Author of Queen of the Mountaineers and American Daredevil, Cathryn J. Prince has signed a publishing contract for her next book, For the Love of Labor: The Pioneering Life of Pauline Newman, with University Press of Kentucky for a 2024 release. Before Greta Thunberg, Emma Gonzalez, or Malala Yousafzai, there was Pauline Newman. She had been union organizing since the age of 16 before the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory killed her comrades. She had arrived in the tenements of the Lower Eastside with her recently widowed mother and younger siblings from Lithuania working in the garment district at the age of 11. The first female organizer of one of America’s most powerful unions, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, she led strikes and carried on the fight to end child labor. She spent eight days in the White House conferring with Francis Perkins, President Roosevelt and others for the New Deal. Part of the Eleanor Roosevelt’s circle of women who spent time at her cottage Val-Kill, Pauline Newman and her partner, Frieda Miller, lived together for more than a half-century, raising a daughter and doting on her two grandsons. For the Labor of Love: The Pioneering Life of Pauline Newman is the first full-scale biography to illustrate how a teen activist spent a lifetime pursuing social justice. Cathryn J. Prince is an author of six previous books, a free-lance journalist, and a journalism educator at Fordham University and SUNY-Purchase. She holds an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University, a B.A. in…

Labor Day starts a new season for most people. This is true in publishing, too. Fall releases of new books ramp up until the holiday season. Acquisition editors begin in earnest this time of year to put together their next catalog and plan for the one after that. Writers like to turn over a new leaf and recommit to their writing goals for the long winter ahead. In year three of this new era brought on by a global pandemic, publishing continues to change rapidly. The anti-trust hearings regarding the acquisition and merger of Simon & Schuster by Penguin Random House wrapped up final arguments, but the Department of Justice investigations opened up the industry for closer scrutiny. And it ain’t pretty. The case largely focused on agented authors who commanded advances over $250,000 and the question of whether fewer publishers bidding on intellectual properties diminished the size of advances. While most authors do not command such advances, the diminishing number of publishers creates a market situation in which there are so few buyers as to be a monopsony. A monopoly is when there is only a single supplier, but a monopsony is when there is only one buyer. If there are only a handful of buyers of book manuscripts, that is not a good thing for authors. The argument that new publishers are entering the marketplace didn’t hold much water with the judge in this case. The Penguin Random House attorneys argued Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau started a…

There’s nothing quite like a writing workshop, conference, or retreat to get writing inspiration flowing and help overcome writer’s block. They provide a change of pace, a chance to relax and unwind, and space to focus on your craft. These events can also offer opportunities to connect with other writers and build community and a network of support. If you’re thinking about going to a writing retreat or conference this year, here are some options which involve traveling to new places and trying new things, allowing you to step out of the everyday norm and into a new creative headspace.   Inspired Writer’s Retreat When: February 2-5, 2023 Where: We begin with a scenic journey into the quiet heights of the majestic Wasatch mountain range just outside of beautiful Heber, Utah. There are twists and turns in the road, with stately evergreens standing beside the weathered remains of once-living timber. So has been your life’s journey, and it is culminating here in a sumptuous log cabin equipped with every modern comfort. Our retreat cabin is easy to access, even in the winter. This retreat is all-inclusive with three-and-a half days and three nights lodging and nine delicious meals—Thursday lunch through Sunday breakfast—prepared by a private chef. As part of your retreat, each writer receives a one-on-one intensive with lead book mentor Bridget Cook-Burch—a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author—writing development activities, an in-house editor, and a stunning and safe space to inspire and provide quiet writing time.…