Bartering with the Facts: How a Novelist Solves a Historical Problem

Samantha Harvey's novel 'The Western Wind' is set in 1491 in England. She needed for there to be a private confession box; her plot hinged on it. One problem: private confession boxes didn't exist. Here's how she solved the puzzle. Continue reading at 'Publishers Weekly'

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #samantha harvey

Other news stories related to: "Bartering with the Facts: How a Novelist Solves a Historical Problem"


No men allowed: publisher accepts novelist's 'year of women' challenge

Small press And Other Stories will produce no books by men in 2018 in answer to Kamila Shamsie’s call for direct action to beat gender bias in publishingSmall press And Other Stories has answered author Kamila Shamsie’s provocative call for a year of publishing women to redress “gender bias” in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #prize-winning novels #booker prize #novelist made #literary world #direct action #kamila shamsie #small press #male authors


BookCon 2015: Judy Blume Dishes on Life in Fact and Fiction

After 750 fans gave Judy Blume a standing ovation before she even said a word on stage, Jennifer Weiner kicked off an hour-long Q&A with Blume during BookCon. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #standing ovation


BEA 2015: Amy Stewart - Gardening Expert to Debut Novelist

When gardening writer Amy Stewart was researching The Drunken Botanist (Algonquin, 2013), about the intersection of botany and booze, she came across Henry Kaufman, a gin smuggler from a hundred years ago. Although she hasn't been able to verify that he's the same Kaufman who ran a silk-dyeing... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #debut novelist


Will Self's 'amanuensis' to publish memoir of working for the novelist

Matthew De Abaitua’s Self & I covers the six-month period he spent reading, drinking and rolling ‘special cigarettes’ as assistant to the Booker-shortlisted author in the early 1990sFrom an interview involving shooting whisky bottles and smoking “special” cigarettes to an attempt to take a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-05-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #east anglia #recently completed #early 1990s #aardvark bureau


Are ebooks an answer to inner-city problems?

Obama announced a plan to give low-income children access to 10,000 ebooks, part of a larger strategy to lift inner city communities by improving educational opportunities for kids. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Why Companies Need Novelists

Leaders, take note (and MFA grads, take heart): acclaimed novelist Mohsin Hamid on the most important tool you're not using enough.True story: In 2007, the Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid catapulted into the literary spotlight with his second book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, an examination of... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2015-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #guardian called #reluctant fundamentalist #true story #important tool #book sold


How a Pulitzer-Winning Series Forced South Carolina to Face Its Domestic Violence Problem

From the time its first installment was published, “Til Death Do Us Part,” a powerful series about domestic abuse in South Carolina from the Charleston Post and Courier, seemed destined for Pulitzer Prize contention.   And on ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #south carolina #domestic abuse


10 Children’s Bookseller Challenges—And How Stores Solved Them: Children's Institute 2015

Every day, children’s booksellers have to overcome hurdles to sell more books and increase foot traffic. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Winston Graham Historical Prize revived

The Royal Institution of Cornwall is reviving The Winston Graham Historical Prize, following the start of the BBC’s new adaptation of Graham’s Poldark series last night (Sunday 8th March). The competition was first run in 2008 during centenary celebrations for the author.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #centenary celebrations #poldark series #royal institution


Teen novelists: the perils and positives of publishing early

Helena Coggan is only 15, and yet her debut novel has all the assurance of a writer in mid-stride. If young writers can overcome the stare of the blank page – and take care with characterisation – they can stand as an inspiration to allHelena Coggan’s debut, The Catalyst, is an accomplished... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #blank page #young writers #helena coggan


Does fan fiction spell the end of the professional novelist?

In popular genres such as sci-fi and fantasy, fan fiction based on the Wattpad model could easily disrupt the publishing industryFor a few years in the mid 2000s, I was the young librarian who got sent to schools to convince kids they really did want to read books. The truth of my experience was... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #young adults #vast majority #book world


Surprise! Harper Lee is in fact a woman

Twitter reactions to news of a follow-up to To Kill a Mockingbird including one from a BBC editor flub one rather important detail: its author is femaleNever mind terrible book covers for female authors – this is, frankly, small potatoes in the world of gender and literature. Because even if... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #robert galbraith #writers block #20th century #harper lee


The novelist’s art of the tweet is brought to book

It’s a long way from inception to completion, unless you’re artist and programmer Cory Arcangel, and your book is made up of other people’s tweets about writing a bookThe Inception Button should be used sparingly but when called for, it can be highly effective. Located at inception.davepedu.com,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #penguin books #edith piaf #christopher nolan


Retailers hit by Yodel delivery problems

Delivery company Yodel has assured retailers that its backlog has been cleared and customers should receive deliveries they ordered last week no later than this Wednesday (17th December), after late deliveries hit pre-Christmas sales for bookshops and their customers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #retailers hit


Land Rover commissions novelist William Boyd’s latest

In a rare move for the publishing world, Land Rover has sponsored "An Ice Cream War" novelist William Boyd's new short fiction and turned it in into a gorgeous interactive campaign. The post Land Rover commissions novelist William Boyd’s latest appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #short fiction #land rover #publishing world #rare move


Debut Novelist Wins Canada’s Biggest Lit Prize

When the winner of the C$100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize was announced at a gala in Toronto last night, the spotlight was on a new writer, Sean Michaels, and his debut novel 'Us Conductors,' published by Random House Canada. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #sean michaels


Mackenzie tells SYP: 'Amazon's success could cause it problems'

Things are "only going to get tougher for traditional publishers unless we can show ourselves to be very good at what we do,” Ursula Mackenzie told the Society of Young Publishers (SYP) at its annual conference on Saturday (8th October). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #annual conference #traditional publishers


Apple and Amazon Have a Problem: People Don’t Want to Buy Stuff Anymore

The failure of the Fire Phone has been widely cited as the reason for Amazon’s disastrous quarter, but a darker cloud has settled over the world’s biggest online retailer. The core of Amazon’s business—its original reason for being: selling books and other media—has grown wobbly. The problem:... Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2014-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #buy stuff #selling books #fire phone #people don #post apple


As Genre Shows Go Mainstream, TV Execs Are Looking to Novelists for the Next Hit

TV network options on books have exploded. Publishers Lunch, a trade that tracks book industry deals, lists an ever-increasing number of television options over the last few years, with 2013 setting the record and this year looking good. And with massive success stories like Game of Thrones... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #lev grossman #bbc america