My father, John Hitchin, who has died aged 88, was a marketing and publicity specialist in the publishing industry who spent three decades with Penguin Books, where he was responsible for a number of innovations, including the first paperback gift set and the first display “dump” bin. As Penguin’s development director in the early 1970s he also launched the Puffin school book club and persuaded Sainsbury’s to start selling books.John initially trained in retail at Harrods, becoming the haberdashery department manager there before joining Penguin in 1959. He started in Penguin’s publicity department, becoming the company’s first European representative (under Allen Lane), and then publicity manager in 1962, after which he was its first educational marketing manager, in which role he launched the Penguin Education division. It was after he became development director in 1973 that John launched the Puffin school book club. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-10-28 19:33:32 UTC ]
Though Black Girls Book Club (BGBC) founders Melissa Cummings-Quarry and Natalie A Carter inked the deal for their upcoming first book last year, it was not quite a recent development. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-28 23:44:22 UTC ]
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A successful book club needs three things to thrive: delicious food, decent wine and wonderful people. Only the first two, food and wine, are easy to find. It is the third element, the people, that is like a jigsaw puzzle with a thousand pieces—something that promises to look like the pretty... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-05-27 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Roxane Gay is not just an acclaimed writer, she’s a champion of writers: she’s edited The Best American Short Stories, founded Gay Magazine, and launched the Audacious Book Club to promote reading and discussion of powerful new literary voices. Now, she’s continuing her curatorial work by... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-05-26 14:50:24 UTC ]
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'The Martian' author Andy Weir has the #10 book in the country with 'Project Hail Mary.' Plus a trio of book club picks land on our hardcover fiction list, and Christina Hunger explains canine communications in 'How Stella Learned to Talk.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Generations of readers who fondly recall Reading Rainbow are in luck: LeVar Burton can be your reading guide once again. Burton is launching his own book club (for adults!) in partnership with the new book club platform Fable, a social platform that “deliver[s] the world’s best social experience... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-05-12 15:37:28 UTC ]
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Joel Friedlander, the author, blogger, book designer, publisher, and publishing industry consultant, died on May 7 of cancer. He was 73. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Transworld and Puffin have acquired three books from Alison Hammond, including the "This Morning" presenter's memoir, a novel and a non-fiction title for readers aged eight to 12. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-07 06:39:32 UTC ]
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Selections for the African chapter of the Sustainable Development Goals Book Club include two titles in Indigenous African languages. The post The New SDG Book Club African Chapter Releases Its First Reading List appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-04-27 20:25:57 UTC ]
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Indie Shindig, a virtual event series for booksellers created by half a dozen publishers, aims to raise up to $18,000 for We Need Diverse Books and Binc. Author Gayle Forman and Penguin Books for Young Readers are contributing sales of Forman's new novel to Binc's "Thrive to Survive" campaign. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Former President Obama joined filmmaker Ava DuVernay for a conversation about "A Promised Land," his legacy and activism during a Book Club event. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-22 04:32:01 UTC ]
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Allen Lane has two titles shortlisted for the £40,000 Wolfson History Prize, which celebrates excellence in research and historical writing combined with readability for a wider audience. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-21 02:05:49 UTC ]
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Puffin has picked up Welcome to the World, a “tender and lyrical picture book” from Julia Donaldson and Helen Oxenbury. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-20 03:03:23 UTC ]
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Graham Norton is launching a book club podcast through Audible, featuring guests including Zadie Smith, Stephen Mangan and Denise Mina. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-19 18:22:13 UTC ]
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Social media is now a vital platform to promote new titles. And that means jacket designs that hit you ‘hard and quick’Last week’s big literary event was not the publication of a new book, the million-pound signing of a celebrity author or the announcement of a prestigious prize. Instead, it was... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-04-18 09:00:04 UTC ]
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Barack Obama and filmmaker Ava DuVernay will discuss the former president's memoir "A Promised Land" April 21 in a livestreamed event for the L.A. Times Community Book Club. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-16 01:25:03 UTC ]
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Former President Obama joins the L.A. Times Community Book Club April 21 to discuss "A Promised Land" with filmmaker Ava DuVernay. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-16 01:17:49 UTC ]
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Having collected views from Black people across the publishing industry for the past year, the Black Agents and Editors’ Group has outlined 15 steps for how those in the trade can do better. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-04-09 07:18:36 UTC ]
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This month's selections range from B&N's choice of 'The Five Wounds' by Kirstin Valdez Quade to Oprah's Book Club selection of Marilynne Robinson's 'Gilead' novels. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The two-year-old Oakland, Calif.-based "partnership publisher" is hoping to disrupt the publishing industry's traditional models. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Scheduled to launch sometime in the spring, BookClub is a virtual book club platform driven by author-led book discussions and designed for mobile devices. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-03-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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