'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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£1 World Book Day books storm to the top of the charts

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 16:01 The latest crop of £1 World Book Day books, led by Cope & Davies' Spy Dog/The Great Pet Shop Panic (Puffin/S&S) take positions one-through-six in this week's Official UK Top 50, with sales totalling 247,235 copies—a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Female authors heralded on International Women's Day

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 08/03/2011 - 08:40 Inspiring books by and about women are being hailed for International Women's Day, as J K Rowling and Germaine Greer are named among 17 authors on the Guardian's Top 100 Inspirational Women list. Female novelists are holding... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst's John Loughlin Highlights Four Key Drivers for Magazines at DMA Circ Marketing Day

John P. Loughlin, EVP and GM of Hearst Magazines, kicked off DMA's Circulation Marketing Day at the Time Inc. Conference Center in New York City as keynote speaker. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vintage to hold open day

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 01/03/2011 - 08:22 Vintage will open its doors to 30 members of the public next month to give them a glimpse into the publishing industry, as part of its 21st birthday celebrations. The open day will be held on 18th April in Vintage's offices in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury predicts 2011 to be "year of the ebook"

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 28/02/2011 - 09:20 Bloomsbury is anticipating 2011 to be the "year of the ebook", as it reported ebook sales were just under 10% of trade print sales in its latest results. For the 12 months ending 31st December 2010, sales were up 4.01%... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin has best-ever year as Pearson profits leap

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 28/02/2011 - 09:42 Penguin UK had its best ever year in 2010 as parent company Pearson reported a profits increase of 21% to £857m. For the year ending 31st December, sales at Pearson were £5.66bn, up 10% on 2009. Sales at Penguin were... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital doubles at this year's LBF

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 08:40 Gordon Willoughby, Amazon's director of the Kindle in Europe, is to address London Book Fair's digital conference to be held on the eve of this year's fair. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder to release final Earth’s Children novel

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 24/02/2011 - 09:25 Hodder & Stoughton is gearing up for the launch of the final book in the Earth’s Children series, which began 35 years ago with an idea for a short story. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gibbons proposes National Libraries Day

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 24/02/2011 - 15:29 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Westfield London to hold Gruffalo event for Red Nose Day

Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 14:00 Macmillan Children’s Books is to hold a Gruffalo fundraising event tomorrow for Red Nose Day. As a supporting partner of this year’s Comic Relief, the popular children’s book character will be hosting the fundraiser in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trade gears up for World Book Day

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 15:42 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Viking acquires art title by Will Gompertz

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 10/02/2011 - 08:01 Viking has acquired world rights to a modern art title by BBC arts editor Will Gompertz. Editor Ben Brusey bought What Are You Looking At?: The Surprising Story of Modern Art directly from the author, with Viking to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-reader market doubles over Christmas in the UK

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 09/02/2011 - 14:28 The e-reader market doubled over Christmas, according to statistics given out by the Publishers Association at its annual digital seminar. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Celebrating Chinese New Year with Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

It seems like most of the subway car empties at the Grand Street stop in the heart of New York City’s Chinatown. Just as the last person makes it off, the conductor announces, “Stand clear of the closing doors, and Gong Hey Fat Choy! Happy New Year!” It’s the first day of Chinese New Year and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Art inspires new Thames & Hudson travel guides

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Fri, 04/02/2011 - 08:51 Thames & Hudson is to steer art aficionados through the museums and galleries of great cities in a new series of illustrated travel guides. The Art Guide series will begin this spring with two titles focusing on New York and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Republic Editor (and Part Owner) Steps Down After 37 Years

Marty Peretz, the editor-in-chief of The New Republic of the past 37 years, is stepping down and taking the title of "editor-in-chief emeritus." Editor Richard Just takes over as editor-in-chief. Perezt, who wrote a blog called The Spine, will continue to write a column for TheNewRepublic.com. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tablet sales will hit 1m in France this year - GfK

Written By: Barbara Casassus Market research firm GfK has predicted that 1 million tactile tablets will be sold in France this year. A total of 435,000 worth 220 million euros were sold here in 2010, a strong start for the new market. Although tablet sales for Christmas were reported not to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WHS reports "solid" Christmas

Written By: Lisa Campbell High street book sales at W H Smith were down by around 2% like-for-like in the weeks leading to Christmas, according to analysts briefed by the company, equating to books outperforming other categories. In its formal Christmas trading statement, out this morning... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Survey: Organic Growth, New Devices To Have Biggest Impact On Media Over Next Two Years

Organic growth will be the primary driver of the media business over the next 12 to 24 months, according to nearly 500 executives in the information, marketing services and technology sectors, according to the first annual Media Growth survey from investment banker The Jordan, Edmiston Group and... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adam Haslett on Stanley Fish's How To Write a Sentence.

In 1919, the young E.B. White, future New Yorker writer and author of Charlotte's Web, took a class at Cornell University with a drill sergeant of an English professor named William Strunk Jr. Strunk assigned his self-published manual on composition titled "The Elements of Style," a 43-page list... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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