London Book Fair 2013

Special link: London Book Fair 2013

Friday, September 30, 2011

DC Entertainment digital graphic novels available exclusively on the newly-announced Kindle Fire

DC Entertainment, the first publisher to offer more than fifty comic book titles on the same day in digital and print, is now taking the world of digital books by storm. The comic book giant has worked with Amazon to bring 100 of its original graphic novels exclusively to Amazon's newly announced Kindle Fire

Kindle Fire given cautious welcome by publishers

Amazon's launch of its new e-reader, the Kindle Fire, has been hailed as "game-changing" for the fast-growing e-book market. At a New York press conference on Wednesday, the Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, revealed that the much anticipated device would be under half the price of its market-leading rival, Apple's iPad, at $199. Bezos also unveiled a touchscreen Kindle Touch device at $99, and a lighter version of the standard Kindle, with Wi-Fi access, with a price reduced to $79

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Princeton bans academics from handing all copyright to journal publishers

Princeton University hopes its new Open Access policy will pressure academic publishers to stop requiring the copyright to the papers they publish

Book discount frenzy as Super Thursday arrives (UK)

Book-lovers face a record level of bargains this Christmas as hundreds of new titles from celebrity authors including Jamie Oliver and James Corden hit the market today at heavily reduced prices

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

One Culture: festival of literature and arts (UK)

"Join us to celebrate 350 years of the Royal Society's library at the One Culture festival. Over the first weekend in October 2011 some of the best novelists, scientists, poets and historians will explore the crosscurrents between science and culture"

Bad Writing (UK)

Bad Writing is a symposium considering genre writing, with speakers Paul Cornell and Dr Bernice M Murphy, at King's College London (all day, free, email the organisers to book a place). September 30, 2011

Christopher Priest is talking about his new novel The Islanders at Foyles - September 29

The multiple award-winning Christopher Priest has built a dual reputation as a contemporary novelist and a leading figure in modern SF and fantasy. His latest work, The Islanders, is a multi-layered tale of murder, artistic rivalry and literary trickery where nothing is quite as it seems. Join Christopher this evening and discover for yourself why he remains one of the country's most acclaimed writers - Foyles, London, September 29

Man Booker Prize teams up with Apple's iBooks

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction has teamed up with Apple's iBookstore to offer samples of each of the prize's shortlisted titles in both book and audio format. Three of this year's shortlisted authors - Carol Birch, Patrick deWitt and A.D. Miller - will also be appearing at the Apple Store, Covent Garden on Thursday 13 October to read and discuss their books.

Interview with David Shanks, CEO of Penguin USA

In this exclusive interview for Digital Book World, Rich Fahle of Astral Road Media interviews David Shanks, CEO of the Penguin Group (USA), who discusses the difficulties of juggling both print and e-publishing, the place of Book Country in Penguin’s strategy, and the future of handselling and brick-and-mortar retailers

ALPSP International Conference 2011 - presentations

Presentations from ALPSP International Conference 2011 are now available

Meg Rosoff event cancelled over 'blasphemous' book (UK)

A Christian school has cancelled an appearance by Meg Rosoff, the award-winning children's author, on account of her book's "blasphemous" content

The HW Fisher Best First Biography Prize shortlist

The shortlist for The HW Fisher Best First Biography Prize has been announced:

* Mysterious Wisdom: The Life and Work of Samuel Palmer – Rachel Campbell-Johnston (Bloomsbury)

* The Children of Lovers: A Memoir of William Golding by His Daughter – Judy Golding (Faber)

* William Armstrong: Magician of the North – Henrietta Heald (Northumbria Press)

* Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas – Matthew Hollis (Faber)

* Andrew Marvell: The Chameleon – Nigel Smith (Yale University Press)

* Catherine of Aragon: Henry's Spanish Queen – Giles Tremlett (Faber)

Asterix creator Albert Uderzo quits drawing at 84

Asterix creator Albert Uderzo is handing over the reins to a younger artist after 52 years drawing the famous comic book hero. The Italian-born illustrator invented the warrior Gaul with his scriptwriter friend, Rene Goscinny, in 1959

Bloomsbury to digitally revive out-of-print books

Publishers Bloomsbury have created a digital-only imprint for reviving late authors' out-of-print titles. Bloomsbury Reader has launched with an initial collection of 57 titles from authors such as crime writer HRF Keating and politician Alan Clark. Monica Dickens, great grand-daughter of novelist Charles, is among the other authors whose works are being revived

Publishers of "The Rogue" to Palin attorneys: "Book is solid, reliable, and well-substantiated." In other words, "Game On!"

A publisher is standing behind a book about Sarah Palin, a day after Palin's attorney threatened to sue over it. Crown Publishers spokesman Stuart Applebaum says the company is confident the reporting in Joe McGinniss' book is "solid, reliable, and well-substantiated."

