http://podcast.litopia.com/ The net’s first & foremost literary salon: our weekly flagship show en-PI http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ JellyCast http://www.jellycast.com peter@redhammer.info (litopia) Arts & Entertainment Sat, 09 May 2009 12:11:31 +0100 Sat, 09 May 2009 14:24:13 +0100 https://litopia.jellycast.com/files/lwp.png http://podcast.litopia.com/ 144 144 The net’s first & foremost literary salon: our weekly flagship show Litopia Writers' Colony litopia peter@redhammer.info podcast Yes No The net’s first & foremost literary salon: our weekly flagship show The Litopia podcasts, from Litopia Writers’ Colony, are the 'net's original and foremost podcasts for writers. There are currently two strands: LITOPIA DAILY and LITOPIA AFTER DARK. LITOPIA DAILY is a quick-but-essential daily briefing for writers: between 5 to 10 minutes of the hottest news and comment, plus regular features that are as stimulating as your morning cup of Java. LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a weekly international panel discussion hosted by literary agent Peter Cox. Recorded every Friday in front of a live audience on UStream (see the website for details: http://podcast.litopia.com). Guests are drawn very widely: from the titans of the publishing business to neophyte novelists - everyone gets a crack if they have something significant to say and a witty way of saying it. We look forward to your company! https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/49 On Litopia After Dark this week:- Celebrity auctions are big business, why do people buy this stuff? Robert McCrum gives a run down on the changes during his 10 years at The Observer. Is it mental to go on a Creative Writing course? Computer games and the narrative drive. The Scott McClellan "tell-all" and the legal dispute over the new Ian Fleming book. What am I bid? Charles Dickens' desk goes under the hammer this week and Britney Spears' used chewing gum fetched $14,000 on Ebay recently. Since it seems there's money to be made from celebrity relics, Litopia After Dark has decided to auction off our host. So what are we bid for one Literary Agent, male, house trained, not particularly adept with the domestic chores but willing to learn? After a frenzied bidding session and some frantic squabbling, the hammer went down - tune in to find out who the lucky winner was and what they had to cough up. Sun, 10 May 2009 09:49:18 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/49 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/49 No Podcast 01:21:02 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/48 On Litopia After Dark this week:- Our Special Guest is Jean Hannah Edelstein, writer blogger and literary commentator. Is it time for the first female Poet Laureate? William McGonagall - genius or idiot? Nerds are the subject of a new book. Kindle figures are out and Amazon puts the squeeze on Publishers. And public schoolboys are back - but what makes us love them? Here come the boys! Litopia After Dark flexes its muscles and takes an unemotional, rational, stoic look at the masculine news of the week. We keep it real as we discuss boy poets, boy heroes, boy geeks and boys toys. No-one cries, there's little small talk and you can almost hear the stiff upper lips. Our very special guest this week isn't a boy but Donna needed all the help she could get. Jean Hannah Edlestein is a contributing editor to Bad Idea Magazine, a frequent contributor to Guardian Unlimited, she's written features, comment and criticism for the Observer, the Sunday Times, The Independent and the Independent on Sunday... among many others. She's been described as everything from "the only attractive blogger" to a "wangsty git" (a term she explains on the show). Her first novel is due for release May 2009. And her blog can be found at http://www.jeanhannahedelstein.com/ Sun, 10 May 2009 09:36:45 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/48 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/48 No Podcast 01:04:48 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/47 Yes, there’s an exceptional amount of aggro in the news this week and, as you’ve come to expect, our fearless panel tackles everything head-on as we discuss things we hate, things they hate and things things hate: it’s really one great big hate-fest. To balance out all the negativity we have a very special guest who we love. Prize winning teen author Susie Day's hilarious and touching novel, BIG WOO!, is published by Scholastic (Marion Lloyd Books) in the UK in April and by Scholastic Inc in the US in the summer. In the US it goes by the title of SERAFINA67 *URGENTLY REQUIRES A LIFE* Susie's first book, WHUMP!... IN WHICH BILL FALLS 632 MILES DOWN A MANHOLE, won the BBC Children's Fiction Prize and was serialized on Radio 4 in 2004. Susie likes Arthur Ransome, Scotland, Time Lords, and cheese. She lives in Oxford, and hopes one day to find the 'off' switch on the television. Also on the show this week: * BBC to Knitters - We Hate You! * Men Hate Sex and the City * We all Hate Adverts * We Hate To say It –Is This The Final Chapter for Book Clubs? * Publishers Hate Amazon * First Person Narrative - Love It Or Hate It? Joining Susie on the panel this week is Donna Ballman, John Quirke and Dave Bartram. There was no sign of hate in the Ustream chatroom at 8pm GMT, it was the usual love-in. Join us next week for a group hug. Sun, 10 May 2009 09:28:32 