Where Have All the Midsize Book Publishers Gone?
publishersweekly.com – Sunday October 3, 2021
When Hachette Book Group acquired Workman Publishing, HBG CEO Michael Pietsch observed that Workman was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, remaining independent trade publishers left in the U.S. Based on available data, a case could indeed be made that Workman was the largest of its kind. Which has raised a question in publishing circles: why are there so few independent publishers of size? There is a dearth of what can be called midsize publishers that fall between the Big Five and the many independent publishers with sales of $20 million or less.
The Houghton Mifflin Harcourt trade division, with 2020 sales of $192 million, was what could have been considered a mini-major before it was acquired by HarperCollins. The Scholastic trade group, with sales of $355 million in the fiscal year ended May 31, is a major player in the children’s trade market, but as part of a $1.3 billion publisher, it is clearly not independent. Other trade publishers that could be considered midsize that are also part of larger companies are Disney’s publishing division and Abrams, which is owned by the French company La Martinière Groupe, which was itself acquired by Media Participations.
Ten Things Nobody Tells You About the Publishing Industry
publishersweekly.com – Sunday September 26, 2021
There’s more to authoring than conquering the blank page. Dozens of unique quirks of industry factor into the experience of a creative. If you’re an aspiring writer with traditional publishing in mind, pay attention. Here’s what to expect from author life:
What makes a good writer? Human stories, active voice and an open mind
journalism.co.uk – Thursday September 16, 2021
Many journalists find their way to the industry because of their love of writing. We put together words and sentences to tell stories that matter, always with one eye on the word count and deadlines. Most of the time, we enjoy the process of writing as much as seeing the final piece of work getting published.
But what is good writing? Is it the ability of a perspicacious reporter to punctiliously select supreme words, refining his or her locution to the point of perfection? Or is it the skill of telling a story clearly, concisely and accurately?
You know the answer. But sometimes journalists’ passion for the written word can be their worst enemy and we end up stuffing our stories with fluff and gibberish.
How to Make a Zine: A Guide to Self-Publishing Your Own Miniature Magazine
mymodernmet.com – Wednesday September 8, 2021
Even if you’ve never heard of a zine, chances are you’ve probably had one in your hands at some point without even knowing. These handmade booklets provide a way for people to share their art, writing, musings, and give a platform to underrepresented and marginalized voices. If you’ve got something to say, why not use a zine to express yourself? Read on to learn about the history of the zine, and how you can make one yourself.
How Lindsey Duga became successful young adult novelist
225batonrouge.com – Sunday September 5, 2021
Typing intently on her laptop at Magpie Cafe, Lindsey Duga looks like any other young professional getting an early morning start. But what she’s up to isn’t sending emails or prepping for meetings. She’s working on her next novel.
By day, Duga is the director of accounts at the web development firm Gatorworks. But after hours (and before), she’s a successful fiction writer with five published young adult novels—and more in the pipeline.
Duga, 31, says her writing passion took root in middle school.
How to write your own novel, according to podcaster and author Elizabeth Day
stylist.co.uk – Monday August 30, 2021
Have you always dreamed of putting your own story to paper? Perhaps a compelling crime thriller, or a love story for the ages? Whether you’ve already got a killer plot idea, or it’s a pipe dream that feels too far away to reach, it’s tough knowing where to begin. With the publishing industry announcing a surge in manuscripts as soon as the pandemic hit last year, the competition is as fierce as ever, and expert advice is sorely welcome.
Enter Elizabeth Day. As well as hosting her own hit podcast, How To Fail With Elizabeth Day, and interviewing fellow authors for BBC Sounds show Open Book and Sky Arts’ Book Club Live, Elizabeth has written five novels and two non-fiction books to accompany her podcast series. She started writing her first novel, Scissors Paper Stone, aged 29 while working full-time as a feature writer at The Observer.
The Books Briefing: How Fan Fiction Reimagines the Writing Process
theatlantic.com – Monday August 23, 2021
When The Last Jedi came out, some viewers had déjà vu: Certain aspects of the movie’s plot were strikingly similar to the events in several popular stories on the fan-fiction site Archive of Our Own. The coincidence may seem strange, but in many ways it’s unsurprising that the people who were thinking most deeply about a franchise—its creators and devotees alike—would come to the same conclusions about each character’s fate. That alignment might be seen as a testament to both the series’ deep world-building and its fans’ insight.
Writing the Magical Realism Novel
By Lakshmi Raj Sharma
Novelist and Professor of English
firstwriter.com – Monday August 23, 2021
Why are Salman Rushdie and Gabriel García Márquez such extra ordinary novelists? The answer is complex. But a reason for their unique achievement is that apart from what virtually every great novelist does – telling the story in a new way in a new vocabulary – they also write in a mode which is hellishly difficult. This mode of narration is called Magical Realism, which Rushdie oversimplifies by defining as the improbable presented as the mundane. That, however, is just the tail of magical realism. The reality of magical realism is intricately connected with the tale on which it is harnessed. It relates more to feeling than to thought though there is a perpetual undercurrent of thought in it. The magical part relates to the feeling because one can have any kind of feeling. But the thought which is often related to some form of oppression is wrapped in the true voice of feeling.
The most VITAL Writing Trick You Can Know!
signalscv.com – Tuesday August 17, 2021
I love reading. I am the kind of person that devours books, like an undulating blob of paper, ink, and Harry Potter references. Part of the reason that I’m doing the job that I’m doing now is because I love reading- and because I love reading, I love writing.
I’ve always loved creating my own stories, even when I was a little kid. When I used to play-wrestle with my little brothers, we would all become Superheros and Villains of our own creation. We had a plethora of lore, powers, and abilities that we would make up at random, which at the time was as thrilling as getting a Jackpot Capital bonus.
When I got older, I put that energy into Dungeons and Dragons. Now that I’m even older (and, coincidentally, with a lot more responsibilities and a lot less time on my hands), I put that creative energy into writing. However, there is a huge difference between writing what you love and writing something that other people are going to love. One of the easiest mistakes to make as a writer is forgetting the single most vital aspect of writing a good story: Character arcs.
Murder Books 101: The Rise of True Crime, From Highbrow to Cash Cow
tor.com – Saturday August 14, 2021
Conventional wisdom claims that true crime writing wallowed in the gutter, dirty and disreputable, until Truman Capote lifted it out of its own filth and washed it clean with the sweat of his literary gift. Earlier efforts are dismissed as crude attempts at what Capote would accomplish with grace and skill. Those were the rough drafts, but Capote’s 1966 In Cold Blood is the masterpiece.
The fact is, the financial triumph of Capote’s In Cold Blood (and the film version the following year) had as much to do with literary achievement as the fact that Capote was a white man who belonged to the right clubs and subscribed to the right magazines. His achievement transformed the marketplace, making true crime respectable in the same way that Maus and Watchmen turned comic books into “graphic novels” in 1986. Capote’s book allowed people to camouflage their morbid fascination with murder and mayhem beneath the seal of literature. In the old days, ministers gave their blessing to true crime to make it acceptable. Now, it was The New Yorker.
In Cold Blood changed how true crime was read, not how it was written. Most of what Capote did, other writers were already doing.
Get the free newsletter | Submit a news item or article | Get Writers' News for your website
