Writers' Newsletter
Issue #262
January 2025
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News |
Some of this month's news for writers from around the web.
Bournemouth Writing Festival announces 2025 line-up
buzz.bournemouth.ac.uk – Friday January 17, 2025
Bournemouth Writing Festival have announced their line-up for this year’s festival.
The festival takes place from 25th-27th April 2025 at a range of venues in the area.
It features a range of free and ticketed events, aims to inspire writers to write with practical and hands-on events, workshops, talks, writing activities and networking opportunities.
The three-day festival is a carefully curated selection of self-published, published and writing professionals who share their knowledge and advice to writers of all ages and experience levels.
Amongst the professionals attending, there are best-selling authors like Alex Stone (The Good Patient), BAFTA award-winning playwright and screenwriter John Foster (Emmerdale) and creative collaborator and Curator for Wilkswood Reggae Festival, poet Kim West.
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Government backs new centre for writing in the North East
new.newcastle.gov.uk – Friday January 17, 2025
The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) has awarded £5m of its Cultural Development Fund to help create a new centre for writing and publishing in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The centre will develop the next generation of northern writers, become a hub for the publishing industry in the North and be a place where residents of the region can discover their writing potential.
The campaign for the new centre was led by the charity New Writing North, and Northumbria University, backed by local government and the North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, with support from publishers including Hachette UK, Faber & Faber, and Simon & Schuster.
The new centre for writing will host programmes, courses, and events for professional and aspiring writers, for those who write purely for the love of it and for those who want to try creative writing for the first time. New Writing North has developed talented writers for nearly 30 years with enormous success. Early recipient of New Writing North support was Gateshead-born writer Peter Straughan who won the 2025 Golden Globe for best screenplay for Conclave.
The centre for writing will provide the opportunity for New Writing North to extend programmes that give people of all ages and from all backgrounds the opportunity to discover their writing potential. It will enable talented writers from the North to fulfil their potential and develop the skills, experience and connections needed to help them break into the publishing, TV, and film industries.
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Three Indicted and Internet Domain Seized in $44 Million Nationwide Book Publishing Scam Targeting Elderly Authors
justice.gov – Thursday January 16, 2025
A federal grand jury has charged three people with defrauding elderly authors across the United States of almost $44 million by convincing the victims that publishers and filmmakers wanted to turn their books into blockbusters — but only if they paid some fees first.
According to the indictment, Gemma Traya Austin of Chula Vista was the organizer and registered agent for PageTurner, Press and Media LLC (“PageTurner”), a Chula Vista company that claimed to be a book publishing business. Michael Cris Traya Sordilla and Bryan Navales Tarosa, both of the Philippines, were executives at Innocentrix Philippines, a business process outsourcing company.
The indictment alleges that between September 2017 and December 2024, the defendants used PageTurner to operate a book publishing scam in which the conspirators working for Innocentrix Philippines contacted individual authors through unsolicited calls and emails. As part of the scam, the conspirators falsely represented that PageTurner was a book publishing business that worked with literary agents, major motion picture studios, and popular video streaming services, and that PageTurner acted as a liaison between individuals who sought to publish their books or have their books turned into motion pictures or television series.
As part of the conspiracy, the scammers falsely told victims their works had been selected for acquisition by publishers or movie studios, and fraudulently convinced victims to send PageTurner payments for various services, including pre-payment of taxes and transaction fees, before the victim-author’s work could be published or optioned to studios.
According to statements made by prosecutors in court, the FBI identified more than 800 victims of the scheme who collectively lost more than $44 million.
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Writers' Handbook 2025 - Out Now!
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Listings |
A selection of the new listings added to firstwriter.com this month.
New Literary Agent Listing: Laura Heathfield
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 8, 2025
I am looking for commercial crime, thriller, suspense, book club, historical and romance fiction as well as select non-fiction. Above everything I want to be entertained. I’m looking for a book you can’t wait to talk to someone about, in the same way as a new film or the latest release on Netflix. A book that engrosses me from the first page to the last, desperate for someone I know to read so we can discuss as soon as possible. In non-fiction, I’m looking for an untold story or perspective or an unexplored area where you have expertise or real-life experience. As a reader of non-fiction, I want to be engaged in a relatable, accessible way. I am not looking for poetry, novellas, short story collections, screenplays, children’s or middle-grade books.
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New Publisher Listing: Loudhailer Books
firstwriter.com – Tuesday January 7, 2025
A publisher of quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
We are currently accepting submissions from authors, either directly or via a literary agent.