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/47 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/47 No Podcast 00:59:35 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/46 Tonight on LITOPIA AFTER DARK we're delighted to have as our special guest an acclaimed author who could be considered a signpost to the future. In the words of publishing maven Martyn Daniels (who was our guest on "The Money Issue - How will Authors Survive in the Digital Future?" April 5th) Kate Pullinger is one of the few authors who "gets it" about the new digital media age, and who is already using it in highly creative ways. Reader in Creative Writing and New Media at De Montfort University, Kate currently teaches the online MA in Creative Writing and New Media. She could well be considered the prototype "Author 2.0". So join us as we ask her all the most important questions about the next step in the evolution of the author. Also on the show this week: * In a wonderfully virulent attack, legendary science fiction author Orson Scott Card lays into JK Rowling. * Louise Hay is a one-woman publishing phenomenon and one of the best-selling authors in history. We discuss what has got her to the top and kept her there. * Also: music and politics - the campaign soundtracks are put to the test and we ask whether original creative works are used or abused by politicians. * And HarperCollins are making hundreds of videos of their authors - we ask why? On the panel this week are Donna Ballman, Richard Howse, Eve Harvey and very special guest Kate Pullinger. In the Ustream chatroom 8pm GMT, everyone was amazingly polite and attentive. Join us next week to try to get us as off-topic as possible! Sun, 10 May 2009 09:22:55 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/46 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/46 No Podcast 01:02:59 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/45 Your book is written, re-written, checked and double checked and you're ready to find it a home. But in this ultra-competitive publishing climate how do you ensure your novel escapes from the slush pile? On Litopia After Dark this week our very special guest is Simon Flynn, Publishing Director of Icon Books and we ask him how to sex up our submissions to get them noticed and how publishers themselves package their books to entice the reader. Libraries are branching out: As Swansea Library declares Friday nights, singles night and Swiss Cottage Library, London introduces a "borrow a person" event, we discuss whether the Libraries should be using gimmicks to attract visitors. Children's books (in the UK) are about to be labelled with suggested suitable age ranges by the publishers. Is this a good thing or (as children's librarian Jake Hope believes) is it a cynical and misguided idea? Also, digital books for kids - should bedtime stories be left to the iPod or is this a step too far? And, My Beautiful Mommy, does your child really need a book to prepare them for your plastic surgery? And as Richard and Judy prepare to leave Channel 4, taking their book club with them, the panel discuss whether this is the beginning of the end for UK authors? We also talk about the growth of the importance of bestseller lists, embedding your credit card details in your e-book and A-levels in Harry Potter. On the panel this week are Donna Ballman, Richard Howse and Dave Bartram. Also, our special guest is Publishing Director of Icon Books, Simon Flynn. Sun, 10 May 2009 09:12:20 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/45 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/45 No Podcast 01:12:00 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/44 Dinner parties! Soul food for the chattering classes (if you’re a writer that means you). Don't you just love them? If you’re a man, the answer is likely to be "No!". If female, probably the opposite. An intriguing item in Slate explains why eligible men are so difficult to find for these quintessentially middle-class eating events (apart from the fact that they simply don’t like them). Our soigné panellists then examine a new book published this week that re-evaluates the 1960’s - what lasting impressions has this decade left on our lives today? Singer and troubled celebrity Amy Winehouse has allegedly been offered £1 million to write a book - is this another example of car-crash publishing? And Chick-Lit - formulaic pap or modern classic? According to recent figures, Amazon is defying the economic crunch, but why? To round off the conversation, we consider television - do you - does anyone still watch it? A veritable smorgasbord of tasty morsels of news, canapés of fact and appetisers of opinion, this week’s show offered a prize to the panellist who most over-extended their food metaphors - llisten to the podcast to find out who won! The contestants tonight were Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram and Richard Howse with special guest Carolyn Soutar. In the Ustream chatroom at 8pm (GMT) Friday we spilled wine on our keyboards and threw nibbles at the screen as the chat became frantic. Join us next week for a cocktail or three. Sun, 10 May 2009 00:24:13 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/44 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/44 No Podcast 01:05:35 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/43 The dynamically changing nature of the publishing business is creating new opportunities for writers