On eve of Costa awards, experts warn that top books prizes are harming fiction

The dominance of three honours in the UK can be prohibitively expensive for small publishers, and end up discouraging risk-taking on ‘difficult’ authorsCutting-edge British literary fiction risks being undermined by its growing reliance on a handful of powerful book prizes, a leading literary agent has warned. But the associated costs of entering the biggest awards mean independent publishers willing to take risks on “difficult” works without obvious marketing potential are being shut out of contention.The warnings, from Jonny Geller of Curtis Brown, come as the Costa book of the year judges prepare to announce the shortlist for the £30,000 award. He said: “Literary fiction is under threat in this country due to a combination of factors – reluctance by major houses to take risks; a bottleneck in the distribution chain [and] diverse voices being ignored by a predominantly white, middle-class industry.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #curtis brown #costa book #literary fiction #major houses #diverse voices #predominantly white

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Grossman wins Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 07/06/2011 - 08:26 David Grossman's novel To the End of the Land (Jonathan Cape) has won this year's £4,000 Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize, trumping both the 2010 Booker and Costa winners. The judging panel, which included Michael Prodger,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #costa winners #judging panel #man booker-winner #amber eyes


Smiths News acquires Dawson Books

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 07/06/2011 - 09:49 Dawson Books has been bought by the parent company of book wholesaler Bertrams for £20m. Smiths News plc, which owns Bertrams, announced today (7th June) that the wholesaler and Dawson Books would be "fully integrated"... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dawson books #fair trading #deal means #increasing demands #digital products


Unbridled in 25 Cent E-book Promotion with ABA

Unbridled Books is partnering with the American Booksellers Association to promote the organization’s IndieCommerce program. For three days Unbridled is offering 25 of its titles in ebook format for 25 cents exclusively through the approximately 250 independent bookstores that are set up to sell... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ebook format


Browne warns "society will pay" for library closures

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 06/06/2011 - 08:59 The outgoing Children's Laureate Anthony Browne has warned society "will pay the price in the long term" for closing school and public libraries. In a letter to his successor, Browne urged them to campaign against their... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #public libraries #library closures #long term #school libraries


Unbound aims for 40 books in year one

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 03/06/2011 - 14:25 Unbound, a publishing platform that allows readers to choose what is published, was devised as a response to the “difficulties of the existing publishing model”, with the programme aiming to get 35 to 40 projects off the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing platform


New everyday philosophy title for Rider Books

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 03/06/2011 - 10:03 Rider Books has acquired a non-fiction book telling readers how to use philosophy to improve their everyday life by journalist and blogger Jules Evans. Rider Books commissioning editor Sue Lascelles bought world rights,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #everyday life #jonathan conway #paperback original


Two novelists win first Pratchett prize

Publication Date: Thu, 02/06/2011 - 07:30 Two novelists have been chosen as the winners of the inaugural Terry Pratchett Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now Prize. David Logan’s Half Sick of Shadows and Apocalypse Cow by Michael Logan (no relation) were chosen as joint winners by six judges... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #joint winners #tony robinson


People Wins Four min ‘Sales Executive of the Year’ Awards

People is the most profitable U.S. magazine and had an excellent, +5.6% ad-page advertising 2010, so it was appropriate that the magazine did very well at min's seventh "Sales Executive of the Year" awards breakfast Thursday morning (June 2) at New York's Grand Hyatt. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #year awards #grand hyatt


Orion acquires "genius" diet food book

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 02/06/2011 - 08:54 Orion has acquired The Pure Package: The Diet for Food Lovers by food and health entrepreneur Jennifer Irvine. Orion non-fiction editorial director Amanda Harris bought world rights to the title from agent Clare Hulton,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #orion acquires #creative genius


Madeleine tops charts again as Bond misses number one

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 01/06/2011 - 14:53 James Bond has failed in his latest mission: to top the bestseller charts. Despite a bargain £5 deal at Tesco (75% off the £19.99 r.r.p.), sales of Jeffery Deaver's 007 novel, Carte Blanche (Hodder & Stoughton), were... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bestseller charts #jeffery deaver


Buzz books at BEA

Written By: Gayle Feldman Publication Date: Wed, 01/06/2011 - 09:09 There was no one standout book of the fair at last week's Book Expo America however, talk continued to dominate the stands and aisles of those likely to succeed in the months to come. Here are some of the books highlighted by... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #buzz books #books highlighted


Three in 10 households do not contain a book

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 01/06/2011 - 09:14 Three in 10 children live in households that do not contain a single book, according to a new survey. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #single book


Lonely Planet brings photo travel books to iBookstore

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 31/05/2011 - 16:09 Lonely Planet has brought three of its photo-heavy travel books to Apple’s iBookstore for the first time from today. The travel publisher is offering Lonely Planet's Best in Travel for free until 14th June with The Travel Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #apples ibookstore #travel publisher #travel book #lonely planet


Publishers Starting to Name-Check iTunes "Top Grossing Apps"

From Yahoo's The Cutline: At a panel during the TechCrunch conference in New York last week, Greg Clayman, publisher of News Corp.'s Daily iPad publication, said the application had "almost a million downloads" since its launch in February. "This puts us in the large pantheon of large apps,"... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers starting


Duffy stages benefit for Poetry Book Society

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 31/05/2011 - 08:00 Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy has organised a benefit for the Poetry Book Society, which faces an uncertain future following the withdrawal of all its Arts Council funding. The event, to be held at London's Institute of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #uncertain future #feature readings #george szirtes #imtiaz dharker


Edinburgh indie proposes World Book Night alternative

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 31/05/2011 - 16:21 An Edinburgh independent has proposed an alternative to World Book Night next year, where readers buy tickets to attend book swap events across the country. Vanessa Robertson, co-owner of the Edinburgh Bookshop, said she has... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #buy books #edinburgh bookshop #received interest #money raised #put back #reading groups


Book stores will close if no buyers

ADMINISTRATORS for the troubled book retailers Borders and Angus & Robertson have warned both chains may close if buyers can't be found. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2011-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book stores #angus robertson


E-Book Prices Fuel Outrage--and Innovation

A pricing war among the big guns of the book industry is causing pain at the checkout screen, but sprouting new opportunities for writers and readers. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big guns #book industry


E-Business Is the Buzz at Book Fair

This year’s BookExpo America, an annual publishing business trade show, is full of talk of e-reading and other shifts in the industry. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book fair


Second week at the top for Madeleine memoir

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 24/05/2011 - 15:55 Kate McCann's Madeleine (Bantam Press) was comfortably the bestselling book at UK booksellers for the second week running, selling 63,909 copies in its first full week on sale. It brings total sales of the hardback edition of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bestselling book #week running #full week #uk booksellers #hardback edition #non-fiction titles #records began #delia smith #david beckham #tony blair