Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond's Blog, page 18
November 17, 2014
Amazon v Hachette Resolved. Now What?
Last week, Amazon and Hachette resolved their costly standoff. By many accounts, forthcoming books by Hachette authors are again available for pre-order, and current titles will again be shipped without delay. All is back to normal — normal being publishers and writers remain vulnerable to one distributor / bookseller in control of the industry’s revenue generation. Less than a month... Read more.
November 8, 2014
The Etisalat Prize for Literature Longlist is Here!
The Etisalat Prize for Literature was founded in 2013 by the Nigerian telecommunications giant Etisalat to spotlight debut African novelists. Last year, NoViolet Buluwayo’s We Need New Names edged out Yewande Omotoso’s Bom Boy, Yejide Kilanko’s Daughters Who Walk This Path, Karen Jennings’ Finding Southbek, Ifeanyi Ajeagbo’s Sarah House, Jamila Safari’s The Great Agony and Pure Laughter of... Read more.
November 6, 2014
British Literary Agency Launches Novel-Writing Competition
The winning novel will get representation from a Curtis Brown Creative agent, and free placement in one of the agency’s six-month novel-writing courses. Judges Marian Keyes, Caroline Quentin, and Jonny Geller (joint CEO of Curtis Brown) launched the “Be a Bestseller” competition yesterday; the entry deadline is November 14th.
November 5, 2014
November 4, 2014
The Mega-Advance as a Marketing Tool for Debut Books
2014 is shaping up to be an incredible year for some debut authors. At the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, Random House paid $1 million and $2 million, respectively, to acquire Imbolo Mbue’s debut The Longings of Jende Jonga and Emma Cline’s The Girls. Also at Frankfurt, University of Pennsylvania Associate Professor of Psychology Amy Lee Duckworth sold her... Read more.
November 3, 2014
It's a Long Story: Jill Abramson Start-Up To Pay Writers $100K Each
Longform journalists, rejoice! Jill Abramson is teaming up with CourtTV Founder Steve Brill to launch a start-up that will advance writers close to $100,000 each to research and write novella-length pieces. Subscribers will receive one story each month, while the to-be-named outlet will publish one story per year. It’s not clear whether the monthly stories will be... Read more.
November 2, 2014
It's National Novel Writing Month!
Better known as NaNoWriMo, the annual initiative challenges writers to pen a 50,000-word novel between yesterday and November 30, 2014 for the chance to win undisclosed goodies — and the satisfaction of getting it done. Here’s how it works: You announce your project to a community of authors doing the same thing then update them on your... Read more.
Meshack Asare Wins 2015 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature
Cited as one of Africa’s most influential children’s book authors, Ghana-born Meshack Asare has won the 2015 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature. Contenders of the prize must be nominated by an NSK juror with an international jury of children’s and young adult writers choosing the winner. The award comes with a literary festival hosted in... Read more.
October 31, 2014
2014 Hurston/Wright Awards Honor Giovanni, Buluwayo, Wilder, and Johnson
Founded in 1990 by writer Marita Golden and historian Clyde McElvene, the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation celebrated their 24th year supporting African-Americans in literature at an annual awards gala at the Carnegie Library in Washington, DC. For her 45-year career promoting social justice through her poetry, the Foundation honored Nikki Giovanni with the North Star Award. “She has... Read more.
