It's been a pretty good year for publishers. Bertelsmann revenues were the highest for seven years, although admittedly its profits were down and the acquisition of Penguin is part of the mix. Read more
It's a sign of the times that previously unknown British author E L James has topped the New York Times bestseller list with an erotic romance, Fifty Shades of Grey. Read more
This week's there's an interesting story from the US about writer Kate Alcott, whose first novel The Dressmaker has just sold 35,000 copies in hardback and been sold for translation in five countries. It seems explicable in terms of the subject-matter because The Dressmaker is about a seamstress who goes on board the Titanic as a lady's maid, is wooed by two men from Read more
The staggering number of 285,000 new titles and editions were self-published and published by community presses in the US last year, balanced against a slightly lower figure of 275,000 coming from traditional publishing houses. Read more
So how does the world look as we venture forth into the new decade? This week we'll look at the US and next week at the UK publishing worlds in an attempt to assess how the turmoil in the book trade is affecting writers.
This weekend the Javits Center in New York has been thronged with the thousands of people attending BookExpo, the biggest annual book show in North America. It's clear from the coverage that a mass of interesting author events and the usual promotional round are making this BookExpo seem as busy as ever, and attendance figures are only slightly down. Read more
How is the economic slowdown affecting books? We've managed to stay off the subject of the recession for over two months, so now is the time to have another look at how it is affecting the book business. Read more
No sooner had the dust settled on Bertlesmann's surprise appointment of German print supremo Markus Dohle to succeed Peter Olson as CEO of Random House US, than another unexpected change hit the American publishing world. Jane Friedman, the successful and popular head of HarperCollins, also announced her immediate departure. Read more
In News Review of 5 Novemberwe noted the beginning of the Writers' Guild strike in the US. Since then there have been occasional stories in the media about tv companies being forced to put out a diet of reruns and American audiences deserting their tv screens. Read more
‘I never planned to be a writer at all. For years, maybe even today, sometimes I think, "What exactly am I going to do with my life What is my career going to be? I'm only 80, for God's sake!... I am fascinated by endurance. Human beings really do lead lives of quiet desperation. It's admirable really. Families are basically the only group that can't easily split up.
Since I was a young child I've been fascinated by the identity people get from their families, good and bad, being part of a ‘gang'. The idea that for some people being in a large family gives them protection from the real world. Read more
You would think by now I would know how to make a book of poems. Apparently, I have written six books of poetry. But books are still a mystery to me. I begin, as most poets do, with one poem at a time. I make one poem and then stare at the terrifyingly bright world and convince myself I will never make another poem. Then, I somehow surprise myself and make another poem. Read more
Many years ago, Milwaukee-based book influencer Cree Myles first picked up Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and found the validation she didn't know she needed. The book affirmed many of her experiences moving through the world as a Black woman. Read more
The bells of St. Mary-Le-Bow toll eleven o'clock. The narrow streets of London's East End are strangely deserted. Out of the swirling fog comes the clip-clop of horseshoes on cobble. A carriage appears. I squint, struggling to decipher the crest on the carriage door. From within the passenger compartment, a gloved hand emerges. Wait - is that a gun?
During the recent pandemic, when children were going hungry because their parents were destitute, it took the moral authority of a 23-year-old footballer to get them fed. In earlier times it was the job of poets to summon our better angels, in the face of such obvious need. Read more
How difficult it seems, gazing back just seventy years to the late 1940s and 50s, to truly appreciate what a confusing and fraught era it was for our grandparents. The Soviet Union, recently an ally in the Second World War, was increasingly viewed as a threat with Stalin's imposition of the Iron Curtain and acquisition of an atomic bomb. Read more
I still have my first rejection letter from Mills and Boon. They were so encouraging, I tried again, and my next book was accepted. I had studied a law degree, and spent years in a job I hated, as a computer programme manager. Finally, I took redundancy, and that gave me the chance to write. So if you think you have a story in your head - write it down.
After all these years I can actually call myself a professional author. I've collected rejection slips, laboured in magazine writing, perfected my craft and built an audience until Lo! An agent came seeking me. Wanted to know about my book ideas. Wanted to represent me to editors. And proceeded to sell my book to my dream publisher.
The Flavia Albia series is a spin-off from your original Marcus Flaco series. Why did you end the Falco series and switch to his adopted daughter, Flavia? Read more
Publishing is facing "industry-wide burnout" according to a survey conducted by The Bookseller, which revealed 89% of staffers responding to the survey had experienced stress during the course of their work over the last year, while 69% reported burnout. Read more
'Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.'