'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

Other Publishing stories related to: ''I've never felt less festive': the art of writing Christmas novels, 365 days a year'


'Food Arts' Collection Heads to NYU

The collection consists of nearly 3500 titles, including a complete set of the magazine and about 15 linear feet of archival materials. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #complete set


Wattpad partners with IFOA for online festival

Online writing site Wattpad has partnered with Toronto's International Festival of Authors (... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #international festival


Shortlist Announced for 'FT,' McKinsey & Co Business Book of the Year Award

The winner will be announced at a dinner ceremony on November 11 in London, and will receive £30,000, with each shortlisted author receiving £10,000. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #shortlist announced #business book


The High Holy Days: New Books Take Fresh Approaches

Readers with introspective and questing spirits have three new books for the Jewish High Holy Days--beginning with Rosh HaShanah at sundown on September 24--offering poetry, alternative liturgies, theological essays, and thoughtful explorations of Jewish identity. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Pearson targets literacy with five-year project

Pearson is launching a five-year project on literacy by inviting people to contribute tips on... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Specsavers teams with PRH for online crime writing

Penguin Random House’s crime community Dead Good Books and Specsavers have teamed up for #... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


The First 100 Days Of ClickHole: How Creativity (And George Takei) Keep The Onion-Y Site Sizzling

There's a reason everyone you know is obsessed with the quirky site that makes content parodying viral content--and then makes it go viral.Getting George Takei to share something you made with his 7 million Facebook followers is like crushing a piñata filled with free pageviews. It's a huge... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #george takei


Martin Amis's novel 'A Zone of Interest' gets rave reviews, but is dropped by French and German publishers

Amis's French and German publishers passed on his novel about the Holocaust, but another French company will be releasing the book and Amis's agent said there will most likely be a new German publisher that is willing to publish it.  Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #martin amis #french company #rave reviews #german publishers #german publisher


Palimpsest turns publisher with collections of Scottish writing

Scottish book production company Palimpsest is to become a publisher in its own right, with new... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #scottish writing


Regan Arts Announces First Project

The 'Virtual Reality Beginners Guide' is a 40 page book in a box that includes a cardboard viewer that when assembled in combination with a smartphone turns into a VR headset viewer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


New Novels and John Green Ruled Overseas in August

The top three bestselling novels in France last month were new to the country’s fiction list, with Emmanuel Carrère’s "The Kingdom" coming in first. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bestselling novels #fiction list


A Book Festival Grows in Portland

Wordstock, one of the largest celebrations of literature and literacy in the Pacific Northwest, is gaining a new parent. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pacific northwest


Bookscan: Graphic Novels Up 10% In 2014 So Far

Graphic novel sales are up this year in both the bookstore channel and specialty comics shops. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #graphic novels


Four Questions for...Brooklyn Book Festival Host Johnny Temple

Publisher Johnny Temple might be Brooklyn's biggest cheerleader. In addition to overseeing one of Brooklyn's best known publishing houses, Temple is also the host of the borough's flourishing book festival. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing houses


10 Great Back To School Graphic Novels

It's September which means school is back in session. Here are 10 books that take place at schools or primarily involve the lives of teachers and students. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Oscar Pistorius: Will he write a memoir?

Pistorius's manager and agent Peet van Zyl says his client will write a book, but the law may not let him. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Art, Poetry, and Food Combine in Eric-Shabazz Larkin's 'A Moose Boosh'

In Eric-Shabazz Larkin's new collection of children's poetry, 'A Moose Boosh,' he combines playful and political poems about food and food culture with photographs "vandalized" with his own scribblings and doodles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Oyster Looks Back at a Year of E-book Subscription

A year after its launch, ebook subscription service Oyster, has added tens of thousands of titles, scores of new publishers and appears to be attracting more subscribers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #e-book subscription


Books donated to fire-hit art school

Glasgow School of Art replaces 22% of its most popular books that were lost in a fire at its Mackintosh building in June. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2014-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #books donated #glasgow school #popular books


Bestselling authors write to Amazon's board over 'ugly' Hachette sales dispute

Group representing Donna Tartt, Stephen King and others says Amazon tactics have driven sales down by at least 50%Some of the worlds most famous authors escalated their heated dispute with Amazon on Monday, publishing a letter to retailers board warning of the ugly history of blocking book... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephen king #hachette authors #publishers sales