Writing Fantasy course launched taught by author Lucy Holland
scifinow.co.uk – Monday August 19, 2024
Calling all aspiring fantasy authors! Curtis Brown Creative (CBC) has opened its new online Writing Fantasy course for applications. Across nine weeks, fifteen students will learn from tutor Lucy Holland (pictured above) during lively Zoom teaching sessions, workshops and one-to-one tutorials.
“I’m thrilled to be working with Curtis Brown Creative to take writers deeper into the core elements of the genre,” said Lucy Holland. “We’ll be looking at worldbuilding on a character level, as well as ways in which fantasy can challenge us to write outside our direct experience. I’m also excited to cover popular subgenres like myth retellings & romantasy, and how to harness tropes to tell a compelling story.”
Students will also attend a special Zoom masterclass with Eliza Chan, author of the number one Sunday Times bestseller Fathomfolk, and her C&W literary agent Alexander Cochran.
New Literary Agent Listing: Salma Begum
firstwriter.com – Monday August 19, 2024
Seeking confident, immersive, ambitious, narrative-driven writing. She works under the tenet that quality need not be to the sacrifice of commercial success. Her submission wishlist includes a sweeping love story set against a gritty urban backdrop; ingenious tales of time travel; and a masterfully crafted multi-generational epic. In non-fiction, she is looking for subject experts, journalists and memoirists who appreciate long-form literature and can breathe life into an idea, an event, a memory. Her non-fiction wishlist includes interrogations of social media use and its sometimes-devastating consequences as explored in the Netflix docudrama The Social Dilemma; captivating music writing such as Grime Kids by DJ Target and On Michael Jackson by Margo Jefferson; and ground-shifting journalism like Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. She has published the work of a number of prize-winning poets. As an agent, her preference is for the colloquial, rhythmic, or playful, written with the ambition of forming a cohesive collection. She is keen to work with spoken word poets who are looking to bring their work to the page.
Booker Prize-winning authors head to book festival
bbc.co.uk – Thursday August 15, 2024
Booker Prize-winning authors, local writers and international best-sellers are all on the line-up of a city's literary festival.
Durham Book Festival is set to return between 10 and 13 October with a host of famous names including Helen Fielding, Jodi Picoult and Rebecca F. Kuang, the author of Yellowface.
A series of workshops for aspiring writers will also be held across the weekend.
Elizabeth Scott, from Durham County Council, said the annual event underpinned the city's "commitment to writers, readers and audiences".
One of the festival's headline authors is Durham's own Pat Barker, who will be giving a dramatic reading of her new novel, The Voyage Home.
In 1995, Barker won the Booker Prize for her novel The Ghost Road. Her 1983 book Union Street also won the Fawcett Society's prize for fiction.
Rebecca Wilkie, Durham Book Festival director at New Writing North, said the event builds on a "remarkable legacy".
How to get published: Finding a literary agent for your novel
standard.co.uk – Thursday August 15, 2024
As an aspiring author, the journey to getting your book into print can seem like a daunting maze. But what if you had an insider's guide to navigating the publishing world and capturing the attention of a top-tier literary agent?
This unique masterclass with leading agent Juliet Mushens will demystify the process and reveal what it takes to make your submission stand out from the slush pile.
What will you learn?
In his comprehensive masterclass, you'll gain invaluable insights into how the publishing industry works and the role of a literary agent, including:
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Expert tips on editing your novel to make it submission-ready
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How to research and identify the best agents for your work
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What agents look for in submissions, from manuscripts to cover letters
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Crafting a killer pitch and blurb that hooks agents from the first line
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Practical pitching exercises, with opportunities for feedback
HarperCollins audio sales up 18%, overall sales up 6%
booksandpublishing.com.au – Tuesday August 13, 2024
HarperCollins parent company News Corp has announced its fourth quarter and annual results.
