Turning a new page: the rise of #Merky Books

Malorie Blackman sold her life story to them, other hot authors are lining up. What makes Stormzy’s imprint so different?In a glass-walled meeting room on the fifth floor of Penguin Random House headquarters in Pimlico, Theophina Gabriel is talking about her love of reading while laughing at her trigger-happy printing: “The last thing that came in I found so magical, it was 329 pages and I printed it all… Don’t worry I checked if I was allowed to first!” She’s part of a team that makes up one of the year’s most exciting literary imprints, #Merky Books. Today, the team is gathered around, drinking coffee and chatting about their pop-up event in east London the week before, which invited a community of young writers to dance and seek writing advice from the likes of playwright Inua Ellams and musician Wretch 32.The team are all characters worth reading about themselves. Twenty-two-year-old editorial assistant Gabriel, who routinely dresses all in purple (today she has a crop of lilac hair, violet glasses and a purple jumper), currently on an internship programme, was the first in her British Grenadan family to go to university, and publishes a radical zine, Onyx, which celebrates black creatives. Emma Wallace, 30, the senior audience and brand manager, is British Sri Lankan and English, and previously worked at start-ups and the BBC doing social media. The softly spoken founder and editorial director Tom Avery, 36, brings 13 years of publishing experience. And there’s... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-12-16 08:00:15 UTC ]
News tagged with: #brand manager #previously worked ##merky books #penguin random house

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Turning a new page: the rise of #Merky Books'


Google E-Books comes to Canada

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 02/11/2011 - 08:20 Google has launched its ebook store in Canada, with the regional arms of Random House, HarperCollins, Penguin and Simon & Schuster signing up to the digital service. The publishers join Canadian houses such as D&M... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #random house #ebook store #digital service #dm publishers #anansi press #mcclelland stewart #dundurn press


Further falls in library use as book stock still suffers

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 02/11/2011 - 14:09 The latest annual statistics for the public library service show further falls in overall usage of the service amid a continuing decline in spending. Both the number of library "service points" on offer and the number of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #continuing decline #book stock #small increase


EUP reports 40% rise in ebook sales

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 01/11/2011 - 09:40 Sales and profit for 2011 have slumped at Edinburgh University Press at the same time the company has reported a 40% rise in year-on-year ebook sales. The Scottish academic publisher has reported an 11.6% fall in sales and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ebook sales


Booked Up 'encourages more reading'

Booked Up, the government-funded programme that gives a free book to Year 7 pupils, has found... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #free book


Yale has a rummage through authors' books

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 31/10/2011 - 08:00 Yale University Press will be nosing around authors' bookshelves with the publication of Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books next month, with authors including Philip Pullman, Jonathan Lethem and Junot Díaz... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jonathan lethem


E-book charts published in Wall Street Journal

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 31/10/2011 - 08:20 The first official sales charts including ebook sales data have been published in the Wall Street Journal this weekend, with Nielsen BookScan now supplying ebook sales reports to the US paper. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #nielsen bookscan


Faber's Page to speak at FutureBook conference

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 11:40 Faber c.e.o. Stephen Page will be among the speakers at this year's Futurebook Conference, with early bird rates for the digital conference ending today. Page will join Bloomsbury Publishing Group sales and marketing,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephen page #futurebook conference #evan schnittman #anna rafferty #matteo berlucchi #dominique raccah


Magazine Publishers Look to Where Digital is Booming: The Book Business

After the initial flurry of excitement surrounding the release of their digital editions, magazine publishers are now beginning to focus on the strategies behind the products. In addition to complete digital editions, many are seeking other avenues to repackage and sell digital content. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital editions #magazine publishers #book business #initial flurry


S&S bags Lynda Bellingham in two-book fiction deal

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 10:53 Actress and “Loose Women” co-presenter Lynda Bellingham has signed a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster to write commercial women's fiction. Publishing director Suzanne Baboneau signed the deal with Gordon Wise at Curtis... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #simon schuster #gordon wise #curtis brown


Moving Quickly At Bettie Youngs Books

When talking business with Bettie Youngs, publisher of Bettie Youngs Books, you’ll quickly get an idea of the scale of her ambition, as you’ll hear a lot of numbers. She wrote her first book in graduate school and has since authored 36 books, and now, at BYBooks, seven of her company’s last 12... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #moving quickly #graduate school #amazing adventures


Johnny Vegas book delayed until next year

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 27/10/2011 - 08:30 HarperCollins has delayed publication of its autobiography of comedian Johnny Vegas, Becoming Johnny Vegas, due for release this autumn, until this time next year. The publisher said the decision was taken in order to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Among Big Publishers, Bonnier is Largest Ad Page Gainer in First Three Quarters of 2011

After a mainly flat first half for ad pages in 2011, big publishers are seeing ad page numbers fall in the third quarter. According to data from MagazineRadar, Meredith Corp.’s magazine portfolio saw the biggest fall out of the big consumer publishers, down 11 percent in Q3. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big publishers #ad pages #meredith corp #magazine portfolio


E-books and Continuum buy drive sales at Bloomsbury

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 27/10/2011 - 09:41 E-book sales and the acquisition of Continuum helped sales at Bloomsbury leap 16%, although relocation and restructuring costs led to pre-tax profit more than halving to £0.3m, in its latest set of financial accounts.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pre-tax profit #latest set


The Case of 'The Graveyard Book'

It is only exaggerating a little to say that many authors would kill to see the shiny gold Newbery medallion on the cover of one of their books. Which is why it is surprising that the latest edition of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book not only forgoes the medal, but the claim as well: his 2009... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #graveyard book #latest edition #neil gaiman


Big Green Bookshop turns publisher

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 25/10/2011 - 09:00 The co-owner of the Big Green Bookshop has launched his own publishing company and is set to release his first book with author Greg Stekelman. Simon Key, co-owner of the independent bookshop based in Wood Green, London, has... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #simon key #wood green #illustrated work #fell asleep #friday project


Virgin Books goes wild for David Essex

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 24/10/2011 - 09:15 Virgin Books has acquired actor and 1970s heartthrob David Essex's autobiography. The as-yet-untitled book will be published in March 2012 and will chart Essex's career spanning four decades as a drummer, singer, theatre star,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #as-yet-untitled book #virgin books #career spanning #world rights


First enhanced ebook from Short Books

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 24/10/2011 - 08:10 Short Books has produced its first enhanced ebook for the digital version of Birdwatching with your Eyes Closed (3rd November), the new book from Simon Barnes, author of How to be a Bad Birdwatcher. The book explores the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book explores #enhanced ebook #short books #digital version #simon barnes


Small Demons Makes Big Splash at Frankfurt Book Fair

In his closing remarks, Frankfurt Book Fair director Juergen Boos said that 2011 was a strong year for startups at the fair. Among those startups, perhaps none had a better reception than Small Demons, in Los Angeles. “We couldn’t have asked for a better first Frankfurt Book Fair,” Small Demons... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #strong year #small demons


Heaney lauded at Irish Book Awards

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 20/10/2011 - 15:10 Poet Seamus Heaney is to receive a lifetime achievement award at this year's Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards, with the gongs including an Irish Bookshop of the Year Award for the first time. Also new this year, RTE... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #24th november #17th november


Winman wins Edinburgh Festival book prize

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 14:45 Sarah Winman’s debut When God Was a Rabbit (Headline Review) has won the 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Newton First Book Award. The award encourages attendees of the festival to vote for their favourite of the 47... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book award