'I've never felt less festive': the art of writing Christmas novels, 365 days a year

Drinking sherry, bingeing Downton Abbey ... how authors keep up the spirit of the season, even when writing during heatwaves and a nightmarish ChristmasChristmas novels are not a new phenomenon. Charles Dickens sold out of his first print run of A Christmas Carol in days in December 1843, while Agatha Christie played on seasonal stresses with titles including The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding in 1923 and Hercule Poirot’s Christmas in 1938. But these days, there are acres of festive crime and rags-to-riches romances under the mistletoe to choose from. All tastes are catered for, whether it’s a love of trains (Edward Marston’s Victorian railway detective story A Christmas Railway Mystery), religion (Unlikely Santa: An Amish Christmas Story) or even festive erotica. Ebook retailer Smashwords stocks romance titles including The Old Dragon of the Mountain’s Christmas, and the inventive-sounding A Cyborg’s Old Terran Christmas. (“Interstellar bride Nell and her three children are forced to enter space-sleep capsules in the hope of surviving a calamity. She wakes over 700 years later on a ship of cyborg warriors. In this strange environment, Nell can’t imagine what their future will hold, but she is determined to keep her promise and make Christmas for her children.”)It may sound futuristic, but it is part of a long tradition beloved by readers. As Christina Storey at Allison & Busby, an independent publisher whose titles this year range from Anna Jacobs’ Christmas in... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-12-17 15:22:04 UTC ]
News tagged with: #print run #allison busby #wonderful time #independent publisher

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Arterton to star in film of Carey's dystopian novel

Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine and Glenn Close will star in the film adaptation of M R Carey’s novel The Girl With All the Gifts (Orbit) called “She Who Brings Gifts” for Altitude Film Entertainment. The film will be the debut of director Colm McCarthy, who has previously directed on TV shows... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #film adaptation #paddy considine


Family Christian Bankruptcy Felt by Authors, Agents

The Family Christian Stores bankruptcy drama continues to reverberate across the Christian publishing world. Some publishers owed money by FCS are holding back royalty payments, to try to forestall their own financial hiccups. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NYC Teen Author Festival in Photos

The eighth annual NYC Teen Author Festival featured events throughout the week of March 15-23. Several authors participated, and shared photos from the event across social media. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Egmont group's profits rise in 'best year ever'

Denmark-based Egmont Group said it achieved its “best year ever” in 2014, as pre-tax profit for the year totalled €127m (£92.5m), a 36% increase from 2013. All divisions recorded improvements in their underlying operations and overall revenues for 2014 grew 10% to €1.6bn (£1.2bn). Ebitda... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #egmont group #profits rise #pre-tax profit #record high


Hawks, butterflies, coasts and footpaths: how nature writing turned to literary gold

Books about the natural world are now huge sellers, tapping into a new appreciation for the countryside and scepticism about material wealthBondage is so last year. Publishers who spent much of the past year in search of the next Fifty Shades of Grey are now seeking to exploit another literary... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #british public #nature writing #past couple #publishing world #commercial success


Boyne pens new Second World War novel

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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #world war #autumn publish #john boyne #striped pyjamas #adolf hitler #simon trewin


Bukowski on writing for Canongate

Canongate will publish three books by the late American author Charles Bukowski, based on his letters. Publishing director Francis Bickmore signed the books in a deal with Catherine Barbosa-Ross at HarperCollins US. On Writing is a collection based on previously unpublished letters, and will... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA Children’s Art Auction to Honor Judy Blume

The auction, which will be held May 26, supports ABFE’s defense of the free speech rights of kids. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A second Zoella novel is coming in November

Newsflash! Sequel to Girl Online by Zoe Sugg is on its wayIt was the highest selling book for any debut author – selling a whopping 78,109 copies in its first week - and now Zoe Sugg’s Girl Online is getting a sequel. At the moment we don’t know much about “Girl Online 2” apart from the fact... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #defending zoella #girl online #zoe sugg #debut author #week -


Gallic Books signs Barbery novel

Gallic Books has acquired a new novel by French writer Muriel Barbery, author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day still dominates charts

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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Lauren Oliver, author of Delirium trilogy: 'Writing is compulsive for me'

The bestselling young adult author wrote her first published novel on a BlackBerry while commuting. Now she has a fan base ardent enough to complain about the way she ended one bookLauren Oliver, a bestselling young adult writer whose latest book, Vanishing Girls, was published in the US last... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HMH Celebrating 100 Years of Best American Short Stories

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is honoring the 100th birthday of its short fiction compilation Best American Short Stories with a special anniversary edition, edited by Lorrie Moore, called '100 Years of The Best American Short Stories.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #100th birthday #lorrie moore


Second Zoella novel due in November

The sequel to the bestselling Girl Online novel by YouTube star Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, is scheduled for release on the 19th November.  Penguin has given few details about the book but 'Girl Online 2' will be published in hardback, priced at £12.99, and the main characters Penny, Noah and Elliot... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #aka zoella #19th november


New Rebus novel from Rankin

A new Rebus novel by Ian Rankin will be published this autumn. Orion Fiction m.d. Jon Wood bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Even Dogs in the Wild, Rankin’s 20th Rebus novel, and one other book from Peter Robinson of Rogers, Coleridge & White. Rankin teased fans on Twitter earlier this... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ian rankin #orion fiction #peter robinson #coleridge white


Young Artist's First Graphic Novel Gets Big Time Blurbs

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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Evans retiring from Transworld after 23 years

Linda Evans, senior editorial director at Transworld, is to retire in April after 23 years with the company.  Transworld publisher, Bill Scott-Kerr, paid tribute to her in a message to the company in which he called her “wonderful” and “redoubtable”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #paid tribute


Little, Brown signs Raziel Reid novel

Little, Brown has acquired the UK and commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to an LGBT YA novel by Candian author Raziel Reid. When Everything Feels Like the Movies is about a teenager, Jude, who desperately wants to be famous and confidently gay, but is ostracized by the other students at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why Writing is So Hard

Matt Sumell, author of the exceptional "Making Nice," on writing as an "emotionally expensive" undertaking. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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St. Patrick's Day: New York City residents can get a free book by an Irish writer

The Irish Arts Center in New York City will be handing out thousands of books by Irish writers to NYC residents on the holiday. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #free book #irish writer #irish writers