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, which attributes the growth to the popularity of the Harry Potter novels.Booklist’s Briana Shemroske looked at issues of Booklist from five decades: 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2016, focusing on the 111-year-old journal’s coverage of middle-grade fiction – books aimed at readers between the ages of eight and 12. In 1976, she found that the average page count of a novel was just over 100 pages. By 1986, this had increased to almost 140 pages per novel. While it stayed around the same level in 1996, by 2006 the average was about 175 pages. This year, the average is 290, an increase of 173% over 40 years. Related: The big question: are books getting longer? Until Harry Potter, publishers believed children had short attention spans Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
A proof of the first Harry Potter novel, which got the author’s name wrong, is only the latest example of an ungainly tradition stretching back centuriesProofreaders may be worth their weight in gold to authors, but their oversights have proved lucrative for some lucky readers of JK Rowling. On... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Driven by sales of general merchandise and 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' the Canadian bookstore chain reported record revenue growth for fiscal 2017. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling says she's 'thrilled' to pick up an outstanding contribution award to add to her collection of literary accolades. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2017-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Star Wars, Harry Potter or indeed the almost century-old comic book legends Batman and Superman may have sprung from a rich creative well, but in a stunning twist all of them have been banished to the box office naughty step. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2017-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As Frank Lampard, George Galloway and Cara Delevingne land big-money book deals, established writers look on from the fringes – or turn away altogether Another day, another celebrity announces they are to “pen” a children’s book. Already this week, Jamie Lee Curtis has announced a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Obamas’ $60m book deal has broken all records. From James Patterson to JK Rowling and Pope John Paul II, here are some of their closest rivals1. Seventeen books by James Patterson ($100-150m)When? 2009 Related: The audacity of hype: could Obama's presidential memoir be the greatest ever? ... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Soho awards night with David Nicholls and a "very special" Harry Potter screening at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London lead the "eclectic" line-up of this year’s London Book & Screen Week. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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North London retailer the Big Green Bookshop is tweeting out every word of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Bloomsbury) to broadcaster Piers Morgan following his Twitter spat with its author J K Rowling. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales figures for the most popular modern authors round up familiar suspects from Dan Brown to JK Rowling. Taken together, they hint at surprising sales secretsSteve Berry could be forgiven for asking himself every day what it takes to make a book a global bestseller. Back in 2003, the former... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Helped by Harry Potter and the hit fitness guru, year on year takings to December rose sharply to £1.59bnRetail sales struggled in 2016, but JK Rowling cast a spell strong enough to power sales towards a magical £1.6bn during the year, a rise of almost 5% on 2015, according to the latest annual... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dan Brown is back. Tolkien is back. Tony Abbott is back. Harry Potter is back (well, recycled in four new editions). Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2017-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling and Bill Bryson top the charts, while film tie-ins give Paula Hawkins and Jojo Moyes a second bite of the cherry – but this unpredictable year has also seen a welcome revival of humorous writingIt was a year when the No 1 book was a play script. When hyper-prolific James Patterson,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child helped lift sales in the children’s/YA category 31.1% in July over the same month in 2015, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers as part of its StatShot program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The bestselling books over the holidays at the e-tailer were 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down,' 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' and a children's backlist book. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The July publication of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' helped raise sales in the children's/young adult segment 31.1% in July over a year ago. July sales of adult books fell. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A handwritten and illustrated book - one of only seven produced by the Harry Potter author - is being auctioned. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2016-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2' was Amazon's best-selling book of 2016 and was also the year's "most wished for" and "most gifted" book at the e-tailer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sarah Perry's novel The Essex Serpent is named Waterstones Book of the Year ahead of a Beatrix Potter manuscript and a Harry Potter playscript. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A seven-year-old girl who reads "to forget the war" has been sent the Harry Potter books by the author. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Warner Bros. has signed a deal to buy the gamer-focused YouTube network Machinima in order to expand the movie and TV studio’s digital video business, the company said Thursday. Burbank-based Warner Bros., the studio behind film franchises like Harry Potter and DC Entertainment, was already a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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