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The 20th annual SHARP conference (Ireland)

The 20th annual SHARP conference: The Battle for Books - 26-29 June 2012 - Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

2011 Dayton Literary Peace Prize winners

The winners of the 2011 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, which celebrates the power of literature to promote peace, are:

Fiction
* The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee (Riverhead)

Nonfiction
* In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance by Wilbert Rideau (Knopf)

Winners will be honored at a ceremony in Dayton, Ohio, on November 13

Future announces new iPad edition of Tap!

Future Publishing has unveiled a new a monthly iPad edition of Tap! The iPhone and iPad magazine - built from the ground up exclusively for the iPad

'Bill of rights' for writers seeks bigger share of e-book revenue (Canada)

The Writers' Union of Canada has released A Writer's Bill of Rights for the Digital Age that addresses challenges writers face as the publishing industry moves to a digital model

Amazon signs magazine publishers, Fox ahead of tablet launch

Amazon has reached agreements with three large publishing houses to provide digital magazine content for the company's upcoming iPad competitor, according to a new report, while also adding Fox movies and TV shows to its Amazon Prime streaming video service

Trident Media launches E-Book program for its clients

Trident Media Group will become the latest literary agency to directly distribute e-books from its authors, announcing plans to launch Trident E-Book Operations, a full service e-book publishing program that will distribute Trident author e-books directly to both domestic and international e-book retailers

Sunday, September 25, 2011

PA Bulletin 12th September 2011 (UK)

PA Bulletin 12th September 2011, from The Publishers Association, UK, is now available online #publisher #publishing

2010 Lane Anderson Award winners

Winners of this year's $10,000 Lane Anderson Award, which recognizes science writing by Canadian authors, were The Ptarmigan's Dilemma: An Exploration into How Life Organizes and Supports Itself by John Theberge and Mary Theberge (adult category) and Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be by Daniel Loxton (young readers)

Monocle 2.2.0

Monocle is digital books for everyone. You can use it on any device with a modern web browser: the iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPad, Android for phones and Android for tablets, the Kindle 3, the Nook, and of course a Mac, Windows PC or Linux-powered device using Firefox, Safari, Chrome or Opera. Monocle is software zero. There’s nothing to install

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Anthony Awards 2011 winners

The Anthony Awards are given at each annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention with the winners selected by attendees. The award is named for the late Anthony Boucher (William Anthony Parker White), well-known writer and critic from the New York Times, who helped found the Mystery Writers of America.

* Best Novel: Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
* Best First Novel: Damage Done by Hilary Davidson (Forge Books)
* Best Paperback Original: Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski (Minotaur Books)
* Best Short Story: "Swing Shift" in Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side by Dana Cameron (Berkley)
* Best Graphic Novel: The Chill by Jason Starr (Vertigo Crime)
* Best Critical Non-Fiction: Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks by John Curran (HarperCollins)
* Best Website/Blog: Stop, You're Killing Me

Hammett Prize Winner

The North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers announced that The Nearest Exit, by Olen Steinhauer (St. Martin's/Minotaur), has been named the winner of the organization's annual Hammett Prize for a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing

Friday, September 23, 2011

Facet Publishing announce the release of Managing Records in Global Financial Markets

This is the first book to cover the current regulatory, legal and governance issues associated with managing records in global banking and finance businesses. Jeffrey Ritter, the founder of the online research and learning platform; The Ritter Academy, said, 'Records and information are the living history of how a financial institution steers its course in a brutally competitive market. This outstanding volume has achieved something important: the editors deliver a resource that provides reliable and trustworthy navigation through the diverse challenges of global banking and financial services and the rigour of specific national rules. Balanced, thorough, accessible - an essential tool for any professional.'

Ashbery, Kaplan to receive honorary book awards

Poet John Ashbery and bookseller Mitchell Kaplan will receive honorary National Book Awards

HarperCollins Publishers making 5000 titles available print on demand

In a first from a major trade publisher, HarperCollins Publishers today announced "Comprehensive Backlist." This program will allow all physical bookstores, from the largest to the smallest, to promote and sell the HarperCollins backlist through in-store "Digital-to-Print at Retail" (DPR) using the Espresso Book Machine (EBM). The program will enable bookstores to offer thousands of trade paperback books from the HarperCollins catalog through a mix of traditionally printed books and DPR, as space and cash flow restrictions will no longer be a factor

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Interview with Bob Miller, Group Publisher at Workman Publishing

In this exclusive interview for Digital Book World, Rich Fahle of Astral Road Media interviews Bob Miller, Group Publisher at Workman Publishing, who discusses the continued importance of their physical and print backlist titles, how the company extends their lives through revisions and marketing, and long-term strategies to navigate verticals and manage risk

