Audible Introduces New Royalty Model For Authors and Publishers
goodereader.com – Sunday July 14, 2024
Amazon announced in a blog post it has come up with a new royalty model that will enable creators to monetize more varied content types. Amazon said it devised the new royalty model after engaging extensively with the authors and publishers and taking into account their feedback on this. The company also said the new model will mean better business opportunities for the authors and publishers as more titles qualify for generating royalty than ever before. This applies to even those titles that are part of Amazon’s all-you-can-listen plan, Audible Plus.
That is not all as the new business model aims to offer enhanced insights to publishers and creators. Participants opting into this model will receive monthly statements and royalty payments that are aimed to facilitate prompt decision-making. Additionally, they will gain further insights into how listener engagement affects their earnings.
Kemi Ogunsanwo launches Seventh Agency after leaving The Good Literary Agency
thebookseller.com – Saturday July 13, 2024
Kemi Ogunsanwo has launched her own agency after leaving The Good Literary Agency (TGLA), where she worked as a senior agent.
Ogunsanwo’s new venture is London-based Seventh Agency that is dedicated to empowering writers who "inspire, enlighten and empower readers".
Ogunsanwo said: "Seventh Agency was born out of a need to address what still feels like a huge gap in the market, both in the UK and overseas. I hope Seventh Agency helps contribute to the shift towards a more progressive and nuanced view of the stories told by writers from different cultural and racial backgrounds; both those that explore the impact of our historical challenges and those that allow us to benefit from the fantasy, beauty, love, and joy that storytelling should afford us. I’m so excited for this next chapter!"
How a budding Italian-American author trying to get a literary agent pretended to be a Korean writer called 'Kim Chi' - sparking comparisons to hit thriller Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
dailymail.co.uk – Tuesday June 25, 2024
An Italian-American author who pretended to be a Korean writer called Kim Chi is at the centre of the latest literary scandal - which has sparked comparisons to hit thriller Yellowface, in which a white woman steals an Asian novelist's transcript and passes it off as her own.
Kim Crisci, who misled readers about her heritage, has since apologised for 'deceiving people with false implications' and 'breaking all sense of decency' - before 'removing herself from the writing community'.
The furore was uncovered by fellow author Lanchi Le, who was in a Discord server with Kim - after becoming suspicious following comments she made about Vietnamese culture.
Simons and Heathfield launch Greenstone Literary Agency
thebookseller.com – Saturday June 22, 2024
Tanera Simons and Laura Heathfield, both previously of Darley Anderson and Associates, have launched Greenstone Literary Agency.
Greenstone Literary will specialise in commercial fiction including romance, rom-com, crime & thriller, and book club fiction, as well as select non-fiction. The name Greenstone is inspired by Greenstone Point, a place of personal connection to Tanera that also reflects the agency’s ethos of providing a strong and constant foundation for authors while remaining dynamic and adaptive to the changing market.
Greenstone launches with 15 authors including Sunday Times bestsellers Beth O’Leary and Sally Page and Radio 2 Bookclub pick, Tammye Huf. Sophie White, Mandy Baggot, Emma Steele, Ally Zetterberg, Claire McCauley, Kate Smith and Claire Frost also join Simons and Heathfield at their new venture.
Bloody Scotland reveals full line-up for its 13th Festival ... beginning Friday 13th!
stirling.gov.uk – Thursday June 20, 2024
Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, which launched in 2012, will be one of the cornerstones of Stirling's 900th anniversary celebrations when it takes place in September.
The 13th festival begins, appropriately, on Friday 13th and has a stellar line-up of international crime writers and fun events including Friday 13th Fright Night, The Wickedest Link, Karaoke at the Coo and The True Crime Walking Tour.
The opening reception at The Golden Lion Hotel will include the presentation of two major literary prizes – The McIlvanney Prize and The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize - with Bloody Scotland cocktails courtesy of Stirling Distillery and, afterwards, the Stirling & District Schools Pipe Band will lead a procession from the Golden Lion to the Albert Halls.
