Older generations argue that young people’s insistence on equality in all things – including books – threatens to stifle free speech. But is that always true?I wouldn’t normally air my dirty literary linen in public, but here goes. When I finished writing my novel Putney, about a 13-year-old girl who has a “love affair” in the 1970s with an older man and realises decades later that it was actually abuse, my previous editor at Jonathan Cape chose not to publish it. The reasons emerged this year when he was interviewed in the Spectator. “If Lolita was offered to me today,” Dan Franklin said, “I’d never be able to get it past the acquisition team – a committee of 30-year-olds, who’d say: ‘If you publish this book we will all resign.’” He pointed to #MeToo and social media as fundamental factors: “You can organise outrage at the drop of a hat.”Fortunately, Bloomsbury’s acquisition team – overwhelmingly female and mixed aged – were brave enough to take on Putney, which was described in the Observer as “a Lolita for the era of #MeToo”. Whether there was any truth in his words or not, Franklin’s position reveals how much fear now exists in publishing. Related: Putney by Sofka Zinovieff review – a Lolita for the age of #MeToo ‘It’s only about not being an arsehole,’ my daughter said. ‘That’s not so difficult’ Related: Nabokov's Lolita: the latest thing millennials have apparently ruined Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-07-10 10:03:01 UTC ]
Titles from Faber, No Exit Press, HarperCollins, Viking and Jonathan Cape have been shortlisted for this year’s John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has signed an award-winning debut American poet to its list, Ocean Vuong, tipped to be "an important new voice" after making "huge waves" in the US. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has acquired two new novels from British-Australian novelist and major literary prize-winner Evie Wyld. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It seems that our love affair with ebooks could be turning sour. For the first time since digital book sales were recorded, the number of ebooks sold in the UK dropped in 2015. The drop could be partly explained by the fact that we seem to be reading less in recent years. While sales of printed... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For the Thursday morning panel called Current Trends in YA, author Daniel Kraus rattled off a few crops of recent strains he’s observed, including books about “body parts, agoraphobia, and strange disease books.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape is publishing BRIT(ish): Getting Under the Skin of Britain’s Race Problem by Afua Hirsch, social affairs editor for Sky News. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fiction reviews editor Gabe Habash recommends 'What Belongs to You,' the brilliantly structured story of an American teacher in Bulgaria caught in a love affair with a young man. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has acquired the new book by Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans (William Collins). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Myriad Editions has signed a “stunning” novelisation of the love affair between Simone de Beauvoir and American writer Nelson Algren. Fiction editor Holly Ainley bought UK and Commonwealth rights, including Canada, to Noon in Paris, Eight in Chicago by Chicago-born author Douglas Cowie, from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tom Avery has been promoted to editorial director of William Heinemann. Avery joined the Cornerstone imprint in 2011 as editor, and was made senior editor in 2013. Before joining William Heinemann he was at Jonathan Cape and Vintage Books. Avery publishes non-fiction and some literary... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bill Clegg, Anne Enright, Marlon James, Laila Lalami, Tom McCarthy, Chigozie Obioma, Andrew O'Hagan, Marilynne Robinson, Anuradha Roy, Sunjeev Sahota, Anna Smaill, Anne Tyler and Hanya Yanagihara are this year's Man Booker "Dozen", longlisted for the £50,000 prize. There are five US authors on... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fourteen indies opened between April and June, according to the ABA. And new stores continue to open, including Books by the Beach in New Smyrna Beach, and a second location for Ye Olde Warwick Book Shoppe. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George RR Martin has urged “every true fan” of science fiction and fantasy to vote for this year’s Hugo Awards to “help protect the integrity of the rocket”. The 2015 Hugo Awards, honouring the best science fiction and fantasy works and achievements of the previous year across a number of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dan Franklin will step down from his role as publishing director at Jonathan Cape at the end of the year, with Michal Shavit [pictured], currently deputy publishing director at Harvill Secker, taking his place. Franklin, who is aged 66, will take the title of associate publisher and will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has acquired at auction a “biography of the 1919 Spanish ‘flu pandemic’”. Alex Bowler, editorial director at Jonathan Cape, bought world rights after a three-way auction to Laura Spinney’s book from David Miller at Rogers, Coleridge & White. Bowler said: “Laura’s aim is a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beth Coates has been promoted to the role of editorial director at Vintage Paperbacks. Coates will now be responsible for the day to day running of the paperback editorial team as well as continuing her work across Jonathan Cape. Her appointment follows the promotion of Rachel Cugnoni to the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing industry data for 2014 spills the beans on decline in biography and cookbook sales, while children’s literature in print rises by 10%Publishers used to have a simple recipe for a bestseller: sign up a celebrity or a TV chef and get the book out for Christmas.Not any more. The latest... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two authors and a fanzine have withdrawn their work from the Hugo science fiction awards, claiming alleged right-wing activists are skewing the voting process. The annual awards honour the best science fiction and fantasy works and achievements of the previous year across a number of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has acquired a book of short stories by Daisy Johnson at auction. Editorial director Alex Bowler signed UK and Commonwealth rights to two books by Johnson from Jack Ramm at Eve White Literary Agency. Johnson is a 24-year-old prizewinning graduate of Oxford University’s Fiction... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Sword (Orbit), the sequel to her multi award-winning Ancillary Justice (also Orbit), is among the finalists for this year’s Hugo Awards. The annual awards honour the best science fiction and fantasy works and achievements of the previous year across a number of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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