The Guardian view on the writing business: readers must ultimately benefit | Editorial

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 ]

Other news stories related to: "The Guardian view on the writing business: readers must ultimately benefit | Editorial"


Pan Mac unveils new sustainability imprint One Boat

Pan Macmillan's has unveiled its new sustainability imprint One Boat, headed by Bluebird publisher Carole Tonkinson, with plans to launch its first title, Eat to Save the Planet, in December 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 06:48:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bluebird to publish new book by Poorna Bell

Bluebird, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, will publish award-winning journalist Poorna Bell's "groundbreaking" book Stronger next year.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 05:53:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this


HarperCollins UK and S&S UK pull out of London Book Fair

HarperCollins UK and Simon & Schuster have joined the rest of the Big Five publishers in announcing they are not attending the London Book Fair following the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 22:29:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this


HarperCollins Children's Books takes two more from Gregory

HarperCollins Children’s Books has landed two young fiction titles from Philippa Gregory, build on the fairytale world of The Princess Rules. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 09:19:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pan Macmillan pulls out of London Book Fair

Pan Macmillan has announced it is pulling out of the London Book Fair this year following concerns about coronavirus. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-02 23:12:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Cell Phones and Story Times (shelftalker)

A bookseller fights the urge to require parents to check their cell phones at the door during story time. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-02 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Coronavirus: LBF Says It’s a Go for Now; US Macmillan, Hachette Sales and HarperCollins Exit

Developing story: The States' Macmillan and HarperCollins pull out of London Book Fair over the weekend, along with the Hachette US rights team. The post Coronavirus: LBF Says It’s a Go for Now; US Macmillan, Hachette Sales and HarperCollins Exit appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-03-02 12:52:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this


2020 RNA winners revealed as Johnson collects Outstanding Achievement Award

Author Milly Johnson collected the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) 2020 Outstanding Achievement Award tonight as HarperCollins triumphed to win three awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-02 12:00:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this


LBF LATEST: Amazon withdraws as US teams at HarperCollins and Hachette exit fair

Amazon has pulled out of the London Book Fair, as the US businesses of HarperCollins and Hachette have joined Simon & Schuster, Macmillan and Penguin Random House in withdrawing a number of their rights staff from the London Book Fair amid the coronavirus outbreak, adding pressure on the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 20:42:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bloomsbury wins satirical debut The Other Black Girl in six-figure deal

Bloomsbury has won Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl, a satirical debut novel about race and authenticity in the workplace, for a six-figure deal following a nine-way auction.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 20:26:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this


HarperCollins takes three more Pages & Co titles from James

HarperCollins Children’s Books has landed three more titles in Pages & Co, the middle-grade "bookwandering" series from Anna James. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-01 17:34:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pan Mac gets money lesson from FT's Jackson

Pan Macmillan has commissioned Financial Times lead writer Gavin Jackson to write Money in One Lesson: How it Works and Why. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-28 03:21:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Daisy Johnson joins Vintage Indie Bookseller of the Year judging panel

​Booker shortlisted author and former Blackwell's bookseller Daisy Johnson has joined the judging panel for the Vintage Independent Bookseller of the Year Award 2020.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-27 22:21:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Rebellion buys Whitaker's Almanack from Bloomsbury

Graphic novel and genre fiction indie Rebellion has acquired Whitaker's Almanack from Bloomsbury for an undisclosed sum. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-27 16:18:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this


HarperCollins snaps up Lauren Ho's 'heartfelt and hilarious' debut

HarperCollins has snapped up Lauren Ho’s "hilarious, heartfelt and relatable" debut novel, Last Tang Standing. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-27 06:34:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this


HarperCollins signs two more books by Phoebe Morgan

HarperCollins is publishing two books by HarperCollins editor and author Phoebe Morgan. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-26 18:39:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hong Kong bookseller sentenced to 10 years in prison in China

A court in eastern China has sentenced a Swedish seller of books that took a skeptical look at the ruling Communist Party to 10 years in prison for "illegally providing intelligence overseas," in a further sign of Beijing's hard line toward its... Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2020-02-25 13:14:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Ebury's Green joins Pan Mac as Mellor takes maternity leave

Ebury fiction publishing director Gillian Green is joining Pan Macmillan on a 12-month maternity leave contract. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-25 11:52:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this


China Sentences Hong Kong Bookseller Gui Minhai to 10 Years in Prison

Mr. Gui, a Chinese-born Swedish citizen, ran a publishing house that appeared to anger the Communist Party Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-02-25 10:07:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this


China Sentences Hong Kong Bookseller to 10 Years in Prison

Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born Swedish citizen, ran a publishing house that appeared to anger the Communist Party Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-02-25 06:02:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this