The publishers' year: hits and misses of 2013

Publishers choose their books of the year, and the ones that got awayRobin Robertson Deputy publishing director, Jonathan CapeThe book that made my year: Many years ago, I was sitting in Blake's bar in Enniskillen with John McGahern and he recommended an American novel from the 60s, written by John Williams: a book called Stoner. I thought it was astonishing, and I passed it to vintage, who brought it out in 2003 with John's introduction. Like so many great books, it promptly disappeared, again – only to come back this year, miraculously, and succeed.Our book that deserved to do better: Chamber Music by Tom Benn. It's the late 1990s, in the middle of the drug wars on the estates of Manchester, and complicated antihero Bane is pitched against a Yardie called Hagfish, whose weapon of choice is a Komodo dragon. Tom Benn – still only 26 – is writing these amazing dialogue-driven noir literary thrillers that, as the blurb says, "do for low-life Manchester what Trainspotting did for Leith", and no one is paying attention.I wish I'd published: Cormac McCarthy, as usual. Even a screenplay by Cormac McCarthy, like The Counsellor (Picador).Alexandra Pringle Editor-in-chief, BloomsburyThe book that made my year: In a year that included fiction by George Saunders, Aminatta Forna, Colum McCann, Jhumpa Lahiri, Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Gilbert and Khaled Hosseini, how can I choose? But perhaps in the end it will be 21-year-old Samantha Shannon's debut The Bone Season, which hit the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 01/04/2011 - 14:45 An upbeat Bologna Book Fair this week saw a strong US presence and a notable upturn from the past two cautious years, with publishers willing to buy, albeit selectively. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Transworld to publish scratch and sniff title

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 01/04/2011 - 08:10 Transworld is to publish a limited edition scratch and sniff version of Dirty Tricks by Jo Carnegie. Managing director Larry Finlay said: "This is a new move for us and it's certainly been a challenge for our production... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Agents warn publishers over digital rates

Written By: Philip Jones and Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 01/04/2011 - 08:50 Literary agent Sonia Land has warned book publishers they will lose control over authors’ digital backlists unless they improve their royalty offer. Land this week announced her decision to publish 100 of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sphere to publish Judy Finnigan

Publication Date: Fri, 01/04/2011 - 08:35 Judy Finnigan, one half of publishing phenomenon Richard and Judy, is to publish her long-rumoured first novel with Sphere. Catherine Burke, Sphere editorial director, signed world rights to two titles from Luigi Bonomi. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Content Aggregator Zite Comes Under Fire From Publishers

Zite, the app that gathers content according to a user’s interests and behaviors to form a personalized web magazine, has run into legal issues abound from major publishers such as Washington Post, Associated Press, Getty Images, Time and Dow Jones. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blackwell Group halves losses within a year

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fourth Estate to publish next Tan novel

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Profit up at Jonathan Goodman Publishing

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stacey International and Capuchin relaunch as Stacey Publishing

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Self-Publisher Signs Four-Book Deal With St. Martin's

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[ The New York Times | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trade publishers say ebook sales will not reach 10% until 2012

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Implementing a Mobile Strategy as an Independent Publisher

A b-to-b publisher shares lessons from its first app launch including mobilizing Web sites and implementing QR codes. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-book sharing: Amazon and book publishers' stupid attempts to curtail lending sites.

As convenient as they are, I've long worried about the many ways in which ebook purveyors restrict readers' rights. You can't resell the books you purchase for the Amazon Kindle, and you can't read them on most other e-readers. We also don't really own ebooks in the same way we own... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cader and Shatzkin ready Publishers Launch

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Noted Self-Publisher May Be Close to a Book Deal

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[ The New York Times | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mitterrand slams EC raids on publishers as as 'out of proportion'

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Library bodies warn publishers off 'retrenchment' over ebook lending

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simplifying (and clarifying) the purchasing process—regardless of newsstand--and finding new ways to effectively market among the crush of new apps being launched is critical for publishers to succeed, according to speakers at MPA’s Digital E-Reading conference today. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple May Release Publishing Tool

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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The New York Times | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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