The Arts Council England report has set the internet ablaze – but are sales of literary fiction in decline because of snobbery, bad writing or Candy Crush?News: Literary fiction in crisis as sales drop dramaticallyArts Council England has sounded the alarm for literary fiction with a report revealing a collapse in sales, advances and book pricing that has left authors unable to support themselves through writing alone. UK sales of general fiction slumped from £216m in 2010 to £143m last year, with the market increasingly skewed towards commercial bestsellers, which was news enough set the Arts Council’s Twitter handle – @ace_national – trending on Twitter, as readers and writers stared down the barrel of cultural Armageddon.There may be only 10 days to go, but the report was enough for the author Anna Mazzola to start tearing up plans for Christmas:Wondering what to buy your writer friend for Christmas? Turns out it's a hot meal or bottle of meths.https://t.co/92eJOY6wbFSome worrying figures in here for literary fiction... Though it does highlight the need for us to keep writing, telling stories, promoting new voices, and exploring what literature means and the impact it has. https://t.co/UpyFEcbnQxThis report says in cold Christmassy daylight what writers have known for a while: https://t.co/LnxDwuOSXDThe fact that 'literary fiction' defines itself against 'commercial fiction' might explain why it isn't doing well commercially.Far too many of the books published as... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#decision making
#retail chains
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 07/06/2011 - 08:10 Avon has acquired three novels by Authonomy workshop author Laurence O'Bryan. Editorial director Claire Bord bought the three books directly from the author, who attended the crime and thriller workshop held by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#avon acquires
#conspiracy thriller
#books directly
#b-format paperback
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 06/06/2011 - 11:35 Bestselling author of the Call the Midwife trilogy Jennifer Worth has died following a short illness, Weidenfeld & Nicolson has announced. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#short illness
#weidenfeld nicolson
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 02/06/2011 - 09:33 Local authority cutbacks to the Royal National Institute for the Blinds Talking Books service are leaving blind and visually impaired book lovers without proper access to the world of reading, the RNIB has said. The service... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#local authorities
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 31/05/2011 - 14:18 Journalist and Pluto Books author Syed Saleem Shahzad has been found dead near Islamabad, after going missing on Sunday (29th May), according to reports just in from the Pakistan media. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#found dead
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 31/05/2011 - 15:06 HarperCollins Children's Books has bought a debut by an author discovered on the Inkpop website for budding writers of teen fiction. Senior editor Lizzie Ryley bought UK and Commonwealth rights to the book from Jean McGinley at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#teen fiction
#paperback original
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 31/05/2011 - 14:18 Concerns are growing over the whereabouts of investigative journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, whose book Inside Al-Qaeda: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11 has just been published in the UK by Pluto Press. Shahzad, who is Pakistan... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#pluto press
#bin laden
#tv interview
Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 27/05/2011 - 09:01 A new Ofsted report into the teaching of English, "Excellence in English", has highlighted schools' investment in books, home reading, book borrowing from the school library and events such as book fairs and storytelling... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#school library
#book fairs
Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch announced the new Nook, aimed at "those turned off by buttons." Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#amazon responds
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 25/05/2011 - 08:45 Edmund de Waal, Maggie OFarrell and Tony Parsons are among the authors lined up to take part in Independent Booksellers Week. The week of events, in association with the Booksellers Association, will take place between... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#booksellers association
#authors lined
#tony parsons
The bare bones e-reader that Kobo released in May 2010 was intended to help sell more of its ebooks. But now the company is also seeing the merits of pursuing a hardware strategy, which includes today's unveiling of an all-new touch-enabled device. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Thu, 19/05/2011 - 12:59 Three Random House Group titles have been picked for the first Fiction Uncovered promotion, which also includes two from indie Portobello. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
This morning, the Readers Digest Association and parent company RDA Holding Co. announced that Paul R. Tomkins is set to succeed Tom Williams as executive vice president and chief financial officer with the company. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 17/05/2011 - 08:20 Authors should be paid for hosting events, the Society of Authors new general secretary has said. Nicola Solomon told delegates at the Book Industry Conference yesterday (16th May) that if authors give up a day of their free... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#general secretary
#free time
#book signing
#making money
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 17/05/2011 - 08:15 Corvus has acquired seven books from self-published author Nick Alexander, whose title The Missing Boyfriend was in the top 10 in the Kindle paid-for charts for six weeks. Senior editor Laura Palmer bought world English... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#self-published author
#backlist titles
The Readers Digest Association (RDA) shared its first quarter results this morning, and fallen revenues show that the company is still nursing its wounds since Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#quarter results
Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 11:54 Titles on Russian history, the populace of Germany and a spiritual travelogue have been longlisted for the 2011 Authors' Club Dolman Travel Book of the Year. Molotov's Magic Lantern by Rachel Polonski (Faber), Germania by Simon Winder (Picador) and All... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#russian history
#10-strong list
#literary merit
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:31 Publishers should not overspend in the fight against piracy, and should use their authors to present a "human face" in the battle for hearts and minds, a panel discussion at the World e-Reading Congress declared. The industry... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#panel discussion
#digital director
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:13 The Crime Writers Association (CWA) is asking each of its members to do at least three events a year for their local library as part of a campaign to support the public library service in the face of widespread cutbacks. "We... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#local library
#public libraries
Readers Digest has named Matthew Goldenberg general manager of Readersdigest.com. Goldenberg comes from Bloomberg, where he acted as managing editor and operations director at Bloomberg LP. At Readers Digest, Goldenberg will oversee digital operations and continue to push forward the brands... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bloomberg lp
#readers digest
#managing editor
#operations director
The editor Robert Loomis, who is retiring from Random House after 54 years, is known for nurturing writers including Maya Angelou, William Styron, Shelby Foote and Calvin Trillin. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#random house