'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

Other Publishing stories related to: ''Nobody in Tesco buys spy books by women': how female authors took on the genre'


Media Decoder: Random House Adopts New Model for Selling E-Books

Beginning Tuesday, Random House will join other major book publishers in selling its ebooks using the so-called agency model, setting its own prices for ebooks while the retailer takes a commission. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #media decoder #random house


Media Decoder: A Limit on Lending E-Books

Beginning in March, ebooks from HarperCollins may be lent by public libraries only 26 times before the license expires. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #media decoder #public libraries


HarperCollins buys more Meerkat Madness

Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Mon, 28/02/2011 - 15:40 HarperCollins Children’s Books has acquired two further installments of Ian Whybrow’s children’s series Meerkat Madness. Harriet Wilson, HC Children’s Books editorial director, bought world rights including TV, film and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #meerkat madness #jodie marsh #united agents #3rd march


Yale latest to buy Wikileaks title

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 28/02/2011 - 15:41 Yale University Press has bought UK rights to a title exploring the WikiLeaks controversy and its repercussions, and will be pushing to publish in March. Politics, economics and current affairs editor Phoebe Clapham... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #title exploring #books publisher


Author proposes WBN alternative

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 28/02/2011 - 15:43 A Carnegie-nominated author has proposed an alternative to World Book Night, suggesting readers buy one book from a bookshop this week and give it away. Writing on her blog, Nicola Morgan said she believed there were better... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #nicola morgan #million books


Anova takes home Harry Hill knitting book

Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 11:39 A sketch from "Harry Hill's TV Burp" is to be the subject of a knitting book acquired by Anova. Katie Cowan, publisher for Anova's Collins & Brown imprint, bought world English-language rights for The K Factor from Avalon... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #show called


Retailers finalise World Book Night plans

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 24/02/2011 - 09:42 Final preparations are underway for a medley of events planned to celebrate World Book Night, with independent and national retailers planning to host author readings, quizzes and book swaps. On 5th March, 20,000 participants... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #events planned #5th march #million books #adult literature


W&N buys Joanna Lumley memoir

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 24/02/2011 - 09:39 Weidenfeld & Nicolson has bought rights to an illustrated memoir by actress Joanna Lumley, which will be published this autumn. Michael Dover, Orion's outgoing non-fiction editorial in chief bought world rights from Anthony... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bought rights #illustrated memoir #anthony goff


Trade gears up for World Book Day

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 15:42 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #trade gears


Usborne buys Gym Stars series

Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 08:30 Usborne has acquired a new series about gymnastics from debut author Jane Lawes. Fiction director Rebecca Hill acquired world English Language rights to the Gym Stars series from Sarah Molloy at A M Heath. The first two books Summertime and Somersaults... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Michael O'Mara to publish book on sitcom pioneers

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 21/02/2011 - 08:47 Michael O'Mara has acquired an anthology about the writers of "Hancock's Half Hour" and "Steptoe and Son", dubbed "the fathers of the British sitcom". Commissioning editor Kate Moore bought world rights with Elly James of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publish book


HC buys children's trilogy

Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Mon, 21/02/2011 - 15:24 HarperCollins Children’s Books has acquired three titles aimed at girls aged nine-and-over, billed as "Chocolat for young girls". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #titles aimed #young girls


Indies could earn as much as 30% from books sold via Gardners' Hive

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 18/02/2011 - 16:30 Book wholesaler Gardners has begun consulting with independent booksellers over the direction of its consumer website, with one option revealing that booksellers could earn as much as 30% when books are sold at their full RRP.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #books sold #independent booksellers #begun consulting #consumer website


OverDrive Library E-book Reader Now Optimized for IPad

OverDrive Media Console--the iPhone app that lets users check out and read ebooks from their local libraries--has been upgraded to a universal app optimized for... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #iphone app #read ebooks


Atwood takes stage at TOC and tells publishers to keep feeding their authors

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 16/02/2011 - 07:06 Author Margaret Atwood used her Tools of Change keynote speech to warn the industry not to eliminate authors, and make sure they are paid enough to "pay for the cheese sandwiches". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tells publishers


Daily Telegraph votes The Book Hive best indie in Britain

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 15/02/2011 - 08:49 The Book Hive in Norwich has been voted the best bookshop in Britain, according to a Daily Telegraph survey. More than 18,000 people voted across 10 categories in a bid to find the best small shops in Britain. The awards,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book hive #small shops #national chains


HarperCollins Children's Books acquires four

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 14/02/2011 - 17:21 HarperCollins Childrens Books publishing director Helen Mackenzie Smith has bought her first books since joining the publisher from Random House earlier this year. She bought four books by picture author and illustrator Rachel... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #books acquires #harpercollins children #world rights #literary agency


Authors calls for moratorium on library closures

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 11/02/2011 - 08:28 An open letter to culture secretary Jeremy Hunt and culture minister Ed Vaizey calling for a halt to library closures after the success of last weekend's protests has been signed by high-profile authors including Sarah... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #terry jones #kathy lette #jackie kay #malorie blackman #philip pullman #kate mosse #organisations including #reading agency #book groups #royal society


Barbara Cartland is latest author to be wooed by digital

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 11/02/2011 - 07:59 The estate of the romance writer Barbara Cartland has fallen to the embrace of digital, in a move that sees her print publisher suffering a painful rejection. About a quarter of Cartland's extensive ouevre is to be published... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barbara cartland #latest author #published digitally #ebook format


Beautiful Books acquires two "major" autumn titles

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 10/02/2011 - 08:00 Beautiful Books has acquired two "major" non-fiction titles for autumn 2011, with one revisiting Orwell's Wigan Pier and another looking at one of the first people to recognise the Young British Artists (YBA). Publisher... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #non-fiction titles