'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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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 ]
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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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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 ]
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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 ]
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Bestselling books 2015: Fifty Shades still on top

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[ The Guardian | 2015-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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'The Affair' and the Top Five Hollywood Takes on Book Publishing

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publishers on the books they enjoyed and envied in 2015

The yearly Guardian’s Hits and Misses feature makes me curious about what my friends and colleagues in the world of smaller presses might say - whether they’d feel envious about the same books, and what kind of regrets and successes they might have had in their year of publishing. I put the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Editors and agents give author appraisals to raise funds for charity

Helen Huthwaite, editorial director at HarperCollins, has launched a project to provide manuscript services for aspiring authors in order to raise £30,000 for charity. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors on the Air December 22, 2015: Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds, author of 'But Enough About Me' (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 978-0-399-17354-7), is appearing on NBC’s 'Access Hollywood' in a re-airing of his November 18 interview. The two-part interview will appear on NBC on Tuesday, December 22 and Wednesday, December 23. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Designer Matthew Williamson colouring book to Laurence King

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book-related product preview in The Bookseller

The Bookseller is to feature a ‘book-related products’ preview within the weekly magazine for the first time in its history. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ladybird book pastiches become stocking-filler hit of 2015

Spoof titles with vintage artwork strike a chord with Christmas shoppers, selling more than 600,000 copies in less than two monthsNostalgia for the days of learning to read with Peter and Jane appears to have made Ladybird’s series of spoof titles for grownups a must-buy this Christmas, with... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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German machine vends books in exchange for unwanted presents

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Canadian Imprint Spotlights Quebec Authors

QC Fiction, from Montreal-based publisher Baraka Books, will release English translations of contemporary French novels by young Quebec authors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Happy Holidays! Christmas Carols for the Book Industry

As our parting gift to you for 2015, Publishing Perspectives re-imagines several popular Christmas carols through the prism of the book business. The post Happy Holidays! Christmas Carols for the Book Industry appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Perspectives’ Top Books of 2015: Mark Piesing

Wrapping up the year, Publishing Perspectives contributors share their top books of the 2015. Mark Piesing chooses five nonfiction titles. The post Publishing Perspectives’ Top Books of 2015: Mark Piesing appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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