Bards beware: Fiction-writing AI demanding spot at table of content
japantimes.co.jp – Sunday June 19, 2016
It was a dark, overcast day, with clouds hovering low.
The room was kept at the most appropriate temperatures and humidity, as usual. Yoko sat on a couch in an untidy manner, killing time with a silly game. But she would not talk to me.
I’m bored. I could not be bored more . . .
So begins a short story titled “A day when a computer writes fiction.” The story, in which boredom prods a computer into writing a novel, was created with the help of artificial intelligence.
Poems still sought for Welcome to Leicester
firstwriter.com – Friday June 17, 2016
Poems are sought for the Welcome to Leicester anthology. The deadline for submissions of poems on the theme of messages or stories about the city of Leicester is July 15, 2016.
Submissions can be made by email to poetry@leicesterwrites.co.uk or by post. Only previously published poems can be accepted.
Female-focused new writing company the Coterie launches
thestage.co.uk – Thursday June 16, 2016
A new theatre company with a focus on nurturing female playwrights has been launched.
Created by director Caitlin McLeod, the Coterie will initially focus on commissioning three new plays by women over a period of a year and a half, to allow time for the scripts to be fully developed.
UTA Hires TV Lit Agent Rina Brannen
deadline.com – Saturday June 11, 2016
Brannen comes from the Rothman Brecher Agency, where she was an agent in the TV lit department for the past three years. She began her career as an assistant in the Motion Picture Literary department at CAA then went on to work for various producers and filmmakers before joining the Gersh Agency, where she worked as agent for two years.
National Poetry Anthology seeks submissions
firstwriter.com – Monday June 6, 2016
The National Poetry Anthology is seeking submissions of poetry from across the UK by June 30, 2016.
Entry is free and over 100 winners will be selected this year. Each will receive a free copy of the book. One overall winner also gets £1,000 and a trophy to keep for life.
Could Publishers and Agents Agree on a Flat Royalty Rate?
publishersweekly.com – Saturday June 4, 2016
Since e-books became a crucial source of revenue for publishers six years ago, the royalty rate on the format has been an ongoing bone of contention between authors (and their agents) and publishers. While authors and agents have stood firm on their position that the standard rate of 25% (which refers to the percentage of net profits authors receive on e-books sold) must change, publishers haven’t budged. Could a flat royalty system, in which one rate is used across formats, be a solution? Though some industry members believe a single rate could simplify a complicated royalty structure, agents said the move wouldn’t address the real problem: authors being shortchanged on the profits from their e-books.
How a High School Student Wrote and Published a Book at Age 16
huffingtonpost.com – Friday June 3, 2016
Deep Patel wrote and published a business book called A Paperboy’s Fable at age 16.
He reached out to me a year ago to provide him with a blurb for his book. After reading this inspirational allegory about achieving success through creativity and hard work, which includes interviews with such luminaries as General David Petreaus and many CEOs and entrepreneurs, I was happy to help out the young author in any way that I could.
Inpress seeks to reassure poetry publishers on PBS
thebookseller.com – Friday June 3, 2016
Inpress has insisted the services offered by the Poetry Book Society are "very much alive" following the corporate entity's move into liquidation, and that Inpress will be "powering up rather than winding down its activities".
Yesterday (3rd June) PBS announced it had gone into liquidation, and that its book club and the prestigious T S Eliot Prize would be transferred to Inpress and the T S Eliot Foundation respectively.
Literary Agents Database upgraded
firstwriter.com – Friday June 3, 2016
Following the upgrades to the Magazines Database and Publishers Database in April and May, this month the Literary Agents database has now also been upgraded.
The new-look Literary Agents Database features the same enhancements to the search, navigation, and listings as was introduced for the Magazines and Publishers Databases, making finding the right literary agent for your work easier than ever.
For full details of all the new features, see the news item on the launch of the Magazines Database at https://www.firstwriter.com/news/?New-Magazines-Database-launched&GUID=584
To try out the new database yourself (anyone can try it out – you don't need to be a subscriber), go to https://www.firstwriter.com/Agents/
First-time author bags $1 million deal to write true story about his adopted dog and its fatal tumour
telegraph.co.uk – Wednesday June 1, 2016
A first-time author has landed a $1million (£691,371) book deal for his true story about Lily, an adopted dachshund who died of cancer.
Steven Rowley's book Lily and the Octopus was written in just one hundred days, and it was acquired by Simon and Schuster after 48 hours of negotiation.
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