Archive for the ‘Places to Publish’ Category

Ether Books publishes short fiction by new and established writers – including Hilary Mantel, Lionel Shriver, Paul McCartney, Alexander McCall Smith, Fay Weldon and many more – for reading on iPhones,  iPad or iPod touch.

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Submissions are now OPEN for the Hot Keys Young Writers Prize, running in conjunction with the Guardian. The prize is aimed at young writers between the ages of 18 and 25, who are passionate about writing for children. The prize has two categories: fiction for readers aged 9-12 or 13-19. Entrants should be unpublished talents new to the literary world.

To be considered, send 4,000 words plus a full plot synopsis; the full manuscript should be available by October. The winners, one for each age category, will be selected by a panel of judges who will consult with school children. Each winner will be given editorial support and the chance to be published by Hot Key Books. The closing date for entries is May 31st. Winners will be announced at the 2013 London Bookfair.

More details on the Hot Keys website.

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The Bookseller reports that on June 1st, Macmillan Children’s Books will launch a  £10,000 literary prize to be judged by independent booksellers and their customers.

Write Now! is aimed at un-agented, UK-based authors aged 18 and over. The books should be written for children aged between nine and 16 years old.

Editors Rachel Petty and Emma Young came up with the idea for the prize as part of Macmillan’s Innovation from Within programme, which supported the launch of the Bello digital imprint last year.

More information at the Pan Macmillan site.
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The bookshop Shakespeare and Company was established in the Latin Quarter in Paris in 1951 by American George Whitman as a tribute to Sylvia Beach’s 1920s bookshop of the same name.

Last year, in association with the de Groot Foundation, the bookshop established a Literary Prize to champion the novella form and to discover new writers. Judges of the 2011 prize included Times literary editor Erica Wagner, novelist Breyten Breytenbach, Darin Strauss and Dennis Loy Johnson. Over 450 novellas were submitted for the prize and the winner was Rosa Rankin-Gee.

This year, the prize will run again and the closing date is 1 September.

Novellas  (17,000 – 35,000 words) on any subject by previously unpublished writers are eligible.

For more details visit their website:The Paris Literary Prize .

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Congratulations to Bren Gosling, who attended the Novelists Club in 2010. His novel, Sweeping up the Village,  has been picked as one of five shortlisted titles for the 2012 Harry Bowling Prize, an award dedicated to novels set in London. The  prize is backed by the publisher Headline, and administered by the literary agency MBA.

Novel synopsis: “At 14 in Kosovo his dreams of becoming a professional basketball player were shattered by war. Fast forward to 2002; Almir is 21, newly arrived in London and working as a Walthamstow street sweeper. One day his broom strikes a pair of discarded women’s sandals, triggering a series of crippling flashbacks which threaten his sanity. When he is moved onto a quieter beat – sweeping up Walthamstow’s village – Almir finds himself attracted to an older man with issues of his own. In the weeks surrounding the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, Almir struggles to rebuild his life. Can he conceal the guilty secret tormenting him? Sweeping up the Village is a novel about lost identity, love and the need to belong.”

To follow the fortunes of Bren’s book, visit his blog: Evolution of my novel. Bren is interested in hearing from literary agents and can be contacted  at: <nicke17@clara.co.uk>.

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The Bookseller reports that  Bloomsbury is to launch a new imprint called Bloomsbury Circus. The new  list  will be a mix of debuts and more established names:  “mostly fiction, unashamedly literary, always fresh and sometimes surprising”. In the first year there will be  nine titles, and after that  they will build up to publishing four books a month.

Alexandra Pringle, Bloomsbury’s editor-in-chief, is quoted as saying: “With fiction, you can’t successfully publish more than four titles a month because, selling into the fiction buyer, you have to have your lead, second lead, dark horse and a crime title. If you do more, you lose the focus. If we are going to grow, we have to do it in an exciting, imaginative way. This is a way we can grow, and continue to offer the service we do.”

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26 is a network of professional writers who care about words (the name 26 stands for the 26 letters of the alphabet).

In 2010, they persuaded London’s Victoria & Albert museum to choose 26 objects from its British Galleries and randomly assigned them to 26 writers. Each person wrote exactly 62 words – 26 in reflection – in response to the object. In 2011, 26  took the idea to the National Library of Wales, the Ulster Museum and the National Museum of Scotland, where writers were let loose on objects as disparate as a medieval illuminated book, a beggar’s badge and a 16th century Scottish guillotine. Now they have produced a book of the results, including contributions from Lucy Caldwell, Gillian Clarke, Alexander McCall Smith, Paul Muldoon, Bernard McLaverty and Maura Dooley.

But the book will only be produced if enough people sign up – in advance –  to buy a copy, because 26 have teamed up with the innovative startup Unbound Books and this is the way Unbound runs things. 26 has 35 days to gather enough support to make the book happen.  Click here to visit 26 Objects on the the Unbound site and buy a piece of the future (and the past).

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Flash fiction – also known as micro fiction, short short stories or smoke-long fiction (because a story lasts as for long as it takes to smoke a cigarette) – is a form that’s growing in popularity. It exists somewhere between traditional short prose fiction and poetry, combining narrative with economy and intensity.

Writer, editor and creative writing lecturer Calum Kerr has come up with the idea of creating a day in 2012 to celebrate the form. To join the movement you can sign up to the Facebook Page Or follow on Twitter @nationalflashfd

Or visit Calum Kerr’s website for updates.

and its many great creators.

National Flash Fiction Facebook Page

Having publicized the debut novel competition on this site, it’s nice to announce that  independent publisher Route Online have picked a winner – 27-year-old Sophie Coulombeau (pictured) from York. The competition, supported by Arts Council England, was aimed at novelists under 30 living in Yorkshire.

Coulombeau’s book, provisionally titled Rites,  tells the story of a group of four teenagers who make a pact to lose their virginity away from the watchful eyes of parents and priest. Ten years later, they look back on the events and unravel how it all went horribly wrong. Route editor Ian Daley said of the award, ‘We are thrilled to be publishing this book and to be working with Sophie. She’s a great talent, with an exciting future in front of her. The book manages to have that rare combination of being both richly complex and a riveting read.’ The novel will be published in summer 2012.

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The Bookseller reports that publishers Gollancz  have agreed a five-figure deal for two books with self-published author Michael J Ward. The books are part of a series called ‘Destiny Quest’ and have similarities with interactive game book series from the 1980s where the reader controls the path of the story by rolling a dice or choosing the next actions of a character. Ward self-published the first book in the series, The Legion of Shadow, in February, and it has sold more than 1,800 copies, according to the publisher. Gollancz will republish in May 2012 as a £14.99 trade paperback, which will include the original self-published version, extra material and a new mini-adventure. Book two in the series, The Heart of Fire, will follow in November 2012. Gollancz is an imprint of the Orion Publishing group.

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