Sebastian Faulks gave his former Sunday Telegraph boss, John Thompson, a warm send-off in his tribute yesterday, "A nurturing force in the final days of Fleet Street".It reinforced the picture drawn of Thompson in the more formal Daily Telegraph obituary following Thompson's death, aged 93, on 24 November.Thompson, who edited the Sunday Telegraph for 10 years from 1976, was mild of manner and ran a kindly regime but had "an inner steel", wrote Faulks. This characteristic was necessary, as both Faulks and the obituary pointed out, because of the difficulties he faced in producing a paper in Fleet Street's final days of continual union disputes.Faulks pointed out that it was difficult to know Thompson well because "he was a diffident man who did not invite intimacy." It reminded me of a description of him by Henry Porter as "retiring to the point of joining a trappist order." But Faulks and the Telegraph's obituarist overlooked Thompson's most extraordinary, and disastrous, decision as an editor. In 1978, the Sunday Telegraph negotiated the serialisation of an autobiography by a former Liberal MP, Peter Bessell, who was a chief prosecution witness in the trial of Jeremy Thorpe, his party's leader. Thorpe was accused of conspiring to murder a male model, Norman Scott, who was said to have blackmailed him over their alleged gay relationship.Two months after Thorpe was charged, Thompson agreed a contract with Bessell which stated that he would receive £50,000 for extracts... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#public life
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 18/04/2011 - 09:19 Authors including Iain M Banks and Michael Moorcock have written to the BBC's director general Mark Thompson, attacking the treatment of genre fiction in its recent World Book Night coverage. In total 85 authors, across the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#genre fiction
#science fiction
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Fri, 15/04/2011 - 09:05 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 09:57 Like for like book sales at W H Smith have fallen by 3% in a "soft" market as the retailer reported a 3% increase in profits to £64m. In its interim management statement, for the six months to 28th February, the group's sales... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book market
#childrens books
#book sales
#retailer reported
#3% increase
#28th february
Written By: Benedicte Page and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 16:09 A libraries boss has admitted cutting spending on books is "the easiest" way to achieve savings, as wholesaler Bertrams reports its library sales have slumped by a quarter. Results put out by parent Smiths... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#benedicte page
#library sales
#operating profits
Written By: Benedicte Page, Philip Jones and Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 09:28 Bricks and mortar bookshops in the United States face a grim future, with the heaviest book buyers choosing to buy digitally, delegates at London Book Fair were told. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#benedicte page
#philip jones
#mortar bookshops
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 08:00 Beautiful Books has signed exclusive world rights at London Book Fair with The Real Man Pizza Company to produce a series of cookbooks. The deal was signed between managing director Simon Petherick and Real Man m.d. Tom... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#real man
#digital formats
#beautiful books
#offer readers
This year's London Book Fair is taking place at a time of unique change. The shift from the printed word to the downloaded text is accelerating; chains and standalone bookstores are closing down around the world; and the very future of the book "entity" is being challenged by commentators and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#taking place
#printed word
It doesn't seem so long ago that we used to gawp at the occasional postage stamps that would appear on a letter from the USSR: oversized, bright images extolling the successes of Communist endeavour. Soviet books in contrast were distinctly drab affairs whose covers would have appealed to few in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#long ago
With Russia the market focus country at the Fair, Russian publishers will be at Earls Court in force and there will be many associated literary and cultural events. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#selling rights
#russian publishers
#earls court
#cultural events
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 09:06 The publisher behind The Bookseller is launching an ambitious new quarterly consumer book magazine and website this June, We Love This Book. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bookseller group
In 2009, the number of self-published books released in the US exceeded the number of new titles from conventional publishers for the first time in history. Now, a similar pattern is emerging overseas. Until recently, costly transatlantic shipping, different trim sizes and business models, and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#trim sizes
#business models
#foreign markets
#vice versa
E-books, mobile apps and e-learning modules are hot. That's the conclusion from a quick survey of 18 content services vendors operating in India. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#content services
#mobile apps
#quick survey
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 11:35 New awards for Best Racing Book and Best Sports Book Retailer will be up for grabs at this year's British Sports Book Awards 2011. W H Smith, Amazon, Waterstone's and Foyles are all in the mix to win the best sports retailer... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#football book
#rugby book
#publicity campaign
In 2001, 81% of publishers were already preparing for the coming ebook (BML research March 2001). Indeed they thought it would come quickly, with half predicting ebooks would deliver more than 10% of total book income by 2006. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#open mind
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 ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book sales
#volume sales
#book trade
#benedicte page
#nielsen bookscan
Until recently, reading a book had resisted technological advances, but like everything else, this has started to evolve and now we are embracing technology. Books are now more easily available in electronic format and sharing your opinion about a title print or ebook is more popular. So... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book lovers
#social networking
#electronic format
Reading reader Greg Jacobs is interested in putting books other than those available from the iBookstore on his iPad. He writes: Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#putting books
Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 10:49 Quadrille has acquired a baking title by Fiona Cairns, who is to make the wedding cake for Prince William and Kate Middletons impending nuptials. Editorial director Anne Furniss acquired world rights to The Birthday Cake Book from agent Heather Holden... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#prince william
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 08:48 A record number of exhibitors are set to showcase at the London International Book Fair next week, as one publishing m.d. reported a "bouncy and optimistic" mood ahead of the three-day event and digital conference. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#record number
#digital conference
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 16:04 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#part ii