Booksellers have kept readers around the UK going throughout a series of lockdowns. Now the reading community is coming together to back their local bookshops, with tens of thousands of pounds donated to support stores in Crickhowell, Brighton and Buckley.
More than 60 bookshops launched in the UK and Ireland in the past 18 months - but who would open one in a pandemic? We asked five to share their stories, while bestselling author Val McDermid remembers the bookshops of her youth.
It might be a picture of gloom and doom for most business sectors in 2020 though surprisingly, the publishing sector has come out unscathed from the vagaries of the pandemic. Sales have largely been positive across all segments of the book industry, which includes printed books, eBooks, and audiobooks.
As the weather turns and the days shorten, as trees bend low with fruit and blackberries darken the hedges, bookshops are bracing for a bumper crop of their own. September and October are always rich, but this year is exceptional: nearly 600 books will reportedly be published in the UK on 3 September alone. Read more
So, we're getting there... slowly. The "new normal" is taking shape, and both sales people and buyers are emerging from furlough and playing catch up. Read more
Book lovers' passion for words on the printed page has inspired them to donate millions of dollars to help keep their favorite independent shops afloat and workers paid during coronavirus-prompted closures and restrictions.
We specialize in writers based in Japan who are seeking publication overseas, but we are happy to receive submissions from any authors writing in English. We represent fiction and nonfiction for both adults and children, though we have a particular interest in books related to Japan and Asia in general.
'In our world authors may grumble at poor advances, royalties and meagre sales, but at least - in the main - the money flows, as it should, towards the author and availability in shops is a given. In the alternative reality of hybrid, subsidised or contributory publishing, it is authors who provide the investment in return for giving up their rights. The rewards can be dubious...
When I started writing what would become my debut novel, Happy for You, in 2015, the Cambridge Analytica scandal had not yet happened. I wanted to write about technology-specifically, internet technology-which, at the time, was still awash in techno-optimism, but which I was beginning to suspect was having some negative effects on my brain, on my sense of being. Read more
Joël Dicker is often dismissed as a popular fiction writer not to be counted among the literary greats of his era. On the other hand, almost everyone acknowledges his business acumen. The Geneva native is one of the ten most popular authors in the French-speaking world. Read more
The number of books read by children is increasing, analysis completed as part of the annual What Kids Are Reading Report (WKAR) from learning and assessment provider Renaissance Learning has revealed. However authors warn "recent years have seen a worrying decline in children and young people's reading enjoyment". Read more
At least once a month, there's a big discussion online about something or other that has happened in publishing. It might be about where novelists find inspiration, or how authors use sources in nonfiction, or the research practices of journalists versus academics, or the intent of a memoirist, or how much power and influence your average author has. Read more
Since my debut novel, Other People's Children, was published last April, I've been thinking a lot about who gets to tell which stories. Some of my readers don't seem to think that I should have been allowed to write the book that I wrote.
An online survey by the Society of Authors and the Writers Guild of Great Britain found that many authors end up out of pocket if they sign deals with ‘hybrid' publishers.
The international circuit begins each year with two spring fairs: the Bologna Children's Book FairThe Bologna Children's Book Fair or La fiera del libro per ragazzi is the leading professional fair for children's books in the world. and the London Book Fair, typically held in March and April, respectively. The several book fairs of the summer and fall follow: Beijing International Book Fair and Frankfurt Book FairWorld's largest trade fair for books; held annually mid-October at Frankfurt Trade Fair, Germany; First three days exclusively for trade visitors; general public can attend last two. held, respectively, in August or September and October. Read more
Approximately 130 people, as well as others listening online, attended the Book Industry Study Group's first in-person annual meeting in three years, held April 22 in New York City. The meeting focused on the impact of the pandemic and continuing efforts to make the industry more inclusive.
'I dislike modern memoirs. They are generally written by people who have either entirely lost their memories, or have never done anything worth remembering.'