TV books programmes: if nobody watches them, make better ones

The novelist Robert Harris was right to call the BBC’s lack of a books show a ‘disgrace’. There’s plenty the corporation could do to make a popular literary programme on TVWith injury, there is always a little insult. When a BBC spokesperson, responding to Robert Harris’s complaints at the Costa book of the year ceremony about the absence of a dedicated book show on its television channels, pointed out that the corporation was responsible for introducing readers to books by way of adaptations such as Wolf Hall and The Casual Vacancy, one might feel that Harris’s comments – in which he called the absence of a BBC TV books show an ‘absolute disgrace’ – had been somewhat misunderstood.While Hilary Mantel and JK Rowling, their publishers, agents and the book industry doubtless benefit from book adaptations, the BBC’s motive in putting them on is not altruistic. It does not broadcast these adaptations to benefit poor, garret-bound writers, nor because it thinks the publishing industry is struggling to connect with potential readers, nor because it worries that amid the hubbub of rapid-fire entertainment opportunities, the novel is becoming marginalised. It does it because the best novels - whether classic or contemporary, comic or tragic, philosophical or political or romantic - are masterpieces of narrative and entertainment. The BBC is in the debt of writers of such novels as Parade’s End, Mapp and Lucia, South Riding, Death Comes to Pemberley and The Night Watch for... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]

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New chapter? UK print book sales fall while audiobooks surge 43%

Publishers hit by surprise 5.4% fall in 2018 – but warn against proclaiming terminal declineUK book sales fell for the first time in five years in 2018, despite the success of bestsellers such as Michelle Obama’s autobiography, Becoming.The UK publishing industry was hit by a surprise fall of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-06-25 23:01:37 UTC ]
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Total UK publishing revenues down 2% in 2018; consumer book market stable

UK publishing industry revenues overall stood at £6.05bn in 2018, down 2% on the £6.15bn revenue of the previous year, according to the PA Publishing Yearbook 2018, just released.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-25 05:53:24 UTC ]
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AAP Issues Its Annual 2018 StatShot Look at the US Publishing Industry

Describing a gradual decline in revenue for the US book business, the AAP's StatShot annual report estimates that the industry made $25.82 billion in 2018. The post AAP Issues Its Annual 2018 StatShot Look at the US Publishing Industry appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-06-24 03:19:46 UTC ]
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BookExpo 2019: Bookstores Central to Publishing, Industry Powerhouses Say

Publishing industry leaders made a strong declaration about the centrality of bricks-and-mortar retail to the publishing industry during a Thursday session at BookExpo 2019. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Barker questions publishing's long-term commitment to diversity

Pat Barker says she has a distrust of the publishing industry’s regional and class diversity drives because it could be "fashionable" and may not represent a long-term commitment. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-27 18:57:47 UTC ]
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Holt Will Publish Mantel's 'The Mirror & the Light' Next March

Henry Holt will publish 'The Mirror & the Light,' the final book in Hilary Mantel’s bestselling and prize-winning series about Thomas Cromwell, on March 10, 2020. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Mantel's final Cromwell novel set for March 2020

Hilary Mantel’s next novel The Mirror & the Light will be published in March 2020, 4th Estate has revealed, following fevered speculation around a billboard image circulated online. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-21 20:27:05 UTC ]
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Hilary Mantel billboard sparks new book speculation

A mysterious billboard in Leicester Square has sparked speculation online that 4th Estate has just dropped a major hint of imminent news on the long-awaited final novel in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-21 01:36:14 UTC ]
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Amazon Literary Partnership Announces More than $1 Million in 2019 Grants

Reiterating its emphasis on voices underrepresented in many parts of the publishing industry, the Amazon Literary Partnership reaches its 10th year. The post Amazon Literary Partnership Announces More than $1 Million in 2019 Grants appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-05-21 01:30:39 UTC ]
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How AI and Natural Language Processing Can Increase the Speed and Quality of Publishing

For quite a few years, artificial intelligence seemed like just another buzzy term with vague implications on the publishing industry. But now, publishers are putting it into action. Through a range of applications, AI and natural language processing are being used by publishers to streamline... Continue reading at Publishing Executive

[ Publishing Executive | 2019-05-03 19:33:38 UTC ]
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Calling BAME writers: entries open for 2019 short story prize

The hunt is on for up-and-coming writers who could scoop this year’s £1,000 Guardian/Fourth Estate prize A Chinese villager with no arms becomes a Paralympian swimming champion; a dapper elderly Jamaican spends New Year’s Eve in a south London police cell under suspicion of domestic abuse; a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zayed Award Winner Hussain Al Mutawaa on Children and the Habit of Reading

The 2019 Sheikh Zayed Book Award winner in Children's Literature counsels the publishing industry to stop 'riding the wave' of typical entertainment and promote issue-based reality in young people's books. The post Zayed Award Winner Hussain Al Mutawaa on Children and the Habit of Reading... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors told to write under pseudonyms to fuel debut obsession, claims Harris

Authors are being told to write under pseudonyms to present themselves as debut writers and feed the publishing industry’s “obsession” with new, marketable voices, Joanne Harris has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing figures express frustration at gender pay gap results

Figures in the publishing industry have expressed frustration at the latest round of gender pay gap reports, which showed little progress had been made since 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Appoints Dedicated Sales Manager for Christian Imprints

Shaila Muñoz joins PRHGE with more than a decade working in the publishing industry, most recently at HarperCollins Christian Publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One step beyond

Philip Jones looks ahead to assess how the publishing industry will weather Brexit. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The pivot from traffic to audience: How early adopters lead change

Across every industry, data is changing the way we work — and the publishing industry is no exception. Audience data, such as user engagement and visit value, has invaded online publishing and is forcing publishers away from old tactics towards adopting new revenue-growing strategies. Sponsored... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2019-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Art Connects Us: Sarah Odedina

As a recipient of the Arts Connects Us Grant I travelled to Ghana and Sierra Leone to meet with writers and publishing professionals working in the field of books for young readers to foster creative and collaborative exchanges between those contacts and publishing professionals and readers in... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-03-19 11:10:28 UTC ]
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INDONESIA FOCUS: Q+A Nirwan Dewanto

You started writing early in your high school days, what were you writing about most back then?I think it is exaggerating to say I started writing at high school. I was already writing, but it was mainly journaling, which was not for public consumption. There was a poem (about a tree in the... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-03-15 11:15:36 UTC ]
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How we can enable different voices to emerge in book publishing?

The professor and author discusses his research into the publishing industry’s recent attempts to improve diversity. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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