| Scroll
down for a selection of news stories
News
-----------
Funny BBC newsletter
-----------
The
BBC Comedy website has had a bit of an upgrade, according to the funny
people at the beeb. "The website is packed full of web-exclusive
comedy videos and clips from your favourite BBC comedy shows old and new,
and lots more - including the rather lovely Comedy Blog," said a
demure BBC spokesperson. To celebrate, the BBC comedy newsletter has been
re-constituted. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
24july10
372
more news stories here
-----------
Amazon
sells more ebooks than hardcover books
-----------
Amazon.com is now selling
more Kindle ebooks than it is selling hardcover books.
Kindle, its proprietary ebook reader is the number one selling item on
Amazon.com, the American site, for two years running. Over the past three
months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold
143 Kindle books. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
24july10
372
more news stories here
-----------
Books
borrowed and bought in Britain
-----------
Stephenie
Meyer tops a latest chart of borrowed and bought books in Britain.
With the third film Eclipse recently released it will no doubt lift sales
of the Meyer's Twilight series. more,
www.askaboutwriting.net
24july10
372
more news stories here
-----------
Closing date for PLR year 2010
-----------
The
final date for receipt of new PLR registration forms for the Irish PLR
year 2010 is Tuesday August 31, 2010. Books registered after that date
will be included for PLR year 2011. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
24july10
372
more news stories here
Older
News
-----------
Tell-a-Story Day
-----------
Tell-a-Story
Day will once more be a part of the Scottish International Storytelling
Festival.
Friday October 29, 2010, the
designated day is on the cusp of Hallowe'en when
stories walk abroad on their own. The Scottish Storytelling Centre in
Edinburgh is offering practical support to those who wish to continue
and celebrate this tradition of oral literature. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
17july10
371
more news stories here
-----------
Patterson sells more in ebooks than anyone else
-----------
Bestselling author James Patterson became the first novelist to sell over
1,000,000 ebook copies, according to his publishers. Hachette Book Group
announced on July 6, 2010 that Patterson to date hsd sold 1,141,273 ebook
units, making him the first novelist ever to surpass the million mark.
According to the International Digital Publishing Forum’s aggregated
data, ebook sales more than tripled over the past year and show no signs
of leveling off in the near future, said the publisher. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
10july10
370
more news stories here
-----------
Gerbil Sentence wins Bulwer-Lytton Prize For Bad Writing
-----------
This
year's a ward for the world's worst writing goes to author Molly Ringle's
comparison of a lovers' kiss with the sucking of a thirsty rodent.
She beat all others in a hotly contested contest for not-sought-after
award.
Molly Ringle is author of one published and two soon-to-be-published novels
and is said to only write bad fiction when she fails at good fiction.
more
www.askaboutwriting.net
10july10
370
more news stories here
-----------
Searching for orphans
-----------
Finding
the copyright owner of orphan books whose authors are unknown is proving
difficult for researchers, according to an EU report on such works and
on copyright. A conservative estimate of the number of orphan books as
a percentage of in-copyright books across Europe puts the number at three
million orphan books, 13 per cent of the total number of in-copyright
books. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
10july10
370
more news stories here
-----------
Writers doings available on podcasts
-----------
Podcasts from the Writers' Guild in Britain are now available as an app
for the iPhone/i Pod Touch and iPad. You can find all in the iTunes store.
An app is a software application that readers can use to access content
on mobile readers. The
Writers' Guild app costs £1.19 to buy. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
03july10
369
more news stories here
-----------
New Literature
Development in Northern Ireland
-----------
A
new organization will provide support for literature professionals working
in Northern Ireland. LitNet NI will have a strong co-ordinating role,
bringing individuals and organizations working in the field of literature
together, said the organization. It plans to roll out a professional development
and mentoring programme for writers and literature workers. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
26june10
368
more news stories here
-----------
Playwrighting fees raised in Britain
-----------
Writers
for the theatre are to receive a full 3.7 per cent cost-of-living increase
on minimum fees and other payments by leading British subsidised theatres
including Royal National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal
Court. The agreement brings the basic minimum fee for a new play to £10,654,
according to the Writers Guild, the representative body for writers. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
26june10
368
more news stories here
Horrid
Henry rules
Horrid
Henry is the most popular boy in Ireland while according to the most-borrowed
statistics from Ireland's PLR office. Tales of Horrid Henry were taken
home more than 98,000 times in 2009.
Irish children made sure children’s authors dominated the most-borrowed-from-the-library
list in 2009.
