London Book Fair 2013

Special link: London Book Fair 2013

Saturday, March 31, 2012

London Review of Books - 5 April 2012

London Review of Books - Volume 34 Number 7 5 April 2012 is now available online

Toshiba partners with txtr for eBook store

eBook retailer and app maker txtr is to power the ereading apps for Toshiba's european range of tablets and PC devices. The company will local stores to customers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, The Netherlands and Poland

The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award 2012 winner

A story about a group of middle-aged men and their passion for authentic beer has won the world's most valuable short story prize. The Irish author Kevin Barry was presented with a cheque for £30,000 by novelist and prize judge Joanna Trollope at a ceremony last night at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival for his bittersweet tale of camaraderie amongst a group of ale aficionados

No moral to the story as ‘looters’ target children’s publishing fair (Bologna)

It is a literary genre renowned for its simple morals and admirable heroes and heroines. However, adult enthusiasts of children's literature have forgotten their manners, it would seem. British publishers have expressed outrage at what they describe as the widespread "looting" from their stands by people attending the world's leading children's book exhibition. Michael O'Mara Books, an independent publisher, found nearly three-quarters of its titles had vanished. Its staff took the titles to Italy for the Bologna Children's Book Fair to sell the rights to publishers worldwide – only to find themselves left without the tools of their trade

2nd UK China Publishing Forum

2nd UK China Publishing Forum - in association with the Publishers Association, Peking University, and the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication - 13 April 2012 - Oxford, UK

PA Bulletin 19 March 2012

PA Bulletin 19 March 2012, from The Publishers Association, UK, is now available online #publisher #publishing

The Man Booker Prizes Weekly Roundup - 30 March 2012

The latest news about Man Booker Prize writers and judges - 30 March 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Video: Watch Smith Settle bookbinders bring a hardback book to life

Video: Watch Smith Settle bookbinders bring a hardback book to life

Richard and Judy’s Spring Book Club 2012 titles

In conjunction with WHSmith Richard and Judy have unveiled the 8 books that make up the Spring Book Club

Literature Prize could coincide with London Book Fair

The Literature Prize is to be awarded in the spring of each year, with founder Andrew Kidd saying it will take place for the first time in 2012 if the necessary funding is secured by the end of this year. Kidd said the prize would be awarded "after the Costa, before the Orange, and some distance from the Booker". Since the Costa is usually awarded in January, and the Orange in May, this means the prize may be awarded close to London Book Fair, which takes place next year on 16th to 18th April

Cooking with Poo wins Diagram Prize for oddest title (UK)

Cooking with Poo wins Diagram Prize for oddest title (UK)A Thai cookbook has won this year's Diagram Prize for oddest book title of the year. Cooking With Poo is written by Bangkok chef Saiyuud Diwong whose nickname is Poo - which is Thai for "crab". She runs a cookery school for locals and tourists in the city's largest slum, alongside the charitable organisation that published the book. The 114-page book beat six other titles to be voted the winner in a public vote on The Bookseller's website

F+W Media starting E-book subscription sites

F+W Media is launching a series of e-book subscription sites aimed at enthusiasts in particular niches beginning with the Artist's Network eBooks Book Club

National Poetry Competition 2011 winners announced

The winners of the National Poetry Competition 2011 were announced at a prize giving ceremony on 28 March 2012:

First Prize: 'To The Lighthouse' by Allison McVety
Second Prize: 'Ponting' by Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch
Third Prize: 'Hill Speak' by Zaffar Kunial

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Dutch book chain Selexyz files for bankruptcy

Book chain Selexyz, not long ago the dominant force in Dutch high street bookselling, is on the brink of financial collapse

Second instalment of Welch for Pan Macmillan

Pan Macmillan has acquired a second instalment in the autobiography of "Loose Women" panelist and "Celebrity Big Brother" winner Denise Welch, with plans to publish this autumn

Amazon Kindle Touch to launch in UK

Amazon’s most advanced e-ink Kindle, the Kindle Touch, is to launch in the UK at the end of April, the company has announced

Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2012 winner

The winner of the 2012 Waterstones Children's Book Prize has been announced - and the winner (from the Picture Book category) is The Pirates Next Door by Jonny Duddle. It is a charming picture book about a pirate family, the Jolley-Rogers who move to the quiet seaside town of Dull-on-Sea - creating quite a stir in the process!

2012 Northern California Independent Booksellers Book of the Year Awards winners

The winners of the 2012 Northern California Independent Booksellers Book of the Year Awards, voted by NCIBA booksellers and featuring books written by local authors, are:

Fiction: Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante (Atlantic Monthly)

Nonfiction: A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception and Survival at Jonestown by Julia Scheeres (Free Press)

Food Writing: Mourad: New Moroccan by Mourad Lahlou (Artisan)

Poetry: Of Indigo and Saffron: New and Selected Poems by Michael McClure (University of California)

Regional: The Left Coast: California on the Edge by Philip L. Fradkin (University of California)

Children's Picture Book: The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon and Jake Parker (Balzer & Bray)

Middle Grade Readers: One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin (Amulet)

Teen Lit: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (Little, Brown)

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist

The longlist for the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award, for the novel of the year that is "of the highest literary merit and which must present Australian life in any of its phases," has been released. The winner of the $50,000 (US$52,300) prize, Australia's most prestigious, will be announced in June

Christine Brooke-Rose is dead

One of the greatest British experimental novelists Christine Brooke-Rose, also a critic and a leading interpreter of Modernism, died on 21 March. She was educated at Somerville College, Oxford and University College, London

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Stork Press to publish Polish crime novelist Joanna Jodełka (UK)

Stork Press has announced the acquisition of Polychromy, the debut novel by Polish crime writer Joanna Jodełka. Joanna Jodełka was the first woman to win the High Calibre Prize for the best Polish crime novel, taking the prize in 2010 for her debut Polychromy (2009). Her second book, The Rattle, was published to further acclaim in 2011

The Children’s Publishing Conference 2012 (USA)

