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 ]
Patricia Cornwell’s ‘Quantum’ is the curtain-raiser for a series that takes the bestselling author into a new realm of exploration and storytelling. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson ‘I’m Doing It To Put a Face on Space’ ou don’t expect an author with more than 100 million... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-10-21 05:30:10 UTC ]
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Booksellers from WH Smith, Waterstones, Sam Read Books, Libreria and West End Lane Books are to join judging panels for The Costa Book Awards 2019. The booksellers will select shortlists and decide the winners across five categories, in a year which sees the highest number of submissions to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-17 00:41:12 UTC ]
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News and Events WLT Photo by J. Foley Opale World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, announced late Wednesday evening that Ismail Kadare is the 26th laureate of the renowned... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2019-10-16 22:21:35 UTC ]
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WH Smith has announced it is to buy US indie travel retailer Marshall Retail Group (MRG) for $400m. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-16 21:24:24 UTC ]
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Philip Pullman's The Secret Commonwealth (Penguin/David Fickling) has maintained its number one spot in the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Fiction top 20 for a second week, while the current UK Official Top 50 number one through Nielsen BookScan's TCM, Bill Bryson's The Body (Transworld), also held... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-15 17:51:08 UTC ]
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It’s clear that the publishing world needs more diversity. Why do some see this as compromising quality?Let me tell you a story. A few years ago, months after this riven old island voted to leave the European Union, and days after an ex-reality TV host became the leader of the free world, a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-11 15:37:44 UTC ]
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As an abashed former News Corp employee (thankfully at HarperCollins, one of the Murdoch portfolio’s least-offensive holdings), HBO’s "Succession" is my straight shot of Sunday-night dopamine. The show’s great even if you aren’t attuned to the devastating, thinly veiled media and publishing... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-11 11:22:17 UTC ]
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As an abashed former News Corp employee (thankfully at HarperCollins, one of the Murdoch portfolio’s least-offensive holdings), HBO’s "Succession" is my straight shot of Sunday-night dopamine. The show’s great even if you aren’t attuned to the devastating, thinly veiled media and publishing... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-11 11:22:17 UTC ]
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Philip Pullman's The Secret Commonwealth (Penguin/David Fickling) has soared 15 places to top the Amazon Charts Most-Sold: Fiction chart, in the same week it sold 54,301 copies in hardback through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-09 20:59:35 UTC ]
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The founder and editor of literary magazine Strong Words on his appetite for tales of financial chicanery and why he won’t be returning to Jane AustenEd Needham is the editor of Strong Words, a magazine about books that he writes and edits on his own from his flat in Camden Town, a feat that has... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-05 17:00:51 UTC ]
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Petina Gappah’s “Out of Darkness, Shining Light” is the latest example of a new generation of African novelists reinventing historical fiction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-10-03 17:21:24 UTC ]
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Petina Gappah’s “Out of Darkness, Shining Light” is the latest example of a new generation of African novelists reinventing historical fiction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-10-03 17:21:00 UTC ]
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Petina Gappah’s “Out of Darkness, Shining Light” is the latest example of a new generation of African novelists reinventing historical fiction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-10-03 17:21:00 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments (Vintage) has spent a third week in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 23,078 copies through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-01 11:27:57 UTC ]
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In 2012, a colleague and I decided to curate an interview series for the website where we then worked; we boldly and cleverly titled said series The Future of American Fiction. Yes, imagine it in (internet) lights. Per the title, we asked a handful of young and formally or thematically... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-30 08:48:58 UTC ]
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In part 3 of "steal these screenwriting secrets," we delve into marketing and query letters. In other words, these are screenwriting secrets to steal after you write and specifically related to crafting killer query letters. The post Psst: Novelists – Steal These Screenwriting Secrets! Part 3... Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2019-09-30 01:46:56 UTC ]
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The 2019 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature's 15-title longlist includes seven debut novelists and was chosed from 90 submissions this year. The post DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Releases Its Longlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-09-27 11:30:31 UTC ]
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Joanne Harris has spoken out against an “absurd” focus on debuts in the publishing world. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-23 16:30:46 UTC ]
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As a lowly editorial assistant, Aidy Bryant is hustling to break into the publishing world on the Hulu series Shrill. So it's fitting that the streaming service is making journalism more accessible for everyone. For today only, Hulu is offering everyone free access to all of Adweek's content.... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2019-09-23 04:01:50 UTC ]
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IF YOU ASK a group of crime novelists to list the most exciting stylists working today, Jamie Mason’s name is bound to come up. In many thrillers, the language is workmanlike — plain, even. The suspense is the point; the sentences are the delivery system. In Jamie’s books, however, the words... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-09-22 19:00:08 UTC ]
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