Ed Needham: ‘Top editors’ jobs have all vanished’

The founder and editor of literary magazine Strong Words on his appetite for tales of financial chicanery and why he won’t be returning to Jane AustenEd Needham is the editor of Strong Words, a magazine about books that he writes and edits on his own from his flat in Camden Town, a feat that has impressed novelists such as Sebastian Faulks and Elizabeth Day. A former editor of several magazines, including Rolling Stone, he is a champion of books, from graphic novels to literary fiction, biographies to investigative works.When and why did you set up Strong Words?It’s been going for about 18 months. I did it because the world pulled the rug out from beneath the magazine industry when advertising migrated to digital. The chances of getting another editor’s job at the level I was used to had vanished. I don’t know how to do anything else. I can’t operate a crane or crack a safe. So I thought, what can I do? Just as the technology has come along that enables people to make high-quality magazines with tiny teams, that same technology has destroyed the market. But there’s quite a lot of activity in independent publishing and niche markets. I realised that as long as I keep costs down, I don’t need to sell many copies for it to be a viable business. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-10-05 17:00:51 UTC ]

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Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists

‘The issue was the first of its kind. Trust me, it said. I know what I am talking about. These young writers are the future of literature. Watch. History will prove me right.’ A history of the list, with reflections from Bill Buford and other editors. The post <em>Granta</em>’s... Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2023-03-21 19:02:26 UTC ]
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Licensing Hotline: February 2023

Read on for news about Odd Dot's deal with Penguin's The World of Eric Carle team, HarperCollins's Rainbow High books, an expansion of Simon Spotlight's Peanuts program into graphic novels, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-16 05:00:00 UTC ]
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In Praise of the Campus Novel: Daisy Alpert Florin on Fiction and Self-Discovery

What is it about campus novels that makes us love them so? The campus has inspired many novelists over the years: Michael Chabon, Kazuo Ishiguro, Curtis Sittenfeld, Elif Batuman, Nabokov, to name just a few. Readers love these stories, too; “the campus novel” has become its own literary... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-14 09:53:34 UTC ]
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The Playful Postcards of Lucia Berlin and Kenward Elmslie

Kenward Elmslie was an award-winning poet, lyricist, literary magazine editor, and opera librettist whose work thrived in collaboration with other writers, musicians, and visual artists. Elmslie, who was a grandson of Joseph Pulitzer, died at age 93 in June 2022. Elmslie met Lucia Berlin when... Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2023-02-08 11:00:46 UTC ]
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Attention: a new Jesmyn Ward novel is coming this fall.

Lovers of gorgeous prose and ghost-soaked literary fiction rejoice: two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward’s next novel officially has a release date. Let Us Descend, Ward’s first novel in five years (since 2017’s Sing, Unburied Sing) will be published by Scribner on October 3. The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-01-27 15:09:45 UTC ]
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Meet the Champion of Debut Authors

If you are a debut author or a literary fiction and nonfiction stan, you’ve likely heard of Debutiful. Adam Vitcavage launched the podcast and website dedicated to highlighting the work of debut authors in January 2019. It has since become a beacon in the literary community, helping over 100,000... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-01-18 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Daniel Torday on Why There Are No Acknowledgements in His Latest Novel

I kind of love acknowledgement pages. When I was trying to find an agent for my first novel, I would go to the local Borders (it was a lifetime ago) open to them often to discover which agents and editors novelists worked with, which MFA programs they’d attended, who their early readers were. My... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-01-18 09:56:43 UTC ]
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Appreciation: Russell Banks was a giant rooting for the underdogs

Russell Banks, who has died at age 82, carried on the legacy of great American novelists probing big themes through the small lives of heroic underdogs. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-01-09 21:54:28 UTC ]
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Big Names in Little Magazines: On Thomas Pynchon’s Very First Literary Journal Appearance

“Thomas Pynchon is a young writer, just twenty, who has previously published fiction in Epoch. He is a Cornell graduate and now lives in Seattle.” Writers know that the time between when a piece is accepted by a literary magazine and when it is actually published can be rather protracted—my... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-12-21 09:53:25 UTC ]
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Wild Worlds: SFF Books By Unexpected Writers

Poets, literary fiction authors, and other unexpected writers are taking their shot at sci-fi and fantasy. Here are some of the best, including Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-12-20 11:35:00 UTC ]
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Comics and Graphic Novels to Read When You’re Under the Weather

These comics are perfect for your next sick day, from a nonfiction comic about the 1918 flu to a comforting graphic novel about tea dragons. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-12-01 11:34:00 UTC ]
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Astra House Shuts Its Literary Magazine

After publishing two issues, 'Astra Magazine' will shut down by the end of the year. The closure, the president of parent company Astra House Publishing said, will allow the company to focus on its book publishing business. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Avery Hill Dreams Big for Graphic Novels

With only three employees, the U.K.-based graphic novel publisher is building an audience, at home and in the U.S. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
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How Jane Austen Almost Walked Away From Writing

If you’re a literary genius, you’ve got it easy—right? Wrong. Even Jane Austen, indisputably one of the greatest novelists in the English language, spent years struggling to be published and became so dispirited that there were moments when she almost walked away. The story begins with an... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-11-18 09:54:04 UTC ]
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The Intimate Influences Behind New Queer Lit Magazine, ‘BitterSweet Review’

The new literary magazine is distributed in Europe via Antenne Books in print and online. Founding editor Benoît Loiseau shares how independent literature forms forge new inroads into publishing for minority authors and readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Intimate Influences Behind New Queer Lit Magazine, ‘BitterSweet Review’

The new literary magazine is distributed in Europe via Antenne Books in print and online. Founding editor Benoît Loiseau shares how independent literature forms forge new inroads into publishing for minority authors and readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Library Pass' Comics Plus Adds Image Comics

The award-winning publisher will make a range of digital titles available through Comics Plus, which offers readers simultaneous access to more than 20,000-plus digital comics, graphic novels, and manga through schools and libraries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-11-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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“Eclectic, Refreshingly Wild, and Important.” Exploring the Archives of America’s Best Literary Journals

The 28th issue of Kayak—a literary magazine edited and published by George Hitchcock out of Santa Cruz, California—appeared in 1972. The issue includes mostly poetry, as well as a few book reviews, a work of verse fiction, collages, illustrations lifted from old books and manuals, and an acerbic... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-10-19 08:57:28 UTC ]
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New audiobook platforms are launched to rival Amazon’s Audible

Spiracle will feature titles from independent presses, while last month, Spotify also began offering audiobooks to US customersA new audiobook platform which aims to create a “lovely, welcoming, independent bookstore kind of vibe” has launched, as audio giant Spotify also enters the fast-growing... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-10-03 18:09:30 UTC ]
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Hilary Mantel, celebrated author of Wolf Hall, dies aged 70

‘She saw and felt things us ordinary mortals missed,’ her agent says of Booker prize-winning author who died on Thursday• Hilary Mantel remembered: ‘She was the queen of literature’• ‘The pen is in our hands. A happy ending is ours to write’: Hilary Mantel in her own wordsThe Booker... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-09-23 11:29:23 UTC ]
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