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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Profile m.d. Andrew Franklin has defended UK trade publishers against criticism that they are not producing good non-fiction books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Contrary to Sam Leith’s complaints last week, commercial publishers continue to take risks, and put out great and original workIn his article last week, Sam Leith deplored the state of mainstream trade publishing, saying it was “getting dumber by the day”, in contrast to the university presses... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Re your thoughtful editorial (20 June) on the future of important British political archives: the Churchill Archives have been carefully digitised over the past four years and have been published by Bloomsbury Academic on behalf of the archives. To mark the 50th anniversary of Winston... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Christy Awards for excellence in fiction were presented Monday at the Christian retail show in Orlando. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Emily Robertson has been appointed as editor for non-fiction at Viking. Robertson, who was previously at Hodder, will be acquiring across narrative and illustrated non-fiction at the Penguin General imprint. She will report to Viking publisher Joel Rickett. Viking said Robertson would help... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When it comes to high-calibre non-fiction, risk-averse trade publishing houses are producing too many copycat ‘smart thinking’ books that promise more than they deliver. But praise should be given to the university pressesAmid the ambient wails of doom about the publishing industry, I’d like to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"The trouble with magic," wrote children's author and activist Zetta Elliott in an award-winning 2013 Jeunesse essay, "is that it appears to exist in realms to which only certain children belong." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The reputation of an author writing a continuation novel in a well-established brand series is just as important as the brand itself, publicists have told The Bookseller. Novelist Sophie Hannah added that authors who are fans of the series they are writing in can channel the original author... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bonnier Publishing is looking to expand its fiction division and is recruiting for five managerial roles. The division, which includes children’s imprints Hot Key Books and Piccadilly Press and adult fiction imprints Zaffre and Twenty7, is looking to hire a director/head of export sales, key... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Did you know every two days, humans generate as much data as we did from the dawn of history up until 2003? AJ Steiger on how the internet means teenagers are more connected and empowered than ever before… but more vulnerable too – and how our books reflect this dualityThink about this for a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Malaysia, publishers including Buku Fixi and Legen Press, are capitalizing on social media to find writers of pulp fiction, selling 1m+ copies. The post Pulp Fiction as a Way of Escape in Malaysia appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Walker Books has acquired a children’s non-fiction series that helps children explore science, maths, politics and geography through football. The books are written by Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton and the first, The Football Academy, will be published in hardback in September 2016. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Studio 28, the digital-publishing arm of Curtis Brown Literary & Talent Agency, is to publish its first original title. The Swiss Spy by Alex Gerlis will be published as an ebook on Monday 1st June. Studio 28 officially launched in March this year, and will publish in the UK and other... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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German writer and director Jenny Erpenbeck has won the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for The End of Days (Portobello Books), translated by Susan Bernofsky, in the prize’s 25th anniversary year. Erpenbeck and Bernofsky were presented with the £10,000 award, which they will share, at a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alexander McCall Smith has won this year’s Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Fatty O’Leary’s Dinner Party, published by Birlinn imprint Polygon. This is the first time McCall Smith, the author of No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series published by Little, Brown, has appeared on the comic... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Galley Beggar Press (GBP) will launch a non-fiction list in early 2016 with a memoir by novelist Toby Litt and a title from début writer Megan Dunn. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite the much-discussed 15% drop in Christian fiction print unit sales from 2013 to 2014, as reported by Nielsen BookScan, publishers aren’t sounding the category’s death knell yet. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publishers have taken the majority of spots on the 15-strong longlist for the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize 2015. The prize celebrates great British fiction and each year awards a group of eight writers with £5,000 each. This is the first time the prize has made public a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lee Child and Paula Hawkins have given Transworld two chart-toppers in this week's bestseller lists. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This June, Canadian ebook retailer Kobo will publish its first original ebook when it releases Kevin Donovan's 'Jian Ghomeshi: Secret Life.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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