Publishing Perspectives is hosting its first conference in the United States: The Children's Publishing Conference 2012. A half-day event organized by Publishing Perspectives and sponsored by Scholastic Inc., "What Makes a Children’s Book Great?" on May 31, 2012, will offer informed insight into the present and future of this fast-evolving area of publishing - May 31, 2012 - New York, NY

Authr

Authr helps aspiring and established Authors raise funds for their book projects. We offer a unique fundraising platform that transforms as your book project progresses, allowing anyone to take their book from fundraising to sales

Facebook books 'book' trademark

Facebook has demanded that its users do not use the generic word "book" when naming their businesses. The social media giant has included this word in a list of trademarks it owns, according to the newly-revised version of its user agreement - RT

Octopus acquires children's publisher Ticktock

Hachette Group company Octopus Publishing has acquired children's non-fiction publisher Ticktock, which produces books for the international co-edition market and has around 700 titles in print

Harry Potter e-books on sale today

The Harry Potter e-books will go on sale exclusively from the Pottermore website from midday today (27th March). It is the first time author J K Rowling has allowed e-book versions of the seven titles to be released, and the move marks the beginning of the roll-out of the Pottermore experience, a virtual world based on the author's fictional creations originally announced last June

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist for 2012

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist for 2012 has been announced. The 2012 winners will be announced at a ceremony at London's Barbican Centre on Thursday 14th June

The CILIP Carnegie Medal shortlist for 2012

The CILIP Carnegie Medal shortlist for 2012 has been announced. The winner will be announced by CILIP (Chartered Institute for Librarians and Information Professionals) at an event at the Barbican on 24 June;

* My Name is Mina by David Almond, Hodder (9+)
* Small Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans, Doubleday (8+)
* The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett, Walker (9+)
* Everybody Jam by Ali Lewis, Andersen (12+)
* Trash by Andy Mulligan, D. Fickling (12+)
* A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Walker (9+)
* My Sister lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher, Orion (10+)
* Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys, Puffin (12+)

2012 RITA and Golden Heart Finalists

Romance Writers of America® has announced the finalists for the 2012 RITA® and Golden Heart® Awards. The 2012 RITA honors romance fiction published in 2011. More than 1,200 novels and novellas were judged in 12 categories. The 2012 Golden Heart Award honors unpublished romance manuscripts in 2011. Winners of the awards will be announced July 28, 2012, at the RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony to be held at the 2012 RWA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, USA

Arthur C Clarke Award 2012 shortlist

Finalists have been named for the £2,012 (US$3,209) Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction literature. A winner will be named May 2 at a ceremony held in partnership with the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival. This year's shortlisted books are:

* Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
* The End Specialist by Drew Magary
* Embassytown by China Miéville
* The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers
* Rule 34 by Charles Stross
* The Waters Rising by Sheri S. Tepper

2012 PEN/ Faulkner Award for Fiction winner

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka has been selected as the winner of the 2012 PEN/ Faulkner Award for Fiction. It is a precise, poetic novel that tells the story of Japanese picture brides brought to California from Japan in the early twentieth century

Monday, March 26, 2012

Yendis Publishing House selects ACCESS™ Digital Publishing Ecosystem

Yendis Publishing House, a leading publisher in Brazil of technical, scientific health-related books, has selected the ACCESS™ Digital Publishing Ecosystem to power their upcoming digital content delivery solution which will bring an array of training materials to a wide range of tablet devices

Cambridge University Press selects Ingram for new U.S. distribution model (USA)

Cambridge University Press and Ingram Content Group have announced that Cambridge's North American branch has entered into a long-term logistics management agreement with Ingram Publisher Services. Under the agreement, Ingram will manage all warehousing and physical fulfillment of Cambridge University Press’s entire U.S. inventory from its distribution center in Tennessee. Cambridge will continue to provide all order processing and customer service from its operations in New York. The agreement is effective June 1, 2012

More than 300 Arab and foreign publishing houses are exhibiting at the Bahrain International Book Fair

More than 300 Arab and foreign publishing houses are exhibiting their latest publications at the biennial 10-day 15th Bahrain International Book Fair. Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the fair taking place at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre. Although initial turnout has been low due to anti-government protest in Sanabis over the weekend, stallholders, who include publishers and book shops from the Gulf and across the Arab world, said they hoped business would pick up in the coming days

Vook - eBook publishing platform

Vook is an intuitive and easy-to-use cloud-based eBook publishing platform. Quickly create, edit, and publish your eBook with one click—no special software required. When you distribute through Vook, you keep 100% of your royalties

jellybooks ebook sampling service launches

A new, free service offering the first 10% of ebooks for readers to enjoy and share has officially launched. All books offered by the jellybooks service are DRM-free so readers can enjoy them in their existing favourite reading app before deciding whether to buy the rest of the story

Mystery solved? Turin Shroud linked to Resurrection of Christ

The Turin Shroud has baffled scholars through the ages but in his new book, The Sign, Thomas de Wesselow reveals a new theory linking the cloth to the Resurrection

Hachette snaps up Blyton estate

Hachette UK has acquired worldwide rights in the Enid Blyton estate, excluding Noddy, from Chorion

Book video: Ben Macintyre - Double Cross - The True Story of The D-Day Spies

Book video: Ben Macintyre - Double Cross - The True Story of The D-Day Spies

British Publishers vs. Open Access

Tensions between publishers and British funding bodies over open access to research papers have flared up again after the Publishers Association accused Research Councils UK of riding roughshod over publishers’ concerns in a new draft policy on open access. The policy, which RCUK hopes to adopt by the summer, stipulates that the final version of papers produced with funding from any of the science research councils must be made freely available online within six months of publication

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Billy Bob Thornton memoir to Virgin

Virgin Books has acquired a memoir by actor, musician and screenwriter Billy Bob Thornton, A Cave Full of Ghosts

Mobiles24 removes e-books channel after Hachette action

Mobiles24 has removed all e-books from its website after Hachette UK obtained a court order against Mark Worthington, the owner of content site, demanding that the site take down access to pirated copies of its books

