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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Science Fiction Tried to Warn Us about AI. Or Did It?, by Tom Gammarino Essay [email protected] Wed, 03/01/2023 - 03:46 Photo by NASA / Unsplash “All our AI Frankenstein stories,” the author writes, “warn us that AI will destroy us, but far... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-03-01 09:46:57 UTC ]
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Publisher Penguin Random House announced Friday it will publish "classic" versions of Roald Dahl's children's novels after it received criticism for cuts and rewrites that were intended to make the books suitable for modern readers. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2023-02-24 14:35:12 UTC ]
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Take a trip back in time without leaving your seat with 25 of the best historical fiction books of the past 10 years! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-02-21 11:34:00 UTC ]
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In a case of life (or something) imitating art, an award-winning publisher of science fiction says it’s being overrun with AI-generated work. Clarkesworld Magazine is no stranger to tales of artificial intelligence impacting society, but in a sad and wild case of life imitating art, the Hugo... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-02-21 09:59:00 UTC ]
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What is it about campus novels that makes us love them so? The campus has inspired many novelists over the years: Michael Chabon, Kazuo Ishiguro, Curtis Sittenfeld, Elif Batuman, Nabokov, to name just a few. Readers love these stories, too; “the campus novel” has become its own literary... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-14 09:53:34 UTC ]
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The Women’s Prize Trust hopes to make the first award in 2024, after research showed female writers were far less likely than men to be reviewed or win prizes The Women’s prize is to launch a non-fiction award to sit alongside its long-running fiction prize, in response to research that found... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-02-08 08:00:10 UTC ]
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We must recognise the critical importance of strong copyright law and fair remuneration, writes Christian ZimmermannArtists, illustrators and photographers have often led the way in embracing new technology. The concerns that creators such as Harry Woodgate have about AI programs (‘It’s the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-02-03 17:10:51 UTC ]
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No, kids CAN'T get the books being banned at libraries and bookstores, Mr. King. That, plus this week's book censorship news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-27 11:40:00 UTC ]
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Immerse yourself in sapphic historical fiction with these 20 must-read books like Mademoiselle Revolution and Notes of a Crocodile. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-23 11:37:00 UTC ]
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Having written and taught short stories for many years, I’ve become increasingly interested in writers who are pushing the edge of how “story” is defined. While “flash fiction” and “micro fiction” are buzzy terms, writing extremely short pieces is nothing new—as I tell my students, Poe did it,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-01-20 09:53:22 UTC ]
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I assume that at some point I must’ve told Dan Kois what to do. During the years he worked for me at the grand old Bull’s Head Bookshop on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus somewhere in the late ‘90s. I must’ve said, at least once, “Shelve. Show that customer to the cookbooks. Shut up.” If so, […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-01-17 09:54:33 UTC ]
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Dark academia isn't just for mysteries and thrillers-- you can find all the dark academia vibes you crave in science fiction and fantasy too! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-12 11:38:00 UTC ]
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Goodreads has released a list of its most anticipated science fiction and fantasy releases for 2023. Get your TBRs ready! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-11 18:35:26 UTC ]
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Fox News host Harris Faulkner’s ‘Faith Still Moves Mountains’ remains in the #1 spot on PW’s Religion Nonfiction Bestsellers list for December; Francine Rivers takes three spots on Religion Fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-11 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Meet mechanical dragons, security units, and wild robots in these incredible science fiction books all about robots. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-09 11:32:00 UTC ]
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This past summer, an auntie of mine dusted off an old cardboard box of books from a cluttered storage unit, and handed me a slim blue and gold paperback with soft, slightly frayed corners and a creased spine by Octavia E. Butler. I had never read science fiction that featured a Black girl being... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-12-28 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Whether you love spy fiction, romances, sprawling sagas, or even horror, there’s a new historical fiction book for you on this list, like In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-12-21 11:36:00 UTC ]
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Pathbreaking underground comix artist and editor Aline Kominsky-Crumb, whose work inspired a generation of women cartoonists, died from pancreatic cancer at home in Sauve, France on November 30. She was 74. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-12-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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More than 500 authors have signed a letter standing with the HarperCollins union as they reach of month of being on strike. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-12-12 18:27:00 UTC ]
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Stephen Carver, Guinevere Glasfurd, Brian Needham and Jo McMillan respond to Joanne Harris’s article about horribly low pay in the publishing worldRegarding Joanne Harris’s article (Horribly low pay is pushing out my fellow authors – and yes, that really does matter, 7 December), I guess I’m a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-12-11 17:07:25 UTC ]
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