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 are those who wish they had a public at all, who long for an invitation to speak at a book festival, and whose publishers try in vain to tempt journalists to interview them and podcast producers to book them. This category embraces a larger proportion of authors than most people would like to imagine; the average income earned by writers from writing (as opposed to teaching, or other day jobs) is £12,500, according to a recent study.Then there are those who have a sufficient standing to attract the attention of festivals, book clubs and other public events, and a publisher who can be persuaded to fork out travel expenses for them to attend. These events are almost invariably poorly paid, and at their worst – when audience members and sales are few – can be dispiriting. On the other hand, good literary festivals pride themselves on being welcoming and warmly social places, where authors can enjoy swapping solitary hours of writing for intelligent interaction with readers and conversation with colleagues. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

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

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Guardian view on modern writers: the myth of the reclusive author | Editorial'


The Guardian view on fiction vending machines: attention seekers | Editorial

If they succeed in distracting commuters from their smartphones, short story dispensers will be a welcome addition to the landscapeCan fiction miniatures dispensed through slots lure commuters away from their smartphone apps and social media feeds into the imaginary worlds created by authors... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #modern twist


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 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 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... Continue reading at The Guardian

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


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


‘The crime writer crime writers read’: Garry Disher, author of 60 books and finding fame in his 70s

The Australian author is ‘incredibly influential’, but has had to survive decades of ‘cultural cringe’ and genre snobbery to make finally ‘a decent sort of living’Before parched and dusty towns across Australia became full of fictional sinister people; before the explosion of outback noir and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 23:00:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #writing workshops #bestseller lists #australian author


A.S. Byatt, British writer and author of Booker Prize-winning 'Possession,' dies at 87

British author A.S. Byatt, who was known for award-winning works including 'Possession' and 'The Children's Book,' has died. She was 87. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-11-17 17:18:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #british writer #booker prize-winning #british author


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


I believed readers only wanted trauma stories from writers of colour. Then I became an author | Zoya Patel

For so long, it seemed that readers were only interested in the experiences of people like me if we were traumatised, not triumphant – and I internalised this as an indisputable factGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailI can’t pinpoint exactly when I started imagining myself in the stories... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-03-18 19:00:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #weekend culture #young age #cultural diversity #pop culture #hachette


Choosing Words Carefully: PW Talks to Bryan A. Garner, Author of 'Garner’s Modern English Usage'

PW caught up with the famous lexicographer to talk about the recently published Fifth Edition of his essential guide—and his lifelong fascination with the English language. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pw caught #recently published #english language


Barbara Ehrenreich, author who challenged American Dream myths, dies at 81

For her book 'Nickel and Dimed,' Barbara Ehrenreich tried to live on minimum-wage jobs and advanced debates on labor inequalities. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-09-03 01:14:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Poison pens: leading writers call for overhaul of UK’s Society of Authors

Literary world riven by conflict as trade union is accused of inappropriately taking sides in culture warIt is a literary row that threatens to consume the very organisation set up to protect authors’ rights. And, in spite of the involvement of three prominent names in children’s books, it has... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-08-21 09:00:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #protect authors #trade union #jk rowling #philip pullman #dark materials #cast members #management committee #literary world


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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hybrid authors #hybrid author