Thursday, February 19, 2015

Latest news from The Bookseller

LATEST NEWS
Proving the old adage that all good things come to those who wait, Emma Healey scores her first UK number one with her debut smash hit Elizabeth is Missing (Penguin), first released on January 1st.
Sales at The Folio Society fell by almost a quarter in the year to the end of August 2014, compared to the year before, results for the 12-month period show. However the company made a small profit, after losing nearly £3m the previous year.
In accounts filed on Companies House this week, The Folio Society, which specialises in the high quality production of physical books, revealed its turnover was £14.8m in the year to 31st August 2014, down from £19.3m for the same period the year before - a decrease of 23.5%.
Bloomsbury, Edward Elgar Publishing and Nosy Crow have three shortlistings each at the ninth annual Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) awards.
The IPG Awards today (18th February) revealed its 12 category shortlists. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner on Thursday 5th March as part of the IPG annual spring conference.
Faber is ending its partnership with American publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) after 17 years, ahead of announcing new plans for its business in the US.
Pan Macmillan will this autumn launch a children’s book imprint within Macmillan Children’s Books (MCB), to be run by Suzanne Carnell.
Carnell is currently publishing director of picture books and pre-school of the MCB Under 6 division.
Under the new imprint, which is yet to be named, she will publish around 12 books annually. She will curate her own list and take some backlist authors, such as Emily Gravett, with her. Most of MCB’s picture book authors, including Julia Donaldson, will continue to be published as part of the Under 6 list.
Little, Brown has acquired a book in a “hotly-contested five-way auction” by former England cricket captain Mike Brearley about being “in the zone”.
Andreas Campomar bought UK and Commonwealth rights to On Form from Matthew Hamilton at Aitken Alexander Associates.

Not enough is being done in the UK to “stimulate or realise the creative potential of individuals”, with publicly-funded creative arts reaching a narrow section of people, the 2015 report by the Warwick Commission on the Future of Cultural Value has said.
There is “low cultural and social diversity” among audiences, consumers and the creative workforce, which “remains a key challenge for future success”.
Walker Books is marking the 15th anniversary of Anthony Horowitz’s first Alex Rider novel by releasing new editions of the entire series.
The publisher has also organised a writing competition with the NLT to mark the anniversary. 
All 10 books in the spy series, which started with Stormbreaker in 2000 and ended with Russian Roulette in 2013, will be released with new cover art and bonus content on the 2nd April (p.b, £7.99). The cover images were designed by Two Dots, the studio that created the packaging for Ubisoft’s video games Assassins Creed and Far Cry.

Oscar nominee Felicity Jones and Indian star Irrfan Khan have been cast alongside Tom Hanks in the upcoming film adaptation of Dan Brown’s Inferno (Corgi).
Jones, currently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in “The Theory of Everything”, will star as Dr Sienna Brooks, while Khan, best known for his roles in “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Life of Pi”, will take on the role of Harry Sims, also known as The Provost.  
The Bookshop Band is appealing to authors, publishers and writers to help it record around 80 songs before a key member of the band departs.
The Bookshop Band has earned its reputation writing songs inspired by books, including For an Ending based on A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and How not to Woo a Woman based on the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which has seen them take on several tours and play live on BBC radio. 

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