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 ]
It’s almost here, the publishing industry’s annual literary Oktoberfest: the Frankfurt Book Fair. This year’s edition officially kicks off on October 10, with more than 150,000 professional visitors representing some 7,500 companies and 110 countries expected to gather to trade rights, network,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One of the country's top publishers has turned to a man from the editorial side to run its business. Michael Pietsch, the editor of Keith Richards' Life, David Foster Wallace's The Pale King and the many novels of James Patterson, has been named CEO of Hachette Book Group. Mr. Pietsch has headed... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hilary Mantel is still in the running for a second Man Booker Prize, with her historical novel... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Since the Man Booker longlist was announced in July, Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a move that could reshape the publishing industry, a federal judge has approved a settlement with three of the nation's largest book publishers over alleged collusion in the pricing of ebooks. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel Wolf Hall (Fourth Estate) will be turned... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Wiley & Sons work to sell off unwanted assets as Google makes its foray into the publishing industry. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J K Rowling will be appearing at two public events this autumn to discuss her first novel for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you’re a Slovenian fan of J.K. Rowling, and you’re eager to get your hands on the first available copy of her forthcoming novel, The Casual Vacancy, you’re probably going to have to read the book in English. This will also be the case in Italy, Finland, and several other countries. And the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two novels that have received praise in the US – 'Bring Up the Bodies' by Hilary Mantel and 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' by Rachel Joyce – made the cut. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sen. Charles Schumer wrote in an op-ed that the Department of Justice's lawsuit could 'wipe out the publishing industry as we know it.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Little, Brown has released the cover for J K Rowling's first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite challenges faced by the publishing industry and past predictions, the written word has not seen its last day Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2012-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sony unveils a Harry Potter-based book, part-written by JK Rowling, as the first Wonderbook title for its Playstation console. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2012-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tim Brooks, the former managing director of Guardian News & Media, identifies a new sense of optimism setting into the publishing industry, after two years of concern amid sweeping change. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2012-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Robert M. Sacks In any given year, I give about a dozen “talks” about the publishing industry. Sometimes it is to interested companies and sometimes it is to the industry at large during publishing conventions... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2012-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Major retailers are already discounting J K Rowling's forthcoming The Casual Vacancy by 50%... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J K Rowling's The Casual Vacancy is to be published in Germany by Carlsen and Ullstein,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sometime ago, I pledged to wait on reading the Harry Potter series until it came out as ebooks. I was ready and willing for October's planned debut on Google Books, but that was cancelled last minute. What happened instead mindboggles. In late March, author JK Rowling opened the Pottermore Shop... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J K Rowling's first adult book, The Casual Vacancy, will have a more traditional digital... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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