'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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Industry seconds Franklin’s fears for further cuts to libraries

Libraries, publishers and bookshops will suffer under a Conservative government, a leading independent publisher has warned. When collecting the Independent Publisher of the Year trophy at the Bookseller Industry Awards on Monday (11th May), Profile Books m.d. Andrew Franklin gave a strong... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘It was a classic case of naive creatives, not protecting what they’d got’

Shindig!’s Jon Mills and Andy Morten on the perils of striking a magazine publishing deal without the proper paperworkJust before Easter, Jon Mills and Andy Morten signed off the 47th issue of Shindig!, the music magazine the two of them have been producing for around 20 years. Although... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Halt sales of Jonasson bestseller, court tells UK publisher

High court backs Hachette against Hesperus Press, British publisher of Jonas Jonasson’s The 100-Year-Old Man, after claims of missing royalty paymentsThe high court has ordered the British publisher of Jonas Jonasson’s smash-hit novel The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More UK publisher deals for Bookmate

Russian ebook subscription service Bookmate has agreed a deal with Bloomsbury, Faber Factory and Harlequin, which will add more than 15,000 backlist titles to its library. Faber Factory will provide Bookmate’s users with access to books from publishers including Atlantic Books, Allison &... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A&B acquires second title by Stockwin

Allison & Busby has signed a historical novel from Julian Stockwin. the second in a series of standalone books dramatising pivotal moments. Publishing director Susie Dunlop bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to The Crakys of War, in a deal with Carole Blake at Blake... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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O/R Teams with 'Evergreen Review'

Independent publisher O/R Books has partnered with the literary magazine 'Evergreen Review,' in a deal which will see O/R distributing content from the magazine via the press's direct-to-consumer model. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie Book Day backed by bookshops and publishers

Indie Book Day is set to make a mark on the UK this year after starting in Germany two years ago and quickly spreading across Europe. The campaign – which hopes to become comparable to the American Record Store Day event, but for books – wants readers to flock to independent bookshops on 21st... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Charlie Hebdo: murders a twisted vote of confidence in the power of ink and paper

There’s something about ink, paper and the printing press that has always bothered tyrants and those afraid of ideas.Was there a single old hand in the world of magazines who didn’t read the stories about the demand for copies of the post-massacre edition of Charlie Hebdo, raise their eyebrows... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple, Google and Facebook lend support and money to Je Suis Charlie campaign

12 people died in an attack on satirical French magazine, Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday. At time of writing, the situation in France is still unfolding, and technology companies have been quick to show their sympathy for the victims whilst voicing support for freedom of speech. Google has donated... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2015-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Smith to join Bonnier Publishing

Mark Smith, the founder and former c.e.o. of Quercus, is to join Bonnier Publishing as c.e.o. of its fiction department. Smith left Quercus after the formerly independent publisher was bought by Hachette UK’s Hodder & Stoughton earlier this year. He will now become c.e.o. of Bonnier... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Same-day delivery from SelfMadeHero

Graphic novel publisher SelfMadeHero is attempting to beat Amazon's delivery promises by offering free same-day delivery across central London. The independent publisher will offer the service for two weeks from 1st December, with orders placed before 2p.m. on Monday to Friday delivered the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Half of C&R staff have now left Little, Brown

More than half of staff at Constable & Robinson have left the publisher since Little, Brown Book Group bought the company, it has emerged. The formerly independent publisher was purchased by the Hachette division in February, with the Constable & Robinson team moving into Little,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Four-unit restructure for The History Press

The History Press has restructured following a company-wide review, creating four distinct business units, and putting "a small number" of people into consultation over their jobs. The independent publisher, specialising in local history as well as military history titles, underwent a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three Million First Printing for Riordan's Finale

Disney announced a three million copy first print run for 'The Blood of Olympus' by Rick Riordan, the fifth and final installment in the author's Heroes of Olympus series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher Opening Classics Pop-Up

The Press at Toad Hall, an independent publisher of classics based out of Philadelphia, will be opening its first retail location, a pop-up store that will feature new editions of classic works, later this summer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: John Green: Book to Screen

All that hard work promoting The Fault in Our Stars—which started three years ago with John Green signing pages to be bound into the 150,000 copies of the novel’s first print run from Dutton—has paid off. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Over 20' roles under consultation at C&R

Consultation has begun on over 20 roles at Constable & Robinson as the independent publisher... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dennis launches kids' magazine

Dennis Publishing, the independent publisher of titles such as The Week, is breaking into the children's market for the first time with the launch of Berty Squiggles, a kids' colouring and activity magazine. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A&B buys Flanders novel

Allison & Busby has secured a first novel about the publishing world from Judith Flanders,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent Penguin Goes Out on High Note

In reporting its last results as an independent publisher, Penguin Group posted a 16% gain in sales, to 513 million pounds, and a 27% rise in adjusted operating profit to 28 million pounds. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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