Waterstones prize winner Elle McNicoll: ‘I never saw autistic girls in books’

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 ]
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Juliet Rogers to leave Murdoch Books

Written By: Graeme Neill Juliet Rogers, chief executive of food and illustrated publisher Murdoch Books, is stepping down from the publisher with immediate effect after 10 years in charge. She will be replaced by Bruce Haslett, who ran the Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated businesses of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstone's to close 11 stores by end of week

Written By: Lisa Campbell Eleven Waterstone's stores will close by the end of this week. The outlets are spread across the UK and are mostly in locations where more than one Waterstone's store currently exists. Staff at the affected Waterstone's stores have now entered into a period of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jamie back on top as Costa winner shows mutability

Written By: Philip stone Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 30-minute Meals (Michael Joseph) has returned to the summit of the Official UK Top 50 after a three-week hiatus. The bestselling hardback non-fiction book since records began sold 37,407 copies in the seven days to 29th January, up 77%... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cairo Book Fair cancelled amid demonstrations in Egypt

Written By: Bookseller Staff The 43rd Cairo Book Fair, due to have been held this week, has been cancelled. The Guardian reports that "many foreign exhibitors" have been left stranded after failing to secure flights home, while others have had to abandon stands and books after the fair was... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's a Digital Book World

There was no shortage of debates and discussions at last week's second annual Digital Book World, where about 1,300 members of the trade publishing industry turned out in New York to explore ways to navigate the digital transition. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Hearst Makes Offer For Elle, Other Lagardère Titles

After a month of negotiations, Hearst has made an offer to buy 102 magazine titles from the French publisher. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-books and More at Winter Institute 6

Despite pressure coming from a number of different areas on bricks-and-mortar bookstores, the American Booksellers Association's sixth annual Winter Institute, which took place January 18–21 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va., was surprisingly upbeat. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Googlization of Books

There have been a few popular books in recent years detailing Google's ascent in the digital world, notably Ken Auletta's Googled: The End of the World as We Know It and Jeff Jarvis's What Would Google Do. But there is another story, says author and media scholar Siva Vai-dhyanathan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Claims E-book Sales Beat Paperbacks

The ebook sales milestone "has come even sooner than we expected," CEO Bezos says. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eric Carle to write first book in four years for Puffin

Written By: Charlotte Williams Puffin is to publish a new picture book by The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Eric Carle, his first in four years. The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse will be published in October 2011, in a global, simultaneous publication with Philomel, a Penguin Young Readers... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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David Kohn to leave Waterstone's

Written By: Lisa Campbell Waterstone’s head of e-commerce David Kohn is leaving the company at the end of this week. Kohn has worked with the book retailer for the last two and a half years. He is leaving to pursue “a number of digital investment opportunities,” according to a Waterstone’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstone's asks publishers to scale-back March orders

Written By: Lisa Campbell Waterstone's is cutting orders it makes on new titles from March to reduce its number of returns. The book retailer contacted suppliers this week asking them to reduce initial orders by about 20%. Publishers were asked to cancel existing pre-orders so that new orders... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Kindle Book Sales Soar

Online retailer reports sales of its digital ebooks has outstripped those of traditional paperbacks. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Richard and Judy launches kids books club

Written By: Lisa Campbell A children's book written by Jo Nesbo is among the choices in Richard and Judy’s Children’s Book Club, which launched in W H Smith today [27th January]. The husband-and wife television presenting team are working alongside the charity Booktrust, to encourage more... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin enters exclusive Sainsburys book club

Written By: Charlotte Williams Penguin has been appointed the exclusive publisher for Sainsbury's Book Club, providing all titles in the promotion between July 2011 and July 2012. Authors set to feature in the club include Marian Keyes, Clive Cussler, Jeff Kinney and Rick Riordan, with exact... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber to released illustrated Costa-winner

Written By: Charlotte Williams Faber is to release a new illustrated edition of Jo Shapcott's poetry collection Of Mutability, following its win at the Costa Book Awards last night [25th January]. A new b-format illustrated edition of the collection, priced £7.99, will be released in April.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: TED Starts an E-Books Line

TED, known for exclusive events and online videos of speeches by celebrities like Al Gore, Bono and Malcolm Gladwell, plans to publish its own short ebooks, beginning with three that went on sale Wednesday. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Target Keeps Book Buyers in Its Sights

While all the big box stores carry books and all offer discounted bestsellers, Target competes most directly for those consumers who might otherwise make their purchases at bookstores. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cooking the Books with Anna Boiardi

Anna Boiardi's family founded Chef Boyardee more than 70 years ago, spelling their name phonetically to help Americans pronounce it. Now, Boiardi teaches cooking classes and has written Delicious Memories, which Stewart, Tabori & Chang will publish in May. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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