Stories should come from all parts of society – not just from the well heeled and the middle classLiterary fiction, you might think, is in wonderful health. Book festivals, from Edinburgh and Wigtown in Scotland, to Hay-on-Wye in Wales, to Cheltenham and Bath in England, are flourishing. There is certainly no shortage of people eager to become authors of literary fiction: creative writing courses have proliferated. The British, you could argue, are more at home tucked up with a decent novel than with any other artform. Britain is, after all, the country of Austen, the Brontës and Eliot; of Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith and Hilary Mantel.Look at the facts, though, and a more worrying picture emerges. It is well known that financing for the arts in Britain suffered a great blow after the global financial crisis: public funding for cultural organisations took a hit, the art market was severely knocked, and spending on theatre and concerts became impossible for many. A decade on there have been some signs of a recovery, albeit patchy and fragile. But this is not so for sales of literary fiction, which have not recovered from the recession. According to new research commissioned by Arts Council England, the problem affects literary fiction in particular. Genre fiction is doing better, dominating digital sales (the popularisation of the e-reader followed swiftly on the heels of the financial crisis; Amazon energetically promoted its Kindle for Christmas in 2010). The arrival of the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 15/04/2011 - 08:56 An e-fiction venture aimed at tweens and teenagers is being launched by packager Discovery Books in May. Called Fiction Express, it will invite teenagers to buy books in instalments and to vote to decide the direction of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 10:36 Barbara Kingsolver's Orange Prize-winning The Lacuna (Faber) has been shortlisted for the 100,000 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The 10-strong list, announced this morning (12th April), also includes three from Irish authors, Brooklyn by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 15:36 Publishers called for more retail and library support for children's poetry as Chris Holifield, director of the Poetry Book Society, warned that children's poetry "faced extinction" during a seminar about children's poetry... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 08:30 HarperCollins has hired agent Nick Canham to head up its sports list, as it makes a number of promotions in its non-fiction team. Canham joins from Roar Global and will also commission general non-fiction as editorial director.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 09:01 Angry Robot has made two fantasy fiction acquisitions, one a swashbuckling adventure and the other set in Elizabethan England. Both deals were signed by publishing director Marc Gascoigne for world English rights for physical,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 05/04/2011 - 16:11 Coronet will publish "Strictly Come Dancing" presenter Tess Daly's first sashay into fiction, having acquired The Camera Never Lies by the TV host. Editor Charlotte Haycock acquired British Commonwealth rights to the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 25/03/2011 - 08:34 The board of Easons has reiterated its support for managing director Conor Whelan after a second vote of no confidence in him was passed by management union members. The Bookseller believes a second unanimous vote of no... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Thu, 17/03/2011 - 17:10 Novelist Bi Feiyu has won the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize, becoming the prize's third Chinese winner in four years. He was awarded the US$30,000 award at an event in Hong Kong for his novel Three Sisters (Telegram/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Thu, 17/03/2011 - 15:51 Creative agency Hothouse Fiction is expanding its team to increase output and extend its international sales, especially into the US. Hothouse, which develops commercial series fiction for children aged five years and older,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 15/03/2011 - 14:47 Adult hardback fiction books have been added to the basket of goods that the government uses to calculate the cost of living in the UK. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 02/03/2011 - 15:24 Gardners has received backing for its Hive consumer website from publishers including Hachette UK's c.e.o. after it presented its new initiative to more than 300 publishers. The wholesaler has yet to confirm a live date for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 22/02/2011 - 16:01 Sales of Jamie Olivers Jamies 30-minute Meals (Michael Joseph) fell 22% week-on-week, but its 39,118 sale in the seven days to 19th February is easily strong enough to ensure it spends another week (its 17th in total) at the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 15/02/2011 - 15:59 TV chef Jamie Oliver has achieved the rare feat of topping both the hardback and paperback non-fiction bestseller lists, helping publisher Penguin score number ones across all four of The Bookseller's main bestseller liststhe... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publication Date: Mon, 14/02/2011 - 08:31 Apple's iBookstore is the latest retailer to sign up to Fiction Uncovered as the new promotion for midlist authors attracts 80 submissions. The online giant joins Waterstone's and Waterstones.co.uk, Foyles, The Book Depository, Amazon.co.uk, W H Smith... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A year-old social networking and digital distribution platform that aims to bring writers and agents together has created a contest to find "the next big crime fiction blockbuster." Circalit, launched in February 2010 as a place for screenwriters to showcase their work to studios, began inviting... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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