Sheppard leaves DHH to establish new literary agency
thebookseller.com – Wednesday March 15, 2023
Hannah Sheppard is leaving the DHH Literary Agency to launch a boutique agency with a focus primarily on commercial adult fiction and children’s fiction from middle grade through to YA. The Hannah Sheppard Literary Agency (HSLA) will be opening to submissions from 14th March 2023.
While at DHH, Sheppard worked with authors Dee Benson, Sarah Bonner, Abi Elphinstone and Chris McGeorge among others, and will continue to represent the majority of her client list at her new agency. With HSLA, Sheppard aims “to consciously build a community of authors who celebrate diverse and joyful representation and also commits to opening the agency’s virtual doors to aspiring authors for a monthly Zoom drop-in to help demystify publishing”.
Why Would Someone Steal Unpublished Manuscripts?
nytimes.com – Tuesday March 14, 2023
Filippo Bernardini has been accused by the government of stealing over 1,000 book manuscripts. In court filings, he said he was motivated not by money but by a love of reading.
For more than five years, someone was stealing unpublished book manuscripts from editors, agents, authors and literary scouts. The question of who was behind the scheme baffled the publishing industry, but just as perplexing was another question: Why?
Most unpublished manuscripts would be almost impossible to monetize, so it wasn’t clear why somebody would bother to take them. Filippo Bernardini, who has pleaded guilty in a fraud case in which the government said he stole more than 1,000 manuscripts, offered an explanation on Friday in a letter addressed to a federal judge.
Bernardini said he stole the books because he wanted to read them.
Grammarly expands beyond proofreading with AI-powered writing
engadget.com – Friday March 10, 2023
Grammarly announced today that it’s (unsurprisingly) diving into the generative AI fray. GrammarlyGo is an upcoming set of auto-composition features to help the AI proofreading software keep up with the many companies adding the ChatGPT API (or different generative AI backends) to their products.
GrammarlyGo can use context like voice, style, purpose and where you’re writing to determine its approach. So, for example, it can spit out email replies, shorten passages, rewrite them for tone and clarity, brainstorm or choose from one-click prompts — all while adhering to your company’s voice or other provided context. In addition, since Grammarly’s desktop service can pop up in any text field on your computer, its generative writing could be slightly more convenient than competitors (like Notion or Gmail’s Smart Compose) that require you to visit an app or website. The company says GrammarlyGo will be enabled by default for individuals, and you can toggle it in settings.
Leading Audiobook Producer Greenlights Publishing Company For Independent Authors
finance.yahoo.com – Wednesday March 1, 2023
Lantern Audiobooks builds on the decades-long history of audiobook production with world-class publishing services and global distribution.
ATLANTA, Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lantern Books launches as the world's first full-scale audiobook production and publishing company dedicated to independent authors. For decades, Lantern Audio has been a trusted audiobook production partner for the largest publishers in the world. Recognizing the importance of catering services to independent authors, Lantern now offers full-scale publishing and studio services. The award-winning team at Lantern Books is dedicated to helping indie authors navigate through important decisions and the process of creating, distributing and marketing an audiobook.
Leicestershire MP accuses James Bond publishers of censorship over classic novel rewrites
leicestermercury.co.uk – Tuesday February 28, 2023
Andrew Bridgen has hit out at rewrites to the classic James Bond novels, claiming it is “censorship”. The MP for North West Leicestershire has added his name to the vocal critics to the move, but publishers have defended their decision.
Mr Bridgen, who is still suspended by the Conservative Party for spreading misinformation on Covid-19 vaccines, spoke out after it emerged that Ian Fleming Publications were making alterations to classic Bond novels ahead of the 70th anniversary of Casino Royale’s publication this spring.
Blake Friedmann literary agency launches second online open week for writers
thebookseller.com – Tuesday February 28, 2023
The Blake Friedmann Literary Agency will run a week dedicated to demystifying publishing and agenting, and supporting writers seeking representation. From Monday, 6th March, the agency will share agent blogs on a variety of agenting and publishing topics. It will also run book giveaways across its social media accounts until 10th March.
The aim is to offer insights into what an agent does, how to navigate the submission process to find an agent, and how an author and agent work together. There will also be a focus on understanding the publication process, earning income as an author through rights sales, as well as getting into the agenting or publishing industries.
Roald Dahl publisher to release original versions after backlash
reuters.com – Sunday February 26, 2023
LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Roald Dahl's famous children's books including "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Matilda" will be published uncensored later this year said publisher Puffin, bowing to pressure after a public outcry over modernised versions.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was among those to have criticised the "airbrushing" of literature on Monday after a report in The Daily Telegraph showed 2022 versions of the children's books had removed or changed references to gender, race and physical appearance to avoid causing offence.
The "enormously fat" Augustus Gloop from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was just "enormous" in last year's version, while Mrs Twit from "The Twits" was no longer "ugly". News of the changes sparked a national debate.
Andlyn founder Andrew-Lynch joins Curtis Brown
thebookseller.com – Thursday February 23, 2023
Davinia Andrew-Lynch, the founder of boutique agency Andlyn, has joined Curtis Brown.
Andrew-Lynch ran Andlyn for seven years, representing mainly children’s content and adult commercial fiction across all genres. Among her clients are Annabelle Sami, Malcolm Duffy, Bex Hogan, Faye Brann and Adam Douglas-Bagley.
Prior to this, she worked as a film and TV agent and freelance editor. She also helped to co-create the FAB Prize alongside Faber Children’s. The prize aims to discover Black and minority ethnic authors and illustrators.
As she joins Curtis Brown, Andrew-Lynch is looking to grow a list of commercial adult fiction alongside her existing list in children’s and YA. She will be based in London, joining the Curtis Brown team at their new offices on Regent Street.
Sci-fi publisher Clarkesworld halts pitches amid deluge of AI-generated stories
theguardian.com – Wednesday February 22, 2023
One of the most prestigious publishers of science fiction short stories has closed itself to submissions after a deluge of AI-generated pitches overwhelmed its editorial team.
Clarkesworld, which has published writers including Jeff VanderMeer, Yoon Ha Lee and Catherynne Valente, is one of the few paying publishers to accept open submissions for short stories from new writers.
But that promise brought it to the attention of influencers promoting “get rich quick” schemes using AI, according to founding editor Neil Clarke.
In a typical month, the magazine would normally receive 10 or so such submissions that were deemed to have plagiarised other authors, he wrote in a blogpost. But since the release of ChatGPT last year pushed AI language models into the mainstream, the rate of rejections has rocketed.
In January, Clarke said, the publisher rejected 100 submissions, banning their “authors” from submitting again. In February to date, he has banned more than 500.
Publisher of Roald Dahl books in French has ‘no plans’ for rewrite
theguardian.com – Wednesday February 22, 2023
The French publishers of Roald Dahl have ruled out any changes to the late British author’s translated books after it emerged that English editions were being rewritten for modern audiences.
Gallimard said on Tuesday the original texts would “remain intact” after the UK publisher Puffin hired sensitivity readers to remove language deemed inappropriate.
“This rewriting only affects Great Britain. We have never modified Roald Dahl’s writings and we have no plans to do so today,” a spokesperson for the publisher’s children’s department said.
The changes to characters and language in the author’s popular children’s books provoked a wave of debate. The author Sir Salman Rushdie wrote on Twitter: “Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship/ Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed.”
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