Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—publishing reports, literary dispatches, academic announcements, and more—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today’s stories.
Barnes & Noble has announced updates to its self-publishing platform, Barnes & Noble Press. The royalty rate for e-book sales has been increased to 70 percent; authors previously received between 40 to 65 percent. The platform also expedited its payment schedule from a sixty-day to thirty-day model. (Publishers Weekly)
Book & Film Globe has announced its inaugural Publishing Power 30, an “annual list of the book business’s most influential gatekeepers.” This year’s thirty professionals include publishers Reagan Arthur and Dana Canedy, and writers L. L. McKinney and Celeste Ng.
“When I revise, as I approach the hard parts, I remind myself that the work I am doing is for my younger self and for others who are out there suffering and might find use in my work.” In conversation with her editor Megha Majumdar, Randa Jarrar reflects on the writing process of her memoir, Love Is an Ex-Country. (Catapult)
Jarrar appears in this week’s installment of Ten Questions from Poets & Writers Magazine.
“I do believe that my legal education and work help me to do something important for my writing, which is to question my characters and to ask questions about them.” Cherie Jones discusses building complex characters for her debut novel, How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House. (Los Angeles Times)
“Anytime I’m going through a really difficult experience, I’m always trying to work it out in my dream life.” Jackie Wang shares how images from her dreams informed her debut poetry collection, The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us From the Void. (NPR)
“Have I mentioned that both books are very funny? This seems essential to writing anything good about the internet.” Emily Temple compares how two debut novels—Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler and No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood—represent life on the internet. (Literary Hub)
“If you’re having difficulty writing traditionally constructed poetry, the medium of found poetry can let you gain access to a vocabulary you didn’t know you needed.” E. Kristin Anderson recommends trying erasure poetry. (New York Times)
“Fiction’s espionage genre has long been a boy’s club.” Paul Vidich recommends ten spy novels that feature women in the lead roles. (Electric Literature)
