As Black Lives Matter protests take place across the world, the publishing world is rushing to support those ‘ignored by the mainstream’. Who is the mainstream, then?The publishing industry is stilted and archaic. I worked in it for seven years, and left due to reasons I can’t legally talk about. Though, in that time, I was able to enforce and oversee some steps towards sustainable change. At 4th Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins, I started the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story prize (still going strong, five years later). Staggered by the lack of underrepresented voices, I knew I had to do something, anything to give those voices a way to permeate the industry.It is taken for granted that would-be writers will know what a literary agent is. But most have no idea how to structure a book proposal, or where to send it. This information is possessed by those in the know, and the people in the know often want to keep it to themselves. Let’s talk about literary agents for a second; they are, effectively, tastemakers. Editors trust them to deliver books and authors that adhere to their (sometimes limited) taste. And what happens when these arbiters continue to work within the circles of writers who they already know? The same thing that always happens: books that follow trends, that look the same, that are written by the same kinds of people. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-11 09:44:22 UTC ]
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Tracy Sherrod, the former v-p and editorial director of Amistad, on Black books, discourse, commerce, and the American racial reckoning. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A reading list hints at the richness and breadth of African American children’s writing before Brown v. Board of Education. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-03-19 09:00:07 UTC ]
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IPA, CPJ, and several embassies condemn the defamation verdict against PRH Peru's Jerónimo Pimentel and author Christopher Acosta. The post PRH Peru Chief and Author in Defamation Case: Publishing Industry Support appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-01-12 15:59:10 UTC ]
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Writers including Candice Carty-Williams, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Inua Ellams and Sara Jafari are to feature at Spread the Word's one-day festival, celebrating diversity and creativity in Deptford, south-east London. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-10 08:43:25 UTC ]
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For decades, I sat in meetings with all-white teams. The industry needs an independent body to advise on equalityI’m a literary agent and at the height of last year’s Black Lives Matter protests I was sent a list, with accompanying photographs, of the top editors working across the major... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-01-01 10:00:46 UTC ]
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The Women’s Prize and Good Housekeeping have unveiled their 10 most promising female authors under 35 including Candice Carty-Williams, Stacey Halls, Abigail Dean and Chibundu Onuzo. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-30 17:01:54 UTC ]
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It is almost exactly a year since I rode into Barcelona on a second-hand bicycle I had bought in Lisbon a thousand miles earlier. As well as all the normal enjoyment of seeing your book on a shop shelf, I’m also slightly amazed when I stop to think that it was only 12 months ago that Iberia was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-08 22:47:22 UTC ]
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Fay Evans alleges a ‘striking similarity’ between the 2019 Excitable Edgar TV campaign and her 2017 book Fred the Fire-Sneezing DragonThe author of a self-published children’s book about a dragon that causes havoc with its fiery sneezes is suing John Lewis over its 2019 Christmas ad about a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-11-16 14:46:45 UTC ]
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The Authors Guild likes what it sees in the federal antitrust suit aiming to block the $2 billion merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-11-05 22:15:11 UTC ]
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Science fiction author Neal Stephenson shares his thoughts on the metaverse, a term he coined, after Facebook's rebrand brought new light to the topic. The post ‘Still a long way from being realized’: A Q&A with author and metaverse inventor Neal Stephenson appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2021-11-05 04:01:00 UTC ]
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A children's book shortlisted for a 2021 Governor General's Literary Award was written by a University of Guelph associate professor who specializes in the history of Indigenous Peoples and illustrated by an Ojibway multidisciplinary artist. ... Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2021-11-02 08:00:00 UTC ]
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Organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair say they "regret" that some authors have decided to cancel their appearances at this year's event owing to the presence of New Right publisher Jungeuropa. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-19 23:36:43 UTC ]
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Months after the departure of director Joshua Wolf Shenk, UNLV's institute announced on Tuesday it will stop producing the Believer next spring. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-10-19 18:31:13 UTC ]
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The chef and cookbook author is heading up a new imprint to give chefs of color a leg up in the historically insular publishing industry. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-10-04 18:09:38 UTC ]
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Carlo Collodi’s version of Donkey Skin, by French author Charles Perrault, will appear in a new collection of Italian fairytalesCarlo Collodi is remembered today for Pinocchio, his 1881 children’s story about a puppet who turns into a real boy, immortalised on screen by Disney. Now another... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-10-01 13:46:15 UTC ]
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Book publisher powerhouse Molly Stern started her own company on the premise of using influential creators to surface overlooked talent. Author Gillian Flynn and writer-producer Lena Waithe are curating what could be the next wave of notable authors through their partnership with indie publisher... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2021-09-21 09:00:03 UTC ]
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Channel 4 has commissioned Candice Carty-Williams to create a drama series based on her hit novel Queenie (Trapeze). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-24 10:55:19 UTC ]
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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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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 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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