London Writing Workshops

Archive for the ‘Places to Publish’ Category

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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Circalit are running a Flash Fiction Competition in partnership with the Hospital Club and their poet in residence, Sabrina Mahfouz. Writers are challenged to create a 500 word flash fiction story, of whatever genre they please, on the subject of ‘A CHANCE ENCOUNTER’.  The competition is free to enter and the prize will be to have your story recorded and broadcast on The Hospital Club website, and in the club’s lifts, as well as displayed in the halls! The closing date is the end of November. More info on the Circalit website.

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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The Short Story is a new website designed to showcase the best short stories from around the world. They’re currently running an open submission competition to find the best story of 2011. Three cash prizes will be awarded. The deadline is Sept 15.

More info on how to submit work from The Short Story website.

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Next week is the closing date for  a prize for unpublished writers that is beginning to develop quite a reputation for launching careers. Roshi Fernando, whose novel Homesick won the Impress Prize For New Writers in 2009, will now be published by Bloomsbury in the UK and Commonwealth, and in the US by Knopf, an imprint of Random House. Ginny Baily’s debut novel Africa Junction, which was shortlisted for the Impress Prize in 2007, has been published in 2011 by the Random House imprint Harvill Secker.

Roshi Fernando was also shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award this year.

More information about entering the prize here: Impress Prize