New Publisher Listing: Guppy Books
firstwriter.com – Friday December 2, 2022
A small and independent publisher of children’s fiction. No nonfiction or picture books. No submissions from unagented or published authors.
More than 150 literary agents to stop submitting books to HarperCollins US in support of striking workers
thebookseller.com – Thursday December 1, 2022
More than 150 literary agents have signed an open letter pledging not to submit new projects to HarperCollins US in support of workers at the company who are on strike.
Negotiations between management and the union began in December 2021 and in October 2022 union members overwhelmingly voted for another strike, following a one day walk-out in July, to take place from 10th November.
Chelsea Hensley, an associate assistant at the KT Literary Agency, organised the open letter in support of the striking workers, and the signatories include a number of other KT Literary Agency staff including founder and senior literary agent Kate Testerman, a number of Aevitas Creative Management staff, including director of foreign rights Erin Files and senior agent Jen Marshall and several people from Janklow & Nesbit, including agents Melissa Flashman and Mina Hamedi.
Astra House Shuts Its Literary Magazine
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday November 30, 2022
Astra Publishing House announced that its literary publication, Astra Magazine, is being shut down. The magazine published the first of its two issues in April, and the company said there will be no third issue. All operations, including web publication, will be closed by the end of the year.
The magazine was led by editor-in-chief Nadja Spiegelman, deputy editor Samuel Rutter, and managing editor Medaya Ocher. Its first two issues included prize-winning fiction, essays, poetry and comics from authors around the world. The magazine’s website featured criticism and personal essays, and promoted the work of emerging writers and artists. It had attracted 50,000 unique visitors each month.
New Magazine Listing: MQR Mixtape
firstwriter.com – Wednesday November 30, 2022
An eclectic, online zine guest curated by university graduate students.
New Publisher Listing: Unify
firstwriter.com – Wednesday November 30, 2022
Imprint publishing health and philosophy titles.
Introducing Two Vocal Writing Contests
medium.com – Monday November 28, 2022
I recently joined Vocal Media and posted an article about my experience with this interesting platform. Those who missed it can view the article via the following link.
In this post, I’d like to mention another benefit of Vocal Media for writers. It is called writing challenges. After looking into them, I was surprised by the prizes.
Currently, Vocal has two challenges. I’d like to briefly introduce them.
The first one is called the Mystery Box Challenge.
New Literary Agent Listing: Eric Amling
firstwriter.com – Sunday November 27, 2022
Business Manager and Foreign Rights Director, coordinating relationships with subagents across all major territories. As an agent, he is currently considering literary fiction, poetry, art criticism and cookbooks.
New Publishing Imprint Listing: Geared Up Publications
firstwriter.com – Thursday November 24, 2022
Books on deep sea fishing and techniques for a robust catch.
New Magazine Listing: BFS Horizons
firstwriter.com – Thursday November 24, 2022
Biannual fantasy journal of fiction and poetry, published in print and ebook formats. Features a mix of work from new and established writers. Mainly looking for stories of up to 5000 words, but will consider more. Authors don’t have to be British, but prefers if stories have a thread linking it to these isles. Definition of ‘fantasy’ is broad, encapsulating weird fiction, swords and sorcery, science fiction and all varieties of horror. Accepts poetry in any form, up to 36 lines. Not keen on seeing rhyming poetry in iambic pentameter, but would be interested in sonnets, Villanelles, Rondeaus, or other forms. Lengthy poems or sagas will be considered, but should be submitted according to the guidelines for fiction. See website for full guidelines.
So You Want to Start Reading (or Writing) Fanfic
gizmodo.com – Wednesday November 23, 2022
Buckle up babes, we’re all in tonight. In a ridiculous moment of hubris a few weeks ago, I posted on Twitter that I was debating between writing fanfic and doing work while on a plane home from a work trip. My editor saw it, and now, wouldn’t you know it, I’m doing a whole slideshow to introduce you to fanfiction, fanfic, or just fic. Life is funny. (I posted that fic I wrote on the plane last week, btw, I’m very pleased. You will never find it.)
Let me take you on a journey through fanfiction—the history, the drama, the good, the bad, the ugly. All of it deserves its moment in the sun. Or on your screens. We’ll figure it out together.
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