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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The digital publishing platform will let fans write, publish, and sell the stories they've written based on popular books, TV shows, and more. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's taken a number of steps to bring different types of content to the Kindle Store, and it's now venturing into an area that has a long history with the internet: fan fiction. The company's today announced Kindle Worlds, a new publishing platform that promises to pay writers royalties for... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon let its world domination plans be known last month when it asked developers to start submitting apps to line its virtual displays in more countries. While China was notably absent from immediate expansion plans, Amazon launched its Appstore there during the weekend, opening the doors to... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-05-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Earnings at Time Warner Inc. grew 24% in the first three months of the year despite a slight drop in revenue, as the company benefited from strength in its television networks.Time Warner Inc. said Wednesday that first-quarter net income was $720 million, or 75 cents per share, compared with... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The New York Times is one of the initial major publishers to unveil a Google Glass app, which will allow the currently scant number of users of the wearable device to access stories on the go. The app's audio component reads headlines and story summaries aloud and provides breaking news alerts. ... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Over the past decade and a half Tin House magazine, which began publishing in spring 1999, and Tin House Books, which started as an imprint with Bloomsbury in 2002 before becoming an independent press in 2005, have carved out a niche in the small press world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Julia Kingsford, chief executive of World Book Night, reported that the promotion was carried out... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Night, the celebration of reading which includes the distribution of free books, has arrived. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Night gives away 500,000 print books. Wouldn't it make good sense to extend the promotion by offering free ebooks as well? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Givers across the country are gearing up to take part in this evening's World Book Night,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The United States celebrated World Book Night on April 23, which meant that over 25,000 volunteers throughout the country handed out half a million free books to promote reading. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seagull Books, based in Kolkata, India, is perhaps the world's most prolific translator of German books into English in the world, says Deutsche Well. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As World Book Night approaches again, a list of rankings shows where volunteers – who give away free books on April 23 – are most heavily clustered in the US. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have appealed to the British government to rethink statutory regulation that threatens more than 300 years of press freedom in the UK. In a letter to Prim ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With ebook and total digital sales posting steady—if generally smaller—increases in 2012, sales of print books held up fairly well across the book trade and at most major houses. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In addition to being a master writer, celebrated American poet Robert Frost was also a master reader. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Firehouse World—an event that offers training, equipment and education for the fire service—was acquired by Cygnus Business Media about 11 years ago and following a tough market in 2007, which saw the down economy hit the public safety market particularly hard, the company has been reinvesting... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Argentine illustrator known as “Isol” has won the world’s largest award for children’s literature, the SEK 5m (roughly $766,000) Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oscar season is over, which means one thing: it’s on to the summer blockbusters. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hispanics are the nation’s largest minority group, making up more than 54.5 million people, or about 17% of the U.S. population, according to estimates for 2013 from the U.S. Census Bureau—a quarter of the children being born today are to a Hispanic mother. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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