Hilary Harwell, an agent at KT Literary, has been fired following a Twitter controversy involving a post she made about a query she had received. On June 23, Harwell posted, “Just read a query that was essentially THE ROAD meets DELIVERANCE (#YA) and now I want someone to write this for me please.” She had since deleted her account. Twitter users, including other agents, noted that it’s bad form to receive a query and then publicly request that a different author write the premise. Author Jamie Damato replied, “With respect do you not see how it’s actually kind of insidious […]
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ABLA Second Chance Inbox
Andrea Brown Literary Agency has introduced a Second Chance Inbox for projects that certain agents at the agency have already passed on. They write on their website, “If a creator would like another opportunity to have their project considered by ABLA after their first choice agent passes, we invite you to submit your work to the Second Chance Inbox. All our agents have access to this inbox and will regularly look through it to discover new material! If an agent finds something they are interested in, they will reach out to that creator directly.” ABLA agents themselves will not add projects […]
Little, Brown Lays Off Staff
Little, Brown’s new president and publisher Sally Kim laid off seven employees in a restructuring on Wednesday. Departures from editorial include executive editors Tracy Sherrod and Ben George, plus senior editors Jean Garnett and Pronoy Sarkar, and the cuts also included vp, deputy publisher Craig Young and another longtime executive. Young will depart on Friday, June 14. A spokesperson confirmed the layoffs and indicated that the restructure is about serving readers better rather than cutting costs, noting that the imprint plans to hire new roles. Kim took over as head of Little, Brown in March, replacing Bruce Nichols. Editor-in-chief Judy Clain had […]
RWA Files for Bankruptcy
Romance Writers of America filed for bankruptcy in Houston on Wednesday, citing declining membership and payment agreements with hotels to host its annual conference. According to the filing, RWA had approximately 10,000 members—whose membership fees support the organization—prior to 2019. During that time, around 2,000 members attended their annual conference. After that, membership went down to about 3,000 and continued falling. In 2018, the organization entered into contracts with Marriott hotels to host its keynote conference every year through 2026, then extended it to 2028 as the events in 2020 and 2021 were moved to virtual. In 2022, RWA attempted […]
PEN America Literary Gala Will Proceed As Planned
A spokesperson for PEN America confirmed to PL that the organization’s annual Literary Gala will take place on May 16 as planned. At the end of April, they cancelled both their Literary Awards and World Voices Festival. The Gala will be held at the Museum of Natural History in NYC.
PEN America Cancels May World Voices Festival
On Friday PEN America formally cancelled their 2024 World Voices Festival, scheduled to take place May 8-11 in New York and May 8-16 in Los Angeles. They write: “The decision to cancel was not taken lightly and happens amid an escalating pattern of suppressing discourse in cultural institutions and on campuses. The event, and the very mission of PEN America, is to elevate writers and foster dialogue across differences. Yet we have heard from writers who have come under tremendous pressure by those who characterize anyone who participated in our events, as taking sides in the war in Gaza.” They […]