Brian Cox and Salman Rushdie lead backlash against 'absurd censorship' of Roald Dahl's classic books to remove 'offensive' language - as 'woke' publishing censors are accused of 'McCarthyism'
dailymail.co.uk – Monday February 20, 2023
Sir Salman Rushdie and Brian Cox have led an angry backlash against 'absurd censorship' of Roald Dahl's classic children's books after 'woke' publishers removed 'offensive' language and are accused of 'McCarthyism'.
Cox, who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, said the censorship is a form of 'woke culture' which wants to reinterpret everything.
Rushdie, who was stabbed, losing the sight in one eye, for protecting free speech and 'attacking Islam', said the changes were 'absolute censorship'.
The intervention comes as hundreds of changes have been made to the beloved children's books, including no longer referring to Augustus Gloop as 'fat'.
Other characters have had their genders changed and words like 'mad' and crazy' have been removed by sensitivity readers.
People are Flooding Magazines With AI-Written Fiction Because They Think They’ll Make Money
themarysue.com – Saturday February 18, 2023
Neil Clarke, editor of the science fiction and fantasy magazine Clarkesworld, recently reported an unsettling trend: a huge increase in the number of fiction submissions plagiarized using AI.
The essay Clarke links to goes into more detail about would-be contributors using AI programs to scrape existing published stories and repackage them as original works. AI writing tools have proliferated in recent years, claiming to write original stories but delivering mixed results. In one Clarkesworld submission, Clarke writes, someone submitted a story with the following sentence: “Sitting on its three years’ experience, the fittest Shell was originally the size of more android subliminal observations than any other single subject in the Grandma.” The submission was reconstituted from a story published in 1956.
Clarke writes that he bans plagiarists from submitting again, but at least one has complained that they “need the money.” As his graph shows, the amount of Clarkesworld submissions has ballooned over the past few weeks, and many of them are AI-generated.
Woof. Where to start?
Tor Publishing Group Announces Bramble, a New Romantic Imprint
tor.com – Wednesday February 15, 2023
President and Publisher Devi Pillai announces the creation of Bramble, a new imprint of Tor Publishing Group dedicated to a wide array of romantic stories for the modern reader.
From science fiction and fantasy to contemporary and family saga, romance belongs in every genre and every genre belongs in Bramble. Whether the last page holds happily ever after, to be continued, or an ending that isn’t so simple, Bramble books will take you on an extraordinary journey of love. With spice levels to suit all readers, with familiar tropes and uncharted territory, Bramble books will explore a love that’s tangled up, covered in thorns, and oh so sweet. Bramble is for everyone and everyone deserves a good love story.
Of the new imprint, Pillai remarked, “Tor Publishing Group is the gold standard of genre publishing and it’s the perfect time to have an imprint dedicated to romance. Bramble will be the destination for exceptional love stories of all kinds. Expanding into romance gives our team and our readers another chance to do what we do best: get obsessed! Plus, let’s be real, I just want to publish more books I love to read!”
Catapult to Shutter Online Magazine, Writing Classes
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday February 15, 2023
Catapult has announced that it will shutter its eponymous online magazine and writing classes program. The decision comes as part of an effort to "focus all resources on its core business of book publishing and its three imprints: Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull Press."
Catapult publisher Alyson Forbes said in a statement: “This decision to center our efforts on our foundational business will ensure a successful future for our imprints and incredibly gifted authors as we continue to publish with the passion and care that defines the Catapult Book Group.”
Tony Lee Launches £2500 Caliburn Prize To Aspiring Graphic Novelists
bleedingcool.com – Friday February 10, 2023
The Caliburn Prize is Tony Lee's new UK comic-based literary grant, recognising fresh and unpublished voices in the world of comic and graphic novel creation.
