Tag Archives: Writers

News

New Digital Journal Of Fiction Launched

November 25, 2011 – 7:36 pm

Aoife Walsh, who worked as an assistant editor with Four Courts Press and is now Information Officer with Ireland Literature Exchange, has launched a new quarterly ejournal of new fiction, The South Circular.

Walsh said that she had ‘been watching the irresistible way in which digital is changing the consumption of content’ and that ‘rather than fear[ing] these developments, THE SOUTH CIRCULAR is committed to being an active participant in this continuing conversation on the communal reinvention of the publishing process.’

The journal has started accepting submissions from unpublished writers, from Ireland and abroad, of short stories of up to 2,000 words. Issue 1 will be published in March 2012.

The closing date, for stories to be considered for issue 1, is Monday, 12 December 2011.

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For submission guidelines, please visit: www.thesouthcircular.com/submission.html.

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Briefly Noted

Briefly Noted | Kimmage surprise entry on William Hill shortlist | The Bookseller

November 1, 2011 – 10:04 am

Paul Kimmage is the surprise inclusion in this years William Hill Sports Book of the Year shortlist, after he was left out of the longlist.His book Engage Simon & Schuster, a biography of England Under 21 rugby player Matt Hampson who was paralysed after a scrum collapsed, joins titles examining the suicide of German international footballer Robert Enke, the culture of Spanish bullfighting and the range of different sporting fan cultures.

via Kimmage surprise entry on William Hill shortlist | The Bookseller.

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News

Eason 125 Celebration

October 7, 2011 – 6:41 pm

Last week Easons celebrated it 125th Anniversary with a gala event. Here’s some pictures.

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News

Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair

September 23, 2011 – 7:35 am

The  Irish Writers’ Centre has launched a Novel Fair for first-time novelists.

The event will take place on 10 March 2012. with the aim of introducing up-and-coming writers to top publishers and literary agents, giving novelists the opportunity to bypass the slush pile, pitch their ideas and place their synopsis and sample chapters directly into the hands of publishers and agents.

A judging panel of experienced industry professionals will be asked to select a shortlist of successful entries, presented to them anonymously. There is no limitation on style, genre, or target market, the only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before.

Publishers and agents will be invited to come along on the day to the Irish Writers’ Centre and meet these writers in person. Each writer in attendance will have a stand at the Fair with copies of the synopsis of their novel, the finished novel itself and biographical material.

Representatives from Penguin Ireland, Transworld, O’ Brien Press, Lilliput Press, Hachette Books, Liberties Press, Little Island, Arlen House and New Island will be present on the day. Literary agents such as Marianne Gunn O’ Connor, Yvonne Kinsella, Emma Walsh, Ger Nichol, Paul Feldstein and Jonathan Williams will also be present.

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Briefly Noted

Briefly Noted | Your Agent Should Not Be Your Publisher « Redhammer

June 9, 2011 – 8:58 am

Once you become your client’s publisher, you then become a principal in the transaction.  This means you can no longer function as the client’s agent.

Agency law makes it clear that an agent must not engage in self-dealing, or otherwise unduly enrich himself from the agency.  Nor must an agent usurp an opportunity from the principal by taking it for himself.

I really doubt whether any agent can legitimately claim that it is in the author’s best interests to be published by their literary agent.  It’s like the ref in a game of footie being paid by one of the teams playing.  It raises huge issues – and it just doesn’t feel right – does it?

via Your Agent Should Not Be Your Publisher « Redhammer.

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Irish Top Ten

Irish Top Ten Week Ending 21/05/2011

May 25, 2011 – 2:21 pm

If last week was the story of Kate McCann’s book then this week is once again the story of that book. Sales of that title are up 23.07% week-on-week. The flip side of that is that the rest of the top ten suffered a drop in sales, whereas last week the other nine titles accounted for some 7,285 units, this week the other nine clocked up only 6,538 a 747 or 10.25% drop in their share.

What’s more the week also save the dropping out of the top ten of several Irish authors and one (or two depending on your view) Irish publishers. Not a fantastic week for Irish writers then as only one remains in the top ten.

side from the McCann book the overriding theme is the continued strength of fiction which accounts of nine of the top ten titles.

1: Madeleine: Our Daughter’s Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her, Kate McCann, 4,433
2: Stand by Me, Sheila O’Flanagan, 1,061
3: Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen, 917
4: The Family, Martina Cole, 839
5: The Distant Hours, Kate Morton, 708
6: The Moment, Douglas Kennedy, 673
7: A Game Of Thrones, George RR Martin, 617
8: Port Mortuary, Patricia Cornwell, 598
9: The Fifth Witness, Michael Connelly, 563
10: The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas, 562

Top Ten Dynamics
IPN is running a top ten dynamics section looking at the top ten with some data drawn out. Nothing too dramatic, but useful nonetheless.

Volume: 10,971 Units
Increase since last week: 84 units
% decrease since last week: .77%
Average Units Per Title: 1097

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Fiction: 9 titles, 6,538 units or 59.59%, RRP £8.99
Non-Fiction: 1 titles, 4,433 units or 40.41%, RRP £14.99

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Authors: 10
Irish Authors: 1, 10%
Irish Published Books: 0, 0%

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Average RRP: £9.59
Increase in RRP since last week: £0.40
% Increase in RRP since last week: -4.00%*
*It is important to note that RRP does not reflect actually selling price.

