US publishers' audio sales up 29% this year
thebookseller.com – Tuesday September 12, 2017
Downloaded audio revenues in the US rose 29% in the first four months of this year by comparison to the same period in 2016, with April in particular surging to a 34% year-on-year rise, according to the latest figures from the Association of American Publishers (AAP).
40 per cent discount for new film and screenplay contest
firstwriter.com – Tuesday September 12, 2017
The Zodiac International film competition is a brand new online film and screenplay contest using film freeway as the submission platform:
"We want to see your visions, hear your voices and be moved, thrilled, scared and engaged by your storytelling."
New Book for Beginners Looking To Write Saleable Non-Fiction Now Published
prweb.com – Friday September 8, 2017
International book publisher Bennion Kearny is delighted to announce the publication of Write From The Start: The Beginner’s Guide to Writing Professional Non-Fiction by Caroline Foster.
With publishing, web-based, and ‘gig’ opportunities for authors expanding every year, more and more people are looking to forge careers as professional writers. Write From The Start aims to shine a light on the world of nonfiction writing by offering a practical must-read resource for newcomers to the field.
Open call: writers respond to Hurricane Harvey
firstwriter.com – Friday September 8, 2017
From its founding, Gulf Coast has kept its home in Houston, Texas. Its mission to elevate diverse voices from across the globe has always been inspired by the multiplicity and vibrance of the community there. As Houston begins to recover from Hurricane Harvey, Gulf Coast looks to the many artists and writers who have already begun the difficult work of rendering the storm and its aftermath. Gulf Coast wants to provide a platform for these voices. Starting now, they are inviting submissions in response to Harvey. There is no reading fee and accepted work will be published on the Gulf Coast blog.
Call for Submissions from cahoodaloodaling
firstwriter.com – Wednesday September 6, 2017
Issue #24 – Solitude’s Spectrum
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” —Hemingway
Solitude—whether alone on the road in a car, train, motel room, or a forest trail, or even secluded and tucked away in your home, whether it’s a welcomed moment of peacefulness or a lonely state of despair—times of solitude shape us, recharge us, and break us down to our essence. Sometimes we choose to step away from the world. Sometimes the world breaks us and casts us aside. In those moments alone, if we make the choice to continue and create, true artists are born. We cross a border we cannot uncross and heal through our words, finding ourselves—and sometimes finding new selves in the process. As Hemingway said, sometimes we’re strong in those broken places, and sometimes we’re not. Sometimes that jagged broken part affects us forever afterward.
Amazon's Naggar tells publishers to slash e-book prices
thebookseller.com – Tuesday September 5, 2017
Amazon’s publishing chief David Naggar has said publishers should slash their e-book prices to 99p to sell more books. However, publishers have retorted that this move would be “economically unwise” and would damage the whole book supply chain.
Countdown to Wigtown Book Festival
firstwriter.com – Tuesday September 5, 2017
The Wigtown Book Festival is upon us later this month (22 Sept to 1 Oct 2017).
This year's programme contains a host of literary goodies - from Andrew O'Hagan, Bella Bathurst, Iain Sinclair and Andrew Greig (all Sat 23 Sept) to the award-winning Kapka Kassabova (Sun 1 Oct), Dame Denise Mina (Sept 30), Chris Brookmyre (25 Sept) and former Guardian foreign editor Charlie English's acclaimed The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu (Sat 30 Sept) .
The BFG, Skellig, Aubrey ... children’s books boom
theguardian.com – Sunday September 3, 2017
Once upon a time, nine-year-old bookworms used to curl up with Little Women, or burrow under the bedclothes with a torch to read Swallows and Amazons after hours. Childhood reading was an idyll in a walled garden and books forever shaped the landscape of our minds.
DHH Literary Agency to hold second pitching round
thebookseller.com – Saturday September 2, 2017
DHH Literary Agency is holding its second round of pitching sessions for unrepresented writers in November.
With a view to finding new clients, and following its first successful session held in April this year, five agents will be available for a 10-minute slot for an individual writers to pitch their story and receive "honest and valuable" feedback. The pitch sessions will run from 4pm to 7pm on Monday 27th November at Browns on St. Martins Lane in central London.
Akbar to edit online literary magazine for Unbound
thebookseller.com – Friday September 1, 2017
Unbound is launching an editorially-independent online literary magazine dedicated to long-form writing, edited by former Independent literary editor Arifa Akbar, and titled Boundless.
Created in part to counter the diminishing space in traditional media, the magazine will launch this autumn as part of the Unbound website and will focus on "long, well-written pieces" (2,000 to 3,000 words) by authors and critics, covering a broad range of subjects.
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