The bestselling young adult author wrote her first published novel on a BlackBerry while commuting. Now she has a fan base ardent enough to complain about the way she ended one bookLauren Oliver, a bestselling young adult writer whose latest book, Vanishing Girls, was published in the US last week, did not set out to write for teenagers – not originally. In fact, when she started out she wrote more than one novel for adults that she simply couldn’t sell to publishers. Talking about that early work, she is her own toughest critic: she calls the manuscripts “long” and “plotless”. “I kept getting the same feedback,” she said, “which was the writing was very good and the characters were great, but there was no story whatsoever.”Oliver is the daughter of English professors, and she’d attended the MFA program in creative writing at New York University. But, she says, for a long time, publishers’ feedback on her early work puzzled her: “It was honestly a criticism I didn’t totally understand.” Nothing in her background, she said, had prepared her to wield the mechanics of story. It took a job in a young adult division of Penguin to teach her that, where training under editors she learned the basics of structure. And it taught her “to tell a story, not just write character description and pretty sentences and stuff”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 15:58 A husband-and-wife team has launched an e-publishing company for new authors. Cornwall-based lawyers Nigel and Abbie Flanagan are calling on unpublished writers to submit the first 50 pages of their work to Wink Publishing.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Algonquin Books held the first in its new Algonquin Book Club Author Interviews March 21 at Miami's independent bookseller Books & Books, where local author Edwidge Danticat and local favorite Julia Alvarez sat down to talk about Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies. The sold-out event... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 01/04/2011 - 10:32 Canongate has signed a book it describes as a "fearlessly modern coming of age novel" from a 19-year-old début author. Senior editor Francis Bickmore bought world rights in a pre-emptive deal from Jon Elek at A P Watt.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 31/03/2011 - 08:48 Orion young adult imprint Indigo has acquired a debut trilogy by Jerusalem-born author Leigh Bardugo. Indigo publisher Fiona Kennedy bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) in the three titles from Alex Webb... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Wed, 23/03/2011 - 07:50 Writer, journalist and editor Peter Forbes' exploration of mimicry and camouflage in nature, art and warfare has been awarded the £50,000 Warwick Prize for Writing. His Dazzled and Deceived (Yale University Press) was described by chair of judges... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 22/03/2011 - 08:30 Transworld has acquired three novels by debut author Victoria Lamb, all set in the time of Elizabeth I's reign. Publishing director Selina Walker bought world rights in the trilogy from agent Luigi Bonomi, and will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Mon, 21/03/2011 - 08:52 Hodder has acquired a crossover dystopian trilogy from Gemma Malley, whose The Declaration trilogy was published by Bloomsbury. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Thu, 17/03/2011 - 06:39 French authors have urged culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand to intecede in order to break the deadlock in their negotiations with publishers over electronic rights. For the second year running, the Permanent Council of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 17/03/2011 - 15:57 Luke Johnson, best known in the book trade for his spell owning Borders, and fellow Financial Times journalist Mrs Moneypenny are writing business titles for Penguin's business imprint Portfolio. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 13:30 French authors are increasingly satisfied with their publishers, according to the third annual survey conducted by the Civil Society for Multimedia Authors (Scam). The latest results show that 71% of respondents are... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 11/03/2011 - 16:25 Writers ability to average out their earnings over a number of years could be abolished, according to new tax system proposals. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 08:40 Inspiring books by and about women are being hailed for International Women's Day, as J K Rowling and Germaine Greer are named among 17 authors on the Guardian's Top 100 Inspirational Women list. Female novelists are holding... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 04/03/2011 - 10:14 Sceptre has signed a six-figure deal for two novels by debut author Jess Richards, including Snake Ropes, set on an island "off the edge of the map". Deputy publisher Jocasta Hamilton made the deal for UK and Commonwealth... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 28/02/2011 - 15:43 A Carnegie-nominated author has proposed an alternative to World Book Night, suggesting readers buy one book from a bookshop this week and give it away. Writing on her blog, Nicola Morgan said she believed there were better... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Mon, 21/02/2011 - 15:24 HarperCollins Childrens Books has acquired three titles aimed at girls aged nine-and-over, billed as "Chocolat for young girls". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 17/02/2011 - 12:06 Weidenfeld & Nicolson is to publish a BBC TV tie-in by archaeologist, historian and TV presenter Neil Oliver. W&N illustrated editor-in-chief Michael Dover acquired world (Europe and Far East exclusive) rights to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 16/02/2011 - 07:06 Author Margaret Atwood used her Tools of Change keynote speech to warn the industry not to eliminate authors, and make sure they are paid enough to "pay for the cheese sandwiches". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 11/02/2011 - 08:28 An open letter to culture secretary Jeremy Hunt and culture minister Ed Vaizey calling for a halt to library closures after the success of last weekend's protests has been signed by high-profile authors including Sarah... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 11/02/2011 - 07:59 The estate of the romance writer Barbara Cartland has fallen to the embrace of digital, in a move that sees her print publisher suffering a painful rejection. About a quarter of Cartland's extensive ouevre is to be published... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Wed, 09/02/2011 - 20:05 Debut author Sita Brahmachari has won the Waterstones Childrens Book Prize for her coming-of-age novel about life, death, friendship and love. She was awarded the £5,000 prize this evening [9th February] for Artichoke Hearts, published by Macmillan... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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