As celebrity books boom, professional authors are driven out of full-time work

Novelist Donal Ryan is the latest name forced to seek an income outside books, while children’s writers complain that stars from other media monopolise advancesDespite scoring three bestsellers in five years and a clutch of awards, The Spinning Heart author Donal Ryan has been forced to return to his day job in the Irish civil service in order to pay his mortgage.Ryan has become the latest casualty of tumbling incomes for writers. Despite receiving advances and signing a deal to write three more books with his publisher, the Irish novelist said he had found it impossible to earn a living wage as a full-time writer. “You need to have something else on the go,” he told the Irish Sunday Independent. “You could take a chance and scrape a living through bursaries and writing books, but I’d get too stressed out. It just isn’t worth it. I have two kids in school and I have a mortgage to pay.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #living wage #day job #irish novelist #full-time writer

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Authors and publishers get creative as book launches are moved online

In response to the coronavirus outbreak and government advice to socially distance, authors, readers and booksellers are thinking of new, exciting and creative ways to launch their books and keep readers engaged after in-person-events get cancelled.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-18 11:27:40 UTC ]
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Penguin Life acquire ‘timely and important’ book about mental health in sport

Penguin Life will publish a "timely and important" book about mental health in sport by Gary Bloom titled Head in the Game.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-17 22:31:22 UTC ]
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Haven’t read War and Peace? Now’s the time to join Yiyun Li’s free virtual book club.

If you’re feeling alone and listless, or even if you simply have a few extra hours a week all of a sudden, I’ve got some good news for you. Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18, brilliant novelist Yiyun Li will be leading a virtual book club in reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace—a book that many... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-17 15:11:40 UTC ]
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How Working in Publishing Made Me Appreciate Books More

A reader explains why working in the publishing industry made him appreciate the value of a book more. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-17 10:35:25 UTC ]
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Authors Guild Unveils New Model Trade Book Contract

Using some or all of the clauses in the model contract, the Authors Guild said, will help ensure that writers receive the rights granted them under current U.S. copyright and contract law. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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For China's Book Biz Right Now, There's Nothing to Do But Work and Wait

An editor at a Beijing-based publisher describes the Chinese book business in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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5 of the Best Books That Celebrate Male Friendships

From literary fiction to fantasy, here are five books that celebrate male friendships to fight toxic masculinity and homophobia. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-03-05 11:35:47 UTC ]
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Boris Johnson joins schoolchildren for Downing Street World Book Day celebration

Prime Minister Boris Johnson took time out to celebrate World Book Day at 10 Downing Street with Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell and children from Charles Dickens Primary School in Southwark. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-04 18:40:51 UTC ]
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World Book Day 2020: Duchess of Cornwall, Cowell and O'Leary lead celebrations

The Duchess of Cornwall, Dermot O'Leary and Cressida Cowell will lead celebrations for World Book Day 2020 today (Thursday 5th March). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-04 07:51:05 UTC ]
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Steph Cha and Joe Ide talk noir with the L.A. Times Book Club

"Your House Will Pay" author Steph Cha and "Hi Five" author Joe Ide join the L.A. Times Book Club in Long Beach. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-03-02 21:46:24 UTC ]
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Elisa Gabbert, author of The Word Pretty, is the new Times poetry columnist.

The New York Times Book Review has announced that their poetry columnist of the last 15 years, David Orr, is stepping down to focus on his own writing, and will be replaced by Elisa Gabbert. Elisa Gabbert’s The Word Pretty (2018) was a New York Times Editors’ Pick, and The Self Unstable... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-27 21:32:22 UTC ]
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Here are the finalists for the NYPL’s Helen Bernstein Award, which celebrates working journalists.

Since 1988, the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism has been shining a light on journalists who call attention to vital current events or societal issues. The titles up for consideration this year tackle domestic violence, sexual harassment, mass... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-21 20:39:14 UTC ]
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This author wrote a book based on a Florence and the Machine album.

Have you ever listened to one of your favorite albums on repeat, gotten lost in the sweeping, cinematic feel of it, knew it so well that you began picturing it as a narrative, filled in the details missing from the music, and then realized the story you were telling was almost fully independent... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-20 20:20:20 UTC ]
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Dan Brown … Children’s Book Author?

For his latest project, the writer best known for “The Da Vinci Code” is turning his attention to a younger audience. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-02-20 14:15:06 UTC ]
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The L.A. Times announces its 2019 Book Prize finalists and a new award for science fiction.

It’s an exciting year for the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes! This will be its 40th year of celebrating the literary community. The Times announced their 2019 Book Prize finalists today; the winners will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on April 17th. Additionally, bestselling crime... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-19 17:41:26 UTC ]
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Ronan Farrow, Emily Bazelon and Colson Whitehead among L.A. Times Book Prize finalists

The 2019 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes honor crime novelist Walter Mosley for lifetime achievement. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-02-19 14:00:25 UTC ]
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Judy Blume to Headline BookExpo’s 2020 Children’s Book & Author Breakfast

ReedPop announced the author lineup for BookExpo’s 2020 Children’s Book & Author Breakfast, which will be held on Friday, May 29, at the Javits Center in New York City, and hosted and moderated by renowned children's author Judy Blume. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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British Book Awards Celebrates Three Decades: The ’30 From 30′ Longlist

To toast its 30th anniversary, the 'Nibbies' ceremony on May 18 will name a 'best of the best' winner with the lucky author onstage. The post British Book Awards Celebrates Three Decades: The ’30 From 30′ Longlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-02-14 17:24:27 UTC ]
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How 12 authors turned their book dedications into grand romantic gestures

Maeve Binchy, Carl Sagan and Fredrik Backman have all professed their love in indelible ways. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-11 18:15:34 UTC ]
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Paulo Coelho deletes draft of children’s book he was working on with Kobe Bryant.

This is a sad and simple human gesture in the face of death. Within hours of learning Kobe Bryant had died in a helicopter crash, novelist Paulo Coelho—most famous in the US for his 1988 novel The Alchemist—deleted the draft of a children’s book he had been working on with Bryant. As Coelho to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-28 16:12:50 UTC ]
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