Winchester Writers' Event to be virtual, says Sara Gangai
hampshirechronicle.co.uk – Sunday April 18, 2021
WINCHESTER Writers' Weekend is being held virtually once again after a successful inaugural event in 2020.
Originally planned to be held in the city in-person, director Sara Gangai decided it was safer to hold it online until Covid eases.
The event provides opportunities for writers to hone their craft, rub elbows with published authors and other writers, and meet one-to-one with literary agents for feedback.
Ms Gangai said: “Last year we had around 250 people take part in the event but this year bookings are already exceeding expectations as we have two amazing keynote speakers, including Diana Gabaldon, author of the hugely popular Outlander series, and Chris Riddell, best-selling children’s author/illustrator."
With no new edition of Writer's Market, writers are flooding to The Writers' Handbook
firstwriter.com – Wednesday April 14, 2021
In 2019, the publisher of Writer's Market, F+W Media, filed for bankruptcy. The last edition of Writer's Market was published the same year. It was called the "2020" edition, but in reality no edition was published in 2020, or since.
Janet Fillingham Associates rebrands to cement Weston partnership
thebookseller.com – Tuesday April 13, 2021
Literary, directors’ and composers’ agency Janet Fillingham Associates is rebranding to Fillingham Weston Associates (FWA), cementing a decade-long working relationship between agents Janet Fillingham and Kate Weston.
The move comes ahead of the agency’s 30 year-anniversary next year.
FWA will continue to represent writers, directors and composers in the fields of TV, film and theatre. Clients work across film and television drama, comedy drama and animation in the UK and overseas, as well as theatre including musical theatre and opera.
Wales' popular Wrexham-based literary festival goes digital with new chapter
leaderlive.co.uk – Monday April 12, 2021
Are you sitting comfortably, then we'll begin...
A highly entertaining programme has been put together for one of Wales' premier literary festivals, and due to the pandemic, is all available from the comfort of your own home.
The Wrexham Carnival of Words, now in its seventh year, has become a fixture in the literary calendar in Wales and the borderlands, attracting a broad range of well-known authors.
This year the festival, held from April 17-24, will be even more accessible, with events being broadcast online on the Carnival of Words' own YouTube channel.
National Centre for Writing launches Open Doors programme
thebookseller.com – Saturday April 10, 2021
The National Centre for Writing (NCW) is launching an Open Doors programme, with authors including Derek Owusu and Abir Mukherjee, exploring ways of connecting with audiences and reflecting on the role of a writer.
The programme will include an immersive play, new essays, interactive writing resources and micro residencies. Owusu, Mukherjee and Kerri ní Dochartaigh are among those who will create new work as part of the programme, reflecting on how the experience of the past year has impacted their writing.
Cork World Book Festival – 20 to 26 April 2021
thecork.ie – Saturday April 10, 2021
Cork World Book Fest is going online and will virtually welcome Irish and international writers to Cork for an extravaganza of books and writing this April.
David O’Brien, Cork City Librarian, said, “Every April, we look forward to meeting writers from around the world. This year, we’re delighted to bring everyone together in our virtual event space.”
World of Books joins with Society of Authors to launch £5k writing award
thebookseller.com – Tuesday April 6, 2021
Used book retailer the World of Books Group has partnered with the Society of Authors to launch a £5,000 award for writers to inspire progressive behaviour change.
The World of Books Impact Award will be granted twice a year to writers working on books focusing on social impact, sustainability or education. It will offer the winning author a sum of £5,000 to support them as they complete their work. The award criteria is linked to World of Books' own guiding values and aligned with the UN sustainability goals of Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action and Quality Education.
Applications for the first World of Books Impact Award are open from now until July, with the first award due to be granted in October 2021.
Hagens Berman: Booksellers Sue Amazon and Big Five Publishers for Alleged Monopoly Price-Fixing the U.S. Print Book Market
businesswire.com – Friday March 26, 2021
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Retail booksellers today hit Amazon.com and publishing companies with a class-action lawsuit alleging a massive price-fixing scheme to intentionally constrain the bookselling market and inflate the wholesale price of print books, according to Hagens Berman and its co-counsel Sperling & Slater P.C.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Mar. 25, 2021, and states that Amazon colluded with the Big Five U.S. book publishers – Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster – to restrain competition in the sale of print trade books, or non-academic texts such as fiction and non-fiction material.
The Big Five publishers control 80% of the trade book market, and Amazon accounts for about half of all books sold, including 90% of all print books sold online. Attorneys say these factors and more make this market ripe for price-fixing through the highly restrictive most-favored-nation clauses (MFNs) in their distribution agreements. The lawsuit states these anticompetitive provisions fix the wholesale price of books and prevent Amazon’s competitors from competing on price or product availability.
Scrivener 3 for Windows Launches #1 Writing App Receives Major Update: UI Refresh and Many New Features
prnewswire.co.uk – Wednesday March 24, 2021
TRURO, England, March 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Literature & Latte Ltd, (L&L) creators of productivity software for writers of all types from novelists and screenwriters to academics and journalists announce the release of Scrivener 3.0 for Windows.
Scrivener unites everything needed to write, research and arrange long documents in a single, powerful app. At its heart is a simple ring-binder metaphor that allows users to gather material and flick between different parts of their manuscript, notes and references with ease. Long documents can be broken into shorter, more manageable sections which are edited in isolation or as a whole using Scrivener's innovative "Scrivenings" mode.
Sitcom Writing Competition Launched
beyondthejoke.co.uk – Tuesday March 23, 2021
Short Com has announced the second edition of its annual TV Sitcom Writing Competition for 2021. The competition seeks to find the best new emerging comedy screenwriting talent and help them break into the industry.
After an encouraging debut year, which saw not only a strong number of entries but also an exceptionally tight contest to determine a final short list. The competition was eventually won by Joe Barnes and his script Joy after the collective votes from the expert industry panel of judges. The script reading team was hugely impressed by the number of quality entries and the overall positive feedback from entrants, so much so we are looking forward to its second iteration.
The final shortlisted writers will be presided over by a panel of industry experts. We are really pleased to have on board Michelle Farr-Scott, Head of Scripted at Ranga Bee Productions. Sam Underwood, producer of Channel 4’s Lee and Dean. And Sam Ward, producer of the BBC show Mandy starring Diane Morgan.
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