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 ]
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As publishers worry about the shrinking number of physical bookstores, Levy Home Entertainment is making the case that mass merchants will be a viable alternative not only to showcase books but to sell them as well. In a presentation at the Book Industry Study Group's May 5 "Making Information... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Audio Publishers Association is set to kick off its 14th annual June Is Audiobook Month campaign, designed to celebrate the industry and bring greater awareness of audiobooks. As formats and consumer habits have changed over the past 10 yearssometimes dramaticallyaudio publishers have kept... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 10:47 Canongate has bought a foul-mouthed gift book for exhausted parents, which has been the subject of intense hype in the United States. M.d. Jamie Byng and senior editor Francis Bickmore bought UK and Commonwealth rights,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 13/05/2011 - 08:30 The Who guitarist Pete Townshend and "Little Britain" star David Walliams are the latest figures to have memoirs put in front of publishers, as the trade shows no sign of losing its appetite for celebrity autobiographies. Ed... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 11/05/2011 - 09:54 Hachette has the lion's share of titles featured in the W H Smith Summer Richard and Judy Book Club list. Five out of the eight books featured in the celebrity couple's high street retailer promotion are from the publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 11/05/2011 - 15:41 America wants to hold its own World Book Night following in the footsteps of the UK. The American Booksellers Association said it is "exploring" the possibility of replicating "a version" of the event, which saw 20,000 people... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 11/05/2011 - 08:22 Sainsbury's has singled out book sales as an area of strong growth in its most recent financial year, and has said that it will now devote more new space to "non-food ranges". For the 52 weeks to 19th March 2011, the retailer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 10/05/2011 - 15:50 Book sales bounced back after a dire seven days in the week of the Royal Wedding in which physical book sales plummeted to an eight-year low. According to Nielsen BookScan data, spending in the seven days to 7th May was up... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Tue, 10/05/2011 - 08:24 Random House imprint Yellow Jersey Press has scored a hat trick of wins at the British Sports Book Awards, with W H Smith also taking home the best sports book retailer prize. Catrine Clay's Trautmann's Journey won best biography, while Promised Lane by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 10/05/2011 - 08:59 Book sales for April were "well down" in a month where general UK retail sales rose by 5.2% on last year. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) today (10th May) reported like-for-like sales were up 5.2% in value from April... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-10 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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And the winner of this years Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre is... the Drama Book Shop, an independent New York City bookstore dating to 1917, 30 years older than the Tony Awards. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 09/05/2011 - 15:19 BBC Radio 5 Live has launched a Blokey Book Club to encourage men to read more fiction. The Mens Hour show formed the club, which will ask listeners to recommend and comment on their favourite fiction through the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The editor Robert Loomis, who is retiring from Random House after 54 years, is known for nurturing writers including Maya Angelou, William Styron, Shelby Foote and Calvin Trillin. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In starting Bookish.com, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group USA and Hachette Book Group hope to provide one-stop shopping for books and information about authors. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A $5 million lawsuit against Simon & Schuster over a book by former President Jimmy Carter was dropped by the plaintiffs on Thursday, three months after it was filed. The plaintiffs in the class-action suit had argued that Mr. Carter's "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," about the Arab-Israeli... Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-05-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble Inc. will unveil a new electronic book reader later this month, the bookseller told analysts and investors on Wednesday, according to a federal filing released after the close of trading. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 04/05/2011 - 15:53 WH Smith customers have voted Youre Next by Gregg Hurwitz as the best read from Richard and Judys Spring Book Club titles. The thriller, published by Sphere, came top of an online poll asking readers to judge which of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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All of those Amazon Kindle sales -- and, presumably, sales of competitive ebook readers from Barnes & Noble and Apple -- have made an impact at publisher Simon & Schuster. The CBS unit says Q1 digital sales doubled over the previous year, and now represent 18 percent of the company's the... Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 03/05/2011 - 08:30 High street retailer Argos intends to increase its online book range from 500 to 5,000 titles over the next month. The chain store, known for stocking a large range of non-food products, launched its books category on its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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