Jonathan Dee wins $50,000 St. Francis College Literary Award

A celebration of the privileged rang out at the opening night gala of the 2011 Brooklyn Book Festival as Jonathan Dee, author of The Privileges (Random House), was announced as the second winner of the $50,000 St. Francis College Literary Award at the Brooklyn Book Festival 2011 Gala Mingle and Awards Ceremony held at The Green Building on September 17

Walker Books innovates to stay ahead of the competition

"Again!" was the only word that Walker Books' founder Sebastian Walker said counted. It is the word he hoped every child would exclaim when they finished one of his publishing company's books. "Again" is also a pretty good word to describe Walker Book's consistent performance as one of the country's most successful and financially sound book publishers

Play.com is bought by Japan's Rakuten

The UK online retailer Play.com has become the third European company to be taken over by Japan's e-commerce operator Rakuten

Lost James M Cain novel to be published

A lost novel by James M Cain, author of Mildred Pierce and The Postman Always Rings Twice, has been re-discovered and will be published in autumn 2012. The Cocktail Waitress, about a young widow whose husband dies under suspicious circumstances, was the last book written by Cain, who died in 1977. Publisher Hard Case Crime said it took nine years to track down the manuscript and arrange publishing rights. For fans of the genre, The Cocktail Waitress "is the holy grail", it said

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Christopher Robin’s Dartmouth bookshop to close (UK)

The independent bookshop founded by the real-life Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh is to close later this month

Unauthorised Julian Assange autobiography due out

An autobiography of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is being released. It has been published despite the fact Mr Assange broke off his involvement and tried to cancel the project. According to the publishers, Mr Assange signed a contract on 20 December 2010 with Canongate Books to write a book "part memoir, part manifesto". After sitting with a ghost writer for more than 50 hours of taped interviews, he decided he wanted to cancel the contract. "All memoir is prostitution," the publishers say he declared after reading the first draft

Edna O'Brien wins the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award

An Irish writer has finally won Ireland's major international short story competition. It took no less than the magisterial talent of Edna O'Brien, the most literary of Irish writers, to become the first Irish winner of the Frank O'Connor International Short Story award. Her collection Saints and Sinners held off the challenge of Yiyun Li's Gold Boy, Emerald Girl. It is an interesting result. Yiyun Li's first book, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, had not only won the inaugural Frank O'Connor award in 2005, it immediately established the Beijing-born, US-based writer as a major voice who wrote an outstanding first novel The Vagrants

Clare Wigfall interviews Edna o'Brien

Clare Wigfall interviews Edna o'Brien

One out of five eBook publishers generates more than 10% of revenues from eBook sales

The results of Aptara's third annual eBook survey of publishers provide unprecedented insight into eBooks' real impact on book publishers' production and business models. Representing more than 1,300 book publishers from the Trade, Education, Professional, and Corporate markets, the report documents eBook trends, challenges, and strategies that have emerged since Aptara's first survey in 2009

Laugh Lines | Revisiting William Steig

What a splendid gift it would be if the works tearing up the best-seller lists weren't that of a Stieg Larsson, but a Steig, William. If, rather than girls with inadvisable tattoos playing with fire, we had "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble," "Abel's Island" or even "The Lonely Ones" clawing to the top in a fit of posthumous re-appreciation for a modest artist of tremendous ability. Alas

Maurice Sendak on the first book he's written and illustrated in 30 years

A conversation with the author of Where the Wild Things Are on his latest creation, Bumble-Ardy

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Polari First Book Prize shortlist

Five titles have been shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize, including Autofellatio by James Maker which began as a self-published e-book before finding a publisher.

Maker's title, published by Big Fib, joins three other titles from indies: Love, Hope & High Heels by Clare Campbell (Tollington Press); Homo Jihad by Timothy Graves (Paradise Press); and London Triptych by Jonathan Kemp (Myriad Editions). Julian Corkle is a Filthy Liar by D J Connell (Blue Door) completes the list.

