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 ]
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
Unresolved conflicts among publishers, sellers, libraries, and the U.S. Justice Department cloud the future of the publishing industry. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Apple Inc. says the accusation that it conspired with major book publishers to raise the price of ebooks is untrue.Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr says that, contrary to allegations in lawsuits by the Justice Department and 15 states, Apple fostered innovation and competition by introducing its... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Apple responds to antitrust charges: "The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry." Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Not that we were expecting Apple and Macmillan to simply fess up and say, "you're right, totally tried to circumvent the free market," but both companies have come out swinging pretty hard against the allegations of price fixing. Apple has rejected the charges, calling them "simply not true." A... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Alleged collusion aside, the publishing industry's agency pricing model may actually protect the long-term interests of everyone in the ebook value chain. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this