In praise of little black numbers

The addition of 46 titles to Penguin’s Little Black Classics, from Jane Austen to the suffragettes, gives cause for renewed celebrationThe people at Penguin might be overstating things when they insist that their Little Black Classics “sparked a reading revolution”. All the same, sales of these pocket-sized books, launched in February last year, are pretty gasp-inducing. Worldwide, they’ve already hit more than 2.2m copies, a figure that equates to a pile of paperbacks seven miles high.And now, to celebrate the first Penguin Classic in 1946, they’ve added another 46 titles to the series. The selection is fantastic: someone at Penguin has inspiritingly quirky taste (I’m guessing the person in question is Simon Winder, the publishing director of Penguin Classics and the author of Germania, a very good book about Germany and his love for it). The new titles include Oroonoko by Aphra Behn, one of the first English novels; Green Tea, a ghost story by Sheridan Le Fanu; and Lady Susan, Jane Austen’s early epistolary novella. One is also dedicated, more creatively, to a sprinkling of stories and illustrations from the (sometimes scandalous) Victorian magazine The Yellow Book. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2016-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #2m copies #simon winder #good book

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Guinness World Records is the Christmas Number One

Guinness World Records 2015 (GWR) is the UK's official Christmas number one. In the seven days ending 20th December, the annual tome of record-breaking achievements from across the globe sold 58,477 copies, a volume rise of nearly 12% week to week. This is the first time in over a decade that... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Number of magazine closures almost double in 2014

Though the number of magazine launches held steady in 2014, the outlook for print media still took a turn for the worse as closures nearly doubled. Among the shuttered publications are... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2014-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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CIPFA stats show drops in library numbers and usage

The number of people borrowing books from libraries in England has halved since 1997, according to the annual library statistics prepared by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). CIPFA plans to publish its annual statistics on Thursday (11th December), but early... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Four from Black for Cargo

Novelist Tony Black has signed a four-book deal with Scotland’s Cargo Publishing. Helen Sedgwick, joint m.d. of Cargo Publishing, signed world rights to the novels directly from Black. She said: “Tony Black is a writer of enormous skill and depth and we’re absolutely delighted that he’s chosen... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Black Friday boosts US book sales

Book sales in the US jumped 23% week on week in the seven days ending 30th November as 15.8 million print books registered through Nielsen BookScan. It follows two consecutive weeks of volume growth above 5%. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Black Friday Drives Sales of Kindles, Fire Tablets

Amazon kicked off this year’s cyber Monday by claiming that Black Friday sales of its Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets were up significantly over last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Can Barnes & Noble's Black Friday 'secret weapon' reverse the chain's slumping sales?

Barnes & Noble will be offering 500,000 copies of signed works by major authors to kick off the holiday shopping season. But will it be enough? Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette Agrees to Buy Black Dog & Leventhal

The Hachette Book Group has agreed to acquire Black Dog & Leventhal in a deal set to close in the next several months. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Christmas Creep: Pushing Black Friday Up

It’s not just Amazon that is testing how early shoppers are willing to get serious about Christmas. B&N is launching Discovery Weekend, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Race to Christmas Number One wide open

The race for the Christmas number one title is wide open this year, with no outstanding contender for the top spot. Seven national retailers, along with prominent indies, have told The Bookseller their predicted top five titles for Christmas across all genres, with many maintaining it is still... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH's Black Crown project to go offline

Penguin Random House is to take its interactive narrative gaming experience Black Crown offline at the end of this week, with creator Rob Sherman conceding that "the economics do not stand up". The online narrative gaming project, with Sherman's story set in the shady Widsith Institute,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UK publisher numbers to double at Shanghai children’s fair

The number of UK publishers attending the Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF) this year has nearly doubled, with 21 set to attend the November event, compared to 12 last year. The 2013 event was described as "storming" by UK publishers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wylie praises 'end to publishers cowering to Amazon'

Literary agent Andrew Wylie has said he believes the era of publishers cowering and giving in to Amazon is at an end, comparing the online retail giant to terror group ISIS. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AAP Numbers Show Drop in Book Sales for May

Book sales fell 1.6% in May, to $1.09 billion, compared to the same month last year. However, sales rose 2.3%, to $4.29 billion, for the first five months of the year, as compared to same period in 2013, according to the AAP’s monthly StatShot program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For Winning Indie, Drinks on Black Balloon

Publisher Black Balloon is offering $250 to the indie bookstore with the most creative display of its new anthology 'Come Here Often? 53 Writers Raise a Glass to Their Favorite Bar.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt's LitAg Draws Record Numbers for 2014 Fair

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cleary Wolters, the basis for an 'Orange Is the New Black' character, will write a memoir

The character of Alex Vause, portrayed by actress Laura Prepon on the show, is based on Wolters. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Good Housekeeping shines as Glamour knocked off number one spot

Hearst UK title edges ahead of Condé Nasts long-time leader in digital and print for womens lifestyle magazine sector Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In praise of ... Suda Suda On Line | Editorial

An online encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world sets a challenging precedent for scholarly publicationsAround a thousand years ago, an encyclopedia of knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean world was assembled. With 31,000 entries, the Suda is in part a dictionary of grammar, and in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bowker: title numbers hold steady in US print market

A 1.6% decline in the number of traditionally published print titles in the US last year shows... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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