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 ]
News tagged with:
#books sold
#complete fiction
#cat person
#tom hanks
#short stories
#short story
#jojo moyes
TV presenter and non-fiction author Sally Magnusson draws upon her father’s love of Icelandic sagas in her first novel, which intertwines real-life events with fictional imaginings. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sally magnusson
#great story
#tv presenter
Award-winning self-published comics artist Whit Taylor makes her trade publishing debut with 'Ghost Stories,' a collection of old and new comics short stores that will be published this month by Rosarium Publishing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
##metoo
#ghost stories
The 2017 bestseller list was dominated by women, with Margaret Atwood at the top, but the Booker still favours menOn the face of it, the revelation that female writers dominated the UK literary bestseller lists in 2017 might seem cause for celebration, a long-overdue correction that seems... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#creative industries
#haruki murakami
#female writers
#naomi alderman
#zadie smith
#literary landscape
#julian barnes
#ian mcewan
#kamila shamsie
Octopus has appointed Claudia Connal as publishing director to head up a new strand of narrative non-fiction within the business. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#narrative non-fiction
In a moribund market, faith-based publishers hunt for fresh voices and new genres. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Eric Vuillard’s Goncourt Prize–winner The Agenda, a historical novel about the Nazi annexation of Austria, remained at #1 in France. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) has revealed its longlist of 16 novels in contention for the 2018 prize, including a novel soon to be published by independent UK publisher Oneworld. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#international prize
Bloomsbury has acquired a book by the New York Times journalists who broke the Harvey Weinstein story. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
A robot that can read any of 50,000 picture books to young children will soon launch. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2018-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#young children
Reports from around the country indicate a healthy season for children’s booksellers in particular, consistently citing sales hikes of 10% or more over the previous year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Faber Children's has acquired a middle grade novel about children living in a refugee camp by Steve Tasane. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#faber children
#middle grade
#refugee camp
Jesse Ball's new novel tells "a richly emotional story," said Ecco associate art director Sara Wood, and she worked to make a cover that matched it. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#cover story
#jesse ball
After more than doubling the size of its newsletter subscriber base, the business news publisher is putting more resources toward pop-up newsletters. The post Why Quartz is churning out short-run newsletters for big events appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#big events
The intent of the eligibility change, according to the Booker Prize Foundation, is to be sure that Irish independent publishers can be recognized as readily as Irish publishers headquartered in the UK. The post Man Booker Prize for Fiction Adds New Eligibility for Irish Publishers appeared first... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#irish publishers
Helen Cross, Andy Stelman, Mark Stewart and Richard Adams respond to a recent Guardian article by Tim LottAs someone whose tiny, grimy literary novels have attracted the interest of the film industry, the truth is the opposite of what Tim Lott (Why should we subsidise writers who’ve lost the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#mothering sunday
#sebastian barry
#irish authors
John Murray is launching an international non-fiction prize worth £20,000 to mark its 250th anniversary this year. At the same time, publisher Mark Richards has been given new responsibilities to lead the imprint. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#non-fiction prize
#john murray
#250th anniversary
Author Jilly Cooper has said that literary fiction should not receive state support, arguing instead that the money would be better spent on the declining newspaper industry. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#literary fiction
An audience development head said Facebook reps advised the publisher to rely less on Facebook than it has in the past. The post Facebook will ‘completely deprioritize publishers’: Confessions of a publisher audience development head appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2018-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#post facebook
At this PubTech Connect breakout session, innovators will share how they’ve brought book content to new platforms and created new experiences for readers Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |