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10 November 2014 - What's new

10 November 2014
  • Latest figures from the States suggest that readers are not parting with their print books, in spite of the growth in ebook sales, which have reached $8.5 billion in value worldwide. In the US the figures show that 23% of all male adult readers and 33% of females ones read ebooks. But global print still stands at $53.9 billion so there's a lot of catching up for ebooks to do to overtake, let alone wipe out, print books. News Review on why American readers are loyal to print.
  • ‘My audience is someone similar to who I was when I got started with serious reading: a young person - I was 19 - who can simply read... My students at Columbia I teach to read. If you can be a good reader and can think that reading and literature are great pursuits, you can perhaps teach yourself to write. This week's Comment is from Richard Ford, author of Let Me Be Frank With You in the Observer.
  • Talking to publishers is our nine-part series of interviews and artilces from the editors of various publishing lists lists, showing you exactly what they're looking for. The nine cover historical books, young adult, self-help and several more.
  • Our Writing Opportunity this week is the ITV This Morning Novel Writing Competition, run with Curtis BrownSee Curtis Brown listing and with representation by them offered. It's open only to UK residents though and you'll need to move fast as it closes on 14 November.
  • Top Ten Tips for Non-fiction writers is a useful checklist from a creative wriitng teacher.
  • This week's links: 23 authors from the Andrew Lownie Agency write about their own work habits, What Are Your Writing Habits? - Publishing Perspectives; a longer view on Amazon, Seattle News and Events | The Perks, Pitfalls, and Paradoxes of Amazon Publishing; the publishing industry is only now feeling the force of technological change, The ebook industry needs to make reading more social; the changing market in English-language publishing, Hot Button Issues for English-Language Publishers in 2014 - Publishing Perspectives; and a useful look at children's international rights, Expanding the Foreign Rights Market for Children's Books.
  • And from the cynical but accurate P D James in our Writers Quotes: 'Publishers don't nurse you,; they buy and sell you.'