'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 ]
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Pan Mac acquires new Amy Bratley novel

Pan Macmillan has bought a novel following five couples in an antenatal class ahead of the births... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Irish Sports Book of the Year shortlist revealed

Titles on rugby, cycling, horse racing and Gaelic games have been shortlisted for this year... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Halpern Reflects on 40 Years of Ecco

It was a chance chauffeur job, shuttling a bored author back to his hotel room, that got Dan Halpern into publishing. The author was Paul Bowles, it was the late 1960s, and Halpern agreed to take the writer on the long drive back to Santa Monica when Bowles tired of the party he’d been thrown at... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury plans swashbuckling year for Pirates!

Bloomsbury has readied a slew of publishing to tie into the latest movie from the team behind... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Big names set for bumper Christmas

Booksellers are relying on a handful of established names to boost sales this Christmas, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three Years Later, the Guardian Wants a Buyer for PaidContent

The British newspaper publisher says the pioneering Web site is "is a high-quality asset but our focus in the US is on building the Guardian." Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Cuban Takes Shot at Writing an E-Book

Mark Cuban has 335,000 friends on Facebook and 760,000 followers on Twitter. Monday, the Internet billionaire and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team will test just how friendly those fans really are. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ring in the holidays with "A Charlie Brown Christmas" for tablets

Yesterday I coughed up $6.99 for Loud Crow Interactive's digital pop-up remake of the Charles Schultz holiday classic. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is available for Android and iOS from the Amazon, Apple and Google mobile apps stores -- for smartphones and tablets. The digital book delights, is... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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International Bestsellers, November 2011: Literary Novels Hit in Germany, Italy

The top three fiction titles in Germany were all debuts in October, led by In Times of Fading Light, which recently won the 2011 German Book Prize and is set for publication in the U.S. by Graywolf Press in fall 2013. Umberto Eco’s newest book, The Prague Cemetery, which debuted at #3, is newly... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Donaldson: Gloucs/Somerset ruling "best news all year"

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 17/11/2011 - 09:30 Children's laureate Julia Donaldson has welcomed yesterday's High Court ruling against library closures in Gloucestershire and Somerset as "the best news I’ve had all year". In a statement given to Somerset group Watchet... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fourth Estate buys next Hilary Mantel novel

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 14/11/2011 - 17:29 Hilary Mantel will turn her attention to the downfall of Anne Boleyn, after Fourth Estate bought the follow-up to her Man Booker prizewinning Wolf Hall. Publishing director Nicholas Pearson bought rights to Bring Up the Bodies... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Attic Brand Media falls into administration after 22 years

Attic Brand Media, the customer and consumer magazine publisher behind Kick and National Geographic Kids, has fallen into administration after 22 years, according to sources. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder withdraws 'plagiarised' novel

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 09/11/2011 - 12:51 Hodder & Stoughton is withdrawing the novel Assassin of Secrets by Q R Markham from sale, alongside its US publisher Little, Brown, after the announcement that the book contains "numerous plagiarised passages". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hay House Fiction Debut Marks 25 Years

In a major departure for Hay House, the self-help and spirituality publisher is jumping into the fiction market. Its debut mystery novel, The First Rule of Ten by psychologist Gay Hendricks and screen writer Tinker Lindsay, will be published in January. Hay House has signed up 10 additional... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day plans reinvigoration for 2012 event

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 2012—led by children’s marketing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day to revamp for 2012

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 2012—led by children’s marketing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #children excited


Oneworld acquires new Marlon James novel

Publication Date: Thu, 03/11/2011 - 15:00 Oneworld has acquired the third novel by The Book of Night Women author, Marlon James. Publisher Juliet Mabey acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in a “strong five-figure pre-empt” from agent Claire Roberts at Trident Media Group. Lined up for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus signs deal for Koomson novels

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 02/11/2011 - 13:15 Quercus has acquired two novels by Dorothy Koomson, who has moved from Sphere. Executive director David North bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Antony Harwood. Koomson’s first novel for Quercus will be published in autumn... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rachael Stilwell steps down at Haymarket after 17 years

Rachael Stilwell, publishing director of Haymarket's Brand Republic and Meetings & Travel Group, is stepping down from the company after 17 years. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Avon buys Titanic fiction novel

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 01/11/2011 - 15:42 Avon has become the latest publisher to acquire a book tying into the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. Editorial director Claire Bord bought world English rights to two novels by Gill Paul from Vivien Green at Shiel... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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