to eliminate the publisher and go straight to the reader directly. This week, Litopia After Dark considers just how easy - or otherwise - an option it is to make a living by doing it all yourself. As the Harry Potter trial wraps up in New York, we spend some time thinking through the arguments and implications of what might be termed a literary weep-off. We also ponder some new opportunities for authors' revenge against reviewers. And - do you really need to go to the expense of travelling to a country merely to write a travel guide about it? This week we are delighted to welcome as our special guest author and self-publisher Darren E Laws, whose company is Caffeine Nights Publishing. Joining him on the panel are Donna Ballman, Beverly Gray and Dave Bartram. There was no sobbing chatroom on Ustream at 8pm (GMT), thankfully. You should join us next week to find out what you're missing. Sun, 10 May 2009 00:16:02 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/43 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/43 No Podcast 01:06:28 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/42 The life of a writer is idyllic; long walks in the countryside, sipping latte in street cafes and pondering the greater meaning of life on the banks of a babbling brook. So everyone thinks! In reality, the writer's life is very hard and in some cases deadly. This week, after news of the death of several prominent internet writers, Litopia After Dark stresses about the exhausting, demanding pressure writers are under. Are we taking on too much? We also discuss V.S. Naipaul (whose reputation is slated in a new biography out this week) and ask, can we overlook the imperfections of an author when they produce work of great literary merit? Also, what's the attraction of erotic fiction, (as if we didn't know)? Are the days of the history book in the past? And book jackets, can you tell a book by its cover? To discuss all these stimulating subjects our panellists this week are Beverly Gray, Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Richard Howse and John Quirk. Sun, 10 May 2009 00:10:11 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/42 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/42 No Podcast 01:06:16 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/41 This week Litopia After Dark looks to the future. As we move rapidly into the digital age, there are undoubtedly opportunities for writers, plenty of pitfalls, but mostly uncertainty. It's a timely subject - this week, Britain's Society of Authors alarmed everyone with a shock prognostication: authors may stop writing - so their chairperson said - because it simply wont pay any more! This has also been the week in which the blogs-to-books publisher The Friday Project crashed and burned its way into liquidation yet paradoxically, on the other side of the Atlantic, Random House has just paid $300,000 to an unpublished blogger! All this makes our key question tonight - How will authors survive? -very opportune. We also discuss HarperCollins intention to do away with author advances, the growing furore over Amazon's print-on-demand plans and we comb the bookshelves for the latest wave in book covers. Our very special guest this week is Martyn Daniels, author of the seminal, pathfinding report for the Booksellers Association of Great Britain about their digital future - New World, Digitisation of Content: the opportunities for booksellers and The Booksellers Association. We also have author and polymath Brian Clegg, whose latest book, Upgrade Me: Our Amazing Journey to Human 2.0 is about to be published by St Martins Press, NY and our regular panellist Dave Bartram completes the team. Sat, 09 May 2009 23:57:47 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/41 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/41 No Podcast 01:16:51 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/40 People are getting dumber, the world is sinking into entropy and signs of decline and fall are all around. So why are we bothering with Litopia After Dark this week? Well, someone has to sort it out! The Queen's English is on the endangered list. Katie Price (the UK glamour model aka Jordan) has a book in the running for a major award - her publsiher admits that even they don't know how much of it she actually wrote herself - if any! Disney have turned our beloved Famous Five into a Hollywood cartoon. Enid must be spinning in her grave. Clearly, we're all doomed. Also, Bret Easton Ellis didn't care then and doesn't care now, comic books stultify the imagination and kids read Heat magazine in preference to Jackie Wilson. Yet more proof, if it were needed, that the end is nigh. This week, here to contemplate the last rays of sunlight over intellectual Armageddon, are Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray and Richard Howse. Our special guest this week is best-selling children's author MG Harris. Sat, 09 May 2009 21:42:32 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/40 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/40 No Podcast 01:02:14 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/39 This week, Litopia After Dark boldly goes where no podcast has gone before (note the effortless Roddenberry reference!) as we consider Arthur C. Clarke’s legacy and ponder the literary merit of SF: geek fodder or classic fiction? We also nominate a children's author to (literally) shoot out of the sky - and