Fiction Writing

Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola have won the Waterstones children's book prize for their "utterly joyful" picture book about a science-loving black girl, Look Up!, at a time when only 4% of British children's books contain a black or minority ethnic main character.  Read more

As much of the retail world faces crisis, book publishing is positioned to grow in terms of unit sales when compared to 2019. In fact, 2020 may prove to be one of the strongest sales years in recent memory.

Thabiso Mahlape is the founder of Blackbird Books in South Africa, an independent publishing house that is dedicated to giving young black writers a platform (www.blackbirdbooks.africa)... In between juggling submissions, proofs and sales, Mahlape is a columnist: she writes regularly for the Sowetan newspaper and has contributed to magazines such a Destiny and VISI.  Read more

With Labor Day only five weeks away, it has become clear that a substantial number of publishers, both in New York City and elsewhere, will not be returning to their offices in anything resembling full force before 2021. Moreover, organizers of a few industry events set for early next year have already announced they will be moving them from in-person to online.  Read more

How to write dialogue is one of the first things a budding storyteller can master with just a bit of practice and effort. That's not to say that writing dialogue is easy- it's not. But, once you realize the purpose of dialogue in a story and hone in on all those pesky formatting rules, it can become intuitive.  Read more