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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Penguin Random House Children’s will this autumn publish a new Second World War novel from John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Set for publication in September 2015, The Boy at the Top of the Mountain is about an orphan called Pierrot who is sent to the home of Adolf Hitler... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day titles continue to dominate the Official UK Top 50 with nine of the 10 titles published as part of the annual charity celebrations claiming positions within the Top 10 this week. The 10 ￡1 titles sold 224,433 combined copies in the seven days ending 14th March. This was down 34%... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How a teenager got acclaimed comics artists Jeff Smith, Lucy Knisley and Hope Larson to blurb her self-published book. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The indie SF publisher Wonderment plans 20 ebook titles exploring a universe of characters enduring world-shattering eventsWriting can be hard – not hard like mining diamonds in Zimbabwe or making cheap clothes for westerners in Bangladesh, of course, but anyone in the 21st-century knowledge... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day titles claimed nine of the coveted positions in the Top 10 in the most successful WBD week since 2012. A combined total of 339,133 copies of the 10 books published to celebrate the annual charity reading event (held on Thursday 5th March) registered through Nielsen BookScan in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ashley Highfield says the ‘economics’ of digital news require the publisher to rely more on a ‘fluid’ selection of contributorsJohnston Press chief executive Ashley Highfield has warned that the number of full-time journalists working across the group’s local titles will fall from its current... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Roger Tagholm reports from the Riyadh Int'l Book Fair, where his pre-conceptions about Saudi Arabia were challenged and cultures connected through books. The post Riyadh Int’l Book Fair Offers Window Into Closed World appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Time Inc., the nation's largest magazine publisher, is close to naming former TV executive Rich Battista to lead the company's largest brand, People magazine, as well as its sibling publication... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2015-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Argentinian artist Raul Lemesoff has created a tank of books, which he is driving around Argentina to bring attention to education and reading. Lemesoff says he hopes it encourages youth to choose education over violence. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day is celebrated on March 5 in Britain and Ireland and an important part of the day is children dressing up as a literary character for school. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fifty nominees in 10 categories are up for the awards, and the winners will be revealed on April 18. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As millions of children celebrate World Book Day, Tim Muffett has been looking at what makes bedtime reading a best seller. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2015-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Five women have made the shortlist for the £30,000 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. British newcomer Rebecca F John, whose first book will be published by Parthian this year, has been nominated for her story "The Glove Maker's Numbers", about a woman grieving over her brother, alongside... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jill Abramson, the former New York Times executive editor, has signed a rumoured $1m book deal – but readers hoping for a score-settling page turner may be disappointed, according to her publisher. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Martin Amis, Sarah Waters and Jessie Burton have made the 15-strong longlist for the 2015 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The longlist has been released for the first time following a 40% increase in entries this year. Amis is longlisted for his dark love story set in a Nazi... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 9-day New Delhi World Book Fair drew more than 1,100 exhibitors and a million visitors to buy books at what has become one of Asia's key book fairs. The post New Delhi World Book Fair Reaches One Million Consumers appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The argument that publishing company tax information in the public domain will be "misleading" - and therefore the plan should be dumped altogether - does not stack up. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2015-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'The Sword Of Glass' by by Sylviane Corgiat and Laura Zuccheri tells a story of a girl's quest for vengeance in an ecologically-influenced fantasy world captured by Zuccheri's award-winning art. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'The Swords Of Glass' by by Sylviane Corgiat and Laura Zuccheri tells a story of a girl's quest for vengeance in an ecologically-influenced fantasy world captured by Zuccheri's award-winning art. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Don't expect Time Inc. to merge with any of its magazine rivals soon.Time Inc. CEO Joe Ripp told investors Thursday that no mergers would happen until at least June 2016, which is the two-year anniversary of Time Inc. spinning off from Time Warner."The safest thing is to wait two years," he... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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