausible, complex plots and characters you can possibly bring to life. Here I lay out the top 7 components you need to think about when writing historical fiction.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Friday January 27, 2017
Publishes: Fiction;
Areas include: Mystery; Thrillers;
Markets: Adult;
Preferred styles: Literary
Publishes quality mysteries, thrillers, and literary books in eBook and audiobook formats.

Winners of the Fifteenth International Poetry Competition announced
firstwriter.com – Tuesday January 24, 2017

firstwriter.com is pleased to announce the winner and special commendations in its Fifteenth International Poetry Competition, which closed on November 1, 2016.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Tuesday January 24, 2017
Publishes: Fiction;
Markets: Adult; Youth;
Preferred styles: Literary; Mainstream; Traditional
We are a small independent publisher. We create ebooks, paperbacks and magazines. Read more in our blog.
Work submitted that is considered good is published on the website as our 'short list'. From the website, we pick the best of the best and put those stories in a quarterly magazine. At the end of the year, we pick the best stories from the magazines and put them in a book. Everything gets sent off to various competitions. The magazines go to the O. Henry Awards and the best stories in the book go to the Pushcart Prizes.

Fiction and poetry submissions invited for new issue of magazine
firstwriter.com – Monday January 23, 2017

firstwriter.com has just announced the launch of the latest issue of its long-running literary journal, firstwriter.magazine.
firstwriter.magazine has been published twice a year since 2002, making it probably one of the longest-running online journals on the internet. This 30th issue features the usual mix of quality fiction and poetry from around the world, plus the first chance to see not just the winning story from the Twelfth International Short Story Contest, but also all ten Special Commendations. You can view the magazine by clicking here. If you'd like to enter your work in the Thirteenth International Short Story Contest, click here.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Monday January 23, 2017
Publishes: Fiction;
Markets: Children's; Youth
Publishes books for children and young adults aged 10-18, but first-time authors over the age of 18. Send query by email describing your submission in first instance.

On writing women
dawn.com – Sunday January 22, 2017

In researching my previous column on the work of Elena Ferrante, I read how certain critics were convinced that the author was actually a man writing under a woman’s pseudonym because she wrote assertively and confidently about the domains of men, especially politics, crime, and violence. In return, Ferrante’s supporters asserted that not only could a woman write well about these domains, but that “only a woman” could know of the secret interior worlds of women and write about them as truthfully and authentically as Ferrante.
Self-Publishing in 2017: The Year in Preview
publishersweekly.com – Saturday January 21, 2017
As 2017 begins, indie authors and publishers are having to navigate a fast-growing industry filled with new opportunities, but one that also presents challenges related to that expansion. To find continued success in self-publishing, it has become more important to expand the definition of “self-published author” to encompass new roles and new formats.
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