How Should Debut Novelists Measure Success?

Earlier this May, an Esquire article by Kate Dwyer called “Why Are Debut Novels Failing to Launch?” channeled the fear of debut novelists everywhere: What happens if no one buys my book? Book sales are an important way for editors and agents to gauge whether to invest in an author. If her first novel doesn’t … The post How Should Debut Novelists Measure Success? appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at 'The Millions'

[ The Millions | 2024-10-16 12:00:00 UTC ]

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How Reading John McPhee’s Book on Tennis Helped Me Write About Skateboarding

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” –Arthur Ashe * Years ago, when I was still a budding fiction writer, I published an essay about how hard skateboarding is to write about. I focused on a few novelists who had skater characters in their books but who clearly didn’t skate […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-02-09 09:55:45 UTC ]
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‘Very Cold People’ Makes Something Beautiful Out of a Painful Childhood

The memoirist Sarah Manguso’s first novel is about a young girl’s life in a small, snowy New England town. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-02-06 10:00:06 UTC ]
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Take an early peek at Hulu’s adaptation of Conversations With Friends.

At the risk of reigniting the Sally Rooney Discourse—today, Hulu and BBC Three released a few early images from their upcoming adaptation of Sally Rooney’s bestselling first novel Conversations With Friends, which will premiere sometime this spring. (If you somehow don’t know what this novel is... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-02-04 13:53:52 UTC ]
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59 Years of Book Covers for The Bell Jar from All Over the World

On January 14, 1963, poet Sylvia Plath published her first novel in England under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas.” The book had a positive but relatively quiet reception; only a few weeks after its publication, on February 11, Plath would die by suicide. It wasn’t published in the US until 1971,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-01-14 09:50:32 UTC ]
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A Personal Catalogue of the World’s Most Storied Bookstores

Two decades ago, I wrote my very first novel while working at The Community Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York. That job enabled me to complete my book, not just because of the flexible hours, but because the other staffers were all aspiring writers, and many of our... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-01-12 09:50:45 UTC ]
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Beyond Ekphrasis: Rereading Jean Giono’s Ennemonde, by Alice-Catherine Carls

Book Reviews Jean Giono at his home, Le Paraïs, in Manosque, France, 1942 / Photo by André Zucca / Courtesy Les Amis de Jean Giono Written late in life, “Le Haut Pays” and “Camargue”—once again paired in the Archipelago Books edition of... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2022-01-11 21:02:53 UTC ]
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The remarkable worlds of Hanya Yanagihara’s ‘To Paradise’

"To Paradise," by Hanya Yanagihara, is the author's first novel since "A Little Life" became a major literary event in 2015. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-01-11 13:00:00 UTC ]
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The Only True Name: Who is Elena Ferrante?

Who is Elena Ferrante? One of the most widely-acclaimed and beloved contemporary novelists is also the most unknown. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-12-29 11:33:00 UTC ]
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Electric Lit’s Favorite Novels of 2021

When it comes to great novels, this year felt like an embarrassment of riches. The books collected here are ambitious—in intellect, in scope, in subject matter, and in size. Some are perfect encapsulations of the unique problems of our time, while others illuminate the human threads that connect... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-12-16 12:05:00 UTC ]
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Notable Literary Deaths in 2021

It’s safe to say that in general, 2021 was an improvement on 2020—but that doesn’t mean it was a big one. Among the many disappointments of this year was the fact that we lost far too many members of the literary community, from poets to novelists to editors to critics to publishers. To them, we […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-15 09:49:46 UTC ]
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How Two Novelists and a Poet Made Me Change My Life

Are there certain books with topics you avoid? That you fear may leave you a little worse for wear? Here's what may happen if you read them. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2021-12-07 11:38:00 UTC ]
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I write ‘women’s commercial fiction’ –why is my work still seen as inferior to men’s? | Emma Hughes

A recent roundup of the ‘best books of 2021’ had every possible genre of novel – with the unsurprising exception of romanceIn the four months since my first novel came out, I’ve had the same conversation probably a dozen times.“What’s it about?” a well-meaning stranger will ask. “Well,” I’ll... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-12-05 15:25:24 UTC ]
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10 of the Best Novels and Short Stories about Dogs

Novelists and short-story writers have created some classic narratives about man’s best friend, the dog. But what are the very best stories and novels about dogs? Where should we begin in assessing the classic, canonical literature that features dogs? From Homer’s Odyssey onwards – where the... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2021-12-03 15:00:29 UTC ]
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Alex Hyde | 'If I was ever going to write something, I was going to start with this story'

Academic Alex Hyde‘s first novel is a lyrical tale about two women named Violet during the Second World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-26 18:23:13 UTC ]
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Kyle Lucia Wu on What Novelists Can Learn From Poets

The following first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. * While writing my first novel, I was hungry for advice, like many young writers, and soaked up tenets like write every day or wake up before work to go to your desk or hit 1000 words every session. But these... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-11-12 09:55:05 UTC ]
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The Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka Discusses His First Novel in Nearly Fifty Years

The Nigerian writer explains the origins of his latest book’s title, why novels are harder to write than plays, and the masochistic pull of political activism. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2021-11-02 22:37:29 UTC ]
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Boubacar Boris Diop Wins Prestigious 2022 Neustadt International Prize for Literature

News and Events (c) Rama, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr NORMAN, OKLA. – World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, announced late Tuesday evening that Boubacar Boris Diop is the 27th... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-10-26 21:56:54 UTC ]
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Review: ‘The Street,’ by Ann Petry

This classic story of a single mother’s struggle against poverty, published in 1946, would become the first novel by a Black woman to sell a million copies. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-10-22 04:28:52 UTC ]
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Book Sales Prognosis: Good 2021, Uncertain 2022

Book sales should finish 2021 on a good note, but a number of factors could mean softer sales in early 2022, NPD BookScan noted during a webinar on third-quarter sales. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-10-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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