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 ]

Other news stories related to: "The indie publishing mavericks shaking up the UK books world"


The Near-Mythic Inevitability of Olga Tokarczuk's Novels

The Polish author, known for her fragmentary, far-ranging novels, tightens her focus with the mystical detective novel "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-08-06 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hachette makes string of appointments from outside publishing in HR shake-up

Hachette has announced seven people are leaving its HR department to be replaced by new appointments, mainly from outside the publishing world, in a major shake-up. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-01 14:50:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Picador scoops astrology guide from Twitter stars the Astro Poets

Picador has scooped a witty 21st century astrology guide from Twitter stars the Astro Poets, helping readers navigate their friendships, career and love life. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-21 12:27:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Summer reading: dive into the perfect book

As publishers vie to persuade us to pack their titles for the holidays, we chart the evolution of the ’beach read’Summer reads, beach reads, holiday reads … at this time of year, the publishing world works itself into a sweat trying to force its novels into our carry-on luggage, or over the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-07-14 07:00:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this


10 Books You Should Read This July

Svetlana Alexievich trans. by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II (Random House) If God existed, or had an ear, she might listen the way Svetlana Alexievich does to the stories of her fellow ex-Soviets. This latest book from the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-07-02 08:49:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this


'It's time for implementation': UN High Commissioner urges Ottawa to develop national MMIWG action plan

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is urging Canadian authorities to implement a plan to address violence against Indigenous women and girls. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2019-06-17 22:05:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Robertson wins Walter Scott Prize for The Long Take

Robin Robertson has become the first Scot to win the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction with his book The Long Take (Picador). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-17 13:23:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


TaleFlick Opens Adaptation Marketplace

TaleFlick, a company that fosters relationships between Hollywood and the publishing world, has just launched “The Marketplace,” an online platform where producers, publishers, agents, and writers can connect. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-06-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Licensing Expo 2019: New Directions for Licensing

After several years of conservative views toward licensing in the publishing world, the pendulum seems to be swinging back toward a more expansive outlook. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-06-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


BookExpo 2019: Pete Holmes On Losing (and Finding) His Religion

Comedian Pete Holmes brings his serious/funny funny/serious take to the publishing world with 'Comedy Sex God' (Harper Wave, May), a book that is part autobiography, part philosophical inquiry, and part spiritual quest. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


No Normal writer...

Andrew Holgate reflects on Sally Rooney's meteoric—and well deserved—rise to the top, after second novel Normal People scooped the Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The new Normal: Rooney grabs first Mass Market number one as Pinch of Nom rolls on

A day after winning two British Book Awards for Novel of the Year and the overall Book of the Year, Sally Rooney has claimed her first Mass Market Fiction number one.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


British Book Awards’ Top 2019 Prize Goes to Ireland’s Sally Rooney

The annual 'Nibbies,' as the British Book Awards are known, this year are led by the acclaimed Irish author, Sally Rooney, who calls herself 'astonishingly lucky.' The post British Book Awards’ Top 2019 Prize Goes to Ireland’s Sally Rooney appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


IBPA University 2019: Raccah Spills Secrets to Indie Publishing Success

The Independent Book Publishers Association held its annual IBPA University this year April 5-6 in Chicago, where 325 attendees mixed and mingled and talked shop about indie publishing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Rooney, MacLaverty and McGregor make Dublin Literary Award shortlist

Sally Rooney, Bernard MacLaverty and Jon McGregor are among the 10 writers shortlisted for the €100,000 International Dublin Literary Award. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Public Private Life Of Young Love In Sally Rooney's 'Normal People'

In the Irish author's second novel, two teens explore sex, secrets and what intimacy is worth. Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2019-04-04 09:45:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Waterstones says it can't pay living wage, as 1,300 authors support staff appeal

Managing director says book chain ‘simply not profitable enough’, as Sally Rooney, Val McDermid and other authors write to protestMore than 1,300 writers including Kerry Hudson, David Nicholls, Sally Rooney, Michael Rosen and Val McDermid have backed a campaign for Waterstones booksellers to be... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hachette and PRH battle it out for The British Book of the Year trade awards

Hachette and Penguin Random House are leading The British Book Awards’ trade shortlists with 11 nominations each, with Hachette managing hat-tricks in both the Imprint and Publisher of the Year categories. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this