
Here's The Pitch Publishers Rejected When J.K. Rowling Was Trying To Get "Harry Potter" Published
buzzfeed.com – Wednesday October 25, 2017

Twenty years ago, J.K. Rowling blessed us all when she released the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which is truly a worldwide phenomenon.
Rowling also hasn't been secretive about her prior struggle to get the series published, saying she received "loads" of rejections from publishers.
Everything Change Climate Fiction Contest
By Joey Eschrich
Editor and Program Manager, Center for Science and the Imagination, Arizona State University
firstwriter.com – Wednesday October 25, 2017
The Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative at Arizona State University is proud to announce our Everything Change Climate Fiction Contest. We are looking for stories that illustrate, explore, or illuminate the impact of climate change on humanity and/or the Earth. We invite submissions in all genres of short fiction.

CINE-BOOKS aims to unite authors and filmmakers with a new three-in-one format
thebookseller.com – Wednesday October 25, 2017

CINE-BOOKS is a "next generation publishing and book-filming startup" that offers a 'three-in-one' digital book format, as well as a global distribution platform that aims to connect readers, authors and film-makers in the creation of highly visual books.

How do you write a novel in just a month? With this app – that's how
techradar.com – Monday October 23, 2017

In the words of Bon Jovi, woah, we’re halfway there. I’m midway through my novel’s first draft. It feels much like crossing the 13.1 mile mark in a marathon – a sense of achievement, tempered by the realization that I have to do the same thing all over again.
Still, I have a good idea of where I need to go and how I’m going to get there, and it isn’t going to involve any blisters or horrible sticky energy gels. Seriously, who thought peanut flavor was a good idea?
I’ve had to double back a few times, re-writing and rearranging scenes that didn’t sit right. Those occasions have required a quick trip into LibreOffice Writer (try it – you won't believe it's not Word), but the rest of the time I’ve stuck with the superb distraction-blocking writing software FocusWriter.

Brad Pankosky, Allison Schwartz Promoted to Agents At Paradigm
deadline.com – Wednesday October 18, 2017

Brad Pankosky and Allison Schwartz have been promoted to agents at Paradigm. Pankosky who was both Talent Coordinator and an assistant in Paradigm Beverly Hills to Chairman and CEO Sam Gores, has been named upped to an agent in the talent department. Schwartz, who was assistant to Theatrical Literary Department Head Jack Tantleff in Paradigm’s New York office, now becomes a literary agent.

Marty Shapiro, Veteran Talent and Literary Agent, Dies at 81
hollywoodreporter.com – Saturday October 14, 2017

Marty Shapiro, a longtime talent and literary agent, died Sept. 25 at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., his daughter Susan Moss announced. He was 81.

Writers step in to defend author accused of plagiarism in New York Times
theguardian.com – Thursday October 12, 2017

More than 70 authors, including Pulitzer prize winners Jennifer Egan and Louise Glück, have come to the defence of the editor and poet Jill Bialosky after she was accused of plagiarism, saying that Bialosky’s “inadvertent repetition of biographical boilerplate was not an egregious theft intentionally performed”.

Stanton and Pocklington form The North agency
thebookseller.com – Wednesday October 11, 2017

Literary agents Mark Stanton and Kevin Pocklington, formerly of Edinburgh-based Jenny Brown Associates (JBA), are starting a new agency based in Newcastle called The North.
They will be joined by literary agent Allan Guthrie and freelance editor Julie Fergusson, while Jenny Brown and Lucy Juckes are to remain at JBA.

Romance Novels Have A Major Diversity Problem, According To A Study From The Ripped Bodice Bookstore
bustle.com – Saturday October 7, 2017

According to a new study conducted by romance novel bookstore The Ripped Bodice, romance novels have a major diversity problem. Booksellers Leah and Bea Koch examined the catalogs for 20 publishers, and compiled the data in an infographic that alleges that less than 10 percent of the romance novels they published in 2016 were written by authors of color. The study only focused on traditional publishers, and does not include data for self-publishing and other non-traditional publishing methods.

Authors hit out at World Book Day for picking too many celebrity writers
telegraph.co.uk – Tuesday October 3, 2017

Top children's authors have hit out at World Book Day for picking £1 titles by a "clutch of celebrities" for next year's event.
In a post online David Almond, author of Skellig, wrote that "the nation's children are being shortchanged" by the decision to include four celebrity names among the ten chosen books.
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