Data Supplied by Nielsen BookScan taken from the Irish Consumer Market week ending 21st May 2011
Image Credits
AttributionShare AlikeSome rights reserved by mt 23

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News

Book Republic Hosts Writers Evening

May 18, 2011 – 10:48 am

Short-run publisher, Book Republic, an imprint of Maverick House, is hosting an authors evening on Thursday 19 May in The Irish Writers Centre.

The imprint will have two guest speakers on the night: non-fiction writer Dan Harvey author of Peace Enforcers and fictional writer Jenna Guy author of Blind Truth offering their insights into the world of published writers and what the experience has been like for them-the process of writing, publishing and promoting their books.

There will be a chance to ask questions, get advice, etc at the end of each talk, and light refreshments will be served on the night.

Book Republic has signed quite Irish writers in recent months including Stella Days soon to be a movie starring Martin Sheen.

The publisher specializes in short run titles that they sell only on firm sale conditions and direct to customers. Their models assume larger direct sales to authors fan and niche customers as well as ebook and print on demand sales following the initial print run.

The Irish Writers Centre recently received Irish Arts Council Funding for its Peregrine Readings program having previously lost all its arts funding.

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Irish Top Ten

Irish Top Ten Week Ending 26/03/2011

March 30, 2011 – 10:01 am

As with last week, there is a very strong Irish representation in the top ten. Patricia Scanlan, Cathy Kelly and Joseph O’Connor’s sales combined with still healthy sales for a number of other Irish and foreign authors drove volume in the top ten higher by 30%. With O’Connor’s Ghost Light entering it’s month as the One City One Book choice, I suspect its sales will continue to hold up.

The weakness of non-fiction is reinforced by the fact that one of the two non-fiction titles in the mix is only there because of it’s heavily discounted pricing in Eason, a demonstration if you like of two features of Irish bookselling; the first, that Eason CAN move the market and the second, that large discounts shifts volume.

Given that and given the increase in RRP, these figures don’t actually say much about the health of the market, as Average Selling Price MUST be lower than the indicated RRP of £11.39.

1:Love and Marriage, Patricia Scanlan, 3,263
2: Homecoming, Cathy Kelly, 1,284
3: Ghost Light, Joseph O’Connor, 1,134
4: The Brightest Star in the Sky, Marian Keyes, 947
5: 10th Anniversary, James Patterson, 915
6: Room, Emma Donoghue, 889
7: Entertaining at Home, Rachel Allen, 873
8: The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas, 789
9: One Day, David Nicholls, 709
10: My Boy: The Philip Lynott Story, Philomena Lynott & Jackie Hayden, 666

Top Ten Dynamics
IPN is running a top ten dynamics section looking at the top ten with some data drawn out. Nothing too dramatic, but useful nonetheless.

Volume: 11,469 Units
Increase since last week: 2,649
% increase since last week: +30.3%

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Fiction: 8 titles, 9,930 units or 86.58%, RRP £9.24
Non-Fiction: 2 titles, 1,539 units or 13.42%, RRP £20.00 (though we know Allen’s cookbook is retailing at €9.99 in Eason)

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Authors: 11 (one book is co-authored)
Irish Authors: 8, 72.72%
Irish Published Books: 1, 10%

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Average RRP: £11.39
Increase in RRP since last week: £0.80
% Increase in RRP since last week: 7.55%

Data Supplied by Nielsen BookScan taken from the Irish Consumer Market week ending 26th March 2011
Correction:
In last week’s post about the Irish Top ten we stated that none of teh Top Ten has been published by an Irish publisher, in fact,  number 10 that week (as is the case this week) My Boy: The Philip Lynott Story, was published by Hot Press Books, an imprint of Hot Press Magazine, an Irish Publisher.

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Books & Authors

A Dublin Book Festival Gallery ~ Day One

March 2, 2011 – 2:25 pm

[imagebrowser id=10 w=480 h=360]

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Rights

Prizeman & Kinsella Sign Lee Dunne

February 28, 2011 – 1:18 pm

Prizeman & Kinsella, the literary agency run by Yvonne Kinsella and Patricia Prizeman, has signed one of Ireland’s most prolific authors, Lee Dunne.

Dunne has penned 20 novels, three feature films and more than 2000 tv and radio scripts for Irish and UK media organisations, including the RTE Radio Drama, Harbour Hotel.

His most famous work, Goodbye To The Hill was originally published by Hutchinson and has sold more than one million copies in a variety of editions worldwide. It was also one of the longest running plays ever staged in Ireland when adapted for the stage.

Goodbye To The Hill was part of a trilogy the third of which, Paddy Maguire Is Dead, was banned when published in Ireland in paperback in 1972. Despite this impressive tally, the title has now fallen out of print and the agency is keen to see it republished.

The agency will represent all Dunne’s titles on his books on his behalf. According to Yvonne Kinsella, Dunne has a new work ready to publish about his struggle to make it to the bright lights of Broadway.

Dunne started writing as a young cab driver in London, penning his first works between fares.

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