Steve Atkinson: HighTide started on a wave of changes in new writing
whatsonstage.com – Tuesday September 13, 2016
HighTide turns ten this year and the UK's premier new writing festival could not be in better shape. Since beginning in the small market town of Halesworth in Suffolk, they've championed the likes of Adam Brace, Sam Holcroft, Joel Horwood and Nick Payne, often staging debuts from those writers well before theatres like the National, Almeida and the Royal Court pick them up. As co-founder of the festival, director Steve Atkinson has been instrumental in pushing the festival artistically so it now stands as one of the most important new writing events in the UK calendar. Now, after they open at the festival's home of Aldeburgh, HighTide plays tour up and down the country, bringing bright, dynamic theatre voices to the rest of the world.
Man Booker shortlist 2016: tiny Scottish imprint sees off publishing giants
theguardian.com – Tuesday September 13, 2016
Scottish writer Graeme Macrae Burnet’s story of murder in a 19th-century crofting community has beaten novels by some of literature’s biggest names to make the shortlist for the Man Booker prize, a list that judges said “showed courage and a willingness to take risks”.
From Zero to Hero: the next generation of passionate publishers
thebookseller.com – Tuesday September 6, 2016
So it's back to school this week, and as relieved parents return to their desks, there will undoubtedly be some speculation about whether the complex summer holiday juggling might be made just a bit easier by running your own business. While flexibility might be one reason often cited for setting up a new business on your own, there are clearly many more complex motivations for making the leap. Some of the most exciting new publishing ventures to launch in recent years have had very varied motivations for getting started, but there are certainly some themes emerging across this next generation of publishers.
A Rough Six Months for Big Book Publishers
publishersweekly.com – Saturday September 3, 2016
The trade publishing segment has been operating in a low-growth environment for several years, and that trend appears to have continued into 2016. Financial reports for the first half of 2016 from five major publishers showed that none of the companies had a sales increase in the first half of the year; HarperCollins had the best top-line performance, with only a minor sales decline compared to the first six months of 2015. Earnings fell at three publishers in the period and rose at two. Though sales of print books have stabilized, all five reporting publishers said sales of e-books fell in the first six months of 2016 compared to the January–June 2015 period.
Pay-back time for publishers: authors forced to return their advances
theguardian.com – Friday September 2, 2016
Though he’s fallen out spectacularly with his publisher, Seth Grahame-Smith at least has the consolation of joining a stellar club of writers whose deals for much-anticipated books were terminated. It emerged this week that Grahame-Smith, the man behind Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is being sued in the United States for breach of contract by Hachette, which wants half his $1m advance for a two-book deal returned. Hachette claims the second book’s typescript was eventually submitted “34 months” late, and was too short and substandard, “in large part an appropriation of a 120-year-old public domain work” (unnamed, but presumably 1897’s Dracula).
Unwin goes solo with 'dream' independent agency
thebookseller.com – Wednesday August 31, 2016
Jo Unwin is embarking on her “dream” of owning a fully-independent literary agency after nearly three years of working in association with Rogers, Coleridge and White (RCW).
The Jo Unwin Literary Agency Ltd (JULA) will be based in new offices in London’s Somerset House and she will continue to represent her roster of debut and bestselling authors including Kit de Waal, Nina Stibbe, Cathy Rentzenbrink, Richard Ayoade and Jenny Colgan, while looking to expand her list.
Feds Target "Predatory" Publishers
insidehighered.com – Monday August 29, 2016
The Federal Trade Commission on Friday filed a complaint against the academic journal publisher OMICS Group and two of its subsidiaries, saying the publisher deceives scholars and misrepresents the editorial rigor of its journals.
Why Indie Agency RWSG Sold to WME: "It Felt Like a Crossroads"
hollywoodreporter.com – Friday August 26, 2016
When literary agency Rabineau Wachter Sanford & Gillett agreed to be acquired by WME, the decision represented a recognition that in a changing market, an independent books-to-film firm — even one as respected as RWSG — might not have the resources needed to thrive.
New edition of Writers' Handbook
firstwriter.com – Thursday August 25, 2016
The 2017 edition of firstwriter.com’s bestselling directory for writers has just been launched, and makes the perfect book for anyone searching for literary agents, book publishers, or magazines. It contains over 1,300 listings, including revised and updated listings from the 2016 edition, and over 500 brand new entries.
The Ends of the World: a call for submissions
firstwriter.com – Thursday August 25, 2016
" ‘We live in a time of social, economic and ecological unravelling,’ we wrote seven years ago in the Dark Mountain manifesto. ‘All around us are signs that our whole way of living is already passing into history.’ When we wrote those words they were, to many, highly debatable. They seem less debatable today. The world is changing faster than ever, and a sense of powerlessness is spreading. All over the world now, it seems, people are turning their minds to the big question: what happens now?"
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