the Encyclopaedia Britannica goes luxury... but do we love it enough? Also, on the show this week... happiness is overrated... Sebastian Horsley is banned from the USA... employees are gagged... and it's Mac! No it's PC! No Mac! PC! Mac! Finally, we enquire where old books go to die and give you the sure-fire success formula for writing your non-fiction blockbuster... so don’t say we never do anything for you. Joining Peter on the panel are Beverly Gray, Dave Bartram, Donna Ballman, Richard Howse and Eve Harvey. And if you missed the party in the uStream chat room (8pm GMT on Friday) - where were you? Come and join in next week! Sat, 09 May 2009 21:36:58 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/39 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/39 No Podcast 01:02:49 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/38 Litopia After Dark this week is plunging further into the murky depths of the literary world than we have ever been before, as we deliberate the question - Vice: is it any good? We look at the sin of shoplifting books, the evil-doing of downloading e-books and the depravity of failing to return library books. And as we plummet, the panel discuss literally pitching your work and the wrath that may result... the sloth of Thesaurus use... the lust of the madam memoir. By the time we've settled at the bottom of the pit, all that remains is the question of literary vice - naughty or nice? The deviant panellists this week are Dave Bartram, Donna Ballman and Eve Harvey. And you should have been in the chatroom at 8pm GMT on Friday, it was wicked! Sat, 09 May 2009 21:31:22 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/38 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/38 No Podcast 00:53:48 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/37 LITOPIA AFTER DARK this week takes a fascinating direction as we discuss one of the biggest and most important questions facing writers and publishers today - how will books be sold in the future? Also, The Litopia Effect - how our discussions are influencing the world of literature as yet another story of fake memoirs hits the headlines. Plus we are all, literally, stereotypes... Jacqueline Wilson publicly disapproves of herself... and writers - mad, bad and dangerous in power? To discuss these topics in depth are Donna Ballman, Beverly Gray, Dave Bartram and Richard Howse. Our special guest this week is columnist, power-blogger about all things literary and Managing Editor of The Book Depository, Mark Thwaite (with comments from Lola and Marnie). Of course, you've missed the opportunity to comment as we broadcast live on Ustream (8pm GMT Friday) but there's always next week. Sat, 09 May 2009 21:24:28 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/37 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/37 No Podcast 01:06:22 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/36 This week’s LITOPIA AFTER DARK recklessly plunges into the wild and wacky world of the WOTY (listen to the show to find out!) during which we learn more than we ever thought we’d want to know about micro-groms, man-flu, smirting and whaletails –to name but a few. We also look at the latest developments in the lawsuit brought by JK Rowling and Warner bros against the author of publisher of the unofficial Harry Potter encyclopaedia... ask what future is there for publishing trade magazines... ponder alternatives to the Mozart Effect... and ask What Your Bookshelf really Says about you. The main discussion tonight is about “If I Knew Then What I Know Now – The First, Best Writing Advice I Ever Had”. Our panellists tonight are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray and Carolyn Soutar. As always, the show is recorded in front of a live audience via UStream, where there’s an opportunity to make comments during the programme. Sat, 09 May 2009 21:18:51 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/36 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/36 No Podcast 00:59:28 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/35 Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what's new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. We can be found live on Ustream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there's an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme. This week the panel discuss the dark and ugly face of writing. No, not Jeffrey Archer, but plagiarism. We're naming and shaming the cheats of the writing world and asking why would they steal? We're also looking at the years weirdest book titles - "Cheese Problems Solved" anyone? Also, product placement in children's books and Oprah sells one million e-books. So join us as chaos breaks out in the chat room, issues are hotly debated and one question remains unanswered "What is wrong with Ken?" To discuss these issues, and more, this week are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray and special guest award-winning television director Andrew Gillman. Sat, 09 May 2009 14:21:41 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/35 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/35 No Podcast 01:00:04 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/34 Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. We can be found live on Ustream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there’s an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme. Joining Peter Cox this week are