Winners of the Fourteenth International Poetry Competition announced
firstwriter.com – Thursday January 21, 2016
firstwriter.com is pleased to announce the winner and special commendations in its Fourteenth International Poetry Competition, which closed on November 1, 2015.
Submit for the next issue of Phenomenal Literature
firstwriter.com – Sunday January 17, 2016
The new issue of Verbal Art has been released and you can find its details on its website: www.verbalart.in. Now the editors are looking for material for the next issue of Phenomenal Literature. The submission guidelines can be found at http://phenomenalliterature.com/submission.php. The last date for submission is 31 January 2016 and the next issue will come out by 31 March 2016.
Self-Publishing Preview: 2016
publishersweekly.com – Saturday January 16, 2016
In 2015, self-publishing saw a number of high-profile success stories. Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Redemption became the first novel by an indie author to find shelf space at Walmart, and Andy Weir’s The Martian, originally self-published, was released as a major motion picture starring Matt Damon. Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake received major traditional media coverage and was reviewed in the New York Times (albeit after it was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2014 and picked up by Graywolf Press), and such writers as Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward, Deborah Bladon, and Tijan saw their indie books reach the New York Times digital bestseller list. Crowdfunding also continued to be a popular platform, with dozens of publishing projects successfully funded on Kickstarter, covering everything from teaching programming to kids to a Lil Bub picture book.

Fiction and poetry submissions invited for new issue of magazine
firstwriter.com – Thursday January 14, 2016

firstwriter.com has just announced the launch of the latest issue of its long-running literary journal, firstwriter.magazine.
firstwriter.magazine has been published twice a year since 2002, making it probably one of the longest-running online journals on the internet. This 28th issue features the usual mix of quality fiction and poetry from around the world, plus the first chance to see not just the winning story from the Eleventh International Short Story Contest, but also all ten Special Commendations. You can view the magazine by clicking here. If you'd like to enter your work in the Twelfth International Short Story Contest, click here.

National Centre for Writing project in Norwich granted £900,000
theguardian.com – Friday January 8, 2016

Backed by major writers including JM Coetzee, Margaret Atwood and Anthony Horowitz, plans to open the National Centre for Writing, in Norwich – a first in the UK – have moved closer to fruition after the project was awarded a grant of almost £1m. The project is being organised by the Writers’ Centre Norwich, a literature development agency.

Philip Pullman: professional writers set to become 'an endangered species'
theguardian.com – Thursday January 7, 2016

His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman is heading a new charge from writers demanding to be rewarded fairly for their work, as the Society of Authors warns that unless “serious” changes are made by publishers, the professional author “will become an endangered species”.

Michael Hamilburg, Hollywood Literary Agent, Dies at 82
hollywoodreporter.com – Thursday January 7, 2016

Michael Hamilburg, a veteran literary agent and producer, died Jan. 1 of complications from Parkinson’s disease at his home in Los Angeles, his wife, Susan, said. He was 82.
His father founded the Mitchell J. Hamilburg Agency with clients that including Gene Autry, Deanna Durbin and Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo).

XpoNorth invites writers in Scotland to pitch their work over Twitter
list.co.uk – Tuesday January 5, 2016

Tomorrow (or more specifically, Wed 6 Jan 2016), a host of literary agents and publishers will be scouring Twitter in the hopes of finding the next big literary thing.

2016: Crunch time for publishing, its writers and their readers
thebookseller.com – Tuesday January 5, 2016

Dated today, 5th January, the Authors Guild's open letter to the Association of American Publishers leads the loudest call yet for contract reform in publishing's relations with authors.

New writing award announced to honour Sir Terence Rattigan
whatsonstage.com – Monday January 4, 2016

The Terence Rattigan Society have announced a new writing award with monetary prizes and a professional production of the winning play on offer.
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