During lockdown, comic book writer Tony Lee of Hooded Man Media became bestselling novelist Tony Lee under a couple of pseudonyms. Now he is looking to share the love. The Hooded Man Caliburn Prize for Comic Creation, or The Caliburn Prize for short is a new UK comic-based literary grant, recognising fresh and unpublished voices in the world of comic and graphic novel creation. The Caliburn Prize is a £2,500 grant aimed at helping unpublished UK-based creators get a foot on the comics ladder.
"When I started in comics, it was a different world," Tony Lee explained. "I was able to walk into a publisher with experience in other media under my belt, but many of today's creators don't have the same advantages I did, as the industry has massively changed over the last twenty years, and the doors I entered through are now boarded up. The prize fund is a way to help the next generation of comic creators find their own route into the room where it happens."
UK publishers’ ebook sales fall
booksandpublishing.com.au – Thursday February 9, 2023
In the UK, sales of ebooks from the ‘Big Six’ publishers fell 8.3% in 2022, reports the Bookseller.
The publishers’ ebook volume to 43.6 million units in 2022, the lowest return since 2017 and the second-lowest total since the Bookseller began collecting annual ebook data from publishers.
Hachette Children’s Group to host Mo Siewcharran Prize 2023 with focus on picture books
thebookseller.com – Thursday February 9, 2023
This year’s iteration of the Mo Siewcharran Prize will be hosted by Hachette Children’s Group (HCG) and focus exclusively on writers and writer-illustrators in the picture book genre.
The Mo Siewcharran Prize, named in memory of Nielsen BookData’s former director of marketing and communications, was co-founded and sponsored by her husband John Seaton and aims to nurture talent from underrepresented backgrounds writing in English.
Sponsored by Nielsen BookData it is run as part of Hachette UK’s The Future Bookshelf scheme and is hosted by different divisions of the publisher each year. Last year it was hosted by Quercus and focused on the crime and thriller genre. Foday Mannah won for The Search for Othella Savage.
Bournemouth Writing Festival
dorsetview.co.uk – Wednesday February 1, 2023
Bournemouth is gearing up for its first Writing Festival in April with over 60 events and activities.
A mix of free and paid-for events and activities at Bournemouth Writing Festival will involve over 70 experienced writers and professionals from TV and film screenwriters to poets and writing coaches.
From creating credible characters to publishing contracts, writing compelling dialogue to landing an agent, there is something for every budding and seasoned writer to learn.
TV and film screenwriters, best-selling authors, poets, journalists, publicists, writing coaches, editors and publishers will be imparting their advice through talks and practical workshops to improve and progress delegates’ writing.
Free activities include “Writing on the Beach” with Richard & Judy winner Christine Aziz to a Poetry Hunt organised by Bournemouth Poet Laureate Myriam San Marco. There will be literary walks plus “genre breakfasts”.
Cork book publisher Oak Tree acquired by international firm
irishexaminer.com – Thursday January 26, 2023
Cork-based business book publisher, Oak Tree Press has been acquired by international publisher.
Active in both Belgium and Switzerland, Oak Tree's parent company, Cork Publishing Ltd has joined the Corporate Group, which now operates across three countries and five languages. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
The international publisher's catalogue extends to over 500 titles, the majority of which cover entrepreneurial domains including economics tax, law, contracts and business, while also offering accountancy and investment management software.
Pan Macmillans’s Cole to join Northbank Talent Management as literary agent
thebookseller.com – Thursday January 26, 2023
Matthew Cole, senior commissioning editor at Pan Macmillan, will join Northbank Talent Management on 20th March as literary agent.
In his new role Cole will assume responsibility for the agency’s non-fiction representation across current affairs, popular science, popular history, memoir and lifestyle books, working in close collaboration with the agency’s broadcast, corporate and brand partnerships agents.
Northbank c.e.o. Diane Banks said: “Matt has an impeccable track record commissioning titles which align perfectly with Northbank’s areas of expertise. He is a natural deal-maker and we are impressed with his entrepreneurial attitude, which makes him the ideal person to take our non-fiction business forward as the agency continues to grow.”
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