Black Writers’ Guild calls for sweeping change in UK publishing

More than 100 authors join new body calling for the industry to address deep-seated inequalities in output and personnelMore than 100 writers including Booker winner Bernardine Evaristo, Benjamin Zephaniah and Malorie Blackman have called on all major publishing houses in the UK to introduce sweeping reforms to make the overwhelmingly white industry more inclusive at all levels.As black authors top the bestseller charts in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests spurred by the killing of George Floyd, the newly formed Black Writers’ Guild (BWG), which counts among its members some of Britain’s best known authors and poets, has written an open letter airing concerns that “British publishers are raising awareness of racial inequality without significantly addressing their own”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-06-15 17:08:57 UTC ]

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Pandemic drives ebook and audiobook sales by UK publishers to all-time high

Printed book sales plunge in first six months of 2020 on back of shop and school closuresSee all our coronavirus coverageSales of digital books by British publishers are set to hit an all-time high this year as the public turns to reading to escape pandemic cabin fever.However, the ebook and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-11-14 07:00:02 UTC ]
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Rethinking fairytales as feminist fables is rescuing them, not ruining them | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

A new collection of rejigged tales gets much closer to the spirit of these stories than the ‘traditional’ versions we’re force-fed There’s a book called Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, written by James Finn Garner, which used to be on my parents’ shelves, and is now on mine. Published in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-11-04 09:00:13 UTC ]
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Bernardine Evaristo to UK Publishing: Hire More Diverse People

At the Frankfurt Book Fair conference, writer Bernardine Evaristo delivered a forceful keynote on the systemic bias against people of color in the UK publishing industry The post Bernardine Evaristo to UK Publishing: Hire More Diverse People appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-10-14 18:02:09 UTC ]
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Resisting censorship

Last month, 58 writers, journalists and artists signed a letter in the Sunday Times in support of JK Rowling, condemning the ‘onslaught of abuse’ she has received regarding her views on sex, gender and trans rights. Signatories included Tom Stoppard, Ian McEwan and Lionel Shriver. Three days... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-04 20:35:25 UTC ]
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Troubled Blood strikes twice atop the bestseller charts

Robert Galbraith's Troubled Blood (Sphere) has spent a second week in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 25,428 copies in its first full week on sale. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-28 22:57:56 UTC ]
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Pros and Cons of Virtual Events Weighed by Publishers, Booksellers

Three representatives from major publishing companies discussed the logistics of sponsoring virtual author events and best practices with Midwest booksellers on a September 8 panel that is part of the Heartland Fall Forum program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Black Lumascape Compiles All Black-Owned Ad-Tech Firms in a Continuously Updating Chart

As the founder and CEO of digital media investment bank Luma Partners LLC, Terence Kawaja is a problem solver by nature. But earlier this summer, as Kawaja watched his news feed, he found himself hearing about problems that left him at a loss. He read about the killing of George Floyd and police... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-09-03 12:30:00 UTC ]
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Blackman and Cottrell-Boyce support LoveMyRead subscription service

Malorie Blackman and Frank Cottrell-Boyce are supporting a book subscription service that launches today (3rd September). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-02 13:55:58 UTC ]
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Diversity in the Age of Black Lives Matter

Since the killing of George Floyd in late May, the book publishing industry, overwhelmingly white at every level, seems to have reached a period of reckoning about its own history of exclusionary hiring practices. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Association hails ‘biggest year ever for UK publishing’ in latest report

The PA’s annual yearbook has found across-the-board growth for the book trade, with total invoiced sales up 3.5% on its last report—but Brexit and Covid-19 could endanger the recent gains Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-22 18:16:32 UTC ]
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We need more modesty, more money and more collaboration

We are in a time of major change – following the brutal, televised murder of George Floyd – and it goes without saying that the book trade supports a movement that must succeed in establishing once and for all that black lives matter. For my new book, Slow Road to San Francisco, I drove from... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-22 06:15:35 UTC ]
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PA salutes 2019 as UK publishing's 'best year ever', but calls for Covid support

The Publishing Association has released its latest Yearbook statistics, showing growth in both the industry's print and digital revenues, making 2019 in its estimation “the biggest year ever for UK publishing”.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-21 05:50:22 UTC ]
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'A visionary publisher': Tony Elliott, Time Out magazine founder, dies

Elliott developed his London listings and culture magazine into a ‘global media empire’Tony Elliott, the founder of the events listings magazine Time Out, has died after a long illness, the magazine has said.The 73-year-old set up the magazine in London in 1968 and grew it into a major... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-07-17 18:46:36 UTC ]
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What black writers think about the UK's publishing industry – a survey

Limited promotion and marketing budgets reinforce false ideas about how well diverse books and writers will sell. This leads to a negative cycle for black, Asian and minority ethnic writers. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2020-07-15 09:57:53 UTC ]
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The Bookseller asks for trade views of social media

The Bookseller would like to capture the trade’s thoughts on social media and, in particular, "cancel culture" and its impacts on UK publishing, bookselling and writing. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-01 19:32:20 UTC ]
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A Look Inside Pitchfork’s New Weekly Podcast, “The Pitchfork Review”

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[ Folio Magazine | 2020-07-01 17:31:18 UTC ]
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Diversity needs unions

In response to the discussions around the #PublishingPaidMe and #BookJobTransparency hashtags, and the open letter from the Black Writers’ Guild, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Book Branch recognises that these problems are not new and will not be fixed without ambitious, far-reaching... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-25 09:04:37 UTC ]
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Eddo-Lodge retains top spot, as sales figures return to bestseller charts

Reni Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Bloomsbury) has notched up a second week as the UK Official Top 50 number one, selling 34,211 copies through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-23 13:15:03 UTC ]
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We've come a long way with LBGTQ+ literature

In 2012, the literary critic Suzi Feay lamented the lack of new lesbian voices in UK publishing. Describing what she saw as “a shortage of lesbian writers in Britain today”, she wondered who would follow in the footsteps of established authors like Ali Smith, Sarah Waters and Jeanette Winterson.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

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This Website Makes It Easier to Buy Anti-Racist Books From Black-owned Bookstores

In the weeks since the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, books about anti-racism have consistently topped bestseller lists. Many of these books have been purchased from the likes of Amazon and Barnes & Noble. To try and funnel some of these sales to Black-owned bookstores... Continue reading at AdWeek

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