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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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 ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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IBPA University 2019: Raccah Spills Secrets to Indie Publishing Success

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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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 ]
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The British Book Awards Books of the Year shortlists revealed

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette and PRH battle it out for The British Book of the Year trade awards

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Rooney and Burns make Rathbones Folio Prize longlist

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London Book and Screen Week Names 2019 CAMEO Award Winners

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obama, Rooney and Secret Barrister campaigns triumph at PPC Awards

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[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Callaway Makes Sure You'll Remember Its Books

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ridout Forms New U.K. Publisher

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bluemoose reveals plans to publish only female writers in 2020

Bluemoose Books has revealed it will only publish female writers in 2020, with co-owner Kevin Duffy lamenting how “women over a certain age are overlooked in the publishing world”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rooney’s Normal People crowned critics’ book of the year

Sally Rooney’s Normal People is the critics’ choice for book of the year, with eight publications including it in their end-of-year reviews. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Top 10 Library Stories of 2018

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Sally Rooney's second novel named Waterstones' Book of the Year 2018

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