‘Do black people read?’ What my years in publishing have taught me about diversity in books | Natalie Jerome

Malorie Blackman laments the lack of BAME children’s characters. I know – it’s a real battle to get writers of colour publishedMy daughter, like me, is of mixed heritage. She has wildly curly hair, as have I. When she was born four years ago I was given five copies of the same kids’ picture book by well-meaning friends and relatives. It was called Guess How Much I Love You. This book, whose lead characters are rabbits, was a bestseller in the 1990s. Back then it flew off the shelves. What I did not expect when I was pregnant with my daughter was that it would be far easier to find her a rabbit picture book than one featuring a child like her with brown skin and curls.This week Malorie Blackman, author of Noughts and Crosses, told Channel 4 News that of the many books she read as a child “not one of them featured a black child like me”, adding that “it made me feel invisible in the world of literature”. And when, in her mid-20s, she noticed in a children’s bookshop that little had changed, “that’s when I decided that I wanted to write for children ... for the child in me, really, for all the books I wish I could have read as a child”.If we feel disconnected from each other, perhaps it starts in this skewed, unrepresentative vision of the world that begins in our books when we are at knee height Related: Whatever happened to author Dorothy West? Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-08-17 07:00:41 UTC ]
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Other news stories related to: "‘Do black people read?’ What my years in publishing have taught me about diversity in books | Natalie Jerome"


E-books among Amazon.co.uk's top sellers as its parent's profits tumble

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 27/04/2011 - 09:39 Amazon.com has reported a steep drop in profit despite boosting sales by over a third. Amazon.co.uk also revealed that one print book and four ebooks were among its top 10 bestselling items in the quarter, with the Kindle... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #print book #boosting sales #steep drop #top sellers


Book sales bounce over spring break

Written By: Philip Jones and Jenny Roper Publication Date: Wed, 27/04/2011 - 16:00 Book sales dropped 9% last week as the Easter weekend cut into retail time, but the market was still up on the same week last year with sales up 2.1%, a second consecutive week of year-on-year growth after a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #23rd april #year-on-year growth #philip jones #spring break #book sales #consecutive week


Major Campaign for Special K Book

Special K is a $1 billion brand in the U.S., selling an estimated 168 million boxes of cereal a year. This spring, Kellogg's and Weldon Owen are hoping a massive marketing campaign can extend the brand's success into the book world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #weldon owen #book world


ABC News High On Enhanced E-books

In deciding to launch the ABC Video Bookstore, Andrew Morse said the giant media company was looking for a product that could reach viewers who are attached to a digital reading device, be it an iPad, Kindle, or cellphone, and decided that an enhanced ebook was the right one. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #enhanced ebook #andrew morse #enhanced e-books


Advertising: Tales of Reading in Reintroducing a Color Device

Barnes & Noble’s advertising campaign for the Nook Color, an e-reading tablet, features no company stores in the ads, a nod to changes in the publishing industry. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #publishing industry #nook color


A Mix That Includes Fewer Books

One of the industry's biggest issues in 2011 is the loss of retail shelf space for print titles. The trend of book retailers devoting less space—and generating lower sales—from new books is seen in the recently released 10-k filings from Books-A-Million and Hastings Entertainment. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #hastings entertainment #print titles #biggest issues


The Big Children's Books of BEA

Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle and James Dashner's the Maze Runner trilogy are both drawing to a conclusion, while noteworthy collaborations from Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman, and Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, set sail. Also look for fresh ventures from William Joyce, Maggie... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #middle-grade debut #jack gantos #lane smith #maggie stiefvater


Cheapest E-Books Upend the Charts [Voices]

The nation's largest book publishers are facing increasing pricing pressure on the digital front as the number of cheap, self-published digital titles gain popularity with readers seeking budget-minded entertainment. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Justine Southall appointed publisher of Marie Claire

Justine Southall, previously the publisher of NatMag's Cosmopolitan magazine, has been made publisher of IPC's women's glossy, Marie Claire. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #cosmopolitan magazine #marie claire


Ogden Publishing To Integrate Fulfillment with E-mail Marketing

Ogden Publications will be combining their in-house fulfillment database with their e-mail service provider to better market content and consumer products to readers.The blending of Advantage Computing Systems’ fulfillment platform with the iPost iMM digital e-mail marketing technology is... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #consumer products


News.me, the iPad News Aggregator Blessed By Big Publishers, Gets Ready To Launch [MediaMemo]

The 99-cents a week-service looks like the kind of thing that could drive the New York Times and the Associated Press batty. Instead, they've signed on for a piece of the action. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Like the Blog? Buy the E-Book! Chris Dixon For Sale, Via Kindle [MediaMemo]

Here's a clever idea from Chris Dixon: The investor and entrepreneur has turned his well-read blog into an ebook. Dixon, who runs Hunch and helps steer Founder Collective's bets when he's not blogging, has taken a couple years' worth of posts and compiled them into "Startups;” Dixon's proceeds... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Los Angeles Review of Books' Debuts Preview Site

In the first step of a two-phase launch, the long-awaited Los Angeles Review of Books has debuted its preview site at lareviewofbooks.org with essays and reviews by Ben Ehrenreich, Geoff Nicholson, Jane Smiley, Jefferson Hunter, and Richard Prince. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Print Stumbles Early As E-Books Skyrocket

The two reports measure different aspects of the book market and one is far more comprehensive than the other, but figures released last week by Nielsen BookScan and the Association of American Publishers showed a trade market where ebooks are thriving and print books are struggling. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #print books #trade market #nielsen bookscan #figures released #book market


Genre authors attack "sneering" World Book Night coverage

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 18/04/2011 - 09:19 Authors including Iain M Banks and Michael Moorcock have written to the BBC's director general Mark Thompson, attacking the treatment of genre fiction in its recent World Book Night coverage. In total 85 authors, across the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Another Palin Book on the Way

Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced on Monday that on May 24, it would publish "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin," an account of Ms. Palin's time as governor and as a vice-presidential candidate, written by Frank Bailey, one of her former aides. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Advocate Chooses DTI's Cloud Publishing Platform to Future-Proof Operations

The Advocate, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana newspaper owned by the Manship family is managing its content publishing infrastructure with DTI ContentPublisher and DTI Cloud. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tor pushes for China Miéville ‘year’

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Fri, 15/04/2011 - 14:59 Tor is to rejacket three-times Arthur C Clarke Award-winning novelist China Miéville to coincide with publication of his latest novel, Embassytown, in hardback. The new look, on supermatt paper, is being rolled out across eight... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Social Traffic Worth Less to Publishers Than Search

There’s no question that social media is becoming an increasingly important source of traffic for Web publishers, from articles and videos being shared among friends on Facebook to users following individual reporters on Twitter. But it turns out that social media referrals may be worth less to... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book spend cut "easiest" way to save library revenue

Written By: Benedicte Page and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 16:09 A libraries boss has admitted cutting spending on books is "the easiest" way to achieve savings, as wholesaler Bertrams reports its library sales have slumped by a quarter. Results put out by parent Smiths... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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