The Hack - all the Writer's News you need

Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush, it's the Hack's report.

* The once lucrative UK female short fiction market is in turmoil - according to a report in Writer's Forum eleven magazines have dropped fiction in the last few years, and those that do still buy fiction are now only doing so from established writers. In 2005 virtually all women's magazine on the newsstand carried fiction and also accepted unsolicited fiction, but today that market has shrunk to a third of its size with magazines such as Take a Break, Bella, Woman's Weekly no longer running fiction amongst its articles. Of today's women's magazines only People's Friend, Weekly News, My Weekly, Woman's Weekly, Your, and Take A Break Fiction Fest are using short stories.


* US genre publisher, Library of the Living Dead are looking for original well written werewolf stories for a forthcoming anthology to be edited by Bill Tucker and Mike Michell. Find details HERE

* J K Rowling has parted company with her agent, Christopher Little which cuts him out of the forthcoming Pottermore initiative to sell the Potter books as eBooks.Christopher Little signed up an unknown writer, Joanne Rowling, in 1995, she was newly divorced, living in a one-bedroom Edinburgh flat, and had a six-month-old daughter to take care of. He secured the Harry Potter scribe a six-figure book deal and transformed her into a literary superstar. Both made a fortune. Now their fairytale partnership has come to a crashing conclusion.Mr Little, 69, is considering legal action against Ms Rowling, whose books have sold almost half a billion copies, after it emerged that the author has defected to a new literary agency, The Blair Partnership, set up by Mr Little's former business partner Neil Blair.

* The Duchess of Cornwell has become the patron of Booktrust, which is a charity set up to encourage reading in people of all ages.Booktrust is an independent UK-wide charity dedicated to encouraging people of all ages and cultures to enjoy books. The written word permeates all our activity and helps us to fulfil our vision of inspiring a lifelong love of books for all. 

* Argos which launched its online books store this April are to expand their range to include 5,000 titles.

*Big Issue Magazine has made several of it regional editors homeless by merging all of its editions into a single UK wide magazine edited by Paul McNamee

* The BBC are seeking scripts for dramas and comedies. Find details in their Writer's Room

* A late report added to this post with thanks to Keith Chapman for directing me towards this. Go HERE for an  interview with  comic legend, Pat Mills about his attempts to  revive a girl's comic line.