The Guardian view on literary fiction: in need of support | Editorial

Stories should come from all parts of society – not just from the well heeled and the middle classLiterary fiction, you might think, is in wonderful health. Book festivals, from Edinburgh and Wigtown in Scotland, to Hay-on-Wye in Wales, to Cheltenham and Bath in England, are flourishing. There is certainly no shortage of people eager to become authors of literary fiction: creative writing courses have proliferated. The British, you could argue, are more at home tucked up with a decent novel than with any other artform. Britain is, after all, the country of Austen, the Brontës and Eliot; of Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith and Hilary Mantel.Look at the facts, though, and a more worrying picture emerges. It is well known that financing for the arts in Britain suffered a great blow after the global financial crisis: public funding for cultural organisations took a hit, the art market was severely knocked, and spending on theatre and concerts became impossible for many. A decade on there have been some signs of a recovery, albeit patchy and fragile. But this is not so for sales of literary fiction, which have not recovered from the recession. According to new research commissioned by Arts Council England, the problem affects literary fiction in particular. Genre fiction is doing better, dominating digital sales (the popularisation of the e-reader followed swiftly on the heels of the financial crisis; Amazon energetically promoted its Kindle for Christmas in 2010). The arrival of the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #cultural organisations #research commissioned #genre fiction #financial crisis

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Guardian view on literary fiction: in need of support | Editorial'


The Guardian view on academic publishing: disastrous capitalism | Editorial

The giants of the scientific publishing industry have made huge profits for decades. Now they are under threatScientific publishing has long been a licence to print money. Scientists need journals in which to publish their research, so they will supply the articles without monetary reward. Other... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #peer review #central element #scientific knowledge #university libraries #publishing industry #existential crisis


The Guardian view on Dan Mallory: a twisted tale of publishing | Editorial

The story of Dan Mallory, aka the bestselling author AJ Finn, reads like a thriller. But it asks uncomfortable questions of the literary worldA true story worthy of a Patricia Highsmith thriller was published this week in the New Yorker. The magazine detailed the deceptions of Dan Mallory, who... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #white men #hachette uk #year announced


The Guardian view on business and arts: cash without a voice | Editorial

Corporate sponsorship needs to steer clear of impinging on artistic freedomsNews that investment managers the Man Group is withdrawing its sponsorship from the Booker prize after 18 years has shocked the literary world. The hedge fund’s decision to move on was linked in the press to novelist... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #corporate responsibility #outspoken authors #english-language fiction


The Guardian view on modern writers: the myth of the reclusive author | Editorial

These days, most writers cannot afford to live secluded from their public. But when a very private author like Thomas Harris announces a new novel, there’s always special excitementAuthors – at least as far as their relationship with the public goes – fall into several distinct categories. There... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #day jobs #recent study #travel expenses #audience members


The Guardian view on ad tech: a tangled web | Editorial

Martin Lewis is suing Facebook. The question is whether companies can be held responsible for the behaviour of their softwareMartin Lewis, the consumer advice and money-saving expert, is suing Facebook in a case that threatens the dominant business model of publishing on the internet. It raises... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facial recognition


The Guardian view on free speech online: let law decide the limits | Editorial

The standards by which the internet is controlled need to be open and subject to impartial judiciaries – not left to advertisersThe revelations we publish about how Facebook’s data was used by Cambridge Analytica to subvert the openness of democracy are only the latest examples of a global... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #4bn times #awful lot


The Guardian view on the death of NME: the end of an era | Editorial

The news that the music weekly will no longer appear in print is unsurprising. Where should we look for the sense of excitement it once offered?It would be silly to mourn the demise of NME, which is closing its print edition after 66 years, maintaining only its painful digital existence. This is... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cutting edge #julie burchill #smash hits #public enemy #white men


The Guardian view on Brexit and publishing: a hardcore problem | Editorial

London book fair has shown how upbeat the literary world can be – and how worried our cultural businesses have become at the thought of losing old certaintiesThe mood at this week’s London book fair appeared upbeat, with hotly contested auctions leading to the return of the six-figure publishing... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #uk voted #european union #prime minister


