Screenwriter David Hannam shares tips for would-be TV writers
artshub.com.au – Sunday September 24, 2023
Screenwriter and producer David Hannam has a slate of original projects in development in Australia and the UK. He is a writer and executive producer on Acorn’s first Australian original drama Darby and Joan, starring Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi, which was released in August 2022 to critical acclaim. He is currently developing season two, after consulting and writing for Paramount+ music industry thriller Paper Dolls.
Here, he shares some tips and tricks of the trade ahead of a Masterclass with Media Mentors Australia.
How and when did you get into writing for screen (and was it always an ambition of yours)?
My writing career is a fortunate accident. In a biopic, it’d go something like this …
This teenage novelist is $1,400 out of pocket to self-publisher — but still doesn't have a book
cbc.ca – Saturday September 23, 2023
After spending about $1,400 through a U.S.-based self-publishing company and no books to show for it, a mother and daughter from Gander are cautioning people before taking the self-publishing route.
Lindsay Whiteway, 14, said it was a dream to have her book — which she compared to American author Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians series — published.
"I kind of wanted to publish them and get them out. Because it's just all the stories I built up in my mind…. I need other people to read it, you know," she told CBC News.
While looking for publishers online, Lindsay's mother, Jessica Pritchett, came across Premium Book Publishing, which is based in Florida.
Northern Fiction Alliance launches 'environmentally responsible' online book fair
thebookseller.com – Saturday September 23, 2023
The Northern Fiction Alliance is launching the online Green Book Fair which will take place between Wednesday 27th and Friday 29th September.
The pilot book fair aims to offer an "environmentally responsible way for international publishers to conduct business".
Funded by Arts Council England, the initiative is set to take place online, in line with its aim to be more sustainable than traditional festivals that require airplane travel. The goal is to reduce the carbon footprint of the festival while also ensuring that it is accessible to attendees from across the world.
New Literary Agent Listing: Aiden Siobhan
firstwriter.com – Friday September 22, 2023
Loves any story that is diverse, heartfelt, beautifully written, and makes them stay up reading until 3 A.M. Send them your trope-filled, high-stakes, addicting novels that will hook them so well they’ll have to draw fan art (and they will)!
Prototype Publishing announces new writing prize
thebookseller.com – Thursday September 21, 2023
Prototype Publishing, along with partners Monitor Books and frieze magazine, has announced the Prototype Prize, a new, bi-annual prize for published or unpublished writers and artists working at the intersections of different literary and artistic forms.
The prize of £3,000 plus publication by Prototype will go to the best book-length project by a writer or artist resident in the UK or Ireland. A second prize of £2,000 plus publication by Monitor Books will be awarded to the best proposal for a short-form work. Both prize-winners will have an excerpt of their work published by frieze.
The judges for the inaugural prize are Bhanu Kapil pictured, Tom McCarthy and Elizabeth Price, who will work alongside an editorial board from the publishers.
New Publisher Listing: Henley Hall Press
firstwriter.com – Thursday September 21, 2023
An independent publisher of thought-provoking non-fiction books.
Our categories are: farming, politics, history, garden design and that all-encompassing category ‘misc’.
No cancel culture here. We are happy to publish books that challenge received wisdom – or wokedom – and we support the work of the Free Speech Union.
We aim to publish just two to four books a year. This is to devote the time to help your book succeed in a crowded market.
It’s About Time!
altaonline.com – Wednesday September 20, 2023
Heed the advice of some literary heavyweights to create an ideal writing routine.
The perfect writing routine! Every writer dreams of it, and every writer knows, deep down, that there is no such thing. There are simply too many variables at play—ambition, temperament, material circumstances—to reach a one-size-fits-all solution. But! Could one identify the building blocks of the perfect routine, to be applied to individual writing practices on an ad hoc basis? Here is an attempt, with copious supporting examples.
RULE NO. 1: SCHEDULE DISCRETE FOCUS BLOCKS
Writers with day jobs may fantasize about having long expanses of unstructured creative time, but let’s be honest: there is no greater drag upon a writing practice than having the full day available for it, which practically guarantees a long, flabby drift rather than a focused effort.
In a practice that is all about increments of labor, the first step is to define your daily dose.
Reilly appointed literary agent at Colwill & Peddle
thebookseller.com – Wednesday September 20, 2023
Milly Reilly has joined Colwill & Peddle as a literary agent. She brings with her a list of non-fiction and literary fiction authors, including Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad, among others.
Reilly started her career at First Story before joining Jo Unwin Literary Agency in 2017, originally as Unwin’s assistant. She said: "Kay and Charlotte are phenomenal agents. Their transparent and collaborative ethos is a force for good in the industry, and I’m delighted to be joining their agency.
"I am so grateful to Jo and the wider team – Rachel, Donna and Daisy – for my time at JULA, and all that I’ve learnt at the company. It has been a joy and privilege to work with such intelligent and inspiring colleagues, and I will miss them very much."
Seager and Maidment promoted at Madeleine Milburn
thebookseller.com – Tuesday September 19, 2023
Chloe Seager has been promoted to director of Children’s and YA at the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency (MMA). Moreover, Olivia Maidment has been moved up to the newly created position of head of books, working closely with the directors to implement strategy.
Seager has been at MMA since April 2019, regularly negotiating six- or seven-figure deals for her clients in the UK and the US. Her authors include Katie Kirby, Anna Fargher, Jo Harwood and Kathryn Foxfield. She also represents authors including Maisie Chan, winner of the Jhalak Prize and Branford Boase and Danielle Jawando, winner of the YA Book Prize, among others.
Since Seager’s arrival at the agency, her authors have also bagged five Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month slots, one Indie Children’s Book of the Month Slot and one Barnes & Noble Book of the Month slot.
Traditional Publishing in the 2020s
By G. Miki Hayden
Instructor at Writer's Digest University online and private writing coach
firstwriter.com – Friday September 15, 2023
Don’t abandon all hope ye who want to enter into traditional publishing this decade, but you might consider changing what you’re looking for.
I recently had an article covering self-publishing on this site, for which I interviewed some writers who have been self-publishing. I wanted then to discuss what we call “traditional publishing” and thought about who I might interview for such a piece.
Indeed, I know people who publish traditionally, but the idea of interviewing most seemed useless because they have been putting out their books in the mainstream for quite a while, decades in some cases. Talking to them wouldn’t give the great majority of us who wish we were in their shoes much information. And much of traditional publishing still follows the same model, but it has changed.
So let’s start with what traditional publishing is. The authors are the supplicants, first-off to gain an agent who knows the publishers and their needs and will sell for the selected clients.
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