Culture Creative Entertainment Hires Netflix’s Sherley Ibarra As Literary Agent
uk.news.yahoo.com – Wednesday June 21, 2023
Culture Creative Entertainment, the nascent talent agency founded by former Abrams Artists Agency agents Brad Rosenfeld, Paul Weitzman and Karen Kirkland, has hired a new literary agent.
The company has hired Sherley Ibarra, who joins from Netflix, where she was Manager of Animation Outreach & Engagement. Ibarra was at the streamer for over three years, having previously been Vice-President of Creative Talent Development & Outreach at Nickelodeon.
At CCE, she will represent a diverse roster of talent working across TV series and features in both live-action and animation.
UTA opens new London Office at 1 Newman Street
thebookseller.com – Thursday June 15, 2023
United Talent Agency (UTA) opened its new London Office today (Thursday 15th June), at the intersection of Fitzrovia and Soho.
The company will mark the occasion with a gala opening event this evening attended by clients and industry leaders.
The 28,000 sq ft space occupies two floors at 1 Newman Street W1, and is designed by award-winning architectural firms Gensler and Modus Workspace. The offices house members of the company’s music practice, as well as agents who run the range of representation services, from production arts and podcasting, to endorsements and voiceovers, entertainment marketing as well as advisory services through UTA-owned MediaLink.
Author dropped by publisher after posting several 'mean' TikToks about Goodreads reviewer who rated debut book: 'Completely baffling'
uk.finance.yahoo.com – Sunday June 11, 2023
Author Sarah Stusek has been accused of bullying a Goodreads reviewer after she left a four-star review for Stusek’s upcoming book. A Twitter thread seemed to indicate that Stusek’s book publisher had dropped her in response to the allegations. Stusek said she later apologized to the reviewer in a private conversation.
It’s a story that’s taken BookTok — a subcommunity within TikTok dedicated to books and literature, where there is a significant focus on young adult fiction — by storm. Stusek’s book, Three Rivers, is classified as young adult fiction and was slated to be released on Sept. 12.
Stusek, who is a first-time author, reportedly called Goodreads reviewer Karleigh Kebartas a “bitch” in a since-deleted TikTok for posting the first four-star review for Three Rivers, which, according to Stusek, had been getting only five-star reviews up until that point.
WME Acquires Ross Yoon Agency in Expansion of Literary Talent Portfolio
variety.com – Sunday June 4, 2023
Endeavor Group Holdings Inc.’s WME announced today it has acquired Ross Yoon Agency.
The Washington D.C.-based agency, Ross Yoon, specializes in literary and commercial nonfiction including memoir, biography, history, popular science, business and psychology. In addition, the literary agency’s president Gail Ross and principal Howard Yoon will join WME as partners.
The current Ross Yoon clients will join WME’s roster — the new clientele will include Ross Yoon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists and authors, business, non-profit leaders, doctors, scientists, academics, politicians and media personalities.
Another Major Publisher Caught Using AI-Generated Cover Image on Bestselling Author’s Work
themarysue.com – Thursday May 18, 2023
If publishers will cut costs for Sarah J. Maas, no one stands a chance.
We, and many others, have already written at length about the threat AI poses to writers and artists, not because the AI-generated works make good art, but because studios and organizations will use them to undercut and get away with not paying artists. The worst part is that they’re already doing it: Tor got caught buying AI art for an upcoming novel, a U.K. Literary Festival recently used AI-Generated promotional art, and Studios are already trying to use AI to replace their striking WGA writers.
Therefore, this most recent incident isn’t surprising, but it is disappointing.
How One of the Biggest Literary Agencies in Publishing Lost Almost All Credibility Overnight
themarysue.com – Wednesday May 17, 2023
The entertainment industry is going through a reckoning. The WGA has writers banding together to advocate for themselves and their work, which has given us a peek behind the curtain of the frankly appalling treatment writers have had to put up with from studios.
But that’s not the only struggle writers have been dealing with.
In the past week, dozens of authors have reported that a major literary agency, New Leaf Literary Agency, has dropped them from representation. Some of these authors were in the middle of contract negotiations with publishers and will now be left without agents representing them. Some authors were notified of this loss in representation via a 10PM email on Friday evening.
Scots poet 'hounded' by Scotland's snobby literary elite for her views on toxic trans debate
scottishdailyexpress.co.uk – Saturday May 13, 2023
Jenny Lindsay says Scotland's proud literary culture is in danger of being destroyed because too many well-paid authors are afraid to speak out – or even join in with the trans bullies
One of Scotland's leading writers has warned the country's literary culture is being "destroyed" by the failure to stand up to extremist trans activists.
Ayrshire poet Jenny Lindsay weighed into the debate following the high-profile row over SNP MP Joanna Cherry's cancellation by The Stand comedy club.
The venue – owned by fellow Nat Tommy Sheppard – was forced into a humiliating climbdown on Friday after she threatened legal action.
But Lindsay, who was abused by a "seemingly endless army of misogynists" after being labelled a "terf" by trans activists in 2019, said the "damage has already been done".
Writing in the Daily Mail, she said: "This is a systemic issue, affecting hundreds. As the knock-on effects of the Cherry episode show, 'cancel culture' affects more than just the person targeted. This is not a healthy atmosphere for any literary culture in a democracy."
George R.R. Martin Addresses Mini-Rooms, Calls Them An “Abomination”
deadline.com – Wednesday May 10, 2023
George R.R. Martin has no patience with mini-rooms and how they make it impossible for new writers to succeed.
In his latest blog post, the author talks about how he got his start in TV by writing for The Twilight Zone in 1985. Had it not been for the old system where writers worked their way up, he never would have learned how to actually make a series.
“For the first fourteen years of my career, I wrote only prose; a few novels, and lots of stories for Analog, Asimov’s, and various other SF magazines and anthologies. Much as I enjoyed television, I never dreamt of writing for it until 1985, when CBS decided to launch a new version of The Twilight Zone, and executive producer Phil DeGuere invited me to write an episode for them. A freelance script; that was how you began back then. I decided to give it a shot… and Phil and his team liked what I did. So much so that within days of delivery, I got an offer to come on staff. Before I quite knew what had happened, I was on my way to LA with a six-week deal as a Staff Writer, at the Guild minimum salary, scripts against. (In the 80s, Staff Writer was the lowest rung on the ladder. You could tell, because it was the only job with “writer” in the title).”
Ripley-Duggan joins The Theseus Agency as literary agent
thebookseller.com – Wednesday April 26, 2023
Louise Ripley-Duggan, founder of the the Ripley-Duggan Agency, has joined The Theseus Agency as a literary agent.
Ripley-Duggan started her career in literary management at the Blake Friedman Literary Agency after graduating from university. She set up her agency in 2019 and built up a list of clients, most notably Isabelle Schuler, for whom she secured a two-book deal with Raven in 2021 for Lady MacBethad.
Inaugural SciFidea Award – Dyson Sphere Science Fiction Writing Contest
locusmag.com – Tuesday April 25, 2023
The SciFidea Writing Center has announced the inaugural SciFidea Award – Dyson Sphere Science Fiction Writing Contest. SciFidea is based in Singapore, and aims to “encourage and develop science fiction and help authors monetize their works”. The top 10 winning stories will be awarded $20,000, with shortlisted authors winning $2,000. Winning stories will additionally be “recommended to be published and adapted to other art forms/media (such as animation or movie); some outstanding works will be translated into other languages and be showcased in foreign countries.”
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