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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BEA 2014: Big Books of the Show: Coming Right Up

Thursday's relative quiet was followed by a much busier Friday, with aisles buzzing, lines snaking too far to find the end. Fairgoers stood patiently, waiting to meet the author and get that coveted signature on the title page of the giveaway galley. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Flat Quarter for Books-A-Million

Revenue at Books-A-Million inched up 0.2% in the first quarter ended May 3, 2014, to $103.8 million, compared to the year earlier period. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kirkus Reviews Offers Three New $50k Book Prizes

Book review magazine Kirkus Reviews has announced three $50,000 book prizes to be awarded for fiction, nonfiction and young adult literature. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Pamela Paul Does Her Own ‘By the Book’

Every Sunday in the New York Times Book Review, Pamela Paul does a q&a interview with an author in the popular “By the Book” feature. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Willow Books for Sale

Another New England bookstore has put itself on the market. David Didriksen announced that he is retiring from the bookselling business and selling 18-year-old Willow Books and Café in Acton, Mass. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Big Children's Books at BEA

For readers of all ages and interests, there were no shortages of titles to grab, snag, and talk about. YA continues to generate long lines and lots of attention. At Simon & Schuster, one of the big teen titles was Scott Westerfeld's Afterworlds—and not just because BEA factors into the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Let's Make A Deal

This A–Z listing includes specials available to retailers who place orders at BEA. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Little Booth, Gigantic Books

Even with all the celebrity authors wandering around Javits, it’s impossible to overlook two monumental South Dakota Historical Society Press books about larger-than-life subjects: Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography of Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Pamela Smith Hill, and Love Letters... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Christian Children’s Books Sell More Widely, Publishers Say

For publishers of religion books aimed at young readers, it's easier than ever to find readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Measuring the E-book Market

When ebooks first began to make meaningful inroads in publishing in 2009–2010, a number of executives predicted they would become another format within the industry. In 2013 ebooks had become part of the “normal” book market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Report to EC calls for full VAT on physical books

Reduced or zero rates of VAT should be removed from physical books to create a single rate across... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Books, Champagne, Therapy

Cleis Press, founded nearly 30 years ago in Berkeley, Calif., by Felice Newman and Frédérique Delacoste, and its Viva Editions imprint are offering a wealth of author events, signings, and promotional activities. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: YA Editors Pitch Books at Buzz Panel

A debut, a sequel, the first of a new fantasy trilogy and more were among the books discussed at BookExpo America 2014's YA Editors' Buzz Panel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon 'Not Optimistic' It Will Resume Selling Hachette Books Normally Soon

Amazon.com said it is "not optimistic" that a dispute with publisher Hachette Book Group will be resolved soon and added that it is acting "on behalf of customers."The comments, which Amazon made yesterday in an online post, are the first extensive remarks by the world's largest online retailer... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2014: Books, Technology, and the Culture of Distraction

Authors Nicholas Carr and Hugh Howey, among others, debated the impact of technology on publishing and culture at BookExpo America 2014. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: Giffin Makes Top Three

Emily Giffin's latest novel, "The One & Only," released May 20, debuted at #3 on Apple's iBooks bestseller list. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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£2.5m loan for The Book People

The Book People has taken on a loan of £2.5m from Gordon Brothers Europe, said to be to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon escalates standoff with publisher Hachette Book Group

If you're hoping to pre-order books by J.K. Rowling, Michael Connelly and other Hachette Book Group authors, you'll have to go somewhere besides Amazon.com. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2014-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hoopla Gets into Library E-book Lending

Unlike the dominant “one copy one user” analog era ebook lending model in libraries, Hoopla’s ebook service is based on a “transactional” model. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reviews of New and Forthcoming Religion and Spirituality Books, May 28, 2014

New books look at the religiously unaffiliated--the "nones"--and what it means to be born anew. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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