Writers' Newsletter
Issue #269
August 2025
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Writers' Handbook 2026 now available to buy
firstwriter.com – Sunday August 17, 2025
The 2026 edition of firstwriter.com’s annual directory for writers has just been released, and is now available to buy both as a paperbook and an ebook.
The directory is the perfect book for anyone searching for literary agents, book publishers, or magazines. It contains over 1,400 listings, including revised and updated listings from the 2025 edition, and over 200 brand new entries.
Finding the information you need is now quicker and easier than ever before, with multiple tables and a detailed index, and unique paragraph numbers to help you get to the listings you’re looking for.
The variety of tables helps you navigate the listings in different ways, and includes a Table of Authors, which lists over 5,000 authors and tells you who represents them, or who publishes them, or both.
The number of genres in the index has expanded to over 950. So, for example, while there was only one option for “Romance” in previous editions, you can now narrow this down to Historical Romance, Fantasy Romance, Supernatural / Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Romance, Diverse Romance, Erotic Romance, Feminist Romance, Christian Romance, or even Amish Romance.
The new edition includes:
- Over 600 literary agents and agencies;
- Over 350 magazines; and
- Over 400 publishers that don’t charge fees.
International markets become more accessible than ever, with listings that cover both the main publishing centres of New York and London, as well as markets in other English-speaking countries. With more and more agents, publishers, and magazines accepting submissions online, this international outlook is now more important than ever.
There are no adverts, no advertorials, and no obscure listings padding out hundreds of pages. By including only what’s important to writers – contact details for literary agents, publishers, and magazines – this directory is able to provide more listings than its competitors, at a lower price.
The book also allows you to create a subscription to the firstwriter.com website for free until 2027. This means you can get free access to the firstwriter.com website, where you can find even more listings, and also benefit from other features such as advanced searches, daily email updates, feedback from users about the markets featured, saved searches, competitions listings, searchable personal notes, and more.
“I know firsthand how lonely and dispiriting trying to find an agent and publisher can be. So it's great to find a resource like firstwriter.com that provides contacts, advice and encouragement to aspiring writers. I've been recommending it for years now!”
~ Robin Wade; literary agent at the Wade & Doherty Literary Agency Ltd, and long-term firstwriter.com subscriber
The print and ebook versions are both available to buy now at https://www.jpandadyson.com/books/writers_handbook.php.
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News |
Some of this month's news for writers from around the web.
IBPA Opens Submissions for 38th Annual IBPA Book Awards
authorlink.com – Saturday August 16, 2025
The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) is now accepting submissions for its 38th annual IBPA Book Award program, a premier competition celebrating excellence in independent publishing. Authors and publishers with books released in 2025 are encouraged to enter for a chance to be recognized as a winner.
The IBPA Book Awards are designed to honor the diverse and vibrant voices within the independent publishing community. With 60 unique categories, the program ensures that every book, regardless of its niche or audience, has an opportunity to be celebrated. Categories span a wide range of genres and topics, including politics, history, parenting, cookbooks, sports, animals, fiction, and children’s books.
In a move to further champion community-centered publishing, the IBPA has introduced several new categories this year. These additions are intended to highlight works from and for AAPI Communities, Black/African American Communities, Disabled Communities, First Nations/Indigenous Communities, Latina/o/e Communities, LGBTQIA2+ Communities, and Neurodivergent Communities.
“Indie publishers serve diverse audiences and niche communities—not just the mainstream—and we celebrate that by offering unique categories to ensure every book has a chance to shine,” a statement from the IBPA noted. “Whether your title speaks to a specific cultural experience or a specialized subject, there’s a category that fits.”
A key feature of the IBPA Book Award program is the constructive feedback provided to every entrant. Participants will receive the actual judging forms, offering valuable insights on their submissions.
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North East authors join forces at book festival
bbc.co.uk – Friday August 15, 2025
A book festival's return will bring together different generations of North East writers, its organisers say.
Durham Book Festival will take place between 10 and 12 October, hosting Dame Pat Barker, Steph McGovern, Eliza Clark and Ann Cleeves, whose books have been adapted into TV shows Vera and Shetland.
Former White House national security adviser Fiona Hill, who was born in Bishop Auckland, will also launch a podcast series as part of a festival commission.
"It feels very strong in terms of Northern voices this year, which is exciting," festival director Rebecca Wilkie said.
Ms Wilkie said the line-up featured several generations of authors.
"It feels wonderful to bring them together and it's hopefully reflected in the audiences that come along to the events," she said.
"I hope that it's inspirational for emerging writers or people that would like to be writers."
Author Eliza Clark, from Newcastle, said the line-up was "an amazing demonstration of the quality of writing talent" in the region.
