Big deals signed for study of a 19th-century family of killers, Hell’s Half-Acre, and Murder Isn’t Easy, a mortician’s take on Agatha Christie’s forensics The spectre of true crime was stalking the aisles at this year’s London book fair, with publishers snapping up investigations into past evils in the wake of successes in podcasting and television such as Dirty John, Serial and The Teacher’s Pet.Offers were flying in for former Waterstones bookseller Susan Jonusas’s first book Hell’s Half-Acre, a study of the the Bender family of serial killers in Kansas in 1873. Jonusas, 24, left Waterstones in December to write full-time. “Buried on a homestead seven miles south of the town were 11 bodies in varying states of decay. Further investigation revealed a well containing remains of even more victims. The number of people murdered was estimated at 20,” said Jonusas’s literary agency. “The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders were capable of operating ‘a human slaughter pen’ appalled and fascinated the nation. But who the Benders really were, why they committed such a vicious killing spree and what became of them when they fled from the law is a mystery that has remained unsolved to this day.” UK rights are still being finalised, with Viking snapping it up for a six-figure deal in the US. Agent Georgina Capel, who was fielding offers for the book, said: “I suspect the true-crime podcast thing is driving the current interest.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publisher Pikku is hoping to remind children about the importance of libraries with a new picture book about Andrew Carnegie, who funded more than 600 libraries in the UK and Ireland. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Imogen Hermes Gowar's novel is Harvill’s lead début fiction title for 2018. But its prominence belies its more humble beginnings. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A French lifestyle book, a Spanish thriller and a reissued quartet of Italian crime novels are among the books generating buzz this week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orchard Books, part of Hachette Children’s Group, will this July publish I Really Want That Unicorn, a new picture book by Fabi Santiago. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week's notable page-to-screen deals include a film vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence and a TV deal for a book on Watergate. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Following Hearst's purchase of Rodale Inc. last week, the company quickly turned around and sold Rodale Books' more than 2,100 titles to Penguin Random House. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One of the retailer's anchor locations, in an open air shopping mall in Michigan's capital city, will close next month. The chain's co-owner cited issues with the mall's management as the driving force behind the decision. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At the start of the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show week, California-based Quantum Storey Company exhibits the first title in its 'Operation You' series of children's books that come with augmented and virtual reality enhancements. The post ‘Operation You,’ an AR and VR-Enhanced Children’s Book... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publisher of Michael Wolff's tell-all Trump tale Fire and Fury is scrambling to get the book into New Zealand bookstores. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a nonelection year that saw politics leap even more to the forefront of public discourse than the year prior, 2017’s biggest books were, for the most part, nonpolitical—and many came from the backlist. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Until now, Irish authors without a UK publisher had been excluded from the coveted prize for literary fictionAn anomaly in the Man Booker prize rules that made books published in Ireland ineligible for the £50,000 award because they were not published in the UK has been removed, after years of... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The British Book Awards 2018 has launched with the introduction of two new awards for individuals, Author of the Year and Illustrator of the Year, as well as a new category for audiobooks. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Magazine publisher Hearst UK is to launch a book festival which will include a new awards, accreditation and live events experience. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Donald Trump has this much in common with Barack Obama: Both presidents’ first years spawned books that chronicled crises. Obama’s crisis, however, was inherited. Trump’s has been largely self-made. Trump even provided the alliterative title — “Fire and Fury” — for the book that has roiled... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Free speech groups have praised Little, Brown’s decision to release Michael Wolff’s tell-all book on Donald Trump’s presidency despite the UK’s strict libel laws and legal threats from the president. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week: four siblings find out the days that they will die, plus classic crime fiction by forgotten female authors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sainsbury’s and Blackwell’s have reported positive book sales over the Christmas period, with Pete Selby, head of books at the supermarket, saying that gift purchases are now "shifting" from other entertainment to books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Octopus Publishing has appointed Joanna Copestick, formerly associate publisher at Jacqui Small, to be publisher of the recently-acquired Kyle Books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E L James’ Darker topped the Weekly E-Book Ranking for the week leading up to Christmas. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lee Boudreaux wins a nine-publisher auction for a debut novel, Flatiron re-ups The Hazel Wood author Melissa Albert, Atria buys a Swedish art book launched on Kickstarter, and more in this week's notable book deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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