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"

Sally Rooney Gets Outside of People’s Heads

In her third novel, “Beautiful World, Where Are You,” the Irish author observes her unhappy young protagonists from a notable distance. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2021-09-10 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Beyond normal: new novel brings Sally Rooney mania to bookshops across UK

Many shops plan to open early for the arrival of Sally Rooney’s latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You next monthWhen they were children they lined the streets in their witch hats and capes, keen to pick up the latest Harry Potter title as bookshops opened their doors at midnight. Now they... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-08-28 15:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

The Thursday Murder Club books in for another week at the top

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) has claimed its seventh week in the UK Official Top 50 number one spot in paperback, selling 15,353 copies last week. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-24 07:26:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Sissay, Osman and Slimani to star at hybrid Durham Book Festival

Durham's annual literary festival will be headlined by authors including Lemn Sissay, Richard Osman and Leïla Slimani, as the event pivots to a hybrid model following last year's fully digital experience. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-19 05:59:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this

The Thursday Murder Club sweeps the regions

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) has topped all but one of the UK's regional bestseller charts, with only Central Scotland crowning Douglas Stuart's Booker-winner Shuggie Bain (Picador) instead. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-18 02:44:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this

The Thursday Murder Club boomerangs back into the top spot

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) has bounced back to the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, for an 11th week in total and a sixth week in paperback. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-16 16:44:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this

O'Farrell, Whitehead, Osman and Slimani join Cheltenham Festival line-up

Maggie O'Farrell, Colson Whitehead, Richard Osman and Leila Slimani are among authors confirmed for the Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-12 10:43:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Kate Clanchy book may be updated to remove racial stereotypes after criticism

Publisher Picador says it is looking at changing passages in prize-winning memoir, which Clanchy intially claimed were not in the book at allPicador, the publisher of Kate Clanchy’s award-winning Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me, is in discussions to update future editions of the book... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-08-09 15:36:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Picador to publish Mandel's 'perceptive and poignant' sixth novel

Picador has acquired Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel, a "novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment." Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-19 00:13:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Burton to publish The Miniaturist sequel with Picador

Jessie Burton’s sequel to her bestseller The Miniaturist will be published as a super-lead title by Picador in July 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-16 18:49:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Soyinka and Rooney to headline Southbank Centre's autumn season

Wole Soyinka and Sally Rooney will headline the Southbank Centre’s autumn season, while the organisation has also announced its London Literature Festival, which this year takes its theme and title from Rooney’s novel Conversations with Friends (Faber). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-11 16:29:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Waterstones prize winner Elle McNicoll: ‘I never saw autistic girls in books’

The author was repeatedly told that no one wanted to read fun books with disabled heroes. Now she has won the £5,000 Waterstones children’s book prize for her debut, A Kind of SparkWhen Scottish author Elle McNicoll was first trying to enter the publishing world, she was repeatedly told that... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-01 05:01:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Evaristo, Peters and Osman headline Cheltenham

Richard Osman, Detransition Baby author Torrey Peters and Bernardine Evaristo are some of the headliners appearing at this year’s Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival in October. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-29 08:56:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this

High five for The Thursday Murder Club at the top of the charts

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) has scored a fifth week as the UK Official Top 50 number one, selling 29,953 copies. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-22 10:54:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Main’s Phoenix set to fly after lockdown launch with focus on fresh talent

After leaving Picador to launch her own list at Orion, Francesca Main says the emphasis at Phoenix will be on developing writers and hitting the litersary/commercial sweet spot Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-18 17:22:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this

British Council at the Online Book Fair 2021

London Book Fair is online this year. On 30 June, the focus falls on making words travel, with a programme addressing writers, translators, and the ways that books can travel across borders. The British Council is partnering with English PEN and the Literary Translation Centre on three free... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2021-06-02 10:20:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Sweet Cherry Publishing: Life for Leicester children’s indie after Nibbies Small Press triumph

"We want to be recognised as one of the leading children’s book publishers in the industry: we want not only to be recognised, we want to be respected.” Sanjee de Silva (pictured), the new publisher at Sweet Cherry, recently named Small Press of the Year at the British Book Awards, has big... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-28 22:25:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Nibbie winner Buckley on boosting Simon & Schuster’s picture book roster

Jane Buckley, who won the inaugural Designer of the Year prize at the recent British Book Awards, discusses her recent promotion and the art of pairing writers and illustrators together. I speak to Jane Buckley just after what must have been a pretty good couple of days for her. On 13th May, at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-28 15:18:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this

U.S. Book Show: PW Editors' Picks, Literary Fiction

Sally Rooney, Lauren Groff, and Atticus Lish were among the authors whose upcoming works of literary fiction were highlighted during this Editors' Picks panel hosted by 'PW' reviews editor David Varno. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this