Good morning, friends. A content marketing client gave me the following feedback a few weeks ago: “This is so well written and exactly right, but also exactly wrong, you know what I mean?”
I (still) haven’t finished hitting my head against the wall, but when I do, it will be time to fire this client.
How’s your week going?
Enjoy the issue!
Natasha Khullar Relph
NEWS & VIEWS
The unburnable book
Since August 2021, over 1,500 books have been banned from US school districts, most of them by or about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Book burnings have made a shocking comeback with open endorsement from conservatives. And a Texas school district declared that if teachers were going to talk about the Holocaust in their classrooms, they were also required to present an “opposing perspective.”
The censorship efforts have now gained the attention of Congress, which held its second hearing on the issue last week, as well as more than 1,300 children’s book authors who signed a letter to lawmakers warning of a “dehumanizing form of erasure.”
To raise awareness of the growing number of book burnings and bans in the US, Penguin Random House has partnered with Margaret Atwood, author of the dystopian (and frequently banned) novel The Handmaid’s Tale to create “The Unburnable Book.” Printed and bound using fireproof materials, the book is being auctioned online by Sotheby’s New York, with all proceeds going to PEN America.
The trailer for the book auction is definitely worth a watch.
SEE ALSO:
How book auctions work: Literary agent Kate McKean goes in-depth with the different types of auctions that literary agents can set while selling a book, how they each work, and when it’s a good time for agents (and authors) to think about them.
How to find freelance work using social media: Freelance writer Kaitlyn Arford talks about how to post, interact, and share on social media in order to bring in more freelance work.
WRITERS WANTED
Some calls for pitches from Twitter:
Next City is looking for ideas on how to make cities better, more equitable places to live.
Tech Radar Gaming is looking for writers to work with regularly.
Insider is looking for travel stories.
Insider is also seeking business and career focused pitches.
Mslexia is looking for pitches addressing any element of creative writing (craft, money, wellbeing, writing niches, etc.).
Wired is particularly interested in pitches related to democracy and governance, abortion, and future of work.
Narratively wants to add more stories to their Secret Lives collection.
MIT Tech Review is looking for pitches for their upcoming issue on mortality.
Slate needs essays and reporting at the intersection of tech, science, policy, and the future.
THE WORDLING PICK
“If you can read only one book on pitching your article ideas to publishers and editors, this is the book to get. I don’t care if it costs one hundred dollars, I’d say get it! It would be worth every penny. Luckily for us, it doesn’t cost that much. I believe the advice and strategies Ms. Relph gives throughout this little book are priceless. They can make your career.”
– Tanya Adams, Amazon Reviewer
WORDLING INSIGHT
There is no shame in admitting that you are not showing up the way you should or want to be.
Because the moment you take responsibility for your lack of action and follow-through? Is the moment you give yourself the power to start showing up and be successful instead.
GLOBAL REPORT
AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have started to enforce a new order requiring that all female TV news anchors in the country cover their faces while on air. After the order was announced. only a handful of news outlets complied. But a few days later, after the Taliban’s Vice and Virtue Ministry began enforcing the decree, most female anchors were seen with their faces covered.
UKRAINE: “Ukrainian agency founder Viktoriya Ma has been awarded the inaugural Anna Droumeva Award, a bursary launched by Andrew Nurnberg Associates (ANA) to recognise an outstanding rights professional. The annual award was conceived in honour of the founding director of ANA’s Sofia office after she passed away in 2021, and grants the winner £2,500 (€2,965) to further their knowledge of the translation market and gain insight into other book cultures. Ma is the founder and c.e.o. of Literary Agency Ovo, which is based in Kyiv.”
UAE: On May 22, the inaugural International Congress of Publishing and Creative Industries was held in Abu Dhabi. Numerous speakers discussed the growing relevance of the Arabic-language book market, which caters to nearly 400 million speakers.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The story must strike a nerve in me. My heart should start pounding when I hear the first line in my head. I start trembling at the risk.”
— Susan Sontag
SHARE THE WORDLING
One of us at The Wordling HQ woke up with a fully formed short story inside us today. Don’t you love when that happens? Share The Wordling with a writer friend who could use some help from the magical idea fairies.
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