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News stories from the book world in January 2017

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Authors face declining incomes - should literary novelists receive more state support?

18 December 2017

Two of our links this week relate to the report just published by Arts Council England which looks at literary fiction and concludes that it is in sharp decline. A close look at the figures suggests however that literary fiction is not alone, the problem relates to fiction sales in general.  Read more

Reading scores are rising, but not in the US

11 December 2017

There's bad news from the US, where reading scores are declining, just when they are making real improvements in many countries across the world.

Basic literacy is at an all-time high across the world and most countries have seen steadily rising reading achievements in the last decade, as is shown by the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study.  Read more

‘Change is a new constant'

13 November 2017

British publisher Richard Charkin of Bloomsbury, on the blind spots that might keep the publishing industry from seeing what's ahead.  Read more

How piracy affects authors

6 November 2017

There's great concern about pirating of books and it's just been revealed by the UK online copyright infringement tracker survey that 17% of books read online have been pirated. Bestselling American fantasy author Maggie Stiefvater reports how her publishers reduced the print run of her next book because of the drop in sales caused by pirating.  Read more

US ebook sales decline but audio downloads boom

30 October 2017

Newly released figures show that ebook revenues in the US have declined again. In the first half of 2017, e-book sales declined by 4.6%, according to the Association of American PublishersThe national trade association of the American book publishing industry; AAP has more than 300 members, including most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. All other categories, apart from paperback books saw increased revenues in the same time period.  Read more

Writing a novel in a month

23 October 2017

The success of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) - our Writing Opportunity this week - has shown the power of a good idea and the way the internet can rapidly spread it to an international audience.  Read more

Copyright changes in Canada 'a disaster' which may spread

16 October 2017

New copyright law in Canada has been described as a disaster that can spread, with dire effects for authors and publishers alike. Considerable concern was expressed in a panel at the 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. about the effect of the changes to the law, the consequences of which are already apparent.  Read more

Latest update from this week's Frankfurt Book Fair

9 October 2017

International publishing seems to be flourishing, to judge from the reports coming out of the 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., and Amazon Crossing now champions translated fiction in a remarkably effective way.  Read more

The Frankfurt Book Fair - should you go?

2 October 2017

Next week it's the 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., the biggest annual book fair and a huge meeting of publishers from all over the world. Publishers are putting together their projects and packing their bags in preparation for five days of intensive back-to-back meetings.  Read more

The way of the future or taking an editor's advice?

25 September 2017

Should you do what your editor says? And, if you feel uncomfortable, how can you find another editor? Or will you submit through an online organisation which is bypassing editors?  Read more

National Poetry Day 2017 celebrates Freedom

18 September 2017

Next Thursday, 28 September, is National Poetry Day in the UK and a good template of how a national celebration for poetry can achieve real reach. The BBC, schools, poets, publishers, bookshops and readers are uniting to bring about a real celebration of poetry. Poets in particular will be very much in evidence, with a mass of events and school visits to celebrate the day.  Read more

Top 50 publishers mixed results but US audio downloads boom

11 September 2017

Mixed fortunes for world's 50 largest publishers are shown in a recent report but more recent figures for US audio downloads show that they have been booming.
  Read more