As publishers vie to persuade us to pack their titles for the holidays, we chart the evolution of the ’beach read’Summer reads, beach reads, holiday reads … at this time of year, the publishing world works itself into a sweat trying to force its novels into our carry-on luggage, or over the ether on to our Kindles. There are more books sold in the summer than during any other season: the well-established publishing calendar tends to see hardbacks released in the autumn to be given as gifts at Christmas, then repackaged as paperbacks in late spring. As Donna Harrington-Lueker sets out in her history of the beach read, Books for Idle Hours, the summer publishing rush is at least a century old, and has typically aimed “airy and froth-like” books on “young ladies” (the quote is from an 1888 work on summer books by Arlo Bates). The summer fiction market is changing, though, with more and more “serious”, “literary” novels showing up where once there were only thrillers and crime novels, bonkbusters and romances. So it is that Normal People by Sally Rooney is currently piled high on the tables of WH Smith’s Travel alongside Lee Child, Jodi Picoult and Bernard Cornwell.I’m aware of how contentious and porous discussions of genre can be. Generic labels, though, are the terms that booksellers and publishers think in and for literary novels, the chances of summer success are still relatively slim. Tom Tivnan, managing editor of the Bookseller, points to Nielsen BookScan data that... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-07-14 07:00:23 UTC ]
David Walliams and Tony Ross' The World's Worst Parents (HarperCollins Children's) has notched up a fourth week as the UK Official Top 50 number one, selling 22,993 copies through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-27 18:50:07 UTC ]
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The author’s latest collection shows how few novelists seem to genuinely love human beings the way she does. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2020-07-21 19:06:23 UTC ]
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Author Mark Dawson has attracted criticism after bulk buying his own book gave him a high chart position. But that isn’t breaking any rulesFor any author, being able to describe yourself as a bona fide bestseller is key to conferring your career with a certain gravitas – and will often bring you... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-20 15:59:35 UTC ]
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Bookshops reopening since lockdown restrictions eased have boosted the market 18% in volume against the same period in 2019, with 14.6 million books sold since shop doors opened. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-17 09:17:49 UTC ]
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With bookshops still closed in parts of the UK, sales have surpassed last year’s numbers, with 3.8m print books sold in the last weekBritain’s readers have been emerging from lockdown to restock their bookshelves, with book sales – and particularly crime novels – booming in the three weeks since... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-07 16:17:09 UTC ]
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Today’s publishers are working to survive in a new reality where media consumption is up, but revenues are down. Let’s examine three ways publishers can thrive — not just survive — and prepare for success in the next normal. Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2020-06-30 20:16:23 UTC ]
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Blogger and influencer Caroline Hirons' Skincare (HQ) shifted just under 33,000 copies through Nielsen BookScan in its first week on sale to become just the second fashion and beauty title to claim the UK's Official Top 50 number one—and the first for over 18 years. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-30 16:39:05 UTC ]
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Last week some £33m worth of printed books were sold through the Nielsen BookScan universe, including for the first time since the end of March high street bookshops in England and Northern Ireland. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-25 23:28:04 UTC ]
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After 12 long weeks, bookshops re-opened in England last week—and the book-buying public unquestionably chose bookshops. The UK lockdown from 23rd March closed bricks-and-mortar shops across the country, with supermarkets the only physical outlets to buy a book and Amazon dominating online... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-25 17:57:17 UTC ]
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Reni Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Bloomsbury) has notched up a second week as the UK Official Top 50 number one, selling 34,211 copies through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-23 13:15:03 UTC ]
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Reni Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Audible Studios for Bloomsbury) has held the Audible weekly number one, the same week it topped the Nielsen BookScan TCM chart. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-19 10:08:40 UTC ]
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Reni Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Bloomsbury) has leapt into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, making her the first black British author to hit the weekly overall number one in the Nielsen BookScan era. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-16 07:29:33 UTC ]
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As Black Lives Matter protests take place across the world, the publishing world is rushing to support those ‘ignored by the mainstream’. Who is the mainstream, then?The publishing industry is stilted and archaic. I worked in it for seven years, and left due to reasons I can’t legally talk... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-11 09:44:22 UTC ]
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Two sequels which show how the Victorian novelist's stories can be adapted to reflect post-colonial narratives. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-06-08 16:19:12 UTC ]
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The sadness, exhaustion, anger and frustration that have been expressed by Black people across social media this week have, of course, been felt for centuries.But, by living so much through our screens right now, observing video footage, scrolling through reposted statements and infographics,... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-06-05 16:46:27 UTC ]
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Cultural Cross Sections Elena Poniatowska In this column that originally appeared in La Jornada, Elena Poniatowska considers the role of editors and talks with Diego Rabasa, founder of publisher Sexto Piso. Already precarious, the pandemic lockdown has... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
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Pandemic Dispatches Elena Poniatowska In this column that originally appeared in La Jornada, Elena Poniatowska considers the role of editors and talks with Diego Rabasa, founder of publisher Sexto Piso. Already precarious, the pandemic lockdown has made... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-06-03 21:05:48 UTC ]
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Books by authors including Reni Eddo-Lodge, Ibram X Kendi and Robin DiAngelo are selling out on both sides of the AtlanticBooks tackling racism and white supremacy by authors including Reni Eddo-Lodge, Ijeoma Oluo and Layla F Saad are selling out in Britain in the wake of eight days of protests... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-06-03 14:40:35 UTC ]
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Sally Rooney's Normal People (Faber) has bounced back to the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a second week across lockdown. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-01 21:09:57 UTC ]
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Although it was the nineteenth century when the novel arguably came into its own, with novelists like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and the Brontë sisters writing novels that are still widely read and studied today, the eighteenth century was the age in which the novel emerged as a... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2020-05-23 14:00:38 UTC ]
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