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 ]
The Girl on the Train (Black Swan) has run away with the Official UK Top 50 number one spot for a second week, selling 89,852 copies for £347,113, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. This is a 51.9% increase in volume on its first week at the top. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“For many, China is a black box,” said Ruediger Wischenbart, director of international affairs for BookExpo America, as part of his introduction to China By the Numbers, a panel discussion which sought to deliver straightforward data to those interested in the Chinese market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twelve vloggers have collectively racked up sales of more than £15m in the UK in just 18 months, according to figures from Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ilex Press, part of Octopus, will publish Superstars of YouTube: The 100% Unofficial Dot-to-Dot Book by Abi Daker in October 2016, featuring famous vloggers such as Zoella, Alfie Deyes and Dan and Phil. World rights are available. Zara Larcombe of Ilex said: “The popularity of YouTubers has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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We asked a few publishers which international titles they are especially excited to present to the publishing world at the London Book Fair this spring. The post Illustration to Thrillers, Fiction and Nonfiction: International Titles on Offer at London 2016 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lee Child’s Make Me (Bantam) has held the number one spot for a second consecutive week, selling 36,697 copies for £138,058, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WH Smith is fitting 100 of its UK branches with digital display screens in a bid to modernise its shop fronts. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Roald Dahl has scored his first ever Official Top 50 number one, as World Book Day title The Great Mouse Plot (Puffin) leapfrogged Cavan Scott’s The Escape: Star Wars (Egmont). The Great Mouse Plot, illustrated by Quentin Blake, sold 32,096 copies for £32,096, according to Nielsen BookScan’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books rose 5% in the week ended Feb. 28, 2016, over the similar week last year, at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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WH Smith is launching an exclusive book club with author and YouTube vlogger Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, this summer. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Epic novel, whose length has long discouraged readers, has made it on to the Bookseller’s top 50 after the BBC’s acclaimed new adaptationBritain is racing to address the fact that only 4% of Britons have read War and Peace, with Leo Tolstoy’s doorstopping epic entering the UK’s book charts for... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Joe “The Body Coach” Wicks has racked up six weeks as the UK Official Top 50 number one, as Lean in 15 (Bluebird) sold 35,694 copies for £286,235, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tony Ross was the biggest selling children’s illustrator in the UK in 2015, with value sales of his books totalling more than £9m, according to data from Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Research by the Bookseller shows that sales for the ‘big five’ UK publishers dropped in 2015Ebook sales for the UK’s five biggest publishers fell in 2015, according to a new report in the Bookseller, collectively declining 2.4%, to 47.9m units. It is the first drop in numbers of books sold in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Skip Skwarek, whose long tenure at Dial Books for Young Readers included roles as managing editor and associate publisher, died of pneumonia on January 15. He was 70. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The hottest category in 2015 was art/architecture/photography, which had a 60% increase in unit sales in 2015 over 2014 at outlets that report to Nielsen BookScan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Time Out will no longer produce any Time Out Guide Books in 2016, the company has confirmed. After the story was first reported by The Telegraph, spokesperson for the company said the decision had been taken “as part of the continued evolution of the business”. The guides' sales have been in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Regular readers of The Bookseller will be aware of the three trends driving the print renaissance: adult colouring books, clean eating titles and psychological thrillers. Thus far in 2015, total sales are up 6% year on year through Nielsen BookScan, with a good deal of that down to 2015 breakout... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing world has long seen programmatic as the realm of cheap, unsold inventory with far less revenue potential than what's sold through direct channels. But times are changing. Bauer Xcel Media, the U.S. arm the European magazine company, has shuttered its direct sales team in favor of... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2015-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Concerned that screen time is cannibalizing reading time? Consider this: 2015’s top-selling humor book for adults, per Nielsen BookScan, was written by a YouTube celebrity. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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