By encouraging the young to publish fan fiction, story-sharing startup Movellas is tackling English children's low literacy levelsLiteracy levels among English young adults compare poorly with those in other industrialised countries, according to an OECD survey last autumn which ranked England a "must try harder" 22nd out of 24 in tests for literacy.Turning this around is a challenge that appeals to Movellas, an online story-sharing startup. Taking to heart the maxim that "reading for pleasure" is vital to a child's educational attainment, the company's founders believe that encouraging young people to write about their passions and share those stories with others can have a positive effect on literacy.In other words, if your daughter's writing One Direction fan fiction on her phone, she could be on her way to an A* at English GCSE. Or, at the very least, a book deal. "Movellian" Emily Baker's 1D-inspired Loving the Band was snapped up by Penguin. Helen Hiorns's The Name on Your Wrist was published by Random House after she won the inaugural young movellist of the year, sponsored by Sony and judged by children's laureate Malorie Blackman.High-profile success stories can help build its user base (200,000 and growing), but Movellas does more than sell the dream of literary fame.When surveyed, 50% of respondents said Movellas had made them enjoy reading more; 70% enjoyed writing more. Importantly, 20% of its users get free school meals (about the national average). Only 25%... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Innovation still matters, but sometimes it helps to be a follower, too. The post “Traveling” Ideas Make Regional Magazines the Place to Be Seen appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2016-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH’s consumer and digital chief Hannah Telfer outlines the company's audio strategy. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital Book World and Author Earnings may have transformed an industry standoff into a cooperative trade-and-indie exploration going forward. The post Data Guy’s Web of Analysis: DBW Turns Hostility Into a Handshake appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After coming off the most successful year in its history, Dover Publications is getting ready to celebrate its 75th with a consumer contest to win free books by sharing stories about their favorite Dover titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Filming has finished and editing is underway for the film adaptation of Eleanor Catton' first novel The Rehearsal. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adam Grant is not your typical business school professor. Just 34, he reached tenure while still in his 20s and finished his doctorate in less than three years. He writes op-eds with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and got a book blurb from the likes of J.J. Abrams, the director... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It was one of those only in Los Angeles moments. Early in the second quarter of Friday night's City Section basketball showdown between Westchester and host Fairfax, fans from both sides of the sold-out bleachers started standing and screaming. And it wasn't because of a player. Singer Chris... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Following protests from writers and publishers, plans to cut £374,000 from the Welsh Book Council's budget have been axed. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Give your paperbacks new life on a screen. The post How to Turn Both Paper and Digital Text Into an E-Book appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2016-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The truth about book prizes, why Amazon is like an old-fashioned library and how much famous writers really earned from their journalism …Periodically, signs go up saying that Grub Street is closed to through traffic. Observers speculate that the street is being redeveloped as gentrification... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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DJ Taylor’s survey of the English literary scene of the last century is vivid and rich but lacks analysisTo Dr Johnson, it was Grub Street, where “no man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money”. To Thackeray, it was “the Corporation of the Goosequill”. In the 20th century, Bloomsbury’s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A shuffling step carries Leonard Bernstein onto Grand Avenue. The pilasters and garlands of the PacMutual Building rise above him. Nearly 70, a balding man with a gray cattle-catcher mustache, he finds his keys and stoops to the lock in the threshold. Two bells tied to a red ribbon jingle as the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A 52-year-old Colton resident was among the 14 people killed Wednesday in the San Bernardino shooting rampage, according to a Facebook post by his wife. “My husband, Nicholas Thalasinos, was killed in the shooting,” wrote Jennifer Thalasinos, a second-grade teacher for the Colton Joint Unified... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Century is publishing an astronomer Gary Fildes' memoir for readers “ready to escape the humdrum of office life”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Books vice president Jennifer Cast discusses Amazon's strategy for its first physical bookstore, where a mix of data and user reviews decides the inventory. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers are in danger of becoming dumb content in the smart pipes of platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The quest for smoother user experience seems to pose actually visiting a publisher’s site as friction. With content consumption bei ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For years, Michael Seidenberg had sold books from his Upper East Side apartment, but received an eviction notice in July. Literary New York mourned – but recently the shop has shown new signs of lifeThis past Independence Day, several dozen bookish New Yorkers eschewed the fireworks and chose,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Axel Springer has told the readers of Germany's most popular online news site to turn off their ad blockers or pay a fee as Europe's biggest newspaper publisher steps up efforts to protect advertising income.Readers of Bild.de, the Web version of Europe's top-selling newspaper, have to disable... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thousands of Angelenos braved the heat Sunday to participate in the 31st annual AIDS Walk in Los Angeles. The 6.2-mile walk began at 10 a.m. at West Hollywood Park, with the route continuing along Santa Monica Boulevard and through the Fairfax district. More than 20,000 people registered to... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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