By encouraging the young to publish fan fiction, story-sharing startup Movellas is tackling English children's low literacy levelsLiteracy levels among English young adults compare poorly with those in other industrialised countries, according to an OECD survey last autumn which ranked England a "must try harder" 22nd out of 24 in tests for literacy.Turning this around is a challenge that appeals to Movellas, an online story-sharing startup. Taking to heart the maxim that "reading for pleasure" is vital to a child's educational attainment, the company's founders believe that encouraging young people to write about their passions and share those stories with others can have a positive effect on literacy.In other words, if your daughter's writing One Direction fan fiction on her phone, she could be on her way to an A* at English GCSE. Or, at the very least, a book deal. "Movellian" Emily Baker's 1D-inspired Loving the Band was snapped up by Penguin. Helen Hiorns's The Name on Your Wrist was published by Random House after she won the inaugural young movellist of the year, sponsored by Sony and judged by children's laureate Malorie Blackman.High-profile success stories can help build its user base (200,000 and growing), but Movellas does more than sell the dream of literary fame.When surveyed, 50% of respondents said Movellas had made them enjoy reading more; 70% enjoyed writing more. Importantly, 20% of its users get free school meals (about the national average). Only 25%... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#national average
#team working
#fan fiction
The editor of the Bookseller charts how publicist’s lament over one day’s glut of titles has become a PR triumph for the industry Super Thursday contenders: The good, the bad and the doggone awfulPut down your newspaper, turn away from your screen, and head to your nearest bookshop, for today is... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#super thursday
#big moment
#book business
#gift purchases
Lambeth Unison has condemned Lambeth Council plans to keep three libraries open by turning them into health centres. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#libraries open
A new Disney Research project can make coloring books more exciting for those of us with limited art skills. The team has built an interactive Android and iOS coloring book app using the Unity game engine that can take a colored drawing and turn it... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Two white Borzoi hounds greeted the hundreds and hundreds of guests ascending the majestic marble rain-slicked steps of the New York Public Library Thursday (1st October) night, come to join chairman and editor-in-chief Sonny Mehta celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Alfred A. Knopf. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
“Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’” was among the musical tributes in Wednesday’s celebration of the life of Ion Trewin, author, publisher and literary director of the Man Booker Prizes. And indeed it was, the sun streaming through Shirazeh Houshiary’s “Warped Window” in St Martin-in-the-Fields,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#literary director
#st martin-in-the-fields
Medium, the publishing platform hatched by Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, has raised $57 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz. It’s the three-year-old company’s second funding round, and people familiar with Medi ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#round led
#andreessen horowitz
#funding round
After a multiyear hiatus, Random House created a client services division in 2003 and returned to distribution with the signing of its first new client, Steerforth Press in Hanover, N.H., in 2004. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#steerforth press
Every digital publisher is finding it harder to make an advertising buck online. Of note is Legacy.com, which as the leading obituary site has shot life into its business by growing its focus on e-commerce around flowers and charity giving. Today, commerce brings in as much revenue as... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2015-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#business appeared
#digital publisher
WH Allen has acquired a book about championing new ideas, with a foreword written by Sheryl Sandberg. Jamie Joseph, WH Allen senior commissioning editor, bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Originals by Adam Grant from David Miller at Rogers, Coleridge and White. In Originals Grant shows how... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#wh allen
#foreword written
#sheryl sandberg
#jamie joseph
#bought uk
#adam grant
#david miller
EL James and Rachel Abbott take the ebook top spots as self-published success spreads on Amazon’s e-reader Related: Rachel Abbott: 'Self-publishing means the success of my books is entirely down to me' Five years ago, Rachel Abbott was retired. Today, she has been named the most popular... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#el james
#rachel abbott
#started writing
#huge amount
Vassula Rydén's memoir, Heaven is Real But So is Hell, transcribes her encounters with God and is becoming a hit with 50k copies already sold in the US. The post Egyptian Mystic Turns the Voice of God Into a Bestseller appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bestseller appeared
Amin Aaser was a teenager living in Minnesota when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred. He doesn't want other Muslim children to face the bullying that he experienced. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#popular children
#book series
Staff take to Twitter over surprise £844m sale by Pearson to media group NikkeiFinancial Times journalists reacted with shock and wry, occasionally dark humour at the 127-year-old newspaper’s surprise £844m purchase by Japanese media group Nikkei.The head of the FT’s Lex column, Robert... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sending emails
Bristol City Council could keep six of seven libraries which were facing closure open, following public protests. A consultation on the future of the city’s library service closed at the beginning of July, with more than 4,600 responses being received. The council wanted to save £1.1m from its... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#public protests
#library budget
A scheme involving the White House, libraries and publishers will let children from cash-strapped families read free ebooksWhile the UK quibbles over library ebook lending, American publishers are teaming up with charities and libraries to give away thousands of ebooks to low-income students.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#lifelong readers
#white house
#award-winning titles
#three-year period
Penguin Random House Children’s and the Roald Dahl Literary Estate will next week release the first ever Dahl app. Twit or Miss is based on The Twits. Developed with Aardman Digital for children aged six to 11, it is a “food fight” game in which players have to swipe food away from the sleeping... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#prh children
#aardman digital
#children aged
#unlimited number
In the time she spent preparing for the release of her new novel with St. Martin's, Jane Green also had another project in the works—her first cookbook, which she is self-publishing with funding from Kickstarter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
As YouTube stars start to publish books they are bringing their millions of fans into bookstores, giving the book business an unlikely windfall. The post Publishing Turns to YouTube for Salvation appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publish books
#book business
Thomas Nelson has struck a deal with Passion Conferences--a Christian organization that holds conferences for college-aged youth--to partner on a line of trade books. Such conferences are a robust venue for promoting and selling books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#thomas nelson
#trade books
#selling books
How Schocken brought 'The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook' back to life, and made it a bestseller. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |