There’s a little something spiritual about being in the vicinity of a working piece of machinery: its heat radiates; its smell permeates; the clattering, chugging, almost orchestral clanking of metal … Continue reading At the Printers
Tag: publishing
How Important is Genre Fiction?
I read in The Guardian on Friday that print sales for literary fiction have remained low since they plummeted in 2010. This ‘crisis’, highlighted in a report commissioned by the Arts Council England (ACE), has the same Council considering to fund this publishing genre.
It would be a mistake, I think, to assume that other genres only reflect society rather than examine it, or do not have anything worthwhile to say, and therefore don’t merit support.
Should we not question ACE’s literature director’s reported comment, “… we are saying that there is something so unique and important and necessary and fundamental about literary fiction in particular, that we need to focus on it and support it.”?
Shouldn’t ACE concentrate on promoting literacy in schools, or reading in adulthood, with the aim to allow the reader, not ACE, to support the authors of literary fiction or any other genre?
Shout Out
I have been discussing the mechanics of story-writing with Simon Dewar recently. This guy is a true gent in the publishing world, and happens to know what he’s talking about. … Continue reading Shout Out
Giving It Away For Free?
Writers write. That is what they do. They do it because, to them, the act of writing is a drug that shoots them up into the brilliant starscape, the brightness … Continue reading Giving It Away For Free?
Happy Small Press Month!
March is the month in which we celebrate the Small Press. I was made aware of this a few days via a Facebook post from Raw Dog Screaming Press. Up … Continue reading Happy Small Press Month!