The Polari First Book Prize awards debuts which explore the queer experience and is open to poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction published in the UK in English during the year of submission. Self-published books or e-books are also eligible

Soho Literary Festival (UK)

Welcome to the first Soho Literary Festival at the Soho Theatre in Dean Street, in the heart of London's Soho. The festival is presented by The Oldie and sponsored by Noble Caledonia. We have an exciting array of great writers and performers appearing at the festival including Ken Loach, Howard Jacobson, Maureen Lipman, Craig Brown, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Melvyn Bragg, Philip Kerr and many others

Monday, September 19, 2011

Audiobook publisher picks two thirds of the Man Booker shortlist

Independent audiobook company W F Howes, in Leicestershire, Is gearing up for high demand after finding it has already produced four of the six shortlisted for this year's Man Booker Prize. W F Howes Limited is fast-tracking download and CD unabridged audio editions for library and retail markets. They have exclusive unabridged audio rights to Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt and Snowdrops by A D Miller

Interview with Richard Nash, founder and CEO of Cursor

For Digital Book World, Rich Fahle of Astral Road Media interviews Richard Nash, Founder and CEO of Cursor and Publisher of Red Lemonade, who discusses copyright and nontraditional licensing; scalability; discoverability; and the relationship between author, agent, and publisher

In E-Books, publishers have rivals: news sites

Book publishers are surrounded by hungry new competitors: Amazon, with its steadily growing imprints; authors who publish their own e-books; online start-ups like The Atavist and Byliner. Now they have to contend with another group elbowing into their territory: news organizations. Swiftly and at little cost, newspapers, magazines and sites like The Huffington Post are hunting for revenue by publishing their own version of e-books, either using brand-new content or repurposing material that they may have given away free in the past. And by making e-books that are usually shorter, cheaper to buy and more quickly produced than the typical book, they are redefining what an e-book is - and who gets to publish it - NY Times

Vancouver publisher Douglas & McIntyre celebrates 40th birthday

From a children's Christmas book that swept Vancouver in 1972, to a digital start-up that allows readers to create their own books from the best of the world's content, Vancouver-based publisher Scott McIntyre has seen it all. Douglas & McIntyre - the publishing house McIntyre co-founded in Vancouver with Jim Douglas - is celebrating 40 years of survival in the tough business of book publishing this month

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Private Eye Writers of America 2011 Shamus Awards winners

Private Eye Writers of America 2011 Shamus Awards winners:

* Best Hardcover P.I. Novel: No Mercy, by Lori Armstrong (Touchstone)

* Best First P.I. Novel: In Search of Mercy, by Michael Ayoob (Minotaur)

* Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel: Asia Hand, by Christopher G. Moore (Grove/Atlantic)

* Best P.I. Short Story: "The Lamb Was Sure to Go," by Gar Anthony Haywood (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, November 2010)

* The Hammer Award (Best P.I. Series Character): Sara Paretsky for V.I. Warshawski

Publishing Technology chosen to build pioneering academic publishing site for GSE Research

Publishing Technology has been selected to build an academic publishing platform for GSE Research. GSE Research's new online platform for research into governance, sustainability and the environment will be built using Publishing Technology's innovative semantic web based publishing software, pub2web. The new GSE Research platform will be among the first of its kind offering the option of an open peer review model alongside the traditional peer review system. This new publishing model is aimed at speeding up the submission process and encouraging heightened engagement and collaboration amongst users

2011 FT and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award shortlist

Finalists have been named for the £30,000 (US$47,385) Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, which honors a book providing the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues. The winner will be announced in London November 3. This year's shortlisted titles are:

* Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo (PublicAffairs)
* Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar by Barry Eichengreen (Oxford University Press)
* Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier by Edward L. Glaeser (Penguin)
* Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril by Margaret Heffernan (Walker)
* Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt (Crown)
* The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World by Daniel Yergin (Penguin)

Boardman Tasker Prize shortlist

Finalists have been named for this year's £3,000 (US$4,731) Boardman Tasker Prize, which honors authors of literary works whose central theme is concerned with mountains. The 2011 shortlisted titles are:

* Desert Towers by Steve "Crusher" Bartlett
* Murder in the Hindu Kush by Tim Hannigan
* Freedom Climbers by Bernadette McDonald
* The Sound of Gravity by Joe Simpson
* Shadow of the Matterhorn by Ian Smith

The winner will be announced in November during the Kendal Mountain Festival

Frankfurt Book Fair (Germany)

The Frankfurt Book Fair 2011 will take place from 12 to 16 October, 2011

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Novelist who left banking because of sexism fires publisher for putting 'fluffy and degrading' covers on her books

She quit her career in the City claiming she couldn’t stand the sexism. Now novelist Polly Courtney is dropping her publisher for the same reason – complaining her books are marketed in a 'sexist' and 'degrading' manner. The 32-year-old writer, who shot to fame after penning an expose of life in the Square Mile, dramatically sacked HarperCollins at the launch of her new book

Penguin targets growth in children's (UK)

Penguin is "significantly" increasing its investment in its children's division, with a focus on pre-school, big brands and the global market, as well as on digital innovation, according to UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon

Goldsboro sponsors HWA historical debuts prize (UK)

London independent Goldsboro Books is sponsoring a new prize for debut historical fiction from the Historical Writers Association. The inaugural prize will be for the best debut published in the UK in 2010 and 2011 and will be presented at the independent bookshop's History in the Court Festival on 27th September 2012

