She published her first book in her 40s and became the biggest selling author of the past decade in any genre – The Gruffalo alone has sold 13m copies. How did this former busker make it so big?The room where the children’s author Julia Donaldson writes – the heart of her vast picture book empire – is down a winding staircase, in the cellar of her grand white house in Steyning, West Sussex. Her desk looks out on the street at knee height. “I’m thinking of writing a book about legs,” Donaldson said, as she showed me around the house this summer. Children from the nearby school often wave in at her as they pass. Donaldson is well known in Steyning, due to her frequent signings at the local bookshop. She and her husband, Malcolm, a retired paediatrician, recently bought the local post office to save it from closure. But elsewhere she can walk the pavement without being recognised. “I got a letter the other day for Jacqueline Wilson,” Donaldson told me. “It said: ‘You’re my favourite author!’”If you are not someone who spends much time with young children, you may only be dimly aware of Donaldson’s work – although you will probably be familiar with her most famous creation, the Gruffalo. If you have children, however, you will know her as a cultural juggernaut whose influence among children is perhaps only surpassed by the works of Disney and CBeebies. Donaldson, who is 72, has written more than 210 books: chiefly picture books, but also poetry, plays, a 60-part phonics... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2020-12-17 06:00:31 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#local bookshop
#recently bought
#jacqueline wilson
#favourite author
#famous creation
#ladybird heard
#picture book
In the new book Before They Pass Away, photographer Jimmy Nelson has captured a series of gorgeous pictures of 31 remote cultures that are on the verge of disappearing.Over the last three years, British photographer Jimmy Nelson traveled around the world--from Namibia to Papua New Guinea to... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Novelist John Grisham talks about his return to Ford County in 'Sycamore Row' and an unpleasant stint as a politician.John Grisham is the world's most successful author of legal thrillers (and one baseball novel, last year's "Calico Joe") with sales of more than 275 million copies to his credit.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#john grisham
#sycamore row
#successful author
#popular book
#recently closed
For the past few years, newspaper publishers have prowled their buildings, asking why, and getting some amazing answers. Institutional knowledge is wonderful, but institutional resistance is intolerable. We must invoke a brilliant strategy to conquer ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#newspaper publishers
#institutional knowledge
Ross Levinsohn, CEO of Guggenheim Digital Media, publisher of Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, is on the growing list of industry executives set to speak at the inaugural 2014 Digital Entertainment World conference in Los Angeles. The global marketplace and conference, which is... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#hollywood reporter
#growing list
#global marketplace
#content creation
#respective industries
#joint venture
Hutchinson has acquired a new anthology of life-writing from and about the First World War,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sebastian faulks
#world war
Like mapmakers, we tend to put where we reside at the center of the world. It's natural: for most publishers it's the trade closer to home that's the lifeblood of your business. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
In the long, important, trillion-dollar history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 2011’s Thor represented its first semi-risk. Iron Man, the 2008 film that launched the franchise, introduced a character who wasn’t terribly well-known outside the comic book shop, but it starred Robert Downey Jr.... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2013-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#iron man
#oscar-winning actor
#pop culture
The world's biggest magazine publisher still makes a lot of money. But it's shrinking every quarter. Tough sell for a Q2 spinout. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2013-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#tough sell
"I was just sitting with my dog in the sun daydreaming and the book came along, the rabbit fur cover, the feeling of the thing, its weight," Iranian–New Zealander artist Nabil Sabio Azadi tells Co.Design of For You the Traveller, the world's furriest travel book, available this week for the... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#don quixote
#strange things
Storied magazine publisher Time Inc. surprised its editors on Thursday by assigning them to report to division presidents instead of an editorial executive, leading some to wonder whether business interests would now trump those of edit.Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp said the restructuring will make the... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2013-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#media business
#business interests
#sports illustrated
#traditions enormously
#move forward
#print industry
By Lynn Rosen It was a powerhouse session at our magazine keynote presentation this year at the Publishing Business Conference. We asked four top execs to speak to the topic of Facing the Future, and to share some... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#lynn rosen
#top execs
Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp began putting his stamp on the publishing company Wednesday, when employees were told that editors will begin reporting to the organization's business side, a reversal that sent a ripple of anxiety through its editorial offices. Editors of the company's magazines, which... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#traditions enormously
#move forward
#american express
#general counsel
#helped lead
Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp began putting his stamp on the publishing company Wednesday, when employees were told that editors will begin reporting to the organization's business side, a reversal that sent a ripple of anxiety through its editorial offices. Editors of the company's magazines, which... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#business side
#include people
#previously reported
#effective immediately
Mashing up the places, characters and events of various works into one shared universe isn't exactly a new idea. Philip José Farmer's Wold Newton universe imagines that most of the great fictionalized characters of the last few hundred years – including Tarzan, Doc Savage, Dracula, James Bond,... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#great place
For the UK celebration, fewer books will be given to volunteers to distribute, but they will be freer give away other titles instead. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#fewer books
Newly installed Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp announced some major management changes at the company, especially on the content side. Norm Pearlstine, who's been chief content officer at Bloomberg LP for the last five years, will be returning to Time Inc. in a newly created role of executive vice... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#content side
#bloomberg lp
The World Book Night project is to be run by The Reading Agency (TRA), with WBN chief executive... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#reading agency
The New York Times is planning to step off the sidelines and into the world of native advertising online, where a growing list of traditional publishers have thrown their arms around sponsored or branded content.Meredith Kopit Levien, exec VP-advertising, said the Times is planning to introduce... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2013-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#growing list
#traditional publishers
#branded content
#redesigned website
#ad products
The titles which will be distributed for free as part of World Book Night include works by Cheryl Strayed, Maria Semple, Agatha Christie, and more. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#cheryl strayed
#maria semple
#agatha christie
In the main section of today's print edition of The New York Times, readers will notice a whole lot of nothing on pages 9 and 10. The two virtually blank, back-to-back pages are actually an ad for 20th Century Fox's upcoming film adaptation of Markus Zusak's best-selling novel, "The Book Thief,"... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2013-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#stealing books
#main character
#sending people