"It's a privilege to be featured alongside some of the UK's most iconic writers," she added.
Writers' Handbook 2027 - Out Now!
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Bronte Festival of Women's Writing announces line-up
greatbritishlife.co.uk – Wednesday August 6, 2025
THE director of the new Wuthering Heights film, starring Margot Robbie, will be a guest at this year’s Bronte Women’s Writing Festival.
Taking place in Haworth, the festival will celebrate novelists and the North, with a focus on Bradford, in its year as UK City of Culture, as the home of the Brontes.
Actor, writer and film-maker Emerald Fennell, who wrote and directed cult hit Saltburn, will discuss her much-anticipated big screen version of Wuthering Heights, filmed in the Yorkshire Dales this year and set for release early 2026.
Other guests include best-selling author Tracy Chevalier, who wrote Girl with a Pearl Earring, and Australian author and TV presenter Holly Ringland, reflecting on how their writing has been shaped by the Brontes’ legacy.
This year’s festival theme is Writers From and Based in the North, with a focus on stories shaped by northern landscapes and the influences of the Bronte sisters, and showcasing new work from northern publishers.
| Click here for the rest of this month's news > |
Listings |
A selection of the new listings added to firstwriter.com this month.
New Magazine Listing: Crow & Cross Keys
firstwriter.com – Tuesday July 29, 2025
We are looking for beautifully written poetry, flash fiction and short stories with a speculative edge. In the tradition of oral folk tales, we want work that sounds as good when read aloud as it reads on the page. Send us writing that sings. We love the gothic, weird fiction, horror, folk and fairy tales. We love speculative fiction. We love literary fiction that feels speculative.
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New Publisher Listing: Rymour Books
firstwriter.com – Friday July 25, 2025
Independent publisher publishing books from Scottish authors or of Scottish interest. Send proposals by email.
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New Literary Agency Listing: Featherstone Cairns
firstwriter.com – Tuesday August 5, 2025
Welcomes submissions. We mainly represent adult nonfiction, and we occasionally represent fiction and children’s. We are always looking for dynamic new voices and original ideas.
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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.
Censorship from the other side of the aisle: New book considers publishing trends
as.cornell.edu – Wednesday August 13, 2025
As a new doctoral student at Cornell, Adam Szetela Ph.D. ’25 noticed an interesting trend in the book publishing world. Rather than criticism from people on the cultural right about the morals —or lack thereof — in current titles, authors and publishers were being slammed by folks on the cultural left, who were attacking books as racist or sexist, or questioning an author’s sensitivity.
“A lot of this is coming from a place of good faith,” Szetela said about the trend, which he writes about in “That Book Is Dangerous! How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing,” published Aug. 12 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press and distributed by Penguin Random House. “But while the right is remaking the world in its image, the left is standing in a circular firing squad.”
Szetela said this new version of self-censorship is fueled by the vast reach of social media today.
Death of a publishing dream: how the Unbound revolution became untethered
observer.co.uk – Sunday August 10, 2025
The literary disrupters enjoyed great success with their crowdfunding model, signing authors that other publishers overlooked. And then the money ran out…
The revolution started in a small writer’s shed in 2011, amid the deck chairs, tents and bunting of the Hay festival, the highlight of the literary calendar. The talk was of shooting a rocket through the world of publishing.
Three friends – John Mitchinson, Justin Pollard and Dan Kieran – were launching a new company, one that they hoped would “democratise the book commissioning process”, with authors pitching their ideas directly to readers, who would choose whether or not to invest. Writers would crowdfund and profits would be split 50:50 between publisher and author – far more generous terms than the 10% royalties usually offered by others.
It would be author-led, author-first, the founders said. It would be a way for books that would otherwise be passed over by the old-school editors in traditional publishing houses to find their audience, and fly.
I’m a best-selling children’s author – this is how to write a good book for kids
inews.co.uk – Saturday August 9, 2025
When I meet someone new, the conversation often goes like this: “What do you do?” “I’m a children’s book writer.” “Oh, I have a great idea for a book… a toaster who wants to be a pop star!”
But despite what people think, it’s surprisingly difficult to write a good picture book. With a standard length of just 32 pages and around 1,000 words to play with, you must weave a satisfying story that is concise, engaging and entertaining enough for an audience who are forever tempted by one more episode of Bluey. How do you write a story that will stand out on a crowded bookshelf? Where do you even start?
My journey into children’s book writing was slightly accidental. When I graduated, I just knew I wanted to do “something creative”. Luckily, a supportive friend weighed in with a suggestion, presumably inspired by watching me spend the past three years knitting, painting and learning the ukulele rather than going to English lectures. “You’re basically a child – have you considered children’s book publishing?”
| Click here for the rest of this month's articles > |
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