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 ]
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Could limiting the period for fixed book prices give a needed boost to backlist sales by allowing retailers to discount after the initial buying frenzy is over? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For most of us the digital revolution started some time ago. Working in journalism for nearly 15 years means that I have seen things change enormously, but even back in the late 1990s it was clear that the web was where it was at -- or where it was going to be. Newspapers and magazines have had... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2013-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In its second major digital hire of late, Hearst Magazines has hired Todd Haskell from The New York Times as svp and chief digital revenue officer. Haskell will be responsible for driving sales and revenue for Hearst Magazines Digital Media’s 24 sites, including Cosmopolitan.com, Esquire.com... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite concerns about consolidation among publishing houses, sales of the top 10 companies accounted for 55% of revenue of the 50 publishers that are on the list for both 2012 and 2011, down from 57% in 2011. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Bookseller is to run a category preview on First World War titles in the issue of 13th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brazil has been a complicated marketplace for brands in recent weeks, but it's not stopping companies from getting ready for the FIFA 2014 World Cup. For instance, Young Hollywood and Momentum Entertainment Group today are announcing their partnership to create a digital channel that will focus... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Building on the success of its Pulitzer Prize winning interactive article "Snow Fall," the New York Times will launch what it's calling "an immersive digital magazine experience."Sam Sifton, the former Times food critic-turned national editor, will lead the project. At the same time, he will... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Uncertainty has been hovering over Barnes & Noble ever since the retailer first reported that 2012 holiday sales— especially those of its Nook reading devices—were well below expectations. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Print media is dying; some may argue it is already dead. With the launch of the iPad and the current industry trend of tablet media consumption, consumers don’t want to clutter their homes with stacks of paper magazines and newspapers. Not to mention, there is the trend of "going green" which is... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2013-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Neil Jamieson, a Time Inc. vet and a big figure in the magazine design world, has left to join design studio Joe Zeff Design to be the studio's first creative director. Jamieson most recently was design director of Money, whose tablet edition was a National Magazine Award finalist this year. He... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tuesday morning Amazon Publishing announced a new comics and graphic novel imprint, Jet City Comics. It will publish graphic novels by George R.R. Martin, of "Game of Thrones" fame and others.It was only yesterday that I asked my editor when Comic-Con begins, because the comics-related... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Worlds platform has opened in the US, with its guidelines advising that it is... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Come on now, why are you wasting your time here, when you could be reading some Gossip Girl fan fic? Roughly a month after announcing its licensed character publishing platform, Amazon has taken the wraps off of Kindle Worlds. The site currently offers up 50-plus commissioned stories based on... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Limiting Kindle Worlds to the ebook form may cater the needs of licensors, but it is counter to the ethos, habits and desires of fanfiction writers and readers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An investigation by historian Guy Walters in the Daily Mail published last week says author Joe Corry's memoir "simply isn't true."A sensational upcoming British spy memoir of World War II is replete with derring-do worthy of “Inglourious Basterds”: battlefield bravado, concentration camp... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing has added Hugh Howey's Silo Saga to its Kindle Worlds platform, designed... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bestselling novel The Time Traveller's Wife is to be made available as an ebook for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), today invited the world's press to attend the 66th World Newspaper Congress and 21st World Editors Forum, to be held in Torino, Italy, from 9 to 11 June 2014. The invitation wa ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson has criticised the media for a lack of review and feature... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Some see Amazon's Kindle Worlds fan fiction publishing platform as a great marketing move, while others are wary of Amazon's ownership of ideas. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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