With soaring sales, viral hits like Cat Person and a cameo by Tom Hanks, the form seems to be staging a comeback. But did it ever go away?In 2017, almost 50% more short story collections were sold than in the previous year. It was the best year for short stories since 2010. Booksellers are reporting a surge in popularity for the form, commentators note publishers are buying more collections and issuing them with greater care and enthusiasm; in December the newcomer Kristen Roupenian cut five- and seven-figure deals in the UK and US after her New Yorker story “Cat Person” went viral. On top of all that, collections are being reviewed more than ever before, the Sunday Times EFG short story award (worth £30,000) has received its highest ever number of entries and the BBC national short story award continues to grow in popularity. We are experiencing the renaissance of the short story form, right?Wrong; which isn’t to say 2017 wasn’t a good year for the short story – it was, but the “renaissance of the short story” story is an old one that is rolled out year after year. Does that matter? I think it does. By getting caught up in this recurring phantom narrative, and dwelling on press release froth rather than the work being produced, we spurn the opportunity to talk about short stories in a way that might actually deepen how they are understood and engaged with by readers.How can the short story ever have time to wither, given the frequency of its rebirth?In the cases of Tom... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2018-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Christian publisher’s six-book series, True Colors, features fictional characters in stories that are based on real murders and other crimes in American history. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Daunt Books has acquired a real-life “genetic detective story” by Dani Shapiro, stemming from the writer’s discovery her father was not her biological parent. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The new novel by Hannah Beckerman traces the impact of a family secret upon three generations of women. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Verso Books, an independent publisher of works on radical politics, is launching Verso Fiction, a new imprint focused on translated fiction that will release its first two titles in the fall of 2019. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Cressida Cowell is backing Book Aid International calls for schools to share a story and change a life on World Book Day. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Profile Books and Aitken Alexander have launched the Profile Aitken Alexander Non-Fiction Prize, awarded to the best debut trade non-fiction proposal from an academic. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audible is bringing the novels and short stories of A.S. Byatt to audio for the first time this month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Center for Fiction is holding a grand opening in downtown Brooklyn on February 19 in a new $6 million building that features a reading room, a 160-seat auditorium, and a bookstore. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'A Fire Story' is an unflinching work of graphic nonfiction detailing the experiences of cartoonist Brian Fies, his family and their neighbors just before and in the aftermath of a devastating Northern California wildfire that destroyed their homes and all their possessions in late 2017. 'A Fire... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On a night when super fan Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers chose to be in a front-row seat at Fairfax High instead of watching LeBron James at Staples Center, the Lions delivered a smashing 87-73 victory over Westchester behind a career-high 34 points from junior guard Keith Dinwiddie. “Keith... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Black & White Publishing enters its third decade on the back of a superb, near-record set of results, spurred by strong sales of rugby player Doddie Weir’s memoir. Its co-founders discuss the year ahead. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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David Walliams’ next publication, a funny story entitled Fing, "dovetails seamlessly" with his short stories and middle-grade novels, according to his publisher HarperCollins Children’s Books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Inspire has acquired a fictional re-telling of one of the most famous love stories set in the world of books – the love affair between the US writer and poet Joy Davidman and C S Lewis. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bart van Es wrote about a Jewish girl who was sheltered by his grandparents during World War Two. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2019-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has acquired world rights to the story of Barrie, the puppy who was rescued from the rubble of a school in Raqqa in Syria by former British Army Royal Engineer and bomb disposal expert, Sean Laidlaw. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indian writer Jayant Kaikini, along with translator Tejaswini Niranjana, has won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2018 worth $25,000 (£19,200) for the Mumbai-set short story collection No Presents Please (Harper Perennial). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC Books will publish novelisations of two "iconic" Doctor Who adventures by Eric Saward, one of the show’s longest serving script editors, later this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Drummond Moir is joining Ebury from Hodder in the role of deputy publisher, as the Penguin Random House division announces the launch of two new narrative non-fiction hubs. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A report showing that UK publishing has failed to reflect regional and racial diversity is a vital reminder that, despite all the initiatives, our work isn’t doneAs a young woman my hobby was reading, and it never occurred to me that I might be excluded from the process of creating books. My... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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