Donna Ballman, Beverly Gray and Dave Bartram and special guest Carolyn Soutar. In this week’s show the panellists share their views on a multitude of news items. How do they feel about Zadie Smith’s attack on Literary Prizes? What lessons can the Publishing Industry learn from the impending death of the newspaper? And Self-Publishing, is this just a new, legitimate name for Vanity Press? Numerous other topics are discussed and as the discussion becomes heated, things are said, and conclusions are reached, not least about whether Aliens Love Underpants is the real title of a book. Sat, 09 May 2009 14:16:20 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/34 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/34 No Podcast 01:09:32 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/33 Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. Again, we can be found live on Ustream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there’s an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme. Panellists this week are Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray, Donna Ballman and Eve Harvey. The show this week is an introspective. The panel examine their own reasons for entering the highly competitive world of the unpublished writer and try to explain what it is about scribbling down words that excites them. Do they have a God Complex? Are they just bored? Or is it insanity that keeps them furiously typing when all the odds are stacked against them? Sat, 09 May 2009 14:10:26 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/33 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/33 No Podcast 00:54:20 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/32 Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. We can be found live on Ustream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there’s an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme. Today’s show is called Enantiodromia – (Greek: enantios, opposite + dromos, running course) is a concept introduced by psychiatrist Carl Jung meaning the superabundance of any force inevitably produces its opposite. Thanks to Dave for the word of the week. In this week’s extraordinarily named show, we have a very special guest, Karen Wenborn who is Managing Director of Classical Comics. Classical comics has a mission, to turn classics such as Shakespeare, Dickens and Bronte, books that young people often find boring, into cool comics that kids can’t wait to read. The Queen’s English Society has accused them of dumbing down. The panel discuss whether we should be outrageously happy or simply outraged that Shakespeare is getting the Spiderman treatment. Sean Dodson reports in his Guardian Blog, that bestselling author Paolo Coelho has apparently been pirating his own work for years. The panel discuss the implications of giving your novel away free on the internet. And finally, Publishing News is reporting that the head of Random House has announced that an e-book reader will be launched in the UK this year, and they are proposing a royalty for authors of just 15% of net receipts. This in turn means 85% for the Publisher. How can they justify this? Joining resident host Peter Cox this week are panellists Donna Ballman, Berverly Gray and Dave Bartram. Sat, 09 May 2009 14:01:45 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/32 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/32 No Podcast 00:54:16 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/31 Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. Again, we can be found live on UStream at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evenings and there’s an opportunity to watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme. In this week’s packed show we will be discussing Literary Prizes. How do the panel feel about the system of Prizes? AL Kennedy has just been awarded the Costa Prize and yet the book is a bleak read, not universally appealing. We discuss whether the system is fatally flawed from the outset and if it is possible to impartially judge these Prizes. And the panel look at the sales results after a book has been a prize-winner and the future career implications for the writer. Also, Misery Lit, the relatively new best-sellers of the publishing industry. What is the appeal of these harrowing, shocking memoirs? And why do people love them? The panel discuss the dangers of life story accounts spiralling out of control and the race to be the most unpleasant yet. This week’s guests are Dave Bartram, Berverly Gray, Richard Howse, Donna Ballman and Eve Harvey. Sat, 09 May 2009 13:52:30 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/31 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/31 No Podcast 00:53:14 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/30 In this second programme of 2008 we are again live on Ustream and the chat room is open for comments during the recording of the Podcast. This week the panel discuss the rather depressing news that further cuts are being made to funding for the Arts. The British Council has effectively been dismantled, its 20 specialist officers (including the much-respected Susie Nicklin, Head of Literature) have been made redundant and invited to re-apply for their jobs. Also is POD (Print on Demand) the future for mainstream publishing? Will the fast turnaround in printing and lack of warehouse costs be the answer to the environmental problems currently faced by