The Writer Beware! blog’s Victoria Strauss posted an intriguing piece based on a recent Twitter frenzy on the possibility that literary agents might bump their rates from 15 to 20 percent. The comments, as one might expect, are all over the place, with readers coming down on this or that (or the other) side of the debate.
At The Huffington Post, Anis Shivani interviews Colorado Review editor Stephanie G’Schwind to investigate the way literary journals are weathering the economic crisis and the internet revolution.
G’Schwind also discusses the impact of the MFA, and what sort of writing passes muster in her own journal’s selection process. A great read for writers: check it out!
Every once in a while, you read something that just puts a whole new perspective on things. Authors, prepare your Epiphany Hats!
At The New Yorker, writer Susan Orlean shares a true-life tale about the insane odyssey she went through during the editing phase of her first published book. Continue reading
As almost any industry blog will tell you, the publishing biz is in flux. New formats, new challenges, new avenues to success have put every assumption and axiom of recieved wisdom up for grabs.
In the midst of all this chaos progress change, it is still possible to recognize an event that sheds new light on the evolving dynamics of publishing.
For example, promotional and marketing specialist Steff Deschenes has scooped up nearly a dozen literary prizes for her self-published commentary on everyday life, The Ice Cream Theory. In it, she compares different personality types with different flavors of frozen treat. Continue reading
First of all, let me do a favor for Jessica at BookEnds LLC, and literary agents everywhere, by reminding all of you prospective authors out there that a “novel” is a fictional narrative longer than 50,000 words. There is no need to say “fiction novel” and no reason to say “non-fiction novel.”
And now, let’s go on to the links! Continue reading
It just goes to show, not everything in publishing goes to the already published and already connected!
Dutch author Gerbrand Bakker has won the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his debut novel The Twin, beating out well-known, well-published, and (other) award-winning authors Marilynne Robinson and Joseph O’Neill. Hearken ye first-time and aspiring authors!
I am particularly intrigued by The Twin, as twins and doubles are recurring themes in The Observer Tales. Although I was considering a short-story reading list for the summer, I may have to give this novel a look.
First, I want to wish Brittany Landgrebe get well soon!
Well, it is finally summertime! Do you have your summer reading list ready? Yeah, me neither. I have been considering re-reading The Lord of the Rings, and I do have a couple of non-fiction books from a used bookstore stacked up and awaiting my attention. But, no solid plans.
But, how about this idea: instead of committing to a few buzz-worthy novels, we could instead focus on reading a lot of short stories in magazines. Anyone up for this challenge?
And now, on to the links! Continue reading
Since I ran out of the popular weekly Amalgam poems last week, I will compensate by offering two Archaic Definitions:
quillon One of the two arms that form a sword’s cross-guard, the device that protects the swordsman’s hand.
quoin A wooden edge with a handle at the thick end used to adjust the elevation of a [ship’s] gun.
– A Sea of Words : A Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O’Brian’s Seafaring Tales (Third Edition) by Dean King with John B. Hattendorf and J. Worth Estes.
A little history/archaeology news before we move on to the publishing links. A dig in Coventry has uncovered a 13th Century copper badge displaying the three lions of the English Coat of Arms.
This is particularly intriguing to me, as the intertwined history of badges and heraldic symbols (particularly animals) is central to the Observer Tales.
Now, on to the links! Continue reading
Yesterday, my home town paper The Washington Post published a neat list of the “Five Buzziest Summer Beach Reads,” including post-apocalyptic vampires, a post-vampire career apocalypse, a blast-from-the-past sequel, and an ape-girl. How can you pass that up?
And now, on to stuff recently blogged upon by literary agents: Continue reading
