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 ]
Opportunities and challenges in Poland's publishing market are under discussion this week at BookExpo America, in the wake of a decision against fixed pricing there. The post At BEA: Poland’s Publishing Industry Is the Market Focus in Chicago appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The decision ends one of the publishing industry's defining legal dramas of the digital age. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a major development in the publishing industry's wholesaling segment, Follett Corp. has acquired Baker & Taylor for an undisclosed price. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What is going on with ebooks? The decline in trade ebook sales in the U.S. is certainly one of the big questions hanging over the publishing industry as publishers gather for the 2016 London Book Fair. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chair given free to JK Rowling that she used while writing the first two Harry Potter novels in Edinburgh council flat has been auctioned in New York An oak chair that JK Rowling used while writing the first two books of the Harry Potter series has sold for $394,000 (£278,000).The 1930s chair... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bethany Buck, a veteran of the children's publishing industry, will join Skyhorse Publishing as editorial director of its children’s imprint on March 21. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At its March 4 conference, the Supreme Court declined to take up Apple’s appeal in its ebook price-fixing case, effectively ending one of the publishing industry's most closely-watched cases. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New research from Booklist shows page counts have grown 173% over 40 years, and suggests that JK Rowling’s boy hero may be responsible for large increase in early 2000sChildren’s novels have almost doubled in length over the last 40 years, according to research from US review journal Booklist,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing industry's trade association had a busy year protecting copyright in a changing market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Opinions were mixed about what Amazon's rumored plans to open more physical bookstores could mean for the publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A heated debate about the role of libraries in supporting the publishing industry has broken out at the Inpress Publishing Festival, with one publisher alleging libraries had "completely betrayed" the sector. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The renowned author's digital publishing house, Pottermore, has retained a monopoly on the sale of Harry Potter ebooks and audio titles ever since its launch. But times they are a-changing, and the company's strategy is undergoing seismic shifts. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The renowned author's digital publishing house, Pottermore, has retained a monopoly on the sale of Harry Potter ebooks and audio titles ever since its launch. But times they are a-changing, and the company's strategy is undergoing seismic shifts. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Survey of workforce at 34 book publishers and eight review journals in US reveals 79% of staff are white and 78% female – with UK numbers still unmonitoredMan Booker winner Marlon James: ‘Writers of colour pander to the white woman’A survey of American publishing has found that it is blindingly... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New study reveals Julia Donaldson, David Walliams and JK Rowling lead the top 1% of authors, who account for nearly a third of all UK book salesThe gap between publishing’s rich and poor continues to widen, as figures from Nielsen BookScan reveal that the top 50 authors account for more than 13%... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing a children’s book in Russia is not a straightforward matter, as Anna Starobinets found when her detective stories set among woodland animals were deemed to be far too beastly for children I wrote my first children’s book, The Land of Good Girls, in 2009 for my then five-year-old... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What is going on with ebooks? As 2016 dawns, what’s driving a decline in trade ebook sales is one of the big questions hanging over the publishing industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Bookseller's conference FutureBook 2015 was a timely reminder for the publishing industry that its digital transformation has barely begun, that it has a whole universe of possibilities to explore, and that its careful progression may yet turn into an unsightly stumble. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling's pseudonym Robert Galbraith, Ian McEwan and BBC journalist Kirsty Wark make the longlist for the world's richest literary prize, the International Impac Dublin Literary Award. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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University Press Week runs November 8-14. This handy infographic summarizes all you need to know about this dynamic segment of the publishing industry. The post Infographic: Launching University Press Week, November 8-14 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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