publishers? The panel discuss self-publishing and the pro’s and con’s of doing it yourself. And lastly, writing for Children and Young Adults. What is the secret to writing a successful children’s book? What aspects should writers be concentrating on and are there any pitfalls to avoid? The panel give their opinions on hitting the big-time in this increasingly competitive and lucrative marketplace. This weeks guests are Dave Bartram, Berverly Gray, Richard Howse and Donna Ballman (who is joining us from the SCBWI conference in Miami). Sat, 09 May 2009 13:34:14 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/30 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/30 No Podcast 00:57:20 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/29 In this first Litopia After Dark of 2008, we’re live on Ustream and there’s an opportunity watch the Podcast being made and make comments during the programme. This week the panel discuss Chuck Norris. What? Has Chuck Norris decided being an action hero is no longer fulfilling and penned his own romance novel? Fortunately not. The discussion revolves around a book called “The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World’s Greatest Human” and the resulting law suit. Also, the far more serious issue of Books and the Landfill. What can we do about the environmental impact of the publishing industry’s wasteful sale or return policy? And could e-submissions be a small step forward towards better practice? And finally, Writers Conferences. Could they be a face to face opportunity for the unpublished writer? The panel discuss the pros and cons of speed dating Agents. This episode’s guests are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram and Amanda Lees. Sat, 09 May 2009 13:23:43 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/29 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/29 No Podcast 00:40:26 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/28 For the last show of 2007 we’re doing something a little different. This week, VARIETY reports that more and more films are abandoning the classical 3-act structure in favour of nonlinear story construction. So the main question we’re going to address tonight is all about the future of story itself. Andrew Gillman, who will be familiar to many listeners of our earlier podcasts, is currently directing another series for BBC3 starring Rob Brydon. We asked Andrew and his producer, Alex Kavallierou, to give us their thoughts and some context on this most fundamental issue for all writers. Our panellists are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray and Richard Howse. Sat, 09 May 2009 13:16:42 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/28 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/28 No Podcast 00:43:20 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/27 If you look at the bestseller charts on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s not hard to predict what you’re going to see. In the UK, 15 of the top 20 hardback non-fiction books are television spin-offs. Stateside, this week’s hardcover fiction list is equally humdrum - you’d be forgiven for thinking that we’d all been swallowed up in a time warp and gone back to the 1980s. So - has “safe” publishing finally taken over? We also tackle buzz marketing, the ten most manly writers ever, and the definitive American woman of our time. This episode’s guests are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Brian Clegg, Beverly Gray, Richard Howse and Lynn Price. Sat, 09 May 2009 13:09:00 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/27 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/27 No Podcast 00:38:11 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/26 Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. This week, we tackle The Kindle - Savior of the publishing industry or Segway? Princess Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton’s takes on Tom Cruise. And we give Bloomsbury Publishing our best advice in coping with Potter bereavement. Plus our picks of the week, and sleepers of the week. Our pundits are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Beverly Gray and Richard Howse. Sat, 09 May 2009 12:46:17 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/26 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/26 No Podcast 00:42:48 https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/25 Recorded live and uncensored, LITOPIA AFTER DARK is a wide-ranging look at what’s new, hot or not in the worlds of writing, publishing, media and culture. Last week, we gave Amazon’s Kindle a good going-over - and we’re not finished with the subject yet - well take another look at it quite soon, when we can assess what kind of initial impact it’s made. This week, it’s the turn of another “saviour of the publishing industry” to get the high-octane attention of our panel of writers - the rise of the social network. Are you on FaceBook? Would you even admit to being on MySpace? And how can publishers use sites like these to sell books? All this plus Harry Potter in the dock and Philip Pullman goes to hell! Plus our picks of the week, and sleepers of the week. This episode’s guests are Donna Ballman, Dave Bartram, Brian Clegg, Beverly Gray and Richard Howse. Sat, 09 May 2009 12:54:48 +0100 Content https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/25 jellycast https://litopia.jellycast.com/node/25 No Podcast 00:43:19