Bloomsbury announces partnership with Piper in Germany

Bloomsbury Publishing has announced the sale of its German subsidiary Bloomsbury Verlag GmbH to a subsidiary of Bonnier AB and a strategic publishing partnership in Germany with Piper Verlag ("Piper") a company in the Bonnier AB Group

ReadSocial

ReadSocial works inside books & magazines, connects people across reading apps

Penguin India acquires publishing rights for Amit Chaudhuri

Penguin Books India has acquired the Indian subcontinent rights to publish the acclaimed author Amit Chaudhuri's works. Penguin will be bringing out all his new writings, in addition to publishing the backlist. The first book by Amit Chaudhuri to be published by Penguin will be on Calcutta, which would be one of the most important non-fiction titles that Penguin will release next year

Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four forecast for Hollywood remake

An American consortium that includes director Ron Howard is set to make a new film of George Orwell's highly influential novel

Bookseller claims Ryanair baggage policy affects sales

The director of an independent Irish-owned book chain has blamed Ryanair's baggage allowance for a drop in sales, saying it is discouraging people from taking books on holiday. Frank O'Mahony of O'Mahony's Booksellers, which operates four shops and a warehouse in the midwest and southwest, said yesterday that demand for holiday reads in summertime had dipped

Evan Schnittman to head sales and marketing at HBG

As the major publishers look for more efficient ways to use their marketing and sales teams in a rapidly changing marketplace, the Hachette Book Group has appointed Evan Schnittman to the newly created role of executive v-p, chief marketing and sales officer. According to HBG, Schnittman will lead HBG's marketing and sales for all divisions of the company. He will start May 7

Dracula's contract to see the light of day 100 years on

The original legal contract, hand-written by Bram Stoker himself and which has been kept under lock and key, is to be published in a new version of the vampire tale. It reveals the terms dictated by Stoker - who studied law but never practised - in negotiating a 20 per cent royalty fee for the book on 1 May 1897. This was remarkable at the time and is more than modern authors and their agents can command with the current standard of 10 to 15 per cent

New website: Julie Illustration

Illustrator Julie Parker has a new website showcasing her wide-ranging portfolio

Review: 17 Equations that Changed the World

Charles Seife is eased through mathematical relationships that help to make sense of reality

Review: The Spanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination in Twentieth-Century Spain

Mercedes Camino commends the untangling of atrocities committed during the Franco era

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Book video: The Return Man by V.M. Zito

The Return Man by V.M. Zito - The outbreak tore the US in two. The east remains a safe haven. The west has become a ravaged wilderness, known by survivors as the Evacuated States. It is here that Henry Marco makes his living. Hired by grieving relatives, he tracks down the dead and delivers peace. Now Homeland Security wants Marco for a mission unlike any other. He must return to California, where the apocalypse began. Where a secret is hidden. And where his own tragic past waits to punish him again. But in the wastelands of America, you never know who - or what - is watching you

Trailer for EXISTENCE by David Brin - a near future novel with a limited edition 3D cover

This June, the classic science fiction author David Brin makes an epic return with EXISTENCE, a novel of our near future that's both brilliant and terrifying. It is a tour de force of storytelling from a modern master of science fiction

Video: Ask an Algonquin Editor: Kathy Pories on book jackets

Algonquin Senior Editor Kathy Pories talks about the ways that book jackets change from hardcover to paperback

The Writers' List

The Writers' List works with a growing number of partner websites, ranging from high profile, high-traffic sites to growing and niche websites. We now have over 100 partners, all of whom are keen to find original, high quality content for their sites. For participating authors, the benefits of appearing on our partner sites include raising their online profile and establishing their reputation as an expert in their chosen niche area

Ledbury Poetry Festival 2012 (UK)

The Ledbury Poetry Festival takes place over ten days each July. We are the biggest and best poetry festival in the UK, featuring poets from all over the world. If you think you know what poetry is, come along and we'll surprise you. There are live readings, performances, workshops, open mics, music, exhibitions, films, family events, street events, a slam and much more. This is our fifteenth year - join us for a celebration of poetry in the rural heartland of England

The View From Here Interview: Barry Cunningham

After an English degree at Cambridge, Barry Cunningham joined Penguin Books in 1977. As Children's Marketing Director for Puffin, he worked with all the great names in children's books including Roald Dahl and Spike Milligan, and was responsible for the re-launch of Beatrix Potter. In 1984 he was promoted to the Penguin Board and became responsible for the marketing of all Penguin Books, a position he held until 1988, when he was headhunted by Random House. In 1994 he was approached by Bloomsbury to set up their first children's book list. Not only was the new list a success, but Barry soon became one of the best known names in publishing after he signed up J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The Man Booker Prizes Weekly Roundup - 23 March 2012

The Man Booker Prizes Weekly Roundup - 23 March 2012 is now available online

CRIMEFEST 2012 (UK)

CRIMEFEST 2012CRIMEFEST is a convention for people who like to read an occasional crime novel as well as for die-hard fanatics. Following the hugely successful one-off visit to Bristol in 2006 of the American convention Left Coast Crime, the hosts were encouraged to continue with a similar annual event and created CRIMEFEST. First organised in June 2008, CRIMEFEST is quickly becoming one of the most popular dates in the crime fiction calendar. The annual convention draws top crime novelists, readers, editors, publishers and reviewers from around the world and gives delegates the opportunity to celebrate the genre in an informal atmosphere - May 24-27 - Bristol, UK

Friday, March 23, 2012

2012 Atlantic Book Awards and Festival shortlist (Canada)

The Atlantic Book Awards Society has announced the full shortlist for the nine different book prizes that make up the 2012 Atlantic Book Awards. The 26 books up for awards represent the wide range of literary works being produced in Atlantic Canada - from traditional novels to cutting edge fiction; thought-provoking non-fiction and deeply researched books on Atlantic Canadian history, to beautiful coffee table books; and illustrated children's picture books to novels written for teens and young adults. Winners of the 2012 Atlantic Book Awards will be announced at a special awards show on the last night of the week-long festival, Thursday, May 17:

Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children's Literature

Vicki Grant, Betsy Wickwire's Dirty Secret (HarperCollins Canada)
Gloria Ann Wesley, Chasing Freedom (Roseway Publishing)
Susan White, The Year Mrs. Montague Cried (Acorn Press)

APMA Best Atlantic-Published Book Award, sponsored by Friesens

Eco-Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada by Chris Benjamin (Nimbus Publishing)
Salmon Country by Doug Underhill, photographs by André Gallant (Goose Lane Editions)
That Forgetful Shore by Trudy J. Morgan-Cole (Breakwater Books)

Dartmouth Book Award for Non-fiction in Memory of Robbie Robertson, presented by the Kiwanis Club of Dartmouth

Carol Campbell and James F. Smith, Necessaries and Sufficiencies: Planter Society in Londonderry, Onslow and Truro, 1761-1780 (Cape Breton University Press)
Dianne Marshall, Heroes of the Acadian Resistance (Formac Publishing)
Harry Thurston, The Atlantic Coast: A Natural History (Greystone Books, in association with the David Suzuki Foundation)

Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing

Carol Campbell and James F. Smith, Necessaries and Sufficiencies: Planter Society in Londonderry, Onslow and Truro, 1761-1780 (Cape Breton University Press)
James E. Candow, The Lookout: A History of Signal Hill (Creative Book Publishing)
Jacques Poitras, Imaginary Line: Life on an Unfinished Border (Goose Lane Editions)

Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction), presented by Boyne Clarke

Mary Rose Donnelly, Great Village (Cormorant Books)
Bruce Graham, Diligent River Daughter (Pottersfield Press)
Frank Macdonald, A Possible Madness (Cape Breton University Press)

Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration

Doretta Groenendyk, Thank You for My Bed (Acorn Press)
Patsy MacKinnon, A Day with You in Paradise by Lennie Gallant (Nimbus Publishing)
Sydney Smith, Monkeys in My Kitchen by Sheree Fitch (Nimbus Publishing)

Margaret and John Savage First Book Award

Heather Jessup, The Lightning Field (Gaspereau Press)
Michael Murphy, A Description of the Blazing World (Freehand Books)
Riel Nason, The Town That Drowned (Goose Lane Editions)

Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Fiction

Gerard Collins, Moonlight Sketches (Creative Book Publishing)
Kevin Major, New Under the Sun (Cormorant Books)
Patrick Warner, double talk (Breakwater Books)

The Bruneau Family Children's/Young Adult Literature Award

Andy Jones, Jack and the Manger (Running the Goat Books & Broadsides)
Susan M. MacDonald, Edge of Time (Breakwater Books)
Janet McNaughton, Dragon Seer's Gift (HarperCollins Canada)

Brill is awarded the "Sheikh Zayed Book Award" for publishing excellence in Middle East and Islamic Studies

Brill has been awarded the "Sheikh Zayed Book Award" for publishing and distribution excellence in Middle East and Islamic Studies. Brill will receive UAD 750,000, which will be used to establish a fellowship for students and scholars, and to invest in future innovative publishing projects to further Brill's contribution to the research and study of literature, culture, history and social science in Middle East and Islamic Studies

My Favourite Place: Scottish Book Trust

Where is your favourite place in Scotland? What makes it special to you? Scottish Book Trust and BBC Scotland want you to write about your favourite place in Scotland, whether it's a remote beauty spot or an urban hideaway, a famous landmark or a favourite cafe. Did you holiday there? Is it the place you got married? We want to get Scotland writing, inspired by our country's best-loved places. Write a story, poem, song lyric, diary entry, letter or sketch about your favourite place, submit it on our website and your story could be appear in a book or be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland! My Favourite Place in Scotland will run from 19th March to 21st August 2012, and in that time Scottish Book Trust wants to involve everyone in Scotland in building a written picture of Scotland's best-loved places

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Children's Books Ireland Book of the Year shortlist

The shortlist for the 22nd CBI (Children's Books Ireland) Book of the Year Awards has been revealed. Each of the nine titles will compete for six awards, which include the innovative 'Children's Choice Award' voted for by ten junior juries located across the country. The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held in May.

* A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle
* Bruised by Siobhán Parkinson
* Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan
* Matríósca by Siobhán Parkinson
* My Dad is Ten Years Old: And it's Pure Weird by Mark O'Sullivan
* Ó Chrann go Crann by Caitríona Hastings and Andrew Whitson
* The Butterfly Heart by Paula Leyden
* Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
* Will Gallows and the Snake Bellied Troll by Derek Keilty

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Roald Dahl's Writing Hut goes on display in Great Missenden today

Roald Dahl's famous Writing Hut goes on public view for the first time today in the village where he used to live. It is set up exactly how it would have been when he wrote some of his most famous children's stories after being transported from his garden in Gipsy House in Great Missenden to the museum now dedicated to him

24th Annual Lambda Literary Award finalists announced

Finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards have been announced by the Lambda Literary Foundation in Los Angeles. Books from major mainstream publishers and from academic presses, from both long-established and new LGBT publishers, as well as from emerging publish-on-demand technologies, make up the 119 finalists for the "Lammys." The finalists were selected from a record number of nominations

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner

Dutch author Guus Kuijer won the prestigious 5 million Swedish kronor (US$742,000) Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which recognizes a body of work in the spirit of the creator of Pippi Longstocking. He will be honored May 28 in Stockholm

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Toni Morrison cancels memoir contract due to 'not interesting' life

As celebrities land book deals left, right and centre to detail the minutiae of their lives to date, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison has cancelled plans to write a memoir over concerns her life is not interesting enough

Sunday, March 18, 2012

New audio book version of ‘Equinomics 101’ published by Rockwood Enterprises

Rockwood Enterprises, Inc. announced the launch of a new audio book edition of "Equinomics 101" by Richard B. Dicks, CPA - a management and record keeping system designed to teach horse owners and horse-related businesses how to efficiently manage their finances. Dicks is an equine businessman and author, who developed "Equinomics 101" to provide a down-to-earth, practical cash and financial management system for horse lovers and small to mid-sized horse-related business owners

