From 1948 to 1975, David Astor transformed Britain’s oldest paper into a vibrant, intelligent weekly renowned for its progressive campaigns and the quality of its writing. The author of a new biography recalls some of Astor’s achievements• Click here to read an extract on Astor’s lifelong interest in psychoanalysisDavid Astor was in his mid-30s and recently demobbed when, in 1945, he began to work full time on his family newspaper. Although he had long been the heir-apparent, his father, Waldorf Astor, felt that he needed more experience before becoming the editor of the Observer: he was made the foreign editor, while Ivor Brown, an old-fashioned man of letters, given to writing books about cricket and the theatre, held the fort as acting editor.Cyril Dunn, later to report for the paper from India and South Africa, joined the Observer in 1947 and quickly realised that “David Astor was in total control of what was going on and Ivor Brown was making no attempt to disguise his figurehead status” and that “what I witnessed were the birth pangs of an Observer sensationally different from anything in its own past and a paper unique and wonderful in western journalism as a whole”. Astor was singlemindedly converting a conservative, rather frowsty newspaper into a non-party paper of the centre-left, famed for the quality of its writers: it would combine support for the postwar welfare state with a belief in free enterprise and the mixed economy, anti-communism and Atlanticism... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#george orwell
Writers, publishers and agents pay tribute to a warm, generous figure, author of more than 50 books ranging from SFF to crime to children’s literatureEric Brown, a prolific, award-winning author who published more than 50 novels, children’s books and short story collections, and who was the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-03-23 13:58:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#west yorkshire
#award-winning author
#science fiction
With sales of print books in all categories but adult nonfiction increasing last week, unit sales rose 2.9% over the week ended March 19, 2022, at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. It was the second consecutive week sales rose over last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#print books
#circana bookscan
You can no longer buy either print or Kindle Newsstand magazine and newspaper subscriptions from Amazon, as the company appears to implement yet another cost-cutting measure. The e-commerce giant announced that it was halting Newsstand subscriptions on March 9th (via The Verge) and that the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-03-17 09:28:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#difficult decision
#making money
#previous years
#kindle
With young adult fiction the only major category posting a decline, unit sales of print books increased 4.2% in the week ended Mar. 11, 2023, over the comparable week in 2022, at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#early march
#circana bookscan
Despite no new blockbuster title, unit sales of print books rose 4.2% last week, led by a 9.8% increase in sales of adult fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#8% increase
#adult fiction
Data from the IMLS show gate counts and circulation have been falling for more than a decade. U.K.-based library advocate Tim Coates says print books hold the key to reversing the trend. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#print book
#public libraries
Unit sales of print books fell 0.9% in the week ended March 4 compared to the similar week last year, despite strong showings by several new titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#early march
A small decline in print book sales last week came despite a 6.7% increase in adult fiction sales and a strong showing for 'The Courage to Be Free' by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, which was the top-selling book for the week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#small decline
#7% increase
#strong showing
#top-selling book
#print book
Print unit sales rose 0.6% in the week ended February 25, over the similar week last year, driven by a 12.2% gain in adult fiction sales. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#small gain
#print sales
#2% gain
Though the adult fiction segment was the only category to post a sales increase over 2022 last week, its 12% gain was enough to increase total sales of print books by 0.6%. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-03-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#adult fiction
#sales increase
#print books
The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators announced its annual Golden Kite Awards on February 24, along with the annual Sid Fleischman Humor Award. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-25 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book writers
#children’s book
With few new titles gaining traction, unit sales of print books slipped 0.8% last week compared to 2022. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#week compared
Andy Hunter, Bookshop.org CEO, told 'PW' that the online retailer is developing an e-book platform for indie bookstores from scratch, and will launch it in beta late this year. In addition, the company is publishing its first book, a collection by Lydia Davis, who did not want her book available... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#online retailer
#indie bookstores
#lydia davis
#e-book
David Platt is following up on his 2010 bestselling ‘Radical—’ a critique of the role Christianity plays in the American culture—with an indictment of the American gospel, which he defines as a prioritization of “comfort, power, politics, and prosperity.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Want to make your own king cake this Mardi Gras? One home baker tested four king cake recipes to find out which cookbook takes the cake. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-02-17 11:32:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#cookbook showdown
#cookbook
With sales falling in all but the adult fiction category, unit sales of print books had their worst week in 2023, falling 8.8% last week from a year ago. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#print books
With declines in all categories but adult fiction, unit sales of print books were down 8.8% in the week ended Feb. 11, 2023, from the comparable week in 2022, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#early february
#adult fiction
#print books
Distributed globally through Simon & Schuster, the publisher has 24 projects lined up for 2023 to turn more mobile webcomics into print books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#print books
#rocketship entertainment
#simon schuster
#mobile webcomics
Running from 1992 through 1995, Ghostwriter, the beloved PBS children’s television show, followed a diverse group of friends as they solved mysteries around their Brooklyn neighborhood with the help of their haunted typewriter, a cursed item possessed by the trapped soul of a murdered runaway... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-02-16 17:00:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#knowledge workers
#cloud computing
#software engineering
#respective fields
#digital content
In honor of its 50th anniversary, the Washington state–based independent publisher has assembled a celebratory poetry anthology, ‘A House Called Tomorrow: Fifty Years of Poetry,’ that reintroduces milestone works by the press's many beloved poets. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#washington state
#fifty years
#independent publisher