'Nobody in Tesco buys spy books by women': how female authors took on the genre

Publishing’s long established boys’ club in espionage fiction is having its cover blown by a new school led by Stella Rimington, Manda Scott and Charlotte PhilbyWhen Stella Rimington, the former director general of MI5 and spy author, wrote a new foreword last year to The Spy’s Bedside Book, Graham Greene and his brother Hugh’s 1957 anthology , she was glowingly complimentary. She had just one complaint. “After everything we have done for spying, there is, apart from the obligatory reference to Mata Hari, hardly anything in this book about women!” she wrote.The Greene brothers aren’t alone in their short sight. Wikipedia lists 127 notable writers of spy fiction, dead and living, and only seven of them are women. (Rimington is one of them.) Pick any list of the best spy novels, and it will usually be peopled only by male writers such as John le Carré, John Buchan, Rudyard Kipling, Erskine Childers, Joseph Conrad, Len Deighton, Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum.Publishing has become much more gender-blind – before it was: ‘Only blokes can write this’ Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-01-07 09:00:54 UTC ]
News tagged with: #male writers #rudyard kipling #joseph conrad #ian fleming #tom clancy #anthology

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Author of 'My Monticello' on Writing a Debut Book With Buzz

Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, at 50, is not the average age of a debut author. But the public school teacher describes herself as a “literary debutante” with the October publication of “My Monticello.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-09-28 13:06:03 UTC ]
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‘I have these stories to tell’: the authors trying to diversify children’s books

Schemes provide mentors and funding to help aspiring writers on low incomes enter market dominated by white celebritiesA programme that aims to tackle the lack of diversity in children’s books has been launched after its founder said the practice of richer authors paying for support to get... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-09-26 06:15:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #aspiring writers #book market #tom fletcher #david walliams #penguin random house #children’s book


Quercus buys Arcadia Books as Bielenberg named publisher

Quercus has acquired the independent publishing house Arcadia Books for an undisclosed sum, to be based within the MacLehose Press imprint.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-06 17:28:46 UTC ]
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Reading Women Discusses Books on Incarceration

In this week’s episode, Kendra and Jaclyn discuss books around the theme of incarceration. From the episode: Kendra: My first pick is From the Desk of Zooey Washington by Janae Marks. It’s titled The Faraway Truth in the UK. This was one of our recent Patreon Book Club picks, and we had a great... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-01 08:48:56 UTC ]
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10 New Books Written and Translated by Women

For Women in Translation month, we’ve curated a reading list of novels and short story collections written and translated by women. Exploring everything from gender biases and millennial burnout in the Japanese workplace to a toxic relationship in Iceland, these stories expand our perspectives... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-08-25 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Eloise Greenfield, author whose picture books uplifted Black children, dies at 92

Her dozens of works helped broaden children’s literature so that young African Americans could see themselves, their history and their hopes in the pages of their picture books. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-08-18 06:43:01 UTC ]
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German Book Prize: ‘Nationwide Blind Date Readings’ With Authors

The German Book Prize announces a series of author readings running through October 1 and set in many parts of Germany. The post German Book Prize: ‘Nationwide Blind Date Readings’ With Authors appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-08-17 18:09:08 UTC ]
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Who's Buying All These New Trump Books, Anyway?

There has been lots of media buzz around the latest wave of books about the Trump administration. But how are they selling compared to yesterday's hits? Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-08-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Szereto 'horrified and angry' over Amazon fake e-book scam

American author Mitzi Szereto says she has been plagued by fake pornographic e-books listed under her name on Amazon in a similar scam to one which previously targeted commercial women’s writers in the UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-11 21:51:56 UTC ]
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If You Name Your Book ‘Not a Happy Family,’ People Will Buy It

Shari Lapena’s latest thriller is on the hardcover fiction list, kids are in Halloween mode and other news from the world of best-sellerdom. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-08-05 09:00:02 UTC ]
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WLT Book Buzz Episode #2 - Reading History: Partition, the Tulsa Race Massacre, Bold Women & More

News and Events In this second episode of WLT Book Buzz, Laura Hernandez & Bunmi Ishola cover 42 books that connect with history. Find out what they read this summer and why these books should be on your shelf. Partition, World War II, the Tulsa Race... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-08-04 15:40:39 UTC ]
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Authors Guild Diversity Webinar Asks: Can Book Publishing Change?

The Authors Guild's virtual panel "Centering Black Voices: Short-Term Progress or Sustainable Change?," held on July 27, offered a wide-ranging examination of the history and potential of the book industry’s continuing struggle to address diversity. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-07-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Bonnier Books UK buys Edinburgh indie Black & White Publishing

Bonnier Books UK has acquired independent Scottish publisher Black & White Publishing as part of its long-term strategy for growth.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-27 19:25:22 UTC ]
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Open Road Buys U.K.'s Bloodhound Books

Open Road Integrated Media has acquired Bloodhound Books, a U.K.-based publisher of e-books and print titles. Founded in 2014, Bloodhound has a backlist of about 600 fiction titles, and has sold approximately six million copies of its books worldwide. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-07-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Fantasy Author Scarlett St. Clair Joins Bloom Books

Dark fantasy author Scarlett St. Clair will join Bloom Books, which will publish her new novel 'King of Battle and Blood,' along with her complete backlist and forthcoming new books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-07-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette launches Health Charity Book Club with Tesco

Hachette UK has partnered with Tesco to support the retailer’s first Health Charity Book Club, exclusively featuring titles from the publisher.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-16 20:09:05 UTC ]
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Why do so few men read books by women? | MA Sieghart

No matter if it is Austen or Atwood, the Brontës or Booker winners, data shows men are reluctant to read women – and this has real world implicationsThe byline at the top of this piece reads MA Sieghart, not Mary Ann. Why? Because I really want men to read it too. Female authors through the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-09 07:00:41 UTC ]
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Scribner Buys New Jennifer Egan Book

'The Candy House,' set for April 5, 2022, is being dubbed by Scribner as a "sibling novel" to Egan's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2010 book, 'A Visit from the Goon Squad,' and is set over the course of decades in and around both New York City and San Francisco. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-07-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Rise of 'hybrid authors' as writers buy back their rights

The “rise of the hybrid author” was discussed at London Book Fair, with the prediction that writers will increasingly buy back rights to their own books from publishers.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-24 22:00:58 UTC ]
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Female-centered historical novels are dogged by questions of accuracy. Hence the author’s note.

Resistance to books that cast heroines with agency and hidden talents has declined, but only after a hard-fought battle. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-06-14 12:00:00 UTC ]
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