New book, The Easter Bunny That Grew Up, by Gretta Parker

A new children's book, "The Easter Bunny That Grew Up", by Gretta Parker with illustrations by Maya Tolliver, pays tribute to a little rabbit that captured the hearts of people around the world on Facebook and the contributions he made to rabbits in rescues and shelters. On September 26th, 2010 Gretta Parker started a journey she was not planning on when she adopted a little white rabbit she named "Flopsy Parker" for $7.50 from a local shelter

Collins collars Radio 4 "New Elizabethans" tie-in

Collins has acquired a tie-in to the upcoming BBC Radio 4 flagship series "The New Elizabethans", written and narrated by James Naughtie, which will air every weekday between June and September. Collins publishing director Iain MacGregor pre-empted world rights in all languages from Felicity Bryan at the Felicity Bryan Agency and Emma Trevelyan at the BBC. The book will be published in hardback in the autumn. The series will look back over the reign thus far of Queen Elizabeth II, profiling the 60 "Elizabethans" who have played a significant role in shaping the era, and whose achievements look likely to outlast the age

Two Madeley novels for S&S

Simon & Schuster has acquired two novels by broadcaster and Richard & Judy Book Club founder Richard Madeley. Publishing director Suzanne Baboneau bought world English-language rights from Luigi Bonomi at LBA. Madeley's début novel, Some Day I'll Find You, to be published in 2013, begins during the Second World War in France. S&S published Madeley's memoir, Fathers & Sons, in 2008

Picador acquires The Bloggess

Picador has acquired a memoir by US blogger Jenny Lawson, known as "The Bloggess", with plans to release in two months' time. Editorial director Francesca Main bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada and Australia, in the title, Let's Pretend This Never Happened , through Neeti Madan at Sterling Lord Literistic in the US. Picador plans to publish on 10th May as a £12.99 trade paperback

Canadian bookseller Nicholas Hoare announces closures

After a week of media speculation that independent Canadian bookseller Nicholas Hoare would be closing the doors of his namesake stores in Ottawa and Montreal, it has been confirmed that both locations will be shutting down, largely due to huge rent increases. Operations will continue at the flagship store in Toronto, but the branch in the Canadian capital will be closing in April, and the Montreal store in July

Man Booker Prize judges take part in Woodland Trust's Jubilee Woods Project

Man Booker Prize judges take part in Woodland Trust's Jubilee Woods ProjectThe judges of the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction travelled to Hainault Forest, an ancient hunting forest on the edge of London, to plant saplings. This is the fourth year that the Man Booker Prize has collaborated with the Woodland Trust, in a symbolic gesture to compensate for the trees felled in order to produce the hundred-plus books submitted for the prize each year. This year's planting took on extra significance as it formed part of the Woodland Trust's Jubilee Woods project. To mark the Jubilee year, the judges planted 13 oak trees taken from one of the Royal estates. The trees will become a living commemoration of the 'Booker Dozen' - the 13 titles chosen for the 2011 longlist - including that year's winner, The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes

The ReadingZone Picture Book Competition 2012 (UK)

Children and young people aged four to 18 years are being challenged to make their own picture book in the ReadingZone Picture Book Competition, running in UK schools and libraries between now and 14th April 2012. The competition closes on 14th April 2012 and the winners will be announced in May

Saturday, March 17, 2012

ALPSP Awards 2012

Applications are invited for the 2012 ALPSP Awards for significant achievement in the field of learned and professional publishing. The closing date for applications is 30 May and the winners will be announced at the Conference Dinner on Wednesday 12 September

Friday, March 16, 2012

Author plots an e-book route to literary success

An author from Portreath has released two novels and is already making his mark on the e-book scene. Peter Sykes has sold thousands of copies since launching on Sunday With The Devil and Flying Babies. He used Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing and Smashwords to self-publish his work

Alan Garner to conclude Weirdstone of Brisingamen trilogy

Boneland, the conclusion to a classic fantasy sequence Alan Garner began over 50 years ago, will be published in August

Finalists chosen for The New York Public Library's 2012 Young Lions Fiction Award

The New York Public Library has announced the finalists for the $10,000 Young Lions Fiction Award, which honors an American writer age 35 or younger for either a novel or collection of short stories. The winner will be named May 14. This year's shortlisted books are:

* Open City by Teju Cole (Random House)
* The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by Benjamin Hale (Twelve/Hachette)
* Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner (Coffee House Press)
* Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Knopf)
* Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (Bloomsbury)

South Korean novelist announced as first woman to win Man Asian Literary Prize

Kyung-sook Shin has become the first woman to win the Man Asian Literary Prize, Asia's most prestigious award for writers, for her novel "Please Look After Mom". The South Korean novelist attended the black tie Prize Dinner at The Conrad Hotel in Hong Kong to receive the award of US$30,000. The translator of the novel, Chi-Young Kim also received US$5,000. The win is the first for a South Korean writer, and "Please Look After Mom" is the first novel by a South Korean to make it to the Man Asian Literary Prize shortlist in the Prize's five year history

Ian Fleming's estate signs new James Bond book deal

Ian Fleming's back catalogue of James Bond stories is to be relaunched after his estate signed a 10-year deal with Random House to publish the books in print and e-book format. Vintage, a division of Random House, will take over publishing of print books from Penguin. The estate, which has been publishing e-books, said the deal was "a significant step change" for the work. Fleming's 14 Bond books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Barbara Freethy sells more than 1.6 million self published ebooks

Barbara Freethy writes: Since releasing my new ebook original, A Secret Wish, and with sales continuing to gain momentum on my other titles, I've now passed 1.6 million units in ebook sales for my self published books. It's so exciting to hear from new readers who have just discovered my list of books. I really appreciate those of you who have written to me and shared stories of how the books have touched your lives. And I am also very happy that you've gone on to buy many more of my books. This sales achievement is all thanks to the fans!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The 16th Annual Books for a Better Life Awards winners

