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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Biteback has pulled a title claiming to tell the “true story” of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed's fatal crash in 1997 following "an abrupt change of mind" from Fayed's father, Mohammad Al Fayed. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Children’s imprint Puffin Books is partnering with healthy snack brand Bear Nibbles on a new book club. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books in the week ended Aug. 6, 2017, were down 17% from the similar week in 2016 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The decline was due entirely to the release last year at this time of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which sold about 2.5 million... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Questions have been raised about whether it is advisable for illustrators to sign away their copyright to authors and publishers after it has emerged Tom Fletcher owns the copyright for the pictures in his forthcoming book. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week: an absorbing account of the case of Willie James Grimes, plus Paul Yoon's beautiful story collection. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Recently a number of children’s books tackling the global refugee crisis have hit the market, helping to humanize the conflict, as well as educate, empower, and build empathy in young readers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Transworld has acquired Chloe Madeley’s debut fitness book, The 4-Week Body Blitz, to publish at the end of this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In spite of a ruling in which the publisher was held liable for nine counts of copyright infringement, the Los Angeles–based press will launch a new line of books this October. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Libraries and publishers are seeing huge benefits from OverDrive's digital book clubs, especially the Big Library Read (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former prime minister tells BBC Radio 4 that learning about the Russian revolutionary was ‘like a light going on’Tony Blair has said that he “toyed with Marxism” as a young man after being inspired by a biography of Leon Trotsky that detailed “extraordinary causes and injustices”.The former... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Costa winner Stef Penney and bestselling author Victoria Hislop join debuts from Ali Land and Ruth Hogan on the next Richard & Judy Book Club list with W H Smith. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Magabala Books was born in 1984, when a group of Indigenous elders from the Kimberley in Western Australia decided to establish their own publishing house focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and illustrators, and telling Indigenous stories. Magabala publishes for a general... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Don't you want to know what's new online and in Los Angeles in the world of books? Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's not just your @#%& imagination: American books have gotten a lot more profane over the last six decades, according to a study led by a San Diego State University psychology professor. A team of scholars reports that there's been a “dramatic” increase in curse words in American... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Netflix has bought Scottish comic book publisher Millarworld in its first ever acquisition. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales at Simon & Schuster grew 10% in the second quarter of 2017, hitting $206 million (£158m). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton has bought a book about The Ashes by former England spin bowler Graeme Swann. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Scotsman made multi-million pound leap from page to screen with sale of Millarworld titles to US streaming giantLike many comic book writers and artists, Mark Millar’s love of comics began as a young child when his older brother would take him to comic book shops. But now the Scottish author... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Human rights campaigner Shami Chakrabarti is publishing a new book with Allen Lane this October, Of Women, making the case for "radical positive action in every sphere of life to promote the vindication of the rights of women worldwide". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former member of The Maccabees, Orlando Weeks, has created an illustrated children’s book about a gritterman for Penguin Press. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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