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 ]
Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 16:04 Dawn Frenchs début novel, A Tiny Bit Marvellous (Penguin), retains its position at the summit of The Official UK Top 50 week-on-week, thanks to a promotional appearance on ITVs This Morning, and a £2.99 if you spend £10... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 10/06/2011 - 08:23 Book Club Associates has announced plans for 30% growth over the next year after it was bought by the Webb Group in a deal which could potentially see its books sold through Next and Grattan retail catalogues. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Larry Hackett, managing editor of People magazine, has been re-elected president of the American Society of Magazine Editors today at its annual meeting. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Katie Allen and Philip Stone Publication Date: Wed, 08/06/2011 - 19:15 Debut author Téa Obreht has won the Orange Prize for Fiction for The Tigers Wife (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), beating Man Booker-shortlisted bookies favourite Room by Emma Donoghue (Picador). Obreht, aged 25,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's been two years since PW took the first snapshot of the publishing world on Twitter. In May 2009 we looked at the followings 16 imprints and publishers had on the social networking site. At the time, a lot of imprints weren't even on Twitter, and we thought the word "twittering" was an... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is the time ripe to place a bet on a brighter and profitable future for the grand dame of the publishing world? Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Readers Digest has named Matthew Goldenberg general manager of Readersdigest.com. Goldenberg comes from Bloomberg, where he acted as managing editor and operations director at Bloomberg LP. At Readers Digest, Goldenberg will oversee digital operations and continue to push forward the brands... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 10/05/2011 - 16:38 W H Smith has signed an exclusive deal to extend the Richard and Judy Book Club until 2015. The high street retailer has signed a contract with the celebrity couple to personally read and recommend eight fiction titles to WHS... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Thu, 21/04/2011 - 07:45 Egmont UK remains acquisitive but is predicting a "flat" year ahead. The specialist children's publisher reported sales down nearly 8% at £45.9m for the 12 months to 31st December 2010 (£49.7m in 2009) although pretax profits... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The two reports measure different aspects of the book market and one is far more comprehensive than the other, but figures released last week by Nielsen BookScan and the Association of American Publishers showed a trade market where ebooks are thriving and print books are struggling. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 15/04/2011 - 15:24 Booksellers have suffered the worst March in six years, in one of the worst months across retail in almost 20 years. High street and indie retailers seem to be particularly feeling the Spring pinch, after March sales reached a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Philip Stone Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 09:40 Book sales have slumped on both sides of the Atlantic as the British and American markets experienced year-on-year declines in the first quarter of 2011. Book sales in the UK were down 3.1% to £324m, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Each year the publishing world seems to become enamored with a new strategy that will redefine the industry. In 2011, that's marketing services. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 05/04/2011 - 09:38 Profits surged to £7.5m at Quercus last year, as the independent announced HarperCollins publishing director Susan Watt is to set up a new imprint called Heron Books. In its financial results for the year to 31st December,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Thu, 17/03/2011 - 15:51 Creative agency Hothouse Fiction is expanding its team to increase output and extend its international sales, especially into the US. Hothouse, which develops commercial series fiction for children aged five years and older,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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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 ]
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There may not be a ton of enthusiasm in the publishing world for Apple's new policy for subscription services--particularly when it comes to giving Cupertino a... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Gayle Feldman Kindle sales of a book could be as much as 80% of its physical sales, Amazon's head of Kindle content told Digital Book World. Russ Grandinetti's speech, 'To Help Publishers Optimize E-book Sales', coincided with the launch of Kindle Singles on Amazon's Kindle store.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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