Waterstone's considers differential pricing (UK)

Waterstone's has floated the idea of introducing differential book pricing across stores in the UK in its discussions with some publishers. The chain is considering marketing books at different prices across different branches, according to its type of demographic. The concept is also believed to have been considered by Waterstone's previous management under the HMV Group, before current m.d. James Daunt and Russian owner Alexander Mamut took over in July

ALPSP Awards 2011 winners

Winners of the 2011 ALPSP Awards were announced at the ALPSP International Conference Dinner on Thursday 15 September

A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle - Guardian review

A ghostly paean to the family

The Third Chiswick Book Festival (UK)

The Third Chiswick Book Festival will take place from September 16th to 18th 2011. Why not make a weekend of it? It's at St Michael & All Angels, Chiswick House and the Tabard Theatre. Once again we have an exciting lineup of speakers, including: Michael Morpurgo (Warhorse, Shadow, Little Manfred), Kate Mosse (Labyrinth, Sepulchre, The Winter Ghosts), Daisy Goodwin (My Last Duchess), Rosamund Lupton (Afterwards), Andy McNab (Dead Centre), Isla Blair (A Tiger’s Wedding), Katie Fforde (Summer of Love), Kate Lace (Gypsy Wedding), Graham Holderness (The Nine Lives of William Shakespeare), Vanessa Redgrave (Anonymous), Shireen Jilla (Exiled), Kate Summerscale (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher), Kate Colquhoun (Mr Briggs' Hat), Tracy Borman (Matilda: Queen of the Conqueror), Nev Fountain (The Mervyn Stone Mysteries), Helen Castor (She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth), James Priestman (Pitshanger Poets), George Goodwin (Fatal Colours), Mark Ellis (Princes Gate), Richard Beard (Lazarus is Dead), Mathew Lyons (The Favourite), Elizabeth Noble (The Way We Were), Fiona Neill (What the Nanny Saw), Celia Brayfield (Bestseller, Deep France), Sally O’Reilly (How to be a Writer), Siobhan Curham (Dear Dylan), David Miller (Today), Lorraine Bateman & Paul Cole (At Midnight in a Flaming Town), Marcus Berkmann (Dumb Britain, Fatherhood), Tom Jamieson (Private Eye), Louis Barfe, Colette McBeth, Liesl Schwarz, Brian Moses (Behind the Staffroom Door), Emma Kennedy (Wilma Tenderfoot), Karen McCrombie (You, Me and Thing), Laura Hambleton (Chameleon Swims and Lizard Lounge).

Plus Paul Slack in Phoenix Rising: DH Lawrence, Son and Lover, on Saturday September 17th and Lucy Worsley (If Walls Could Talk) at Chiswick House on the evening of Thursday September 15th.

Macavity Award Winners

The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International. Mystery Readers Journal is MRI's publication. This award is named for the "mystery cat" of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats).

Best Mystery Novel
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery Novel
Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva (Forge-Tom Doherty Associates)

Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction
Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making by John Curran (HarperCollins)

Best Mystery Short Story
"Swing Shift" by Dana Cameron in Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side (Berkley)

Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery
City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur)

Friday, September 16, 2011

Nepal hosts its first literary fair in Kathmandu

The Nepalese capital of Kathmandu is hosting its first ever literary festival with 60 Nepali and international writers taking part. They are gathering in the ancient palace of Patan to talk about books and debate issues facing the country

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Independent's Johann Hari returns Orwell Prize

Journalist Johann Hari is handing back a writing prize after an investigation into allegations he plagiarised quotes in his articles. Mr Hari was suspended two months ago while the Independent newspaper investigated claims against him. It says he has admitted "embellishment of quotations/plagiarism" and of using a pseudonym to attack critics online. Mr Hari will return the Orwell Prize and take four months' unpaid leave as well as taking a journalism course

Children’s book too hot for U.S. publishers warmly received in Canada

Daniel Loxton, an illustrator and writer, created a children's book so outrageous, so outlandish, so controversial no American publisher dared touch it. It does not depict nudity. It does not contain curse words. It does not include blasphemy. The love scenes, such as they are, involve males with females. It does include a straightforward explanation for the complexity of the natural world through a simple scientific theory. "So many of the publishing professionals I was talking to were leery," he said. "When push came to shove they declined to publish the book. Several did indicate to me it was too hot a topic." The book wound up being published by Canadian-owned Kids Can Press, which also expected objections from creationists. So far, the book, Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be, an illustrated primer written for readers in Grades 3 to 7, has generated more prize nominations than controversy

Guardian announces more ebook titles (UK)

The Guardian has announced ten new titles in its Guardian Shorts ebooks range of books for Apple's iBooks and Amazon's Kindle. The newspaper launched the range last month with Phone Hacking - How the Guardian Broke the Store, an account of the paper's role in uncovering phone hacking by the News of the World. The new titles include Who's Who? The Resurrection of The Doctor - a look at how the paper has covered the BBC's acclaimed revival of Doctor Who and 9/11: Ten Years On, described as "a book of insight, reaction and analysis to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11."

