People want stories and that means cultivating a publishing ecosystem where big and small can flourishThis week both the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the Department of Justice in the US announced investigations into the planned $2.2bn acquisition of the publisher Simon & Schuster by Bertelsmann, which already owns Penguin Random House. The merger, if allowed, would see Bertelsmann have almost one-third of English-language book sales. The move follows a year when a population cocooned at home, reaching for comfort reading, inflated the profits of big publishers. Bloomsbury and Pan Macmillan recently announced that they would be returning furlough payments; HarperCollins did not take them.Many of the UK’s smaller publishers fared rather differently: a Bookseller survey last summer found 60% feared they would cease to exist by autumn. Indies tend not to have the backlists full of household names that, say, a Penguin has; they depend far more on serendipity, on a customer wandering into a shop intending to buy one thing but coming out with something else as well. This happens far less with online shopping; at least one publisher lost up to 90% in sales. Some also found it difficult to qualify for furlough. They took to social media to announce their plight, or to try new selling tactics; some crowdfunded; some received emergency Arts Council England cash. Many were dragged back from the brink, for which we should be grateful. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-03-28 17:25:47 UTC ]
[caption id="attachment_182909" align="alignright" width="150"] Dan Peres[/caption] Dan Peres is taking over Ad Age as its next editor-in-chief, succeeding Brian Braiker, who left in April after three years atop the masthead. Peres is best known as the former editor-in-chief of Details, a role... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-07-22 20:16:42 UTC ]
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From the leadership of PEN America, a HarperCollins release enters the summer's fray of free-speech debates amid charges of 'cancel culture.' The post Political Books: PEN America’s Suzanne Nossel ‘Dares To Speak’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-07-22 17:45:57 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has scooped an “exceptional” debut novel from journalist and former Waterstones bookseller Jo Hamya. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-21 17:27:41 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury says books were a lockdown hit, with children’s division revenue up 27%The backlash against JK Rowling’s views on transgender law reform has failed to dent the popularity of the Harry Potter author’s books, with publisher Bloomsbury saying they have proved a lockdown hit, pushing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-21 12:29:43 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury said sales in the first four months of fiscal 2021, which began March 1, rose 18% over the same period a year ago. Revenue in the U.S. increased 38%, and sales of both digital and print books were up overall. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Model and activist signs six-figure contract to publish Transitional, ‘a manifesto for how I see society changing for the better, bringing us all closer’The first book by Munroe Bergdorf, a manifesto on gender by the black transgender activist and model, has been bought for a six-figure sum... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-17 05:01:06 UTC ]
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After the shutdown, layoffs, and a major redesign, the bookseller is reopening its stores in an uncertain book market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has won an 11-way auction to publish the first book by model, activist and writer Munroe Bergdorf. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-17 03:05:04 UTC ]
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Megan Dobson, a veteran of business and editorial posts with several HarperCollins Christian Publishing imprints, will take on children's books as v-p and publisher of the HCCP imprint. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins has acquired world all language rights to Wake Up: Why the ‘Liberal’ War on Free Speech is Even More Dangerous than Covid-19 by broadcaster and journalist Piers Morgan. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-15 12:44:18 UTC ]
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Dhara Snowden, senior commissioning editor at Rowman & Littlefield takes The Bookseller behind the scenes. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-14 01:03:02 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Children's Books is releasing How to Be More Paddington: A Book of Kindness, a gift book featuring inspirational quotes from Michael Bond's beloved bear alongside Peggy Fortnum’s original illustrations. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-13 19:21:03 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House UK and DK have joined with Bertelsmann stablemates Fremantle and BMG to launch a joint podcast business, called Storyglass, as part of the Bertelsmann Content Alliance UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-13 15:51:02 UTC ]
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HarperCollins takes three from an Irish-Australian bestseller; Harper buys a manifesto from Charles M. Blow; and with the U.S. copyright for 'The Great Gatsby' expiring in December, Little, Brown plans a prequel for January. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Megastar Mariah Carey's memoir will be published by Pan Macmillan in the UK, promising to tell the “unfiltered” story of the singer's life. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-09 12:52:18 UTC ]
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HarperCollins has defended David Walliams after food writer Jack Monroe claimed his children's books were “sneering classist fatshaming grim nonsense”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-07 10:29:08 UTC ]
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HarperCollins has landed the life story of Siya Kolisi, Springboks captain and star of South Africa’s 2019 World Cup-winning rugby team. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-07 05:01:43 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Children’s Books will publish Sophie Cleverly's second middle-grade series, The Violet Veil Mysteries, illustrated by Hannah Peck. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-06 15:45:28 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury editor-in-chief Paul Baggaley has acquired an "extraordinarily prescient" debut novel by Sequoia Nagamatsu, How High We Go in the Dark. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-06 10:17:28 UTC ]
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HarperCollins says it will no longer publish books by historian David Starkey and is reviewing his backlist, describing his recent comments on slavery as “abhorrent”. Vintage and Hodder & Stoughton have also said they will not publish further books from him. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-03 13:56:37 UTC ]
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