Most borrowed Irish author in 2009, at number 13, was Darren Shan, whose
tales of vampires and demons have sold 15 million copies worldwide and
are just as popular with library borrowers. more
New
writers guide launched in Dublin
The
Irish Writers, Authors and Poets Handbook for Ireland and Northern
Ireland has been launched. Joint editors are David Jones and Oscar
Duggan. In addition to being a directory the handbook offers practical
information on writing novels, short-stories, newspaper and magazine articles,
for writers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
29may10
365
more news stories here
Siobhán
Parkinson is Ireland's first Laureate na nÓg
Siobhán
Parkinson has been appointed Ireland’s first laureate for children’s
literature. The honour has been established to engage young people with
high quality children’s literature and to underline the importance
of children’s literature in Ireland's cultural and imaginative life,
according to an official statement on the announcement of the appointment.
more
www.askaboutwriting.net
01may10
360
more news stories here
Simon and Schuster new teen imprint
-----------
Simon
and Schuster Children's Books is to launch a new imprint, Simon Pulse,
in June 2010. Simon Pulse is to be launched following huge success for
Simon and Schuster Children's Books in the Young Adult paranormal romance
and urban fantasy area in recent months. The new imprint will publish
teen gothic literature. more
www.askaboutwriting.net
24apr10
360
more news stories here
-----------
Snappers go for Google
-----------
Photographers
and visual artists are to sue Google over its proposed library project.
On April 7, 2010, the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and
other groups representing visual artists filed a class-action lawsuit
against Google, asserting the company’s efforts to digitize millions
of books from libraries amount to large-scale infringement of their copyrights.
more
www.askaboutwriting.net
10apr10
358
more news stories here
-----------
No money for Irish Writers Centre
-----------
The Irish Writers’ Centre has been denied
funding for 2010 by the Arts Council in a decision described by the Centre’s
Board as myopic. Until 2009, the IWC received an annual grant to enable
it function as an organization. providing a venue and a service to writers
and the public, but the grant was withheld last year. more
©
www.askaboutwriting.net
13feb10
350
more news stories here
-----------
PLR
rate announced
-----------
Payments to authors continue for the public borrowings of their books
under the new Irish PLR system. The Rate Per Loan for PLR Year 2009 is
13.93 cent. Authors who chose Euro cheque will receive a cheque and a
statement in the post in February 2010. more
©
www.askaboutwriting.net
06feb10
349
more news stories here
-----------
electronic
book royalties engage writers
-----------
Writers
have opened debate with publishers over electronic royalties. Writers
currently receive royalties of 25 per cent for electronic versions of
their books against some 8-10 per cent royalty on hard versions of the
work. The Society of Authors, says the norm should be 50 per cent. The
Irish Writers’ Union concurs on behalf of Irish writers. more
©
www.askaboutwriting.net
30jan10
348
more news stories here
-----------
Journalists should charge £285 per day
-
--------------
Freelance
journalists should invoice media clients £285 for a day's work to
achieve comparability with a staff journalist earning £25,000, according
to the publisher of the Freelance Ready Reckoner. The reckoner has been
updated for the fourth year in a row. more
---------------
Press Complaints Commission guidance on media
use of Facebook pictures
---------------
The
Press Complaints Commission in the UK has ruled against the Scottish Sunday
Express in a decision on the use by journalists of images taken without
permission from social networking sites like Facebook. The case concerned
a complaint by three parents that that an article headlined Anniversary
shame of Dunblane survivors, published in the Scottish Sunday Express
on 8 March 2009, intruded into their sons’ private lives. more
©
www.askaboutwriting.net
11july09
321
more news stories here
----------------
Telling Tales on air
----------------
A
new programme for writers and writing aired on West Dublin Access Radio
on May 9. Telling Tales uses the resources of writingclub.org and askaboutwriting.net
to broadcast news of writing and opportunities for writers and storytellers
on the community station. The show includes interviews with storytellers,
or writers in the news, each week. more
© www.askaboutwriting.net
18apr09
309
more news stories here
----------------
Working safely with children
----------------
The
Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon has posted some guidelines for
sole practitioners on its website, in response to requests from the arts
sector. The code of practice aims to provide support and guidance to artists
working with children and young people in a solo capacity as practitioners,
facilitators or tutors. more
©
www.askaboutwriting.net
04apr09
307
more news stories here
----------------
Special
notice
Got
unexpected time on your hands?
Start writing now with our assisted 20-day home study course.
Start today.
go
===============
older RePorTs
----------------------------
Booksellers
net just two per cent
more
Barking
Mad is loosed more
Waterstone’s guide to getting published more
A
Writer's Earnings more
------------------------------
Buying
Books
You can buy books featured
in the shop window, right, by clicking on the cover for an individual
title, or on the amazon box for general purchases.
home
academy advertising
awards
conferences
competitions features
how2rite marketing news
opportunities whatson weblinks
shop askeddie
Make
your writing fortune with our assisted 20-day home study course. Start
today. go
|