Last week Bloody Scotland revealed five headliners appearing at the festival in their inaugural ‘sneaky peek’ and today the rest of the programme has been revealed as audiences also get the opportunity to mark the establishment of Stirling as a Royal Burgh in 1124.
Lucy Holland to lead Curtis Brown Creative's new Writing Fantasy course
thebookseller.com – Friday June 14, 2024
Curtis Brown Creative (CBC) has launched its new Writing Fantasy course, taught by author Lucy Holland. It is the latest in CBC’s growing range of online courses, and follows the increased interest in fantasy novels.
Applications are now open for the nine-week course, which will run from 8th October to 3rd December. The programme will give 15 students the opportunity to take online teaching classes, workshops and one-to-one tutorials, as well as a Zoom masterclass with Fathomfolk author Eliza Chan (Orbit), and her C&W literary agent Alexander Cochran.
"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," Holland said. "I’m also excited to cover popular subgenres like myth retellings and romantasy, and how to harness tropes to tell a compelling story."
Ursula K. Le Guin's home will become a writers residency
independent.co.uk – Monday June 10, 2024
Theo Downes-Le Guin, son of the late author Ursula K. Le Guin, remembers well the second-floor room where his mother worked on some of her most famous novels.
Or at least how it seemed from the outside.
“She was very present and accessible as a parent,” he says. "She was very intent on not burdening her children with her career. ... But the times when she was in there to do her writing, we knew that we needed to let her have her privacy.”
Downes-Le Guin, who also serves as his mother's literary executor, now hopes to give contemporary authors access to her old writing space. Literary Arts, a community nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon, announced Monday that Le Guin's family had donated their three-story house for what will become the Ursula K. Le Guin Writers Residency.
Le Guin, who died in 2018 at age 88, was a Berkeley, California, native who in her early 30s moved to Portland with her husband, Charles. Le Guin wrote such classics as “The Left Hand of Darkness” and “The Dispossessed” in her home, mostly in a corner space that evolved from a nursery for her three children to a writing studio.
Writers’ Guild of Great Britain demands fair pay for writers ahead of general election
thebookseller.com – Thursday June 6, 2024
The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) has called on the next government to “enshrine protections for writers” in its manifesto recommendations ahead of the forthcoming general election.
The trade union representing writers wants the next government to implement its recommendations around fair pay, fair treatment, sustainability, and copyright and AI.
Ellie Peers, general secretary of WGGB, said: “Writing is a highly skilled job and everything starts with the writer – without them there would be no feature films, TV or audio dramas, no plays, no books, poems or videogames.
“They provide the fuel that fires our creative industries, which in turn makes a major contribution to the UK economy.”
Jo Unwin to leave publishing for new career
thebookseller.com – Wednesday May 29, 2024
Literary agent Jo Unwin is leaving the Jo Unwin Literary Agency (JULA) and starting a new career outside publishing.
Unwin, who founded JULA in 2013, has discovered and championed new voices throughout her career. She has helped establish prizewinners such as Candice Carty-Williams and Kit de Waal, and to have worked with Booker Prize nominees Gabriel Krauze and Stephen Kelman, as well as bestsellers such as Emma Flint, A J Pearce and Jenny Colgan.
Her non-fiction authors range from Charlie Brooker and Philomena Cunk to Richard Ayoade, the poet Brian Bilston along with children’s authors such as Sarah Moore Fitzgerald and Nadia Shireen.
How to find a literary agent: A masterclass with Juliet Mushens
uk.news.yahoo.com – Friday May 17, 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:
-
Expert tips on editing your novel to make it submission-ready
-
How to research and identify the best agents for your work
-
What agents look for in submissions, from manuscripts to cover letters
-
Crafting a killer pitch and blurb that hooks agents from the first line
-
Practical pitching exercises, with opportunities for feedback
Get the free newsletter | Submit a news item or article | Get Writers' News for your website
