British Book awards balance art and selling power to decide best writer in 30 years

Novelists rub shoulders with presidents, chefs, comedians and thriller megastars on longlist to define the title with the biggest impact on the book worldIt could be almost the setup for a joke, but a former president, a Booker winner and an erotic fiction superstar have walked on to the British Book awards’ longlist, and one of them could be crowned the best writer of the past three decades.Barack Obama, Hilary Mantel and EL James are three of the bestselling writers on an eclectic list drawn up to celebrate the awards’ 30th anniversary.A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle (Penguin) | 1990Delia Smith’s Christmas (BBC Books) | 1991Wild Swans, Jung Chang (William Collins) | 1992The Art Book (Phaidon) | 1995Longitude, Dava Sobel (Fourth Estate) | 1997Northern Lights, Philip Pullman (Scholastic) | 1997Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling (Bloomsbury) | 1998Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (Picador) | 1998Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernières (Vintage) | 1998The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson and Nick Sharratt (Doubleday) | 2000White Teeth, Zadie Smith (Penguin) | 2001Sahara, Michael Palin (Weidenfeld Nicholson) | 2003Brick Lane, Monica Ali (Transworld) | 2004The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Mark Haddon (David Fickling) | 2004The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (Picador) | 2004The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (Transworld) | 2005The Gruffalo’s Child, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Macmillan) | 2005The Sound of Laughter, Peter Kay... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-02-14 06:01:23 UTC ]
News tagged with: #biggest impact #booker winner #barack obama #hilary mantel #el james #30th anniversary #jacqueline wilson #julia donaldson #stephenie meyer #dragon tattoo #completely fine #jackie morris #british book #novelists

Other Publishing stories related to: 'British Book awards balance art and selling power to decide best writer in 30 years'


5 resonant quotes from Pat Conroy, book lover

Conroy was one of the nation’s – and perhaps the world’s – most enthusiastic lovers  of books. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pat conroy #book lover


Scholastic and We Need Diverse Books Expand Collaboration

Scholastic and the non-profit organization We Need Diverse Books has announced that they are expanding their collaboration in order to put more books by diverse authors with diverse characters into schools. The post Scholastic and We Need Diverse Books Expand Collaboration appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post scholastic #diverse books #non-profit organization #diverse authors #diverse characters


Filipino Superman fan undergoes 26 surgeries to look like the comic book character

Filipino man Herbert Chavez, who calls himself Superman's biggest fan, has already undergone 26 painful plastic surgery procedures to transform his Asian face into a carbon copy of his idol. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2016-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #biggest fan


Neil Gaiman to release non-fiction title this year

Neil Gaiman is set to release two books this year – a selection of non-fiction writings and a special edition of his first novel Neverwhere, illustrated by Children’s laureate Chris Riddell. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #neil gaiman #special edition


In 'The Violet Hour,' Katie Roiphe looks at five great writers shuffling off this mortal coil

Mortality is hot. Although the act of dying has largely been moved from our homes and daily lives into the sequestered, antiseptic realm of hospitals and hospices, memoirs grappling with impending death have proliferated, bringing mortal knowledge home in a new way. Two doctors, Oliver Sacks and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #daily lives #oliver sacks


Sceptre to publish 'raw' award-winning Swedish debut

Sceptre is publishing a prize-winning and bestselling Swedish debut novel by poet Tom Malmquist. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Plexus also set to publish David Bowie colouring-in book

Plexus is publishing David Bowie: Starman: A Colouring Book, a "cultural history in pictures" revealing the late musician's 50-year fashion evolution in 30 illustrations. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #colouring book #cultural history


Why Dr. Seuss's books still appeal to readers today

Seuss's birthday on March 2 is celebrated as Read Across America Day, in which book-based activities take place at schools and celebrities encourage children to pick up a title. How have Seuss's works appealed to generations? Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #readers today


Google Takes Books Through The Looking Glass With Augmented Reality

The technology could one day serve as the basis for a product that embraces the physical book, while adding cool digital content on top.Technology that would bring the experience of reading a book into the 21st century—and not by replacing the book with a computer—was patented today by Google,... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #physical book #augmented reality #trademark office


Of books and fancy goods

As The Bookseller publishes its first non-book product preview, Maria Vassilopoulos looks at the history of bookshops selling things that aren't books. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #maria vassilopoulos


Eleanor Catton's first book The Rehearsal has been turned into a movie

Filming has finished and editing is underway for the film adaptation of Eleanor Catton' first novel The Rehearsal. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #eleanor catton #film adaptation


Book Deals: Week of March 7, 2016

Soho closed a doubleheader; Balzer + Bray signed a new duology by Sara Raasch; and Greenwillow books signed Kimberley Derting. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book deals


A Busy Year for Polish Publishing: BEA, FBM, LBF

Polish publishing is featured in The Markets Global Summit at Frankfurt Book Fair 2016, the Market Forum at BEA 2016, and LBF's Market Focus in 2017. The post A Busy Year for Polish Publishing: BEA, FBM, LBF appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lbf appeared #busy year #market focus


Regional independent bookshop of the year winners crowned

Relative newcomers, shops reinvigorated by new owners and an institution still innovating in its 70th year are among the regional winners of this year’s British Book Industry Awards’ Independent Bookshop of the Year, sponsored by Gardners. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #70th year #relative newcomers #regional winners #independent bookshop


PW Picks: Books of the Week, March 7, 2016

This week: new Dana Spiotta, redeeming the "Kama Sutra," and the quest to find the true age of the universe. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #kama sutra


E-book seller Nook pulls out of UK

Barnes & Noble will stop selling digital books for its Nook device on 15 March, the firm said on World Book Day. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barnes noble #nook device


E-book Sales Tumbled in October

Sales of adult ebooks dropped 22.0% in the month, compared to same period last year, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers through its StatShot program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #figures released #american publishers


Has Harry Potter made the trend for longer children's books fly?

New research from Booklist shows page counts have grown 173% over 40 years, and suggests that JK Rowling’s boy hero may be responsible for large increase in early 2000sChildren’s novels have almost doubled in length over the last 40 years, according to research from US review journal Booklist,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #large increase #books aimed #jk rowling #middle-grade fiction #big question #harry potter


'Brexit would be a disaster for British publishing'

Over a book-writing career of more than three decades I have produced a number of well received books with very modest sales mainly on European and international political themes. But never have I had a book - Brexit: How Britain Will Leave Europe (I.B.Tauris) - go through two editions in just... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #brexit referendum #european union #british publishing #prime minister


S&S to publish Jaycee Lee Dugard book on freedom

Simon & Schuster is set to publish Freedom: My Book of Firsts, a memoir by Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was kidnapped in the US aged 11 and held prisoner for 18 years. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #simon schuster