
firstwriter.magazine Issue 29: Summer 2016
firstwriter.com – Thursday July 21, 2016

The latest issue of firstwriter.magazine has just been released, featuring quality fiction and poetry submitted from around the world, plus your first chance to see not just the winning poem from our Fourteenth International Poetry Competition, but also all the Special Commendations. To view the magazine click here. To enter your work in our Fifteenth International Poetry Competition click here.

Madeleine Milburn Agency launches writing competition
thebookseller.com – Thursday July 21, 2016

The Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency will tomorrow (22nd July) launch a competition to find unpublished authors.
The theme of this year’s ‘Madeleine Milburn Summer Writing Competition’ is ‘make us scared’, and entrants can send any genre of writing as long as it fits the brief. Writers from anywhere in the world that are un-agented and unpublished are eligible, although their manuscripts must be in English.

Here's Why E-Book Sales From Major Publishers Are Plummeting
fortune.com – Monday July 11, 2016

But growing sales of self-published e-books may offset the drop.
Book publishers are winning in their quixotic war against their own electronic books as sales dropped 11% last year, according to a new report from the industry’s leading trade group.

Startup of the week: RedDoor
thebookseller.com – Saturday July 2, 2016

Bridging the gap between traditional and self-publishing, RedDoor Publishing aims to provide a credible platform for authors who are "slipping through the net as traditional publishers become increasingly (and understandably) risk averse." It operates in the same way as a traditional publishing house, except its authors pay for pre-production and first print run of their book.

'In stressed times, we can take comfort in wildlife': why nature-writing is 'exploding'
firstwriter.com – Thursday June 30, 2016

Now in its third year, the Wainwright nature-writing prize has announced its shortlist, spotlighting what one judge called an “exploding” field, as more and more writers and readers are turning to this genre as a balm for the woes of modern life.

Lionsgate UK, Idris Elba Launch Writing Competition; ‘King’s Speech’ Producer Boards Jamie Vardy Biopic – Global Briefs
deadline.com – Wednesday June 29, 2016

Lionsgate UK and Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures are partnering to launch the Write To Green Light competition, designed to discover new creative voices for television in the returnable drama space. Lionsgate’s Zygi Kamasa and Elba will judge the entries alongside a panel of industry experts.

Publishers need to help foster a love of reading
thebookseller.com – Tuesday June 28, 2016

Publishers need to work harder at creating the need for books as a product, rather than focusing on their brands, delegates to The Bookseller’s Marketing and Publicity Conference have heard.
Speaking during a panel entitled ‘Is our business like show business?: What we should (and shouldn’t!) learn from other industries', Chris McCrudden (pictured), strategy director at Golin PR, said that publishers should “create the need for product before they create the need for brand”, adding that at the moment that there are “lots and lots and lots of little campaigns trying to get you to buy a particular book, but nothing trying to get consumers to buy books in general”.

Former Orion editor Silk becomes literary agent
thebookseller.com – Thursday June 23, 2016

Former Orion editor Julia Silk is forging a new career path as a literary agent in association with MBA Literary Agents.
Silk, who has worked as an editor for 15 years, most recently with Orion, will be building her own client list with a focus on commercial fiction, crime and thrillers, extending to accessible literary fiction "if a voice really grabbed me".
She is also open to proposals for "platform-driven non-fiction", in the areas of parenting and lifestyle, fashion, style and beauty, as well as narrative non-fiction and memoir.

Literary Agent Lindsay Framson Leaves UTA, Joins Kaplan/Perrone As Manager
deadline.com – Wednesday June 22, 2016

Framson had been at UTA for eight years. She started in the agency’s mailroom in 2008 and worked in the TV lit department as an agent for the past four years. Clients who will stay with her in her new role as manager and become clients of Kaplan/Perrone include Justin Brenneman (Quantico), Kyle Flynn, Kathleen Hale, Danielle Henderson (Divorce), Emily Hirshey (The Ranch), Matt Hausfater (Undateable), Deirdre Mangan (iZombie), Morgan Margraf & Jerica Lieberman (Mistresses) and Jack Lawrence Mayer (Single Long).

Online journal in search of writing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday June 22, 2016

Forage Poetry Journal is a recently created online journal in search of writing and art that is accessible, and that "reaches into that space between our heads and our hearts to open a door to something we had almost missed".
The magazine is accepting submissions on a theme of the Poetry of Tragedy until July 20th, 2016. The submission page also contains information on upcoming themes and future deadlines.
The magazine also welcomes creative nonfiction, essays, photography and original artwork for each theme.
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