Karl Sabbagh says small publishers face with huge obstacles with selling books and even letting anyone know they exist; plus a descendant of Dr Miles Marley sets the record straightWith reference to your leader on literary fiction (28 December), as a small publisher we are faced with huge obstacles in the way of selling our books or even letting anyone know our titles exist, however good they are. Last year we published an excellent novel called To the Lake, by a Russian writer, Yana Vagner. This had sold over 100,000 copies in Russia, and is being made into a TV series there. It has won prizes throughout Europe, and been translated into half a dozen languages, with sales outside Russia running into tens of thousands. We paid an advance to the author, a fee to a translator, and typesetting, cover design and printing costs, a total of about £9,000. We sent at least 50 copies out to major periodicals, newspapers and broadcast media in the hope of getting reviews, but there were none. The one thing we couldn’t afford was advertising, at a cost of £1,000 or so for a quarter page in a literary journal and far more in widely selling newspapers. So far, we have sold 64 copies. Can anyone wonder why we don’t publish more such books?Karl SabbaghManaging director, Skyscraper Publications• Dr Christopher Goulding (Letters, 26 December) may regard Barry West’s “theory” about Dickens’ use of the name Marley as tenuous; in our family we regard it as long-established fact. I am a... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From crime fiction to medical advice with a sense of humor, both well-known authors and new voices were among the bestselling books in Germany last year. The post Germany’s Bestselling Books of 2016: Fiction and Nonfiction appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anne Perry is set to join Simon & Schuster UK as editorial director of adult fiction from her role as commissioning editor at Hodder. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thank you for telling us once again which books we need to read over the next 12 months (Book ahead, Review, 7 January). But how do you know? Presumably no one at the Guardian has read all these books, since they have not yet been published. Nor, it is fair to assume, have you read all the other... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The dominance of three honours in the UK can be prohibitively expensive for small publishers, and end up discouraging risk-taking on ‘difficult’ authorsCutting-edge British literary fiction risks being undermined by its growing reliance on a handful of powerful book prizes, a leading literary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all,” Henry David Thoreau once wisely counseled. It is in that spirit that we offer this list. As happens every year, 2016 was full of widely praised novels, but the 15 fiction titles listed here are the ones the Monitor’s... Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Religion fiction publishers discuss the different sales strategies surrounding Christmas-themed fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vanity Fair’s new subscriptions increased 100 fold after the president-elect tweeted without evidence that the magazine is failing. The post Fact Check: Vanity Fair’s Numbers Are Not “Way Down, Big Trouble, Dead!” appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2016-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Selling well in France, controversial François Mitterand books, love letters for the former president's mistress, are on offer to international publishers. The post Hot Books for the Holidays in Paris: Love Letters to a Mistress appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author/illustrator and Swindon Libraries Patron Steve Antony pens an open letter in response to plans to close 10 of the borough's 15 libraries Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers Marina Benjamin and Joanna Walsh, author/illustrator Oliver Kugler and poet Jack Underwood are on the shortlist for a new prize for creative non-fiction writing. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Does a Lithuanian author stand a chance in the ocean of books on British bookshop shelves?’ Noir Press’ Stephan Collishaw says he has a good answer. Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė is the Vilnius-born, 39-year-old author who won the 2009 European Union Prize for Literature for her ‘Kvėpavimas į... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#english readers
A political manifesto written by Rebecca Solnit in 2004 has received a boost after the election, with publisher Haymarket Books giving away 30,500 ebooks and selling out of print copies. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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We read with interest Jane Martinson’s article (Paul Dacre to step down as chair of journalists’ code of practice committee, 1 December). The article notes that culture secretary Karen Bradley has launched a 10-week consultation into press regulation. As teachers and researchers in media and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Erri De Luca has won the 24th annual Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award for The Day Before Happiness (Allen Lane). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a year plagued by racial tensions, Colson Whitehead took the National Book Award for fiction for his novel "The Underground Railroad," a visceral and creative imagining of a female slave's escape from slavery. Although it takes years to write a book and bring it to publication, the National... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Further action against media in Turkey prompts international publishers' criticism; and Amazon KDP names a new recipient of its Spanish-language award. The post International Notes: IPA Blasts New Turkish Censorship; Amazon Awards Spanish-Language Fiction appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookshops have expressed anger that they can no longer get hold of the 2001 edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for customers ahead of the film release next week. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orion Publishing Group has appointed Emad Akhtar, senior commissioning editor at Michael Joseph, as publishing director for Orion Fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ebury imprint Del Rey has acquired The One, an "original and modern take on a psychological thriller" by John Marrs. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Love to read historical fiction? Take our quiz and find out how well you really know the genre. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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