The indie publishing mavericks shaking up the UK books world

Last year, all of literature’s big prizes went to small publishers. In a risk‑averse climate, edgy debuts and ‘tricky-to-sell’ foreign titles have found a home at the likes of Fitzcarraldo Editions and Sort Of Books – and the gamble has paid offA quiet revolution is afoot in British publishing. Earlier this year, when American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis brought out his latest bestseller, The Shards, the book came to UK readers not from his usual publisher, Picador – his home for nearly four decades – but from a small independent company, Swift Press, a freelance-powered outfit so light on overheads it doesn’t even have an office. Likewise, Sheila Heti, the prize-winning Canadian author of zeitgeisty autobiographical cogitations Motherhood and How Should a Person Be?, recently announced that her next book won’t be out with her regular publisher, Penguin Random House, but with south London indie Fitzcarraldo Editions, not yet 10 years in business. Last year’s Booker winner, Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka, came to us courtesy of the smallest publisher ever to win the prize, husband-and-wife indie Sort Of Books. In 2022, all the glittering literary prizes went to indies – not only the Booker, but its sister prize for translated fiction, the International Booker, as well as the Nobel, the Goldsmiths, the Pulitzer and Australia’s A$100,000 (£80,000) Victorian prize for literature. The last four remarkably were all won by Fitzcarraldo, the UK home of celebrated... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-16 08:00:02 UTC ]

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Osman's debut novel announced as W H Smith Book of the Year

Richard Osman's debut crime novel The Thursday Murder Club (Viking) has been named W H Smith's Book of the Year for 2020.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 01:31:10 UTC ]
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Fred Klein, Who Helped Build Bantam Books, Dies at 97

Fred Klein, who helped make Bantam Books a major force in mass market paperback publishing in the 1960s and 1970s, died on October 22. He was described by a former colleague as "the greatest ringmaster the publishing world has ever known.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
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20 Small Press Books from 2020 You Might Have Missed

There’s no denying that this is a rough—if not catastrophic—year for many businesses, from mom-and-pop-run local eateries to huge corporations like Macy’s. But as the Washington Post noted, a national array of bookstores and readerly good-will has helped Bookshop.org raise millions for indie... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-10-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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The Thursday Murder Club boomerangs back to the top spot

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Viking) has bounced back into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 28,756 copies through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-26 19:38:08 UTC ]
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Picador wins Polzin's 'irresistible' Brood in six-way auction

Picador has won a six-publisher auction for Jackie Polzin's “irresistible” debut Brood, a novel about grief, motherhood and chickens. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-19 19:47:31 UTC ]
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Because money is great, Faber is publishing the complete Normal People screenplays.

As The Bookseller reports, UK publisher Faber has announced that they will be releasing the complete screenplays of Normal People, the popular BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel of the same name. Whether or not you understand on a larger level the reason anyone might buy and read a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-14 14:37:05 UTC ]
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Amazon Charts: Hinch and Osman hold firm at the top

Mrs Hinch's This is Me (Michael Joseph) and Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) have once again claimed the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold top spots in Non-Fiction and Fiction respectively.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-14 03:51:16 UTC ]
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Faber to publish Normal People screenplays

Faber is to release the complete screenplays of the television series "Normal People", based on Sally Rooney's novel of the same title.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-13 21:25:25 UTC ]
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What We're Reading - October 2020

Love in Colour by Bolu BabalolaEvery story in this collection of love stories by Bolu Babalola has been adapted from ancient folklore from all around the world. Babalola chooses to centre women in these stories, giving the women unique and passionate perspectives on love. While the original... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2020-10-01 09:59:00 UTC ]
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Bookstat chart: Osman on point as Thursday Murder Club rockets to the top

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) has charted top of the Bookstat e-book top 10 in its second week on sale, rising from third to score an across-formats double, after its hardback claimed the UK Official Top 50 number one through Nielsen BookScan's TCM.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 21:50:09 UTC ]
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Amazon Charts: Osman and Partridge double up

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) has topped the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Fiction top 20 for a second week running, in the same week its hardback claimed a second week atop the UK Official Top 50 chart through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 05:52:35 UTC ]
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Thursday Murder Club hits charts top spot for a second week

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Viking) has renewed its membership to the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a second week, selling 34,485 copies in its first full week on sale. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-15 16:20:32 UTC ]
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Pascoe, Norton, Osman and Sharma among BBC2's Between the Covers celebrity authors

Sara Pascoe, Graham Norton, Richard Osman and Babita Sharma are among the authors confirmed to be making appearances on BBC2's new book club programme "Between the Covers", hosted by Sara Cox.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-14 16:56:27 UTC ]
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Picador serves up Auslander's Mother for Dinner

Picador has snapped up Mother for Dinner by Shalom Auslander, billed as the “funniest novel of the 2020s” and looking at identity, inheritance and cannibalism. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-10 18:52:42 UTC ]
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Offil, Osman and Cleeves feature in first digital Durham Book Festival

Jenny Offil, Richard Osman and Ann Cleeves are among the authors taking part in the first digital Durham Book Festival this October.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-10 10:23:16 UTC ]
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Osman is fastest out of the gate in books' bumper week

Richard Osman's first fiction title has risen to the top of last week's jam-packed publication schedule to become by far the fastest-selling début crime novel since BookScan records began. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-08 10:44:31 UTC ]
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Richard Osman to write two more Thursday Murder Club books for Viking

Richard Osman, whose first novel The Thursday Murder Club this week becomes the fastest selling adult crime debut since records began, has signed a deal with Viking for two more books in the series. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-07 19:31:57 UTC ]
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Bolinda scoops Mennuti comedy about publishing world

Bolinda has scooped a “laugh out loud” romantic comedy by debut author Aly Mennuti, featuring a literary agent based partly on the author's own, Simon Trewin. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-25 02:20:12 UTC ]
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Picador picks up new novel from Ridgway

Picador has picked up the first novel in eight years from award-winning Irish author Keith Ridgway. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-24 11:52:26 UTC ]
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