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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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 14/11/2011 - 15:07 Piccadilly Press has bought a time-travelling young adult romance story, which will be a lead title for autumn 2012. Managing director Brenda Gardner bought world rights to two books in the Timedance series from Bob Markel. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 07/11/2011 - 09:15 World Book Day is set for a 2012 revamp, with new management, branding and digital promotional ideas hoping to achieve more than one million book token redemptions. WBD will return on 1st March 2012led by childrens marketing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 04/11/2011 - 15:27 World Book Day is set for a 2012 revamp, with new management, branding and digital promotional ideas hoping to achieve more than one million book token redemptions. WBD will return on 1st March 2012led by childrens marketing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 25/10/2011 - 15:30 A new internet bookselling site has launched specialising in travel literature. The Culture Trip is selling four million books and films, organised into categories by countries. The company is also planning to launch a music... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 21/10/2011 - 10:31 William Heinemann has bought a début novel by Times columnist Sathnam Sanghera about three generations of the same family and their Wolverhampton corner shop. Publisher Jason Arthur bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Business-to-business media company WTWH Media, LLC isnt afraid of the uncertainty surrounding the magazine market placethe company is launching a new title this month called Solar Power World magazine in an effort to expand its portfolio. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Does Amazon's recent introduction of its Kindle Fire tablet, and CEO Jeff Bezos's description of it as "an end-to-end service," suggest that publishers no longer will have a role in the time-honored process of getting a book to market? Continue reading at Knowledge@Wharton
[ Knowledge@Wharton | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 17/10/2011 - 09:28 The director of the Frankfurt Book Fair has said start-ups will capitalise on the trade, as the organisers revealed exhibitor numbers were down 2.1% on 2010. In total, 7,384 exhibitors from 106 countries attended last week's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The NOOK Newsstand is getting another addition, Time Inc. has announced that Real Simple magazine will be exclusively sold on the digital platform for the month of November and will begin a full digital integration with the December issue. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Financial Times will close FT Tilt, a premium online financial news and analysis service for finance professionals in emerging markets, at the end of October. "We propose to close FT Tilt at the end of October," an FT spokesperson told FOLIO:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The digital transition and sputtering economy are not only bringing changes to general bookstores, but to college bookstores as well. College stores are dealing with a changed landscape of their own: more textbook choices that now include rentals and digital texts; trade book sections with sales... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As advertising clients continue to tighten the grip on their change purses, publishers are concocting solutions to show the value of their content, sites and magazines as an advertising platform. Meredith launched a ROI guarantee for select print advertisers in August, and now Time Inc. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a continuum of an acquisition series that has become Bonniers growth strategy, the publisher acquires Hearsts Cycle World. Terms of the deal remain undisclosed. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins's announcement that it will make 5,000 backlist titles available through On Demand Books' Espresso Book Machine in Novemberwith Zondervan and HarperCollins Canada titles to be added early next yearbrings a print-on-demand tipping point a step closer, but with more hurdles to... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Mon, 26/09/2011 - 11:59 Broadcaster and author Melvyn Bragg is to join the judging panel for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award for a second year in a row. Bragg will be joined by actor Ian Hart, playwright and novelist Hanif Kureishi, novelist Joanna Trollope... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It appears social media is no longer a trend among internet users, but a convention. In a new report from Nielsen, social media behavior among Americans is tracked, demonstrating how much pull social media actually has among web surfers. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Thu, 15/09/2011 - 15:15 Virgin Books has acquired a title by craft journalist Perri Lewis, which will enlist the worlds top makers to explore different crafts from dressmaking to decoupage. World rights to Material World: Inspiration and Secrets from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 08/09/2011 - 08:30 Tim Arthur has been appointed the UK editor-in-chief of the Time Out media group. Arthur will oversee the editorial and content of the group's UK activities, including the Time Out guidebook series and Time Out London... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The NOOK Newsstand for Barnes & Nobles e-reader offering NOOK has added more titles from Meredith and Time Inc. to its periodical roster. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 19/08/2011 - 12:03 World Book Day has appointed Kirsten Grant as director, with Cathy Schofield stepping down from her position as co-ordinator which she has held since October 2000. Grant, who was previously Puffin marketing and campaigns... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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