New Publisher Listing: HopeRoad
firstwriter.com – Friday January 6, 2023
Promotes the best writing from and about Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, with themes of identity, cultural stereotyping, disability and injustices of particular interest.
New Literary Agent Listing: Dotti Irving
firstwriter.com – Friday January 6, 2023
Primarily interested in narrative non-fiction, in books that tell a story that rings true and speaks to a wider world.
Two Fine Crows Books
firstwriter.com – Thursday January 5, 2023
Publishes books of nature and spirit.
New Publisher Listing: CGI (Chartered Governance Institute) Publishing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 4, 2023
Practical governance books and media on business skills; boards; risk and compliance; company secretarial practice; governance; and study texts.
New Magazine Listing: Story Unlikely
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 4, 2023
Seeks short stories of all genres and styles - as long as it's a story, we'll consider it. We prefer shorter fiction, but will accept up to 10,000 word pieces. We are concerned only with the quality of the story (both by the author's ability to write clean prose and their ability to in how to tell a story), and not by their pedigree (or lack there of).
New Literary Agent Listing: Kara Grajkowski
firstwriter.com – Wednesday January 4, 2023
Looking for contemporary middle grade fiction; contemporary young adult fiction; and own voices.
Female-only Welsh publisher invites submissions from trans authors
telegraph.co.uk – Tuesday January 3, 2023
As part of a call for new writers, Honno says that the criteria for ‘women’ means ‘women or those who identify as women’
Trans and non-binary authors can submit work to a state-funded publisher intended for female writers, prompting concerns that it has “caved to ideology”.
Honno was established as an independent press in 1986 to promote writing by female authors in Wales, and receives government grant funding to continue its mission of exclusively putting out women’s literature.
However, the publisher has now issued a call for new writers that has invited those who “identify as women” to submit their work, stating that what it takes as the criteria for a woman will include people who are “non-binary and transgender”.
The open invitation has caused concern among authors who have worked with Honno, who fear the organisation has “caved to ideology” and removed a valued female-only service.
How to navigate the closed world of publishing
heraldscotland.com – Sunday January 1, 2023
Three hundred million self-published books are sold each year and as with any new booming industry there are people willing to help you navigate the once closed-off world of publishing.
The market is growing, $1.25 billion worth of self-published books are sold each year and the number of self-published books has increased 264% in the last five years.
I began my book writing process 17 months ago. I had no plan or concept of how my memoir would look, let alone the publishing process. I had an inkling that the world of publishing is complex and daunting – only slightly less arduous than the book editing process.
Four myths about writing
irishtimes.com – Saturday December 31, 2022
Rosemary Jenkinson challenges four preconceptions about the writing life
Writing is a serious job. Susan Sontag wrote, ‘I always begin with a great sense of dread and trepidation,’ and Nietzsche compared the decision to start writing to ‘leaping into a cold lake,’ but for me it’s like diving into a hot tub with champagne and a bevy of hot studs. I understand that some authors can be crippled by self-expectation, but writing is such a joy I sometimes wake up like a child on Christmas morning longing to unwrap my toys. While I take writing seriously, I can’t, however, take the writing world seriously. Nor should you. Byron hilariously punctured Wordsworth’s pomposity by calling him Turdsworth. Being tongue-in-cheek and laughing at the litterati is great for your mental health. It was Oscar Wilde who recognized the paradox by claiming that, ‘Some things are too important to be taken seriously.’ It’s all to the better if people don’t know whether you’re being serious or not. To quote Wilde again, ‘I usually say what I really think. A great mistake nowadays. It makes one so liable to be misunderstood.’
The best way to polish your writing? Read it aloud.
smileypete.com – Friday December 30, 2022
In 2009, the internet was blessed with a comment on 4chan’s video games board that can only be described as a monument to the importance of reading aloud: “Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?” Users shared their confusion across various platforms and eventually made it into a meme.
The advice that one should read their work aloud before sharing it with an audience borders on cliché, but it remains a crucial part of the writing process. Some prefer the authorial voice that echoes in their heads as they silently review their work in dulcet tones to the potentially awkward experience of hearing their voice fill the room and finding it unpracticed and less self-assured. While you may feel a little silly, the wealth of information gleaned from the physical act of reading aloud is worth the embarrassment.
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