Saturday, January 10, 2015

News from The Bookseller

A greater percentage of independent booksellers reported that they enjoyed Christmas sales increases in 2014, compared to the previous two years, according to a survey by The Bookseller.  
In a separate survey by the Booksellers Association of 80 bookshops, 55% reported sales were up—compared with 43% last year—and of those shops, 18% reported sales were up “a lot”. Meanwhile, 69% said they saw an increase in footfall, up from 45% who said they had seen a decline last year. 
The French Publishers Association (Syndicat National de l’Edition, SNE), the Circle de la Librairie and the Bureau International de l'Edition Française (BIEF), which promotes French publishing abroad, replaced their traditional New Year cocktail reception yesterday evening (8th January) with a memorial to the victims of Wednesday’s attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.
Delivering a tribute, SNE president Vincent Montagne said: "The world of publishing is in mourning. Because the victims included authors of our houses, close friends, free and courageous spirits."
Author James Patterson is donating £50,000 to a new prize that will fund school libraries.
The World Book Day Award, launched today (9th January), offers schools in the UK and Ireland the chance to win money to buy books from local bookshops to stock their libraries. Six lump sums are on up for grabs: £10,000 for the winning school; £5,000 for second place; and three lots of £3,000 for those in joint-third place.
Cornerstone's William Heinemann imprint has confirmed that its plan to publish Michel Houellebecq's new novel Submission this autumn is "unaltered".
The controversial novel, newly released in France by Flammarion, imagines a future France with a Muslim president, and has come into sharpened focus after Houellebecq featured on the cover of Charlie Hebdo, subject of this week's Paris terror attack.  

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