The London Book Fair Returns
publishersweekly.com – Sunday June 6, 2021
After the London Book Fair was canceled just a week before the event was to take place in 2020, LBF is back again—albeit in a web-only format. The fair spans the month of June, with conferences taking place the week of June 7 and a further series of flagship digital events to run June 21–July 1.
LBF kicks off this year with four days of single-topic conferences: “Introductions to Rights” on June 7, “The Writer’s Summit” on June 8, “What Works? Education Conference” on June 9, and “Research & Scholarly Publishing Forum” on June 10. The fair will then reconvene on June 21 and 22 for talks and panels, including Industry Insights sessions focused on publishing issues. On June 23, tech takes center stage with “Digital Technology: What’s Next for Publishing,” and the June 24 program will highlight children’s books and edutainment, as well as scholarly publishing and human resources development.
Curtis Brown launches writing scholarship in tribute to John le Carré
thebookseller.com – Friday June 4, 2021
The Curtis Brown Creative writing school is launching an annual novel-writing scholarship in honour of late thriller writer John le Carré, seeking out "compelling storytelling and political engagement".
The news comes six months after the death of the 89-year-old author, whose real name was David Cornwell. He was represented by Jonny Geller, c.e.o. of the Curtis Brown Group, for almost 15 years.
A bursary will be funded by the Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency, with the support of the author’s family. Applications for the first scholarship are now open and will provide full funding for one talented writer of limited financial means to join Curtis Brown Creative’s three-month online Writing Your Novel course running from 6th September to 13th December.
Bloomsbury partners with Get into Publishing to attract regional talent
thebookseller.com – Friday May 21, 2021
Bloomsbury is partnering with Get into Publishing to fund training courses aimed at attracting workers based outside London.
Get into Publishing focuses on rolling out affordable and accessible training to support newcomers looking to work in the publishing industry.
The partnership will sponsor a select number of course places. The criteria for the Bloomsbury-funded positions will consider the applicants’ location in order to attract a more diverse range of talent to the publishing industry from outside London and the South East.
According to the Publishers Association diversity survey of the publishing workforce in 2020, the majority are from the south of England, with 75% of respondents living in South East England or London. Just 2% of respondents were from all other nations in the UK or regions north of London. As a result, Bloomsbury has specified criteria to widen the regional profile of the current workforce to attract workers that may not have considered work opportunities in the capital previously.
Registration opens for Coast Writers’ Conference
advocate-news.com – Friday May 21, 2021
The Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference has posted the program for MCWC 2021, its 32nd year, which — like last year’s event — will be held online via Zoom from Aug. 5 through Aug. 7.
This year’s conference faculty will include keynote speaker Wendy C. Ortiz, workshop leaders Lillian Li, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Saretta Morgan, Chris Dennis, Alex Sanchez, Suzanne Rivecca, Krys Malcolm Belc, and Sam Krowchenko and literary agents Elise Capron and Tricia Skinner, along with other special guests, writers and publishing experts.
HarperCollins Completes Purchase of HMH Trade
publishersweekly.com – Tuesday May 11, 2021
HarperCollins, the second largest trade publisher in the U.S., has completed its acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media. HC, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, agreed to buy the HMH trade division in March for $349 million.
In a letter to employees, HC CEO Brian Murray acknowledged that "many" decisions need to be made over the coming months surrounding the acquisition. Still, he noted that he has outlined an initial, temporary organizational plan that will be kept in place until a new, permanent structure has been conceived.
Town & Country UK magazine to close as publisher Hearst slashes jobs
cityam.com – Tuesday May 11, 2021
Town & Country UK magazine is set to fold as part of cost-cutting operation at publisher Hearst that will see up to a fifth of UK staff made redundant.
The luxury title, the British version of which was first published in 2014, is set to be scrapped as the company adapts to a decline in print media consumption.
The proposed move will also mean up to one in five UK staff face redundancy or will have their roles pooled. It is understood employees will be offered enhanced redundancy packages.
Hearst, whose UK titles include Cosmopolitan, Elle, Men’s Health and Good Housekeeping, has so far weathered the pandemic without making job cuts or using the furlough scheme.
Douglas Murray criticises transphobia letter, slamming 'left-wing bubble' of publishing
thebookseller.com – Monday May 10, 2021
Author Douglas Murray has criticised an open letter published in The Bookseller, which claimed UK book publishing is transphobic.
In the article for Unherd, a digital magazine which aims “to push back against the herd mentality with new and bold thinking”, Murray generally lamented the left-wing presence in UK publishing as well as criticising the letter urging acceptance of transgender rights published on 3rd May.
Murray's article, entitled "Publishing is now a Left-wing bubble", cited a US study comparing professions with voting preferences which showed 100% of those in publishing were left-wing. Murray, author of The Madness of Crowds (Bloomsbury) and associate editor of the Spectator, wrote: “To those with friends in publishing, despairing at the regular struggle session-style get-together they are now subjected to in which every conceivable centre-left political orthodoxy is celebrated, this is not a revelation. Although the survey in question is from the US, it is certain that a similar pattern can be found over here, too.”
GoodNovel hosts series of writing contests to strengthen author's creative welfare
prnewswire.com – Saturday May 8, 2021
GoodNovel, an international platform focusing on the creation of original online novels, has launched two writing contests – The Blessed Wolf and The CEO and Me – to celebrate its first anniversary. The two contests run till August and September, 2021 respectively and reach over 5 million readerships on the platform prospectively, with total prizes add up to over 40,000 dollars.
GoodNovel attracts readers from over 100 countries and authors from more than 50 countries. They are producing and consuming online stories in languages including English, French, Indonesian, Filipino, and Russian. Officially launched in April 2020, GoodNovel is featured as one of the Top3 reading Apps on Appstore and Google Play store ranked by grossing.
In the past year, GoodNovel has successfully held several writing contests on diversified topics, receiving thousands of works from online writing talents around the world, among which winning works received customized promotion and extra exposure. Correspondingly, winning stories gained great reputation for their edge over other novels and the authors also benefited greatly from their works.
Felicity Bryan Publishing Mentorship Scheme launched
thebookseller.com – Tuesday April 27, 2021
The Felicity Bryan Publishing Mentorship Scheme has been launched, created in honour of the renowned literary agent who died in June 2020.
An annual paid three-month mentorship programme, the scheme is aimed at anyone from an underrepresented background who is interested in pursuing a career in the publishing industry.
The mentee will be paid the Oxford Living Wage for the duration of the mentorship and there will be a stipend available to cover the cost of accommodation. The scheme is supported by Bryan's family, and “reflects her own energetic nurturing of talent and potential in young people starting out on their careers”.
Fast-Growing Independent Publishers, 2021
publishersweekly.com – Sunday April 25, 2021
Launched in 2013 to publish digital editions of out-of-print genre fiction from the 1960s and ’70s, Las Vegas’s Wolfpack Publishing reports that while revenue growth was steady in its first five years, its strongest growth was between 2018 and 2020. In this period, 90% of Wolfpack’s sales were books in digital formats. The company does things its own way, releasing titles weekly, president and CEO Mike Bray says, rather than seasonally. “We publish four to eight titles a week, both fresh stuff and reissues.”
Though Wolfpack’s list focuses on westerns, it has been supplementing its offerings with adventure, mystery, and historical fiction releases. And series are an essential component in its business model, publisher Rachel Del Grosso says, explaining, “When we are approached by any author or agent, the first thing we’re looking at is how many titles the author is bringing to the table. We invest in an author, not a single book.”
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