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 ]
The inaugural Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour was awarded in March. Co-founder and chair of judges Sunny Singh analyses what the 100-plus submissions made to the prize reveal about the publishing industry. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Customers shopped during a preview on Tuesday for Amazon’s first New York bookstore. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2017-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon will open its seventh bookstore on Thursday in New York, the company's first brick-and-mortar location in the home city of America's publishing industry. The 4,000-square-foot store, near the headquarters of publishers Penguin Random House, Hachette and Simon & Schuster, held a soft... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In an amicus brief, AAP lawyers argue that a reversal legalizing the resale of digital media would be "catastrophic" for the publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling says she's 'thrilled' to pick up an outstanding contribution award to add to her collection of literary accolades. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2017-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing industry has rallied round to help the independent Big Green Bookshop after one of its owners sent out a desperate tweet appealing for customers because they were “seriously skint”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House UK (PRH UK) will now pay its work experience participants the National Living Wage in a bid to make the publishing industry more accessible and diverse. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ada Igwebu and Connor Faulkner have been offered places by Blake Friedmann on its inaugural Carole Blake Open Doors Project, a programme encouraging candidates from diverse backgrounds to enter the publishing industry. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Every day, digital publishers are challenged by the fragmentation of media. Third-party and social platforms appropriating content, mobile "snacking," low-quality "clickbait" competition and content recommendation services that drive visitors off-site are just some of the factors depressing... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As Frank Lampard, George Galloway and Cara Delevingne land big-money book deals, established writers look on from the fringes – or turn away altogether Another day, another celebrity announces they are to “pen” a children’s book. Already this week, Jamie Lee Curtis has announced a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers and agents have noted an “upbeat” mood at this year’s fair, with many saying that the publishing industry can play an important role in helping people to navigate through or escape from the prevailing turbulent political climate. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Obamas’ $60m book deal has broken all records. From James Patterson to JK Rowling and Pope John Paul II, here are some of their closest rivals1. Seventeen books by James Patterson ($100-150m)When? 2009 Related: The audacity of hype: could Obama's presidential memoir be the greatest ever? ... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales figures for the most popular modern authors round up familiar suspects from Dan Brown to JK Rowling. Taken together, they hint at surprising sales secretsSteve Berry could be forgiven for asking himself every day what it takes to make a book a global bestseller. Back in 2003, the former... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors, agents, chief executives and more predict what will happen in the publishing industry in 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A handwritten and illustrated book - one of only seven produced by the Harry Potter author - is being auctioned. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2016-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A seven-year-old girl who reads "to forget the war" has been sent the Harry Potter books by the author. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After Donald Trump's triumph in the US election, Sarah Shaffi looks at how more than ever the publishing industry needs to promote messages of inclusivity and diversity. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The largest Spanish-language book fair in the world has become a place where thought leaders, artists, educators, and scientists gather to share information that impacts the publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent is the only novel on the six-book shortlist, up against JK Rowling’s play script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and a long-lost Beatrix Potter storySarah Perry’s novel The Essex Serpent might have missed out on the big literary prizes this year, but her... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing industry needs to improve the diversity of its staff and open itself up to writers of all backgrounds if it is to increase the range of its output, publishers have told The Bookseller. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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