Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today’s stories:
As part of a fundraising campaign for Planned Parenthood of North Florida, author Lauren Groff has recruited over a dozen writers to auction off signed copies of their books, coffee dates, book club visits, and character-naming rights. Participating writers include Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, Elissa Schappell, Emma Straub, and Meg Wolitzer. (Washington Post)
Former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has inked a memoir deal with Hachette. Kelly will cover his forty-seven years in law enforcement as well as the police department’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy and counterterrorism strategy post 9/11. The memoir will be released in Fall 2015. (ABC News)
With the referendum on Scottish independence ten days away, J. K. Rowling makes a case to keep Scotland part of the U.K., arguing that the financial risks of independence are too great. Earlier this summer, Rowling donated one million pounds to an anti-independence campaign. (Guardian)
Many independent bookstores report their sales are up for the year, despite preliminary data from the U.S. Census Bureau that suggested bookstore sales for the first half of 2014 were down by 7.9 percent. Publishers Weekly talks with booksellers about the summer’s top-selling titles and whether the Hachette-Amazon dispute has affected sales.
At the New York Times, Alexandra Alter considers the steady demand for dystopian novels like Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, which sold for a mid-six-figure advance and will be published by Knopf on Tuesday.
Full Fathom Five, author James Frey’s publishing house specializing in young adult novels, has launched a digital imprint. The imprint plans to release a new e-book every week for the rest of 2014. (Mashable)
Due to budget cuts, Canadian prisons are further limiting inmates’ access to libraries. (CBC News)
Juan Vidal discusses the social responsibility of the poet, arguing that poets are no longer on the frontlines of political and social protest. (NPR)
