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13 October 2014 - What's new

13 October 2014
  • This week's update is pretty much focused on the Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two., with the Man Booker Prize also finding its place and The Brunel University African Poetry Prize 2015 is our Writing Opportunity.
  • 'Frankfurt was much more ‘business as usual' than anyone might have predicted. With just a few less visitors than last year, the mood was pretty upbeat, with a lot of solid rights business being done. Apart from the very real ongoing anxiety about the Amazon/Hachette dispute - no big publisher feels safe from the feeling that they might, and probably will be, next, - there's the progress of the digital revolution and, surprisingly, publishers seem to have taken things very much in their stride...' News Review
  • Our Writing Opportunity this week is the The Brunel University African Poetry Prize 2015, open to poets who were born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African. The winner gets £3,000 and it closes on 30 November.
  • Our list of other opportunities which have not yet closed.
  • Our tips on Entering competitions are well worth a look if this is something you want to do.
  • Our Comment this week is from David Nicholls, author of One Day and Us: 'I think the worst thing you can do when you start to write is think: "Will this make sense in Brazil?" I actively tried not to write in a way that felt unnatural or to twist things, cut out cultural references, alter the sense of humour, or have any of those cliched notions about what might appeal to a French audience or a Spanish audience. I am aware of the expectations of people in Sweden and Brazil and the US, but it's crazy to let them interfere...'
  • Just announced, the winner of the 2014 Man Booker Prize, Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which was based on his father's experiences in WW2. There's a great piece from the shortlisted authors in the Guardian, talking about why they wrote their books, Man Booker prize: the six shortlisted authors reveal the story behind the book | Books | The Guardian.
  • If you've picked up on the furore surrounding the film of Gone Girl - or even already seen it - you might be interested in our Success story on the author Gillian Flynn.
  • Other links this week include: publishers' real anxiety about Amazon Kindle's newly-launched subscription service, Publishers consult lawyers over Kindle Unlimited | The Bookseller; and two 'editorials' from Publishing Perspectives at the Frankfurt Book Fair, When Publishing Begins to Look Like a Bad Relationship | Publishing Perspectives and Editorial from Frankfurt: Collaborate! Innovate! Evolve! Create! | Publishing Perspectives.
  • 'Use your imagination. Trust me, your lives are not interesting. Don't write them down.' W B Kinsella in our Writers' Quotes.