After she was dropped by her agent, Alex Aster turned to a books-obsessed corner of TikTok to gauge interest in her YA novel … and now Lightlark is one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the yearHaving finally published her first novel, Alex Aster was feeling disheartened. The book had tanked during the pandemic and she had been dropped by her literary agent. Then, on 13 March 2021, she decided to take to TikTok, asking her followers if they would: “read a book about a cursed island that only appears once every 100 years to host a game that gives the six rulers of the realm a chance to break their curses.” One of the rulers must die, the short video revealed, “even as love complicates everything” for the heroine, Isla Crown.Aster didn’t expect much, especially when she checked in a few hours later to see that her post had only clocked up about 1,000 views. Maybe the books world was right, she thought. Maybe there wasn’t a market for Lightlark, a young adult story she had been writing and rewriting for years, to no interest from publishers. The next day, however, she woke up to see her video had been viewed more than a million times. A week later, Lightlark had gone to auction and she had a six-figure deal with Amulet Books. Last month, Universal preemptively bought the film rights for, in her words, “more zeros than I’ve seen in my life”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2022-08-16 13:32:30 UTC ]
Longtime literary agent and left-wing activist Frances Goldin died May 16. She was 95. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Andersen Press will publish Sally Nicholls' The Silent Stars Go By in November. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-27 07:51:23 UTC ]
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Holly Bourne answers our questions about her YA novel tackling toxic relationships, The Places I've Cried in Public (Usborne), which has been shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-23 08:58:47 UTC ]
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Aspiring writers and directors now have a rare chance to impress producers and publishers with time on their handsCameras have stopped rolling, book launches are postponed and actors are all “resting”. It looks as if nothing is moving in the world of entertainment and storytelling, yet from... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-04-18 13:05:09 UTC ]
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Andersen Press has acquired I, Ada, a new YA novel based on the early life of Victorian computer programmer Ada Lovelace, written by Julia Gray. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-07 13:54:37 UTC ]
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You've read Nic Stone's YA novel Dear Martin and are looking to read more like it? These are a few great books like Dear Martin out there in the world. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-03-31 10:41:39 UTC ]
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Literary agent Simon Trewin has partnered with Writing.ie – a resource site for unpublished authors – to launch a weekly one-hour show on Facebook Live. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-27 16:09:51 UTC ]
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Niki Chang is leaving The Good Literary Agency (TLGA) to join David Higham Associates (DHA) in April as a literary agent. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-24 09:01:20 UTC ]
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Among the big deals this week are a middle grade “biographical novel” about Muhammad Ali by James Patterson and Kwame Alexander and a YA novel by one of the Central Park Five. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Naomi Gibson’s debut YA novel has been pre-empted in Germany and Russia, two weeks after being sent out by Chicken House. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-17 04:24:57 UTC ]
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Film rights to Richard Osman’s debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club (Viking), have been snapped up by Amblin Partners in a 14-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 16:08:49 UTC ]
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TV and film rights for Maggie O’Farrell’s Women’s Prize for Fiction-longlisted Hamnet (Tinder Press) have been optioned by Hera Pictures. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 16:28:24 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has won Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl, a satirical debut novel about race and authenticity in the workplace, for a six-figure deal following a nine-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 20:26:38 UTC ]
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Author Myron Levoy, whose acclaimed YA novel ‘Alan and Naomi’ was a National Book Award finalist, has died at age 89. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-27 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Children's is publishing Breathless, a new "personal" and "achingly romantic" YA novel by Jennifer Niven, in paperback this autumn. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-19 14:05:27 UTC ]
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David Fickling Books is publishing a new "laugh-out-loud" YA novel from former Children’s Laureate Anne Fine OBE, called Shades of Scarlet. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-16 23:38:58 UTC ]
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Two authors share the literary agent advice they discovered when they figured out their agents weren't their perfect match and how to break peacefully. The post When Your Agent Isn’t a Good Fit by Jera Brown appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2020-02-14 11:45:09 UTC ]
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"Fence: Striking Distance," Sarah Rees Brennan's YA novel adapted from the "Fence" comics, will go into the characters' "how" and "why," she says. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-02-03 16:00:05 UTC ]
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Literary agent Marilia Savvides has left PFD to join management and production firm 42. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-06 18:38:34 UTC ]
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Notable deals this week include a major acquisition for MIT Press, a first-person tale of survival on the high seas, and a YA novel that HarperTeen won at auction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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