UK publishers’ ebook sales fall
booksandpublishing.com.au – Thursday February 9, 2023
In the UK, sales of ebooks from the ‘Big Six’ publishers fell 8.3% in 2022, reports the Bookseller.
The publishers’ ebook volume to 43.6 million units in 2022, the lowest return since 2017 and the second-lowest total since the Bookseller began collecting annual ebook data from publishers.
Hachette Children’s Group to host Mo Siewcharran Prize 2023 with focus on picture books
thebookseller.com – Thursday February 9, 2023
This year’s iteration of the Mo Siewcharran Prize will be hosted by Hachette Children’s Group (HCG) and focus exclusively on writers and writer-illustrators in the picture book genre.
The Mo Siewcharran Prize, named in memory of Nielsen BookData’s former director of marketing and communications, was co-founded and sponsored by her husband John Seaton and aims to nurture talent from underrepresented backgrounds writing in English.
Sponsored by Nielsen BookData it is run as part of Hachette UK’s The Future Bookshelf scheme and is hosted by different divisions of the publisher each year. Last year it was hosted by Quercus and focused on the crime and thriller genre. Foday Mannah won for The Search for Othella Savage.
New Publisher Listing: Cranthorpe Millner Publishers
firstwriter.com – Wednesday February 8, 2023
An independent publisher based in Cambridge. Releases 20-40 titles per year. Operates a hybrid publishing model offering different kinds of agreements depending on the author and the manuscript. Some authors are offered a ‘traditional’ model, whereby the publisher covers the full cost of publication and the author is offered royalties (8-10%). Some authors are offered a partnership or contributory agreement, whereby the author is asked for a financial contribution. In this case, the author receives around 60-75% royalties.
Mysteries Contained Therein: In Praise of the Literary Journal Longform Interview
lithub.com – Sunday February 5, 2023
“I’ve never consciously strategized about how to make a sentence, let alone a poem. But I can see, even in the earliest poems, that my way of making a sentence involves enacting the push and pull of my interior life, a way of approaching a statement while also making room for its opposite.” In the year since the poet Carl Phillips wrote those lines in our conversation for Image, I’ve lingered over their sound and sense. Their wisdom. How we might discover ourselves through syntax.
No literary action is more instructive for me than the longform interview. At Image, we feature one interview per issue: an anchor for the surrounding words and art. I’ve long admired Phillips as a poet, but after our conversation I more fully appreciated his method. Interviews partially reveal the mysteries of process and vision. Literary magazines—spaces where craft and contemplation reside—are the perfect homes for these conversations.
7 Newsletters That Will Improve Your Writing
electricliterature.com – Saturday February 4, 2023
The resurgence of the email newsletter over the past couple of years is great news for writers. So much of our work requires probing our deepest thoughts in isolation, biting our cuticles, staring at cracked paint on the walls. Whether online or IRL, sharing insights and developing community is essential for survival. Subscribing to newsletters by writers, for writers is a way of staying in conversation with peers. Email newsletters can offer emotional support, tips and exercises for improving craft, and resources for getting published that might otherwise be inaccessible, especially to writers beginning their careers. Some even promote community-building by establishing writing challenges and providing platforms for writers to discuss their experiences. The seven newsletters below offer the best of craft and publishing advice, writing prompts, pitch calls, and encouragement and commiseration about the writing life.
What Is Tone in Writing (& Why Is It Important)?
thescriptlab.com – Thursday February 2, 2023
When it comes to learning about the many dynamics of screenwriting, including the key aspect of tone in writing, screenwriters are tasked with reading about the endless go-to elements of screenplays. Some of these elements include structure, conflict, genre, theme, and characterization. Books, workshops, classes, tutorials, and panels focus solely on these vital elements of screenwriting — and rightfully so. However, very little attention is paid to perhaps the most essential ingredient found within all screenplays and their eventual adaptations into movies — tone.
In cinema, the definition of tone is a mystery to most — lost in translation. People debate the difference between tone and mood in relation to the cause-and-effect elements of a screenplay. The atmosphere also plays a role in this discussion.
Let’s simplify the definition of cinematic tone, explain why tone is important, and learn how the tone of a screenplay and movie affects its cause and effect.
Bournemouth Writing Festival
dorsetview.co.uk – Wednesday February 1, 2023
Bournemouth is gearing up for its first Writing Festival in April with over 60 events and activities.
A mix of free and paid-for events and activities at Bournemouth Writing Festival will involve over 70 experienced writers and professionals from TV and film screenwriters to poets and writing coaches.
From creating credible characters to publishing contracts, writing compelling dialogue to landing an agent, there is something for every budding and seasoned writer to learn.
TV and film screenwriters, best-selling authors, poets, journalists, publicists, writing coaches, editors and publishers will be imparting their advice through talks and practical workshops to improve and progress delegates’ writing.
Free activities include “Writing on the Beach” with Richard & Judy winner Christine Aziz to a Poetry Hunt organised by Bournemouth Poet Laureate Myriam San Marco. There will be literary walks plus “genre breakfasts”.
Woke publishers don’t stand a chance against Jane Austen
telegraph.co.uk – Friday January 27, 2023
This week, during an insomniac night, I was yet again re-reading Persuasion – no one else soothes quite like Jane Austen. Delighting in its colourful characters and gentle humour, I paused when in the final pages I came across two references to property held in the West Indies. How is it this beloved book has escaped the cancel mob, I thought, given that the fictional Mr Smith can be associated with a plantation?
Cork book publisher Oak Tree acquired by international firm
irishexaminer.com – Thursday January 26, 2023
Cork-based business book publisher, Oak Tree Press has been acquired by international publisher.
Active in both Belgium and Switzerland, Oak Tree's parent company, Cork Publishing Ltd has joined the Corporate Group, which now operates across three countries and five languages. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
The international publisher's catalogue extends to over 500 titles, the majority of which cover entrepreneurial domains including economics tax, law, contracts and business, while also offering accountancy and investment management software.
Pan Macmillans’s Cole to join Northbank Talent Management as literary agent
thebookseller.com – Thursday January 26, 2023
Matthew Cole, senior commissioning editor at Pan Macmillan, will join Northbank Talent Management on 20th March as literary agent.
In his new role Cole will assume responsibility for the agency’s non-fiction representation across current affairs, popular science, popular history, memoir and lifestyle books, working in close collaboration with the agency’s broadcast, corporate and brand partnerships agents.
Northbank c.e.o. Diane Banks said: “Matt has an impeccable track record commissioning titles which align perfectly with Northbank’s areas of expertise. He is a natural deal-maker and we are impressed with his entrepreneurial attitude, which makes him the ideal person to take our non-fiction business forward as the agency continues to grow.”
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