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Conway partners with Imperial War Museum

Conway partners with Imperial War MuseumConway, Anova's military, naval and transport imprint, is publishing the official tie-in to the Imperial War Museum's major 2012 exhibition about life during wartime. The book will focus on family life during the Second World War, concentrating on a single family and topics such as evacuation, conscription, factory work and the Women's Voluntary Service, as well as the realities of rationing and air raids

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Trollope to rework Austen's Sense and Sensibility

Joanna Trollope is to write a contemporary version of Jane Austen's classic novel Sense and Sensibility, which will be published in autumn 2013. It will form part of a series of six HarperFiction novels that will rework Austen's books, although other authors have yet to be announced. "This is a great honour and an even bigger challenge," said Trollope. Trollope, whose novels include The Choir and Friday Nights, is to chair next year's Orange Prize for Fiction

The Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2011

The Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2011 shortlists:

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Six and Under

* Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere (Puffin)
* Cats Ahoy! by Peter Bently, illustrated by Jim Field (Macmillan Children's Books)
* First Week at Cow School by Andy Cutbill, illustrated by Russell Ayto (HarperCollins Children's Books)
* Limelight Larry by Leigh Hodgkinson (Orchard)
* Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School by David Mackintosh (HarperCollins Children's Books)
* A Place to Call Home by Alexis Deacon, illustrated by Viviane Schwarz (Walker)

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Seven to Fourteen

* Animal Tales by Terry Jones, illustrated by Michael Foreman (Pavilion Children's Books)
* The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon (Scholastic)
* The Get Rich Quick Club by Rose Impey (Orchard)
* Letters from an Alien Schoolboy by Ros Asquith (Piccadilly Press)
* Penny Dreadful is a Magnet for Disaster by Joanna Nadin, illustrated by Jess Mikhail (Usborne)
* The Wrong Pong by Steven Butler, illustrated by Chris Fisher (Puffin)

Directory of Open Access Journals - recently added titles

Revista Iberoamericana de ArgumentaciĂłn

Prilozi : Oddelenie za Biološki i Medicinski Nauki

Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology (JAST)

AlexandrĂ­a : Revista de Ciencias de la InformaciĂłn

Approaching Religion

Holistic Approach to Environment

International Journal of Bio-Science and Bio-Technology

Nordidactica : Journal of Humanities and Social Science Education

McGraw-Hill Education to become standalone business

The board of directors of the McGraw-Hill Companies has backed a plan to spin-off the company's educational publishing group, McGraw-Hill Education, into its own company. The decision came after pressure from shareholders to increase the company's stock price. With current MHC chairman Terry McGraw planning to head McGraw-Hill Markets, the split will end the decades-long involvement of the McGraw family with book publishing

Google to launch local eBook store (Australia)

Google appears to be close to launching an Australian version of its eBookstore. The store, offering as many as three million electronic book titles for sale both online and through independent booksellers, is currently confined to the USA

Bourdain to have his own line of books

Anthony Bourdain, the celebrity chef, author and reality TV star, will acquire books for Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Publishers and the British Library agree framework licence agreement for document delivery outside the UK to non-commercial researchers

The British Library and the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) have agreed a framework licence agreement to be entered into directly between individual publishers and the British Library. It governs the supply of copies of articles from the British Library's Document Supply Service to non-commercial end users via not-for-profit libraries outside the UK. The UK Publishers Association joins with STM in recommending the framework licence agreement to its members

Pam Muñoz Ryan to discuss her prize-winning book

Author Pam Muñoz Ryan will discuss and sign her award-winning book "The Dreamer," illustrated by Peter Sis (Scholastic, 2010), at the Library of Congress on Friday, Sept. 16, at noon in the West Dining Room, located on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event, co-sponsored by the Center for the Book and the Hispanic Division, is free and open to the public; no tickets are required

Big Green Bookshop launches three for two (UK)

The Big Green Bookshop is marking the scrapping of the iconic decade-long Waterstone's three for two offer by launching its own. For one day only (10th September) the London independent bookshop based in Wood Green will be offering its customers three books for the price of two. However, unlike Waterstone's promotion on selected books, the indie is offering customers three for two on any of its stock, including its second hand range, which it will launch tomorrow

Fatbrain.co.uk

Fatbrain.co.uk, where you can get cash for your used books! Fatbrain is a new service that allows you to sell your unwanted books and receive cash immediately. Fatbrain is also a great place to go to buy new and used books at really competitive prices

