Struggling as an author? Stop writing only what you want to write

Earning a living as a writer is as likely as winning the lottery. Instead of writing books and persuading others to buy them, find out what people want to write, then do it for themPhilip Pullman: professional writers set to become ‘an endangered species’ due to low wagesI left school with a burning urge to lead the life of a writer: travelling like Byron, feted like Wilde before his fall, creating laughter like Wodehouse and crafting sentences like Nabokov. I had no professional contacts, so I wrote my masterpieces speculatively, and every path I went down ended with a rejection slip or total silence. The perceived wisdom then, as now, was that earning a living as a writer was about as likely as winning a lottery.Then I discovered the secret of marketing: instead of writing things and trying to persuade people to buy them, I would find out what writing services people needed and offer to provide them. So, at the same time as begging publishers and editors for commissions, I made myself available to anyone who might want to write an article or a book but did not feel able to do it for themselves. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors file a lawsuit against OpenAI for unlawfully ‘ingesting’ their books

Mona Awad and Paul Tremblay allege that their books, which are copyrighted, were ‘used to train’ ChatGPT because the chatbot generated ‘very accurate summaries’ of the worksTwo authors have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, claiming that... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-05 14:33:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mona awad #paul tremblay #books include #copyright law


Bestselling authors Mona Awad and Paul Tremblay sue OpenAI over copyright infringement

Two bestselling novelists filed a suit against OpenAI, claiming the company used intellectual property to 'train' its artificial intelligence chatbot. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-07-01 14:28:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #copyright infringement #intellectual property #novelists


Yomi Adegoke: ‘There’s something inherently cringe about writing fiction’

The influencer and Slay in Your Lane co-author talks about her journey via Twitter to become a writer, and channelling her experience of social media into debut novel The List“Honestly, I’m a better painter than I am a writer,” says Yomi Adegoke, cackling, as she takes a sip of prosecco.... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-01 08:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #yomi adegoke #writing fiction #began writing #debut novel


Stop the press: Vienna newspaper Wiener Zeitung ends daily print edition after 320 years

One of the world’s oldest newspapers, the Vienna-based Wiener Zeitung, is ending its daily print run after more than three centuries Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2023-06-30 10:46:38 UTC ]
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Writing a Book is an Act of Prayer

Lamya H’s powerful memoir Hijab Butch Blues is an honest grappling with what it means to be queer, to be a devout hijabi Muslim person who resists gender normativity, to love faith and community. Seeking other queer women in Islam as a young person, H wonders if Maryam, whom no man has touched,... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-06-29 11:12:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #queer women #post writing #young person #electric literature #memoir


New Press Urges Appeals Court to Uphold Block on Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act

In a filing this week, lawyers for The New Press argued that the controversial Florida law, a centerpiece of governor Ron DeSantis's legislative agenda, “wears its prejudice on its sleeve.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Adventures in Memory: On Searching for Truth by Writing Fiction

As a fiction writer, I’ve always felt compelled, memoir style, to pore over my life’s timeline. But in a novel, I can erase, revise, smash, crash, reconstruct, and transfigure that squiggly narrative. A novel has no obligation to mirror or represent anything familiar, recognizable, or real. And... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-28 08:52:54 UTC ]
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Authors leave Hungarian publisher in protest at sale to Orbán-linked college

Libri Group’s takeover by Mathias Corvinus Collegium raises fears of crackdown on literary freedomsThe takeover of Hungary’s largest publishing house and bookstore chain by a private foundation with close ties to the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has prompted walkouts from authors who... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-06-23 11:38:44 UTC ]
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This Bestselling Author Says Publishers Rejected His New Thriller Because He’s White. I Read It, and I’m Not So Sure.

If you believe that the role of a novel is to instruct readers on correct moral positions, then Trial is a masterpiece. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2023-06-20 16:38:36 UTC ]
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Authors of ‘And Tango Makes Three’ Sue Over Florida Law Driving Book Bans

The authors of a picture book about a penguin family with two fathers sued the state and a school district that removed the book from libraries. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-06-20 14:25:50 UTC ]
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Queer Indie Bookstore Splits Profits with LGBTQ Authors

A new queer indie bookstore is splitting profits with LGBTQ authors and spreading queer joy and literacy with a rainbow book bus. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-06-20 10:40:00 UTC ]
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Cormac McCarthy's fearless approach to writing

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author was always willing to experiment with his prose, pacing and narration, crafting an oeuvre that varied wildly in style and structure. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2023-06-16 17:42:27 UTC ]
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The Young Heroes of the Writing World

Ohio State University professor emeritus Harvey J. Graff praises a new wave of very young authors all trying to change the world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Study of Reality: On Trauma, Quantum Mechanics, and Writing Science Fiction

Before I dedicated my life to taking pot-shots at the nature of the universe—I mean, before I became a science fiction writer—I was a frightened child. Death scared me, but living was the constant terror. My father told me I had chosen this. I had come to him in a dream before I was born […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-14 08:53:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #quantum mechanics #father told #science fiction


Cormac McCarthy, Author of The Road, Has Died at 89

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy has died of natural causes in his Sante Fe home at the age of 89. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-06-13 20:12:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cormac mccarthy #prize-winning author


It’s Okay to Have a Love/Hate Relationship With Your Writing

One of my moments of greatest relief as a writer—equal, perhaps, to the swell and crest of learning that my first novel would be published—was when, decades ago, my Intro to Creative Writing professor assigned Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” and I arrived at this passage: “Very few... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-06 08:53:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #love/hate relationship #decades ago #first novel


Brandon Taylor: ‘Writing is the most fun I’m capable of having’

The American author talks about growing up queer in a family of ‘wolves’, poverty and class in the US, and the 19th-century writers who inspired his latest novelBrandon Taylor writes quickly. “I can type almost as fast as I can think,” he says. The first draft of his debut novel, the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-06-03 10:00:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #brandon taylor #standing start #good sense #beautiful land #london offices #american author


Book Review: ‘Code Red’ and ‘Calling the Moon: 16 Period Stories From BIPOC Authors’

Decades after “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” an anthology and a novel let readers see periods through the eyes of diverse protagonists. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-06-02 09:00:39 UTC ]
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Authors Guild Issues Contract Clause Changes to Account for AI

As part of its campaign to protect its members from the rise of large language models and other artificial intelligence tools, the Authors Guild has released four new model contract clauses concerning the technology. Earlier, the Guild released a survey of members that found that 69% of those... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher and Author Elizabeth Sherrill Dead at 95

Sherrill was a cofounder of Chosen Books and co-author of bestsellers such as 'The Hiding Place' with Corrie ten Bloom, who hid Jews during the Holocaust. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chosen books