Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond's Blog, page 20
October 11, 2014
Knowing Our Worth
The opening day of the Bindercon Symposium featured a thorough and thoughtfully put together presentation by writer Laura Shin. Speaking to a room spilling over with freelance writers, Shin shared proposed formulas for calculating an hourly rate as well as practical advice for efficient time-management, asking for a raise, and knowing when to say no to an assignment. So many... Read more.
Desperately Seeking An "Alt" Way to Express
Gawker just declared alt-lit “dead“. Until I came across Kat Stoeffel’s article about the rape scandal that has rocked the alt lit world, I had never heard of the new literary genre. (Please read Stoeffel’s piece, by the way. It’s a necessary reminder that rape involves more than a stranger / date sexually violating an individual.) According to Stoeffel, alt lit’s... Read more.
October 9, 2014
Random House Bought Emma Cline's Debut (and Two To-Be-Written Books) for $2 Million
It’s exciting to know that amidst all the news of a contracting publishing business and the reality of shrinking book advances publishers are still passionate enough to drop $2 million on a debut author with few published credits. Emma Cline’s forthcoming novel The Girls, loosely based on the nine known murders Charles Manson and his followers committed... Read more.
The 2014 Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist is Here
The six contenders for the second annual Goldsmiths Prize include a debut title that was crowd-funded (Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake), two novels shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (Howard Jacobson’s J and Ali Smith’s How to Be Both), and one that was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2014 (Zia Haider Rahman’s In the Light of What We Know).... Read more.
Patrick Modiano Wins the 2014 Nobel in Literature
Patrick Modiano has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The newest Nobel Laureate is the author of over two dozen works including Les Boulevards de Ceinture (translated into English as Ring Roads), which earned him the Grand prix du roman de l’Académie française in 1972, and Rue des Boutiques Obscures (translated as Missing Person) for... Read more.
October 6, 2014
UK-Based Literary Agents Are Offering an Online Novel-Writing Course
Curtis Brown Creative and Conville & Walsh literary agencies have announced the opportunity to take a three-month novel-writing course online, tutored by Commonwealth Prize-winning author Lisa O’Donnell via phone and Skype. The Curtis Brown Creative Three-Month Online Novel-Writing Course will run from Monday 3rd November 2014 to Sunday 22nd February 2015 – you can apply here. (Curtis... Read more.
On the Reclusive Author
In the age of Instagram, Google Earth, and suspect Facebook privacy settings, anonymity is the new luxury. If you’re operating any sort of side hustle or trying to build a following for that other “thing” you do (in our case, writing), you’ve probably been told that sharing old photographs and documenting (or appearing to document)... Read more.
October 3, 2014
Do You Seek Feedback on Your Works-in-Progress?
Quentin Tarantino reads early drafts of his screenplays to a select circle of friends, but is clear that he does not want their input. Prize-winning author Dylan Landis advises that writers don’t even discuss what they’re working on till it’s done. Do you agree?
September 24, 2014
Rest in Peace, J. California Cooper
“…I have found out that life is sure full of lessons. I have seen most people just skip through their life and don’t pay no attention to what they are missing in life: the lessons! The lessons that tell you it’s better to be right, and do right instead of wrong. That will save you... Read more.