Backword Books

Backword Books is a collective of self-published authors. We're not quite a literary press because all of us use different services to publish (Lightning Source, Lulu, iUniverse, and CreateSpace to name a few). In short, we're a unique collective that has yet to be done on any large scale, using a medium that is losing stigma and gaining credibility

Guardian review: Too Small to Fail by Morris Gleitzman

Too Small to Fail by Morris Gleitzman - "Morris Gleitzman's quirky novel is too good to miss"

Friday, September 9, 2011

Bath time for unique story-telling project (UK)

Twenty top children's authors and bloggers will take part in a unique and joint storytelling project courtesy of The Bath Festival Of Children's Literature

Waterstone's to launch e-reader (UK)

Waterstone's is to launch a digital e-reader to rival Amazon's Kindle next year. The company's managing director, James Daunt, told Radio 4's You and Yours that he had been inspired by Barnes & Noble's successful Nook device

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Webinar to learn about the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative

The Association of Educational Publishers and Creative Commons are hosting a webinar to introduce publishers, content developers, educators, and the general public to the Learning Metadata Resource Initiative

Huffington Post starts publishing E-Books

The AOL Huffington Post Media Group is the latest news organization to become an e-book publisher. The site will release two titles this month. The first, Arthur Delaney’s A People's History of the Great Recession, is available now. The second, Aaron Belkin's How We Won: Progressive Lessons from the Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', will be released on September 20

E-book pioneer Michael Hart dies

Michael Hart, who laid the foundation for today's e-book industry by launching Project Gutenberg 40 years ago, died Tuesday at age 64, the project announced

2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist (Canada)

The longlist for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize has been announced:

* David Bezmozgis, The Free World (HarperCollins Canada)
* Clarke Blaise, The Meagre Tarmac (Biblioasis)
* Lynn Coady, The Antagonist (House of Anansi Press)
* Michael Christie, The Beggar's Garden (HarperCollins Canada)
* Patrick DeWitt, The Sisters Brothers (House of Anansi Press)
* Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues (Thomas Allen Publishers)
* Marina Endicott, The Little Shadows (Doubleday Canada)
* Zsuzsi Gartner, Better Living Through Plastic Explosives (Hamish Hamilton Canada)
* Genni Gunn, Solitaria (Signature Editions)
* Pauline Holdstock, Into the Heart of the Country (HarperCollins Canada)
* Wayne Johnston, A World Elsewhere (Knopf Canada)
* Dany Laferrière, The Return (David Homel, trans.) (Douglas & McIntyre)
* Suzette Mayr, Monoceros (Coach House Books)
* Michael Ondaatje, The Cat's Table (McClelland & Stewart)
* Guy Vanderhaeghe, A Good Man (McClelland & Stewart)
* Alexi Zentner, Touch (Knopf Canada)
* CBC Books Readers' Choice selection: Myrna Dey, Extensions (NeWest Press)

2011 Toronto Book Awards finalists

The five finalists for the 2011 Toronto Book Awards were announced September 6. The winner will be announced on October 13:

* James FitzGerald: What Disturbs Our Blood, published by Random House Canada

* James King: Etienne's Alphabet, published by Cormorant Books Inc.

* Rabindranath Maharaj: The Amazing Absorbing Boy, published by Knopf Canada

* Nicholas Ruddock: The Parabolist, published by Doubleday Canada

* Alissa York: Fauna, published by Random House Canada

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Bath Festival of Children's Literature 2011 (UK)

Bath Festival of Children's Literature 2011 - 23 September to 2 October, 2011 - Bath, UK

2011 Scottish Children's Book Awards shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2011 Scottish Children's Book Awards have been announced:

Bookbug Readers (0-7 years)

- Dear Vampa by Ross Collins (Hodder)
- The Loon on the Moon by Chae Strathie and Emily Golden (Scholastic)
- Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray (Orchard)

Younger Readers (8-11 years)

- Zac and the Dream Pirates by Ross MacKenzie (Chicken House)
- There's a Hamster in my Pocket by Franzeska G Ewart (Frances Lincoln)
- Slightly Jones and the Case of the London Dragonfish by Joan Lennon (Catnip)

Older Readers (12-16 years)

- Wasted by Nicola Morgan (Walker)
- The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin (Templar)
- Prisoner of the Inquisition by Theresa Breslin (Corgi - RHCB)

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Novels read monthly by 'less than one in two children'

Fewer than 50% of UK children aged eight to 17 read a novel outside class every month, research suggests. The National Literacy Trust survey of about 18,000 school children suggests youngsters are more likely to read text messages and emails than fiction. Most children (28.9%) estimated they had between 11 and 50 books in their homes. But one in six said they rarely read outside the classroom