The Guardian view on media globalisation: good news for the Financial Times | Editorial

It may not prove easy to marry British and Japanese journalistic cultures. But in a global media world this deal makes senseThe Financial Times is one of the best newspapers in the world, not just in Britain. It is quick without being rash, accurate without leaden pedantry, thoughtful without... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #everyday life #digital operations #make decisions


The Guardian view on the Sun journalists’ acquittal: the right verdict | Editorial

The readiness of juries to defend public interest journalism is good news. But the press should be more transparent about payments to sources for storiesThe case of the Sun journalists charged with paying public officials for information has been a troubling one in many respects. It is, we... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #difficult questions #public interest


The Guardian view on Amazon v Hachette: reading and writing | Editorial

Can a one-size-fits-all, low-price, consumer-dominated sales model support a diverse, innovative, challenging literary output?It is either an existential threat to intellectual freedom or a rustbelt media industry meeting its comeuppance at the hands of disruptive technology. The battle between... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #two-page ad #ebook market #buy button


Literary Fiction Literary Agents Open to Submissions

Literary agents are gatekeepers of the publishing industry. Find literary fiction literary agents open to submissions in this post. List will be updated regularly. The post Literary Fiction Literary Agents Open to Submissions by Robert Lee Brewer appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2019-07-26 11:00:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing industry #updated regularly #literary fiction #literary agents


Here are some literary organizations you can support this #GivingTuesday.

The sales are over (mostly), the pie has been eaten (mostly), the gratitude has been felt (mostly), and we’re back to work (er, completely, boss!) It’s time for Giving Tuesday, so why not consider donating a few dollars to these worthy literary organizations? Book Industry Charitable Foundation... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-28 17:47:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary organizations ##givingtuesday #giving tuesday #book industry


Literary magazines can be life-changing – but they need more support

The UK’s literary magazine scene is crumbling due to rising print costs. But I’ll keep printing my own magazine, which gives writers of colour a voice, for as long as I canTen years ago, Jeff Sparrow, editor of Overland, which describes itself as Australia’s only radical literary magazine, wrote... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-10-10 10:30:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #white review #past decade #cease publishing #indefinite period #cultural phenomenon #huge amount #closed earlier #print issues #longer viable #literary magazine


8 Award-Winning Literary Fiction Books You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Despite winning awards, these little-known beautiful and thought-provoking literary fiction books, like Last of Her Name by Mimi Lok, remain criminally underrated. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-01 10:34:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mimi lok #literary fiction


Eric Brown, science fiction author and Guardian critic, dies aged 62

Writers, publishers and agents pay tribute to a warm, generous figure, author of more than 50 books ranging from SFF to crime to children’s literatureEric Brown, a prolific, award-winning author who published more than 50 novels, children’s books and short story collections, and who was the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-03-23 13:58:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #west yorkshire #award-winning author #science fiction


More than 150 Literary Agents Sign Letter to Support HarperCollins Workers’ Strike

More than 150 literary agents signed a letter promising to stop submitting new books to HarperCollins to support striking workers. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-11-30 17:34:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harpercollins #literary agents


Apparently, those who read literary fiction—but not other kinds—have a more “complex worldview.”

Yep, as the guy in your MFA already knows, turns out reading literary fiction is better for you than reading other kinds of fiction—especially if you grew up doing it. In a new paper published this week in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, scholars Nicholas Buttrick, Erin C.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-08 16:16:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #paper published #literary fiction


Jennifer Egan wants to save literary fiction from itself

Jennifer Egan walks and talks — about 'The Candy House,' her sequel to 'A Visit From the Goon Squad,' and why she still believes in fiction and humanity. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-04-03 12:00:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jennifer egan #candy house #goon squad #literary fiction


Crime fiction stars team up to support Barnardos

This Halloween, a group of crime writers including Peter James, M W Craven, T M Logan and Trevor Wood are publishing a spooky crime anthology to help raise funds for the Barnardos Children in Crisis Appeal, set up in the wake of the "shadow pandemic" created by Covid-19. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-24 02:35:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #raise funds #anthology