Showing all posts tagged: authors

Do you share your birthday with a famous author?

30 April 2023

Australian writer and book reviewer Sheree Strange has put together a list of the birthdays of well-known authors. If you’re stuck for a birthday gift idea for a friend or relative, maybe you could get them a book written by the writer who they share their birthday with.

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First time authors report negative publishing experiences

26 April 2023

A recent survey conducted by British book industry magazine The Bookseller, found a little over half of first time authors did not finding the publishing experience positive:

Among the majority who said they had a negative experience of debut publication, anxiety, stress, depression and “lowered” self-esteem were cited, with lack of support, guidance or clear and professional communication from their publisher among the factors that contributed.

There seemed to be little difference between independent and “big four” publishers, according to survey participants. Making for a smoother experience for first time authors seems to be something all publishers need to focus on.

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Salman Rushdie struggles to write in aftermath of attack

8 February 2023

American based Indian author Salman Rushdie says he is struggling to write again, following a violent attack in August 2022, in a New Yorker article by David Remnick:

At this meeting and in subsequent conversations, I sensed conflicting instincts in Rushdie when he replied to questions about his health: there was the instinct to move on — to talk about literary matters, his book, anything but the decades-long fatwa and now the attack — and the instinct to be absolutely frank. “There is such a thing as P.T.S.D., you know,” he said after a while. “I’ve found it very, very difficult to write. I sit down to write, and nothing happens. I write, but it’s a combination of blankness and junk, stuff that I write and that I delete the next day. I’m not out of that forest yet, really.”

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Authors are the most likely people to feature on banknotes

22 April 2022

It seems ironic that while they may not earn a great deal of money, authors are the most likely people to feature on banknotes, ahead of even political leaders.

Some notable figures in this category include Colombia’s first Nobel Prize of Literature winner Gabriel García Márquez, the pioneer of Japanese modern literature Ichiyo Higuchi and Turkish writer Fatma Aliye Topuz, who is known as the first female author in the Islamic world. Writers can give voice to a place, time, and culture in a way that can resonate and instill a sense of shared identity among citizens, perhaps making them such a popular choice to feature on banknotes.

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The 100 Most Influential People of 2021, but where are the writers?

20 September 2021

The City we Became, by N. K. Jemisin, book cover

Time Magazine’s list of the Most Influential People of 2021, contains the names of icons, pioneers, titans, leaders, and innovators, but it’s only in drilling down into the artist category, that a single writer comes to light; American author N. K. Jemisin. First and foremost congratulations to Jemisin for being included, but it seems unfortunate more writers aren’t recognised here. How do we remedy this situation?

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