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.
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).
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."
#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.
PRH Partners With the James Baldwin Family to Launch New Creative Writing Award for Fiction
global.penguinrandomhouse.com – Tuesday August 6, 2024
Penguin Random House has partnered with James Baldwin family to launch The James Baldwin Award for Fiction, a creative writing award for fiction for public high school students, in honor of the 100th birthday of the literary legend and civil rights champion. The award will recognize a student for an original literary composition in English for fiction with a first-place prize of $10,000.
The James Baldwin Award for Fiction is one of six creative writing awards given by Penguin Random House as part of their signature Creative Writing Awards (CWA) program. Other categories include the Freedom of Expression Award; the Amanda Gorman Award for Poetry; the Michelle Obama Award for Memoir; the Maya Angelou Award for Spoken Word; and the NYC Entrant Award.
Since 1993, the Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards have awarded more than $2.9 million dollars to public high school students for their original compositions. In partnership with nonprofit We Need Diverse Books, the program empowers and celebrates hundreds of young writers each year and underscores Penguin Random House’s commitment supporting the next generation of readers and authors and amplifying diverse voices and stories. Creative Writing Award winners have gone on to become professional and award-winning authors.
Riposte magazine returns as a ‘visceral’ new literary journal
dazeddigital.com – Saturday August 3, 2024
Danielle Pender’s beloved magazine has undergone a ‘super chic’ rebrand, with its latest issue featuring writing from Sheena Patel, Halima Jibril, Charlie Porter and more
When Riposte Magazine first launched in 2013, it quickly cultivated a space for the culturally avid and curious. Independent magazines were blossoming with fresh points of view, fostering communities with each conceptual revolution and zine drop. Ione Gamble’s Polyester was growing, a sparkling ode to having ‘faith in your own bad taste’ and a challenge to what we should both hold close and explode of girlhood. Kieran Yates’ British Values was celebrating the UK’s immigrant communities, while Strike! Magazine was anarchically swinging at the publishing industry, and Mushpit was running all over London to its own mad melody.
“2013 feels like a really long time ago,” says founder Danielle Pender today. “It was before #MeToo, the women’s march, and the Black Lives Matter movement had just started in July of that year. Tumblr was still at its peak, we hadn’t been Girlbossed yet, and Obama was still president.”
Riposte, founded and edited by writer and Watching Women and Girls author Pender, took on societal pressure points for women and the subsequent solidarity borne from them. “We were originally railing against the narrow representation of women in the media and writing features on forgotten women; it feels almost quaint now,” she says. “The magazine evolved and became a lot more progressive. I’m really proud of the women we platformed and the features we published, especially the more political articles and social commentary pieces.”
Duckworth Books buys September Publishing for undisclosed sum
thebookseller.com – Thursday August 1, 2024
September Publishing will become an imprint at Duckworth Books after being sold for an undisclosed sum.
The full team of three will transfer over, including September’s publisher Hannah MacDonald who will continue to lead the list, now as an imprint of Duckworth Books.
Founded by MacDonald in 2014, September has won the Regional Small Press of the Year award twice and been shortlisted every year since the award started. It has a core of upmarket mind-body-spirit publishing and has published five titles with author Sharon Blackie, as well as a wider range of illustrated and narrative non-fiction. September also has publishing relationships with the Van Gogh Museum and English Heritage.
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