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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Fortress Brings Bestselling Author's Book Back to Print Following Scandal

Fortress Press is reissuing ‘Jesus + Nothing = Everything’ by Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of Billy Graham whose book was taken out of print after admitting to extra-marital affairs in 2015. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'No kids in cages': Children's book authors unite against Trump policy separating families at the border

About 2,000 children’s and YA book authors and their supporters have signed onto a campaign to oppose President Trump's controversial family separation immigration policy under the name "Kid Lit Says No Kids in Cages." The campaign made its appearance Monday on Twitter with a statement signed by... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What is it like being a first-time novelist today? – books podcast

In some ways, it has never been easier to become an author – but in others, it has never been harder. While self-publishing, blogging and crowdfunding have opened up opportunities, there are also unprecedented financial pressures that determine who can and can’t afford to write, with books... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kerr picture book cover revealed as author turns 95

HarperCollins Children’s Books has revealed the cover of Judith Kerr’s new picture book to celebrate the author’s 95th birthday. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lawrence Ferlinghetti's 'experimental' new book due in time for 100th birthday

Blending autobiography, literary criticism poetry and philosophy, Little Boy will be published in March 2019, the author’s centenaryThe 99-year-old poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, one of the last surviving members of the Beat generation, has sold an “experimental” new novel to a major American... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blind and bullied, now a bestselling author: Steff Green's next book is personal

Books have been saving Steff Green since she was a child growing up in central Hawke's Bay. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2018-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors and publishers donate thousands of books to Oxfam

Paula Hawkins, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman and Robert Webb are among the authors donating thousands of books to Oxfam in a bid to boost sales in the charity's shops and raise money for its work. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dan Snow history book out in time for Christmas

BAFTA-winning broadcaster and television presenter Dan Snow is publishing On This Day in History with John Murray Press. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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April 2018 Bestseller Lists From China: Young Readers Cheer a Celebrity-Powered World Book Day

The endorsement of a Chinese actor powers Yu Hua's 'To Live' to the top of China's April fiction charts, when fellow celebrities spread the word and young readers hear the call. The post April 2018 Bestseller Lists From China: Young Readers Cheer a Celebrity-Powered World Book Day appeared first... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Montefiore to celebrate the letter in next book

Orion is publishing two books by historian and novelist Simon Sebag Montefiore: Written in History: Letters that Changed the World and a new edition of Speeches that Changed the World. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British Book Awards Include Political Commentary Amid Celebration

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debut author flyposts PRH offices to advertise own book

A debut author flyposted Penguin Random House's offices in London's Vauxhall as part of a guerrilla marketing stunt to promote his new book. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Abu Dhabi International Book Fair Opens, a Professional Program at Its Center

The spaciousness and energy at Abu Dhabi's National Exhibition Center make the just opened book fair there a sprawling, energetic event with a professional program at its heart. The post Abu Dhabi International Book Fair Opens, a Professional Program at Its Center appeared first on Publishing... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Last chance for UK authors to win European Book Prize before Brexit

This is the last year that British authors are likely to be eligible to enter the European Book Prize (Prix du Livre Européen), with the UK's exit from the European Union looming in March 2019. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fifty authors call on book industry to ditch plastic

Fifty of the UK’s authors and illustrators, including Sir Michael Morpurgo, Chris Riddell and Jacqueline Wilson, have pledged their support for a campaign encouraging the book industry to ditch the plastic. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Want to earn more as a book author? A male name will help

In a groundbreaking study of more than two million books published in North America between 2002 and 2012, scholars found that books by women authors are priced 45% less than those of their male counterparts. The researchers, sociologist Dana Beth Weinberg and mathematician Adam Kapelner, both... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2018-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors get animated in moving images at the Festival of Books

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[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tens of thousands expected to attend as Los Angeles Times Festival of Books kicks off

Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend this weekend’s Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the largest event of its kind in the country. The 23rd annual festival, which celebrates reading and storytelling, got underway at 10 a.m. Saturday at the USC campus near downtown L.A. Authors... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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First day of Los Angeles Times Festival of Books offers a little something for everyone

President Trump’s immigration policies, L.A.’s homeless crisis, the women’s movement and the culture of food were just a few of the topics covered during the first day of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the USC campus. The 23rd annual festival, which celebrates reading and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book clinic: do editors often have to cut authors down to size?

Overwriting is a common problem among beginners, but it happens to the best of them – ask a professional editorMost writers I know massively overwrite. How common is it for a published author to have had an editor do a big cutting job?Retired 72-year-old psychotherapist, living in IndiaRichard... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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