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 ]
News tagged with:
#national average
#team working
#fan fiction
In some ways, Dennis Loy Johnson and Valerie Merians are the prototypical independent publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
The Friends of Manchester Central Library are celebrating what they hail "a u-turn" by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#campaigners hail
Booksellers have become book writers for a popular science project from Icon Books. Icon’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#icon books
#book writers
Bestselling authors Cormac McCarthy, Walter Isaacson, the late Nora Ephron, and Jennifer Egan are among the many authors represented by ICM Partners, whose book sales are boosted by the adaptation of their work to film and television, all under the watchful eyes of agents Ron Bernstein, Josie... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#management buyout
#literary agencies
Random House Children's Publishing is to bring out a young adult novel written by Niall... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#young adult
Random House Childrens Publishing is to bring out a young adult novel written by Niall Leonard,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#young adult
Plain, ordinary text files aren’t normally the most interesting ways to convey information, but if you’d like to change that then Toolwiz FlipBook may be able to help. Just point the program at a particular TXT file, and in a click it’ll be converted into an executable file. And launching this... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#txt file
#interesting ways
Barbara Kellerman, an academic leadership all-star, argues in her latest book that her own industry — the one that tries to teach leadership — is pointless in an era in which power has shifted from leaders to followers.To anyone who does not make a living peddling leadership courses, it might... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
At least two of the big six publishers in the US are refusing to renew contracts with Amazon.com... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#renew contracts
'Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World's Most Loved (and Hated) Team' makes it personal.A couple of years ago, for Father's Day, my family bought me the interactive video game MLB 2K9 for the Wii. The great thing about the game, and also its enduring frustration, is its verisimilitude —... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book review
#great thing
#york yankees
A look at AT&T's Bell Labs documents what in its heyday was truly a marvelous innovation machine and focuses on a handful of compelling narratives.For generations of industry research executives, AT&T's Bell Telephone Laboratories served as an inspiration: a warren of youthful scientists... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#nobel prizes
#personal computer
LONDON -- Fresh evidence of a "civil war" at News Corp. has emerged following what commentators have interpreted as an extraordinary attack by the Murdoch-owned U.K. tabloid The Sun on its parent company. In a signed article, published Monda ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#civil war
Headline has secured world rights to an autobiography and two novels by N-Dubz and “X-... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Best known for its hunting boots, which according to a recent report in the Associated Press have ousted Uggs and Crocs as the must-have footwear on college campuses, 100-year-old L.L.Bean has begun hitting the books, hard. The family-owned retailer, which reported net sales of $1.44 billion in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#flagship store
#anniversary celebration
#web site
#print catalogues
The emergence of author podcasts as a viable and entertaining marketing tool is apparent in the success of three such efforts originating from literary Web sites on the West Coast: Brad Listi’s the Nervous Breakdown, Tom Lutz’s Los Angeles Review of Books, and Tyson Cornell’s company Rare Bird... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#west coast
#bring attention
Random House editor-at-large Rebecca Carter is to join Janklow & Nesbit as an agent. After... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 14/11/2011 - 15:15 The Teeside village of Great Ayton is proposing a tax increase in the parish precept in order to save its library, threatened by North Yorkshire county council (NYCC) funding cuts. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#save library
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 07/11/2011 - 12:32 Icon Books m.d. Simon Flynn will leave the publisher at the end of the year, with non-executive director Philip Cotterell taking his place. Flynn, who has worked at Icon for nearly 15 years, has decided on a career change and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 25/10/2011 - 09:00 The co-owner of the Big Green Bookshop has launched his own publishing company and is set to release his first book with author Greg Stekelman. Simon Key, co-owner of the independent bookshop based in Wood Green, London, has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#simon key
#wood green
#illustrated work
#fell asleep
#friday project
Stalked by the growth of ebooks, publishing isn't going down without a fight, writes Linda Morris. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2011-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |