The author was repeatedly told that no one wanted to read fun books with disabled heroes. Now she has won the £5,000 Waterstones children’s book prize for her debut, A Kind of SparkWhen Scottish author Elle McNicoll was first trying to enter the publishing world, she was repeatedly told that people didn’t want to read about an autistic heroine. “In job interviews, I was saying that I wanted to see more books with disabled characters in them that were not traumatic, boring or educational, but fun and full of life. A lot of the reactions were, ‘Waterstones don’t like books like that’,” she says.Now McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark has won the Waterstones children’s book prize. Published by tiny independent Knights Of, it follows Addie, an 11-year-old autistic girl, as she campaigns for a memorial to the witch trials that took place in her Scottish village. The novel has been praised by Waterstones’ booksellers as “eye opening, heart-wrenching, sad [and] inspiring”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-07-01 05:01:05 UTC ]
PW takes a look back at some of the library stories that captivated the publishing world in 2017, and what they portend for 2018 Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-12-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Few contemporary writers have portrayed black Southern life with as much wit and heart-pounding drama as Attica Locke, whose latest book is the mystery “Bluebird, Bluebird.” Formerly a writer and producer on the television show “Empire,” Locke took the publishing world by storm with her debut... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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At the 68th National Book Awards, held at Cipriani New York in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday night, politics were again front and center in the publishing world. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The pivot to video came upon the publishing world with a force still being grappled with, even as the video environment continues to evolve. During a panel discussion on the subject during Adweek's first Elevate summit today, Vox general manager Andrew Golis described the experience as "moving... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2017-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former Waterstones children's laureate Chris Riddell is to join reading charity BookTrust as an ambassador. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Matthew Todd, Bantam author and award-winning editorial director of gay magazine Attitude, is among the six authors shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize, awarded annually to a writer whose first book (whether poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction) explores what it is to be LGBT. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In his keynote at Frankfurt's The Markets, the arch-agent Andrew Wylie will address the forces of nationalism: 'The publishing world is in opposition.' The post Andrew Wylie and the Internationalist Imperative: ‘A Profound Moral Question’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Award-winning author and illustrator Lauren Child has been named as the next Waterstones Children’s Laureate, an honour she says she “wasn’t expecting”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Koala Who Could by Rachel Bright and Jim Field has been named the winner of Oscar’s Book Prize 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scholastic has claimed two titles out of the five shortlisted for Oscar’s Book Prize, which honours the best book published for children under five years old. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poet and playwright Kiran Millwood Hargrave has been named the winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2017 for her debut novel The Girl of Ink and Stars (Chicken House). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's Laureate Chris Riddell could win the Kate Greenaway illustration medal for a fourth time. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2017-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of books included in Waterstones‘ Children’s Book of the Month promotion in 2016 totalled 327,854 units through Nielsen BookScan, demonstrating the retailer’s influence in shaping the market for Middle Grade titles. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Martina Cole, the bestselling and prolific author of crime fiction, is to be celebrated by publisher Headline in her 25th year as a published author. She deserves more respect for her achievements, says Tom Tivnan. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 18-strong shortlists for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2017 show a strong presence from independent Chicken House as well as publishers Hachette and Penguin Random House. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The chain of booksellers has announced its first profit in years – thanks in part to a bold decision to run each branch like a local bookshop Late on Thursday afternoon, would-be wizards across the UK dropped what they were doing to join the professors of Hogwarts for Harry Potter night. At 6pm... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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TV presenter Claudia Winkleman is to join author Cathy Rentzenbrink and Amazon's director of books, Dan Mucha, on the judging panel for children's book award Oscar’s Book Prize. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The fourth and final webcast in CodeMantra’s series on the publishing-technology connection will be held at 1 p.m. today. The subject of the webcast is virtual communities and will examine how the publishing world can use engagement and collaborative communities to its advantage. Panelists are... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW takes a look back at some of the library stories that captivated the publishing world in 2016, and what they portend for 2017. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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These days, it is minimally staffed and funded firms who invest in new authors. The giants avoid such risk, only picking the writers once their names are madePaul McVeigh and Kirsty Logan are authors you may have heard of. Both of their debuts were published by Salt, an independent publisher.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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