The Dundee International Book Prize 2011 shortlist announced

The shortlist for The Dundee International Book Prize 2011 has been announced:

* As it Was in the Beginning by Rachel Newsome (London)
* 14 Variations from White by Emma Hooper (Bath)
* Sympathy for the Doc by Simon Ashe-Browne (Dublin)
* No Place to Fall by Alissa Jones Nelson (Dundee)
* The Broken Glass Collector by Elizabeth Switaj (Belfast)
* Pixelated by Lane Palmer (London)
* Touching Cloth by Adrian Wiszniewski (Lochwinnoch)
* Granmere's Piano by Jay Weber (Arlington, USA)
* The Scared Combe by Thomas Maloney (Henley-on-Themes)
* The Flax Flower by Amanda MacLean (London)

Galaxy National Book Awards coverage shake-up

The Galaxy National Book Awards ceremony will not be broadcast in full this year, instead being showcased in a six-part series on More4, with submissions for the awards closing on 16th September - The Bookseller

British Retail Consortium says August book sales "tough"

Book sales throughout the UK in August have remained "tough" according to the British Retail Consortium, as it reported general retail sales were down by 0.6% on the month compared to last year on a like-for-like basis. The Bookseller reported that spending on print books had slumped by 4% in August, a seven-year low for the month, according to Nielsen BookScan data

Quercus signs 50 Cent's bullying novel

Quercus has bought a children's book by US rapper 50 Cent. Playground, for the 12-plus age group, is a semi-autobiographical novel on the subject of schoolyard bullying - The Bookseller

Man Booker Prize 2011 shortlist announced

The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2011 has been announced:

* Julian Barnes The Sense of an Ending (Jonathan Cape - Random House)
* Carol Birch Jamrach's Menagerie (Canongate Books)
* Patrick deWitt The Sisters Brothers (Granta)
* Esi Edugyan Half Blood Blues (Serpent's Tail)
* Stephen Kelman Pigeon English (Bloomsbury)
* A.D. Miller Snowdrops (Atlantic)

Monday, September 5, 2011

Mr Men owner Chorion to be broken up and sold

Company owning assets including Noddy and Paddington Bear fails to renegotiate banking deals to alleviate its debt

Bookshop changes 'women's fiction' label after appeal from 'sisterhood' (UK)

Book store W H Smith is to drop the shelf label 'women's fiction' after two customers complained to the female chief executive about "condescending, pink fluffiness"

Internet and supermarkets kill off 2,000 bookshops (UK)

The number of bookshops in Britain has halved in the past six years and nearly 600 towns have none at all

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Burgundy to sell the new IET e-Book collection across Europe

Burgundy Information Services has signed an exclusive agreement with The Institution of Engineering and Technology to provide sales expertise to eleven countries across Europe. The exclusive representation includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia and Slovenia

Friday, September 2, 2011

Brill and Higher Education Press announce new journal partnership

At the Beijing International Book Fair a Journal Co-publication Agreement has been signed between Higher Education Press (Beijing) and Brill (Leiden). As of 2012 Brill will be responsible for the international print and online distribution of six scholarly journals in the Frontiers of China series, while Higher Education Press will be responsible for the Chinese market

Madonna's Sex book is most wanted

Madonna's explicit 1992 coffee-table book Sex is the most sought after out-of-print title in the US of the past 12 months, according to BookFinder.com. The singer's limited-edition picture book caused controversy when it was first released for its risque images and went on to be a collector's item. The book search engine's annual report tracks the 100 most searched-for out-of-print titles. Promise Me Tomorrow, by US romance author Nora Roberts, came second

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Sony announces the launch of new lightweight touchscreen eReader

Sony has announced the launch of the lightest touch screen 6” eReader device ever, Reader Wi-Fi (PRS-T1), providing the most natural and immersive reading experience yet for book lovers

Adonis becomes first Arab writer to win Goethe prize

The Syrian poet Adonis has become the first Arab writer to win Germany's prestigious Goethe prize. The 81-year-old poet, a perennial favourite to win the Nobel prize for literature, was presented with the award by the city of Frankfurt on Goethe's birthday, 28 August. The jury called him "the most important Arab poet of our time", and praised his "eminent literary talent, his cosmopolitanism and his contribution to world literature". The €50,000 Goethe prize is given every three years on Goethe's birthday to an individual whose work reflects the spirit of the German master, and has been won in the past by Sigmund Freud and Herman Hesse, and more recently by the Israeli author Amos Oz

Publishing Technology China launches at the Beijing International Book Fair

Publishing Technology plc has announced its expansion into the Chinese market by delivering local online hosting platforms and domestic sales representation