For fiction, we ask to see a synopsis and the first three chapters.
For non-fiction, please send a brief proposal including a synopsis, author profile and sample material.
Please send all submissions and enquiries by email.
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New Magazine Listing: Micromance Magazine
firstwriter.com – Monday January 6, 2025
A flash fiction lit mag dedicated to romance, love stories and romantic poetry. Publishes one story or poem a day on both the site and directly to the inbox of its nearly 400 subscribers. Receives 10,500 views a month and was just voted by readers and writers the 4th favorite flash fiction lit mag in Chill Subs' Community Favorites. Submissions are open year-round with special anthology calls throughout the year. Considers submissions of all writers regardless of experience level and is all inclusive.
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| Click here for more of this month's new listings > |
Articles |
Some of this month's articles for writers from around the web.
Publishers and Authors Wonder: Can Anything Replace BookTok?
nytimes.com – Friday January 17, 2025
With a ban looming, publishers are hoping to pivot to new platforms, but readers fear their community of book lovers will never be the same.
Two years ago, Jeneane O’Riley self-published her fantasy romance novel, “How Does it Feel?,” an enemies-to-lovers tale about a woman who meets a handsome, unhinged fairy prince. Without a publisher to help market her novel or get it into bookstores, she decided to promote it herself on TikTok.
Pretty soon, TikTok users started posting their own viral reactions to the book, and sales shot up. One post from a reader shocked by the novel’s plot twists got more than six million views. The book hit No. 1 on Amazon.
“That type of free marketing for a small, independent author is unheard-of,” said O’Riley, who later signed a deal with Bloom Books, a romance imprint at Sourcebooks.
Now, with a law banning TikTok in the United States set to take effect on Sunday, O’Riley and other authors are scrambling to keep their networks of fans intact. O’Riley, who has more than 52,000 followers on TikTok, has been urging people to find her on Instagram, Threads and Facebook. But she’s concerned that her close-knit TikTok audience will disperse.
How To Know If Your Idea Is a Novel or a Screenplay, and Why Thrillers Make Great TV
crimereads.com – Wednesday January 15, 2025
I’m a TV writer by profession, and when I’m not staffing a show, I develop TV series adaptations with the goal of selling one to a buyer. My favorite novel genres to adapt are mysteries and thrillers because I love suspenseful, propulsive storytelling and because thrillers make damn good TV.
TV shows demand action and surprises that compel a viewer to keep watching, and since suspense novels are built around twists, with chapters that end on cliffhangers, they lend well to adaptation. In the Age of Streaming, where thousands of TV shows across 400 networks compete for attention, it’s incredibly difficult for a series to gain traction, but a delicious thriller can quickly amass an audience.
If I spark to a novel, I develop my “take”—a 20-minute pitch on how I would adapt the book into an on-going series. When pitching a series, the most important question I need to answer is Why Now? A thriller novel with a strong hook and a juicy twist is great, but one that has something to say, that sparks discussion around a timely, compelling theme, is undeniable. Think Big Little Lies, with its examination of domestic violence among the elites, or Codename Villanelle (the source material for Killing Eve), with its rare depiction of female obsession.
What's next for kids' books
thebookseller.com – Sunday January 12, 2025
As we look ahead into 2025, the ongoing realities of global instability and economic uncertainty are not going away any time soon. Adaptation will be essential as we navigate these persistent issues, demanding resilience and innovative solutions from individuals and communities alike.
In the creative realm, we are witnessing a significant shift toward authenticity. There is an increasing desire among audiences to trust the true identities of those who created the work – writers, artists, illustrators and actors.
In a time where digital imagery and AI often raise questions such as: is that real, did it actually happen or is it fake? The importance of knowing the voices behind the work becomes paramount. As a result, we can anticipate a celebration of transparency and trust in creative expression. What that means is a striving towards building an artist’s name, audience and credibility to own the copyright so they can be recognised as the original creator of their work across all platforms.
In today’s screen-filled world, we are not just selling books, we are promoting the act of reading itself. We advocate for its transformative power in shaping young minds, fostering empathy and enhancing mental health. This is a responsibility we cannot take lightly. It is one that requires all the creativity and collaboration between agents and publishers to create new formats with retailers who are confident in how to sell these non-traditional formats.
We need to get bold. We need to push the boundaries of what a book can be. Here is how I think this might look in the year to come.
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