Every now and then I encounter people who can’t suspend disbelief. They ask how I can write about ‘such terrible things’Feeling unappreciated is your lot as a writer. Few readers; no readers. Scathing reviews; no reviews. Publishers saying, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” or not taking a punt on your second book because the first sold poorly. The fat American and English imports on display at the front of many bookshops, a tiny Australian section in the back corner. Beverley Farmer finding her short-story collection Milk shelved with books on nursing mothers; me finding my novel The Stencil Man shelved in Art and Craft.Most of these indignities occur while you’re still at your desk. They multiply once you appear in public. Elizabeth Jolley, signing books at a department store in Perth, was scrutinised by a beady-eyed woman who eventually approached and asked, “How much is the table?” A bookseller stuck the first page of a US thriller under my nose and said, “Once you can learn to write as good as this …” Related: Harold Bloom’s defence of western greats blinded him to other cultures | Kenan Malik If I say, 'Worse things happen in real life than I invent, just read a newspaper,' I learn they don’t read newspapers Related: Peter Handke's Nobel prize that dishonours the victims of genocide | Ed Vuilliamy Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-11-03 17:00:27 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#department store
#real life
#peter handke
#nobel prize
#bookseller
Bestselling authors including Bernardine Evaristo, Sebastian Faulks and Preti Taneja have called on writers to ask their publishers for translator names to appear on book covers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-30 06:26:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book covers
The 12 winners have been revealed for this year's Creative Future Writers’ Awards, celebrating prose and poetry from underrepresented writers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-28 13:27:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#underrepresented writers
One of the greatest science fiction writers, Asimov’s work has had a lasting effect thanks to his prescient takes on technology, climate collapse and humanity’s future. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2021-09-24 15:01:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#major themes
#lasting effect
#science fiction
This Halloween, a group of crime writers including Peter James, M W Craven, T M Logan and Trevor Wood are publishing a spooky crime anthology to help raise funds for the Barnardos Children in Crisis Appeal, set up in the wake of the "shadow pandemic" created by Covid-19. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-24 02:35:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#raise funds
#anthology
Richard Osman's The Man Who Died Twice (Penguin) has claimed the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Fiction top spot, with its predecessor The Thursday Murder Club bouncing four places up the chart to join it in second. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-23 01:43:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#amazon charts
#richard osman
Longwood University has revealed the five finalists for the 2021 John Dos Passos Prize, the oldest literary award granted by a university or college in Virginia. The prize, now in its 40th year, seeks to recognize the country’s “most talented but under-appreciated writers.” Previous winners... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-20 15:56:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#longwood university
#40th year
#literary award
Peter Swanson's latest "ingenious" murder mystery Nine Lives has been scooped by Faber and will publish next spring. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-16 00:06:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#murder mystery
#peter swanson
The author of The Fortune Men will now compete with five other novelists from South Africa, Sri Lanka and the US for the 2021 awardAlex Clark explores how the Booker shortlist tunes in to the worries of our ageJust one British author has made the shortlist for this year’s Booker prize: Nadifa... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-14 15:25:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#nadifa mohamed
#fortune men
#south africa
#sri lanka
#booker prize
#true story
#british authors
#booker longlist
#francis spufford
#rachel cusk
#british author
#novelists
With her new book ‘Apples Never Fall’ and another TV adaptation with Nicole Kidman, Liane Moriarty doesn’t care how you categorize her books. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-10 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#tv adaptation
#nicole kidman
As this article is partly about being a late-diagnosed neurodivergent writer, I’ll start with the caveat that neurodivergent people definitely don’t experience life in the same way so I can’t speak about the experiences of others, only my own. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-09 16:32:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Journalist Stig Abell has signed a three-book deal with HarperCollins, including his crime fiction debut and one non-fiction title. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-07 18:18:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#three-book deal
#non-fiction title
#harpercollins
Trigger warning: unpopular opinion. I have long despised the idea of writers’ retreats. I entirely agree with the concept itself but felt it was in desperate need of diversification in order to suit different personality types and minds. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-02 05:17:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#personality types
Bristol arts hub and charity Knowle West Media Centre is seeking a writer who identifies as working-class to participate in a mini residency as part of the centre's Working Class Writers Festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-01 12:58:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
The Madeleine Milburn Mentorship Programme, introduced in 2020 to champion new and exciting voices and launch their writing careers, has chosen eight authors for 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-30 16:42:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#writing careers
Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) has claimed its seventh week in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot in paperback, selling 15,353 copies last week. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-24 07:26:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#richard osman
Literary agency Greene & Heaton is to launch a submissions initiative and mentoring scheme for writers from underrepresented backgrounds, as part of The Greene Door Project. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-19 09:26:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#mentoring scheme
#underrepresented backgrounds
#literary agency
Viper has bagged two more "twisting and chilling" novels from crime and thriller writer Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-18 22:31:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#crime thrillers
Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) has topped all but one of the UK's regional bestseller charts, with only Central Scotland crowning Douglas Stuart's Booker-winner Shuggie Bain (Picador) instead. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-18 02:44:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#richard osman
Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) has bounced back to the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, for an 11th week in total and a sixth week in paperback. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-16 16:44:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#richard osman
#bounced back
#11th week
#sixth week