'Nobody in Tesco buys spy books by women': how female authors took on the genre

Publishing’s long established boys’ club in espionage fiction is having its cover blown by a new school led by Stella Rimington, Manda Scott and Charlotte PhilbyWhen Stella Rimington, the former director general of MI5 and spy author, wrote a new foreword last year to The Spy’s Bedside Book, Graham Greene and his brother Hugh’s 1957 anthology , she was glowingly complimentary. She had just one complaint. “After everything we have done for spying, there is, apart from the obligatory reference to Mata Hari, hardly anything in this book about women!” she wrote.The Greene brothers aren’t alone in their short sight. Wikipedia lists 127 notable writers of spy fiction, dead and living, and only seven of them are women. (Rimington is one of them.) Pick any list of the best spy novels, and it will usually be peopled only by male writers such as John le Carré, John Buchan, Rudyard Kipling, Erskine Childers, Joseph Conrad, Len Deighton, Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum.Publishing has become much more gender-blind – before it was: ‘Only blokes can write this’ Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-01-07 09:00:54 UTC ]
News tagged with: #male writers #rudyard kipling #joseph conrad #ian fleming #tom clancy #anthology

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What's happening in children's books in 2016? A literary calendar

Want to know when your favourite author has a new book published? When the awards are being dished out? What film adaptations are up-coming or get the low-down on festivals near you? Then check out our literary calendar for 2016Have we missed anything? Email us at [email protected]... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book published #film adaptations #@gdnchildrensbks #ll add #tom ellen #lucy ivison


Russian censors target children's books that break the mould

Publishing a children’s book in Russia is not a straightforward matter, as Anna Starobinets found when her detective stories set among woodland animals were deemed to be far too beastly for children I wrote my first children’s book, The Land of Good Girls, in 2009 for my then five-year-old... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #contemporary authors #tove jansson #jk rowling #wonderful world


In Germany, Exchange Your Unwanted Xmas Presents for Books!

In Germany, publisher Bastei Lübbe and bookseller Hugendubel offer vending machines where you can donate unwanted gifts in exchange for new books. The post In Germany, Exchange Your Unwanted Xmas Presents for Books! appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Not bound by history, L.A.'s Caravan Book Store continues to turn pages

A shuffling step carries Leonard Bernstein onto Grand Avenue. The pilasters and garlands of the PacMutual Building rise above him. Nearly 70, a balding man with a gray cattle-catcher mustache, he finds his keys and stoops to the lock in the threshold. Two bells tied to a red ribbon jingle as the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #grand avenue


Authors Guild Begins Letter-Writing Campaign to Meet with Publishers

As part of its ongoing effort to raise writers’ income, the Authors Guild is sending an open letter to members of the Association of American Publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #american publishers #ongoing effort #authors guild #open letter


Amazon Keeps Firm Grip on E-book Market, Even as the Format Loses Market Share

With sales of ebooks slipping and print books enjoying a mild rebound, ebooks’ share of consumer spending on books has declined over the past two years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #firm grip #e-book market #consumer spending


Bestselling Books of 2015

Harper Lee, Marie Kondo, and Jeff Kinney topped the print bestseller lists in 2015 for adult fiction, adult nonfiction, and juvenile books, respectively. Here are the 20 bestselling books of the year in each of those categories. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bestselling books #harper lee #marie kondo #adult fiction #adult nonfiction #juvenile books


Postcapitalism, Tolkien and Harper Lee: the big books news of 2015

Our annual review of the site’s most popular book stories puts Paul Mason’s utopian futurology ahead of perenially popular authorsThe living room carpet is covered in needles, the potato salad covered in mould: as we heave ourselves up out of the year that’s gone and prepare to belly-flop our... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #festive season #novels written


Authors Guild Petitions Supreme Court to Hear Google Case

Authors Guild executives say that the case represents an opportunity for the Supreme Court to clarify fair use for the digital age. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #supreme court #digital age


DOJ Urges Supreme Court to Deny Apple’s E-book Appeal

In an opposition brief filed on December 23, the U.S. Department of Justice urged the Supreme Court not to hear Apple’s appeal in the long-running ebook price-fixing case. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #e-book appeal #deny apple #supreme court #hear apple


Trade pledges aid for flood-hit Book Case Hebden

Publishers including Phaidon, Galley Beggar Press, HarperCollins and And Other Stories have pledged to help West Yorkshire indie Book Case Hebden, which has lost all its stock to flood damage.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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VIDEO: E-book boss on "unconscious bias"

Michael Tamblyn, chief executive of Kobo, offers the business advice he wishes he had been given when he started out, as part of the BBC News series, CEO Secrets. Continue reading at BBC World

[ BBC World | 2015-12-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #unconscious bias #michael tamblyn


New Britain Newspaper Publisher Buys Block Island Paper

The Connecticut newspaper publisher thrust into the national spotlight because of his role in the purchase of Nevada's largest paper purchased another publication last week.   The Block Island Times' current publishers, Fraser Lang and B ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is Barnes & Noble adding booze to books?

For literary lovers, there's not much more exciting than browsing a well-stocked bookstore. But one Barnes & Noble location might be trying to make book shopping even more fun by adding alcohol to the equation. A Barnes & Noble store in New Hartford, N.Y., has applied for a beer and wine... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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2015 in books news: tragedies and triumphs

Harper Lee returned, Marlon James took the Booker and Terry Pratchett made his final bow. The year also saw literature drawn into shocking violence in Paris, fierce arguments over diversity … and a colouring-book frenzyThe year opened in tragedy, as two masked gunmen opened fire at an editorial... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #1m copies


Children's picture books that celebrate the glories of winter

This lovely new cluster of seasonal picture books are all focused – in different ways – on the magnificent cold and white of winter. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-12-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #picture books


Waterstones reveals New Year Book Club titles

Two Weidenfeld & Nicolson titles and the Desmond Elliott Prize winner are among the eight novels to have made it onto the Waterstones New Year Book Club, commencing in January. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #waterstones reveals


Bestselling books 2015: Fifty Shades still on top

Books by women make up seven of the top 10 most bought this year, while colouring-in is more popular than TV tie-insAfter a 2014 that saw books for kids – led by John Green and David Walliams novels – ruling the annual sales chart, 2015 was the year of the women. Female authors, including Harper... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #el james #suzanne collins #17th-century amsterdam


Print Books Having Good Finish to Solid Year

The book business looks ready to mark a second consecutive year of unit growth of print books. With one week to go in the year, unit sales of print books were up 2.8% compared to the same period in 2014. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #solid year #consecutive year #print books #book business


'The Affair' and the Top Five Hollywood Takes on Book Publishing

The Showtime series, which ended its second season on Sunday night, has become a favorite topic of water cooler chat among book industry types. With so many delighting in the travails of Brooklyn-high-school-English-teacher-turned-successful-novelist Noah Solloway, we dug up five of our favorite... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book publishing #sunday night #favorite topic #book business