The company reported that its book publishing division saw sales rise 6% for the 2024 fiscal year to US$2.09 billion (A$3.18b), while EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) rose 61%, to US$269 million ($A409.48m). ‘The publisher had a particular strong fourth quarter, with sales soaring 15% and earnings skyrocketing 256%, marking [its] best fourth quarter since 2018,’ reported Publishers Weekly (PW).
How I wrote a book in 15 minutes a day
fastcompany.com – Monday August 12, 2024
The first time I tried to write a novel I was 23. I had all the time in the world. I was a full-time graduate student. I lived alone, I had no children, and it took me three years to finish a draft.
Five years later, I tried again. I was working full-time as a reporter and I lived with my boyfriend, but we had no kids. This time, it took me five years.
All that time, my technique, if you could call it that, was the same: set up my laptop at a coffee shop or a library or at my desk at home, and “write.” But, as New York Times best-selling author Meghan O’Rourke recently tweeted: “It’s really important to have at least three hours to write every day so you can spend the first two hours squirming and checking the internet and daydreaming before getting down to it.”
Touché. I thought I needed hours with nothing to do but write. But even with all those hours, I didn’t produce much. So I started applying for retreats and residencies, thinking maybe I needed long stretches—days, weeks—to do nothing but write.
I wrote three novels that way. Fits of progress followed by long lulls of nothing. And then I had a child.
Suddenly, there were no long stretches.
New horror publisher Black Crow Books to launch next year
thebookseller.com – Friday August 9, 2024
Black Crow Books, a new horror-dedicated publisher, is set to launch in 2025 with Jamie-Lee Nardone, director of Black Crow PR, and Matt Holland, founder of The Broken Binding, at the helm.
The new independent publisher will initially publish four books a year, including an anthology of "the very best" horror fiction of the year.
The other side of the business will focus on creating exclusive and limited editions of new and backlist titles and will launch a quarterly book box of horror fiction.
The Broken Binding bookshop to launch its own science fiction and fantasy publisher
thebookseller.com – Friday August 9, 2024
The Broken Binding, the independent online bookshop and special edition subscription box, is set to launch The Broken Binding Press in 2025.
The Broken Binding Press will be dedicated to science fiction and fantasy, focusing on "core" genre fiction including the latest works by Ryan Cahill and Richard Swan. The new publisher will work with Angry Robot who will support with sales and distribution.
"Angry Robot has built a strong relationship over the past few years with Matt and his team at The Broken Binding, and we are excited to support his plans to expand into publishing, with our parent company Watkins Media providing sales and distribution for his trade books", said Vicky Hartley, deputy managing director of Watkins Media. "We have always been impressed by Matt’s passion, creativity and ability to spot books and authors that the science fiction and fantasy community will love, and we can’t wait to help get this launch list out into the market."
New Publisher Listing: Compassiviste Publishing
firstwriter.com – Thursday August 8, 2024
Welcomes unsolicited full-length manuscripts and submissions to our quarterly anthology. We welcome writers at any stage of their career, and support authors from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds. Our work includes fiction and non-fiction books across a wide range of genres, covering important social, cultural and environmental topics aligned with our foundation’s charitable causes. We invest 100% of our net profits back into the charity.
#Merky Books opens submissions for fifth annual New Writers’ Prize
thebookseller.com – Tuesday August 6, 2024
Penguin Random House UK (PRH UK) and Stormzy’s #Merky Books imprint has opened submissions for the fifth annual New Writers’ Prize for "young, under-represented and unpublished writers" from the UK and ROI.
The prize is open to un-agented fiction writers between 18 and 35, whether they have a full manuscript or an idea to submit. According to the organisers, the team is looking for "the next Yomi Adegoke, R F Kuang and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah".
The winner of the competition will get a publishing contract with the imprint, and all shortlisted writers will be invited to #Merky Books’ Writers’ Camp, which includes writing workshops, panel talks, editorial one-to-ones and opportunities to meet the team.
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