The 16th Annual Books for a Better Life Awards were held Monday, March 12, 2012 at The TimesCenter. Skip Prichard, President and CEO, Ingram Content Group was inducted into the Hall of Fame and Shelley Peterman Schwarz, author of Home Accessibility: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier received the MS Awareness Award

2012 Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl award wiiner

The winner of the 2012 Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl award is Bill Cameron for County Line

The Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury of IBBY announces the 2012 short list

Five authors and five illustrators have been selected from 57 candidates submitted by 32 national sections of IBBY for the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award. The award, considered the most prestigious in international children's literature, is given biennially by the International Board on Books for Young People to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made lasting contributions to children's literature. The winners will be announced on Monday, March 19th at the Bologna Children's Book Fair:

The five short-listed authors in alphabetical order are:

María Teresa Andruetto (Argentina)
Paul Fleischman (USA)
Bart Moeyaert (Belgium)
Jean-Claude Mourlevat (France)
Bianca Pitzorno (Italy).

The five short-listed illustrators in alphabetical order are:

Mohammad Ali Beniasadi (Iran)
John Burningham (UK)
Roger Mello (Brazil)
Peter Sís (Czech Republic)
Javier Zabala (Spain)

Waterstones to grow children's range and space

Waterstones is set to grow its children's range and space in stores over the summer independent publishers have heard at one of the most well-attended annual Independent Publishers Guild conferences to date

Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print

After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Association of American University Presses partners with Copyright Clearance Center

Copyright Clearance Center has announced a referral partnership with the Association of American University Presses in which AAUP's members can protect copyrighted assets and earn revenue from their online content using CCC's RightsLink® service at a discounted rate. RightsLink is an easy-to-use licensing solution, enabling rightsholders to offer permissions at the point-of-content – hosted on a website, mobile application or third-party aggregator

Literary legends brought to life in publisher's archive

With tales of beers with John Steinbeck at his Nobel prize ceremony and signing up Roald Dahl on a transatlantic ferry, the newly opened archive of the publisher Charles Pick offers a intriguing glimpse into publishing's golden era. After he started out as an office boy for Victor Gollancz in 1933, Pick's 66-year career in publishing saw him discover, nurture and publish some of the biggest names in 20th-century literature, including JD Salinger, Graham Greene and Dahl. With a roster including Catherine Cookson, Wilbur Smith, Anita Desai and John Le Carré, Pick had an unerring eye for what the public wanted and formed close relationships with many of his authors

Salman Rushdie attacks planned Justice Dept lawsuit against publishers

Salman Rushdie has hit out at the US Department of Justice, saying it "wants to destroy the world of books", after reports that it plans to take action against major publishers and Apple

Monday, March 12, 2012

Happy Birthday, Jack Kerouac

Born March 12, 1922, Jack Kerouac was one of the seminal novelists of the Beat Generation. That group of writers, poets, and vagabonds of the 1950s set the stage for the counter generation and youth revolution of the 1960s. His books - On the Road and The Dharma Bums - are considered classics, required reading for the young people who flocked to London, San Francisco, and other havens for those who sought to further their spiritual horizons

The IPG Independent Publishing Awards 2012 winners

The Independent Publishers Guild has announced the winners of the 2012 IPG Independent Publishing Awards, run in association with The Bookseller and The London Book Fair:

IPG Independent Publisher of the Year: Constable & Robinson

The Bookseller Trade Publisher of the Year: Constable & Robinson

IPG Academic & Professional Publisher of the Year: SAGE

IPG Children's Publisher of the Year: Nosy Crow

IPG Education Publisher of the Year: Jolly Learning

IPG Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year: Osprey Group

IPG Newcomer Award: Nosy Crow

The London Book Fair International Achievement Award: Woodhead Publishing

Nielsen Innovation of the Year: Nosy Crow

IPG Diversity Award: Barefoot Books

Ingram Digital Publishing Award: Constable & Robinson

The Frankfurt Book Fair Digital Marketing Award: Top That! Publishing

IPG Young Independent Publisher of the Year: Andrew Furlow, Icon Books

GBS Services to Independent Publishers Award: Adrian Driscoll

Benedict Freedman, author of "Mrs. Mike," dies at 92

Benedict Freedman, whose first novel, "Mrs. Mike" - based on the true story of a young woman's life in the Canadian wilderness at the turn of the century - was a sensation after it was published in 1947 and inspired a Hollywood feature film, died on February 24 at his home in Corte Madera, Calif. He was 92

2012 American Horticultural Society Book Awards winners

The winners of the 2012 American Horticultural Society Book Awards, recognizing outstanding gardening books published in North America, are:

* The Holistic Orchard by Michael Phillips (Chelsea Green Publishing)
* Putting Down Roots by Marcia C. Carmichael (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
* Small Green Roofs by Nigel Dunnett, Dusty Gedge, John Little and Edmund C. Snodgrass (Timber Press)
* Writing the Garden by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers (David R. Godine)
* The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour (Storey Publishing)

Saturday, March 10, 2012

2012 Triangle Awards nominees

Honoring the best in LGBT writing for 2011, the Publishing Triangle and the Ferro-Grumley Literary Awards are pleased to recognize the finalists in the six categories below. The winners will be announced at our awards ceremony on April 19, 2012

The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction

* Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader, by Gayle S. Rubin (Duke University Press)
* Sister Arts: The Erotics of Lesbian Landscapes, by Lisa L. Moore (University of Minnesota Press)
* When We Were Outlaws, by Jeanne Córdova (Spinsters Ink)

The Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction

* A Queer History of the United States, by Michael Bronski (Beacon Press)
* Recruiting Young Love: How Christians Talk About Homosexuality, by Mark D. Jordan (University of Chicago Press)
* A Saving Remnant: The Radical Lives of Barbara Deming and David McReynolds, by Martin Duberman (The New Press)

The Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry

* Cow, by Susan Hawthorne (Spinifex Press)
* Inside the Money Machine, by Minnie Bruce Pratt (Carolina Wren Press)
* Open Winter, by Rae Gouirand (Bellday Books)
* The Stranger Dissolves, by Christina Hutchins (Sixteen Rivers Press)

The Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry

* A Fast Life: The Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos, by Tim Dlugos (Nightboat Books)
* Love-in-Idleness, by Christopher Hennessey (Brooklyn Arts Press)
* Motion Studies, by Brad Richard (The Word Works)
* Touch, by Henri Cole (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

The Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction

* Mitko, by Garth Greenwell (Miami University Press)
* My Sister Chaos, by Lara Fergus (Spinifex Press)
* We the Animals, by Justin Torres (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
* Zipper Mouth, by Laurie Weeks (The Feminist Press)

The Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction

* Monoceros, by Suzette Mayr (Coach House Books)
* The Necessity of Certain Behaviors, by Shannon Cain (University of Pittsburgh Press)
* Quarantine, by Rahul Mehta (Harper Perennial)
* Remembrance of Things I Forgot, by Bob Smith (University of Wisconsin Press)
* The Stranger’s Child, by Alan Hollinghurst (Alfred A. Knopf)
* The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov, by Paul Russell (Cleis Press)

Friday, March 9, 2012

National Book Critics Circle Awards winners

Winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards who were honored last night include:

Fiction: Edith Pearlman for Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories (Lookout Books)

Nonfiction: Maya Jasanoff for Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World (Knopf)

Biography: John Lewis Gaddis for George F. Kennan: An American Life (Penguin)

Poetry: Laura Kasischke for Space, in Chains (Copper Canyon Press)

Autobiography: Mira Bartók for The Memory Palace: A Memoir (Free Press)

Criticism: Geoff Dyer for Otherwise Known as the Human Condition: Selected Essays and Reviews (Graywolf Press)

Kathryn Schulz was presented the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing and Robert B. Silvers of the New York Review of Books received the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award

Arabic book award withheld over lack of suitable candidates

None of six shortlisted books deemed good enough to scoop Sheikh Zayed Book award's literature prize, worth £130,000

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Simba Information: global professional publishing industry to grow 3% in 2012

Publishing forecast firm Simba Information reveals the global market for professional publishing products and services, led by the legal, science/technical and medical (STM) segments, will grow 3% through 2012, reaching $41.4 billion. According to a recent report by the firm, print and electronic books were the leading delivery method, closely followed by online services and abstracting/indexing

Pioneering Ebook publisher TheWriteDeal to launch self-publishing series

Groundbreaking e-book publisher TheWriteDeal announced today that the company will be launching its Blue Leaf self-publishing series later this month. Blue Leaf presents readers with editor-selected offerings in all genres, in both English and Spanish

The Association of American University Presses this year celebrates the 75th anniversary of its founding in 1937

This year, the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) celebrates the 75th anniversary of its founding in 1937. Both the history of the association and the future of scholarly communications will provide focus for a series of events, including a "University Press Week" in November 2012, to mark the occasion of the AAUP 75th anniversary

Tailgating Digest launches print and online magazines focusing on tailgate event culture

Tailgating Digest is a new company in Maryland prepping the launch of digital and print magazines to reach a growing market of over 50 million tailgaters in the U.S. each year. "A great magazine, website and company is built on valuable content. That is what we plan to deliver across all of our media channels," says Marc Heyman, founder and publisher

New Audio Book version of 'Equinomics 101' published by Rockwood Enterprises

Rockwood Enterprises, Inc. announced this month the launch of a new audio book edition of "Equinomics 101" by Richard B. Dicks, CPA - a management and record keeping system designed to teach horse owners and horse-related businesses how to efficiently manage their finances. Dicks is an equine businessman and author, who developed "Equinomics 101" to provide a down-to-earth, practical cash and financial management system for horse lovers and small to mid-sized horse-related business owners

Pottermore coming April 2012

Pottermore will be open to everyone in early April 2012

Edinburgh World Writers' Conference to launch in August

The Edinburgh International Book Festival and the British Council are launching the Edinburgh World Writers' Conference at the EIBF this August, marking the 50th anniversary of a five-day writers' conference which took place in 1962

The Book Club Show (USA)

WNET is producing an new TV series called The Book Club Show that will focus on books and the people who read them. Input from librarians will assist them in the development of the format and content of the show

Publishers warned on ebook prices

Five US publishers are being threatened with legal action over the way they set prices for electronic books, reports the Wall Street Journal. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said the five had conspired to raise the prices of ebooks. Also included in the legal threat is electronics firm Apple because of its role in the way ebooks are priced. The threat comes as the publishers negotiate with the DoJ about the pricing model for electronic books - BBC

Bread and Roses award for radical publishing shortlist

A shortlist has been announced for the £1,000 (about US$1,573) Bread and Roses award for radical publishing, organized by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers. The winner will be named May 1

Romantic Novel of the Year winners

The U.K.'s Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year named winners in five categories. These titles will now compete for the overall award, which will be announced May 17. Category winners are:

* Contemporary: Summer of Love by Katie Fforde
* Epic: The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas
* Historical: Highland Storms by Christina Courtenay
* Romantic comedy: Please Don't Stop the Music by Jane Lovering
* Young adult: Dark Ride by Caroline Green

2012 Orange Prize for Fiction longlist

The Orange Prize for Fiction, the UK's only annual book award for fiction written by a woman, has announced the 2012 longlist. Now in its seventeenth year, the Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women's writing throughout the world. The announcement coincides with International Women's Day 2012.

* Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg (Quercus) - Swedish; 1st Novel
* On the Floor by Aifric Campbell (Serpent's Tail) - Irish; 3rd Novel
* The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen (The Clerkenwell Press) - American; 4th Novel
* The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue (Picador) - Irish; 7th Novel
* Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan (Serpent's Tail) - Canadian; 2nd Novel
* The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape) - Irish; 5th Novel
* The Flying Man by Roopa Farooki (Headline Review) - British; 5th Novel
* Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (Quercus) - American; 4th Novel
* Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding (Bloomsbury) - British; 3rd Novel
* Gillespie and I by Jane Harris (Faber & Faber) - British; 2nd Novel
* The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) - British; 2nd Novel
* The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy (Jonathan Cape) - British; 6th Novel
* The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Harvill Secker) - American; 1st Novel
* The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Bloomsbury) - American; 1st Novel
* Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick (Atlantic Books) - American; 7th Novel
* State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (Bloomsbury) - American; 6th Novel
* There but for the by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton) - British; 5th Novel
* The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard (Alma Books) - British; 2nd Novel
* Tides of War by Stella Tillyard (Chatto & Windus) - British; 1st Novel
* The Submission by Amy Waldman (William Heinemann) - American; 1st Novel

Chorion sells rights to Noddy

Classic Media, which holds rights to Postman Pat and Lassie, picks up Enid Blyton character for undisclosed sum

Print book sales from February 2011 to February 2012 fell by 13%, with fiction sales falling by 24%, according to BookScan (UK)

The number of print books bought in the UK last year has fallen by 13%, amounting to roughly £15m in revenue, according to Nielsen BookScan data. The worst hit section of the market was adult fiction, which dropped by 24%. Non-fiction was also down 14%, with children's and young adult books the least affected, falling 9% - buoyed by the success of books like War Horse

New Zealand writers invited to enter Mind, Body, Spirit Awards

New Zealand writers who have explored themes within the mind, body, spirit genre are encouraged to enter their work in the 2012 Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Literature Awards. The Awards recognise both budding and published writers by offering three of the largest prizes awarded for literature in New Zealand, including a brand new category for 2012: the Children's Book Award. The Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust, in association with the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) will present three prizes of $10,000 each to the winning unpublished manuscript author, published book author, and children's book author

2011 Strand Magazine Critics Awards nominees

The Strand Magazine has announced its nominees for the 2011 Strand Magazine Critics Awards. Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction, the Critics Awards were judged by a select group of book critics and journalists, from news venues such as USA Today, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, and several other daily papers:

Best First Novel:
* The Hypnotist Lars Kepler (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
* Sister by Rosamund Lupton (Crown)
* Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (Harper)
* The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis (Soho)
* The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly (Pamela Dorman Books)

Best Novel:
* The Affair by Lee Child (Delacorte Press)
* The Drop by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Company)
* Buried Secrets by Joseph Finder (St Martin’s Press)
* Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (Knopf)
* The Cut by George Pelecanos (Reagan Arthur Books)

Lifetime Achievement awards
Joseph Wambaugh
John Sandford

"This year's awards are set for a tight finish, many of the judges were nearly unanimous in what they thought were their top ten books," said Andrew F. Gulli, the managing editor of The Strand. "The second round of voting should be very interesting."

The awards will be presented at an invitation-only cocktail party, hosted by The Strand on July 11, 2012, in New York City

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Andrew Westoll wins Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction (Canada)

34-year-old Andrew Westoll became one of the youngest winners in the 11-year history of the Charles Taylor Prize for his book The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: A Canadian Story of Resilience and Recovery, which chronicles a summer spent volunteering at a refuge on the outskirts of Montreal that provides primates subjected to medical testing and other horrors a safe haven. Westoll, a primatologist by training, is also the author of the travel memoir The Riverbones, which details his time in the jungles of Suriname. He receives $25,000 for the win

MCB scoops three from Young Sherlock author

Macmillan Children's Books has acquired three titles from its Young Sherlock Holmes author Andrew Lane, which focus on the hunt for valuable endangered creatures

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Springer Author Academy

The Springer Author Academy is a guide from Springer and Edanz on writing and publishing

Scottish Book Trust's New Writers Awards 2012-13

Scottish Book Trust's New Writers Awards 2012-13 have been announced

Baker & Taylor in deal with Smashwords

Baker & Taylor has signed an agreement with Smashwords that will enable the e-book distributor to offer its titles through B&T's Blio application. Using Blio, readers can sample and purchase Smashwords e-books, create digital libraries for purchased and sampled titles, publish text or YouTube video book reviews, and "favorite" their chosen authors, publishers and titles. The agreement will also bring Smashwords e-books to public libraries that subscribe to B&T's Axis360 digital media platform which was launched last year. Smashwords says it has 100,000 e-book titles from self-publishers and indie presses

McShane new Waterstones head of books

Waterstones has announced former Piccadilly store manager Rik McShane as its new head of books at the same time as appointing Steve Monaghan as director of IT and e-commerce as Helen Baker steps down from the role

Five hundred new fairytales discovered in Germany

A whole new world of magic animals, brave young princes and evil witches has come to light with the discovery of 500 new fairytales, which were locked away in an archive in Regensburg, Germany for over 150 years. The tales are part of a collection of myths, legends and fairytales, gathered by the local historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth (1810–1886) in the Bavarian region of Oberpfalz at about the same time as the Grimm brothers were collecting the fairytales that have since charmed adults and children around the world

Nook in the UK: Barnes & Noble to host London event for developers

Barnes & Noble is sponsoring an event for developers in London on March 19, possibly signaling a spring entry of its Nook e-reading and tablet devices into the UK and Europe

Children's publisher Scholastic developing app for e-reading

Scholastic Inc. is developing an app called Storia, which includes around 1,300 e-books and multimedia e-books that can be bought directly from the publisher or from retailers. Such favorite picture series as "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and "Ready, Freddy!" will be in digital format for the first time. The app also will feature games, quizzes, interactive stories, an e-dictionary and a virtual book shelf that kids can organize

OverDrive acquires Australian eBook company Booki.sh

OverDrive has acquired Australian eBook company Booki.sh. Booki.sh is the developer of a cloud-based platform for distributing, selling and reading popular eBooks from anywhere and on any device with a modern web browser. Booki.sh founders and principals Joseph Pearson, Virginia Murdoch and Peter Haasz will join OverDrive from their existing offices in Melbourne to expand the global distributor's publishing, library and school initiatives

Voting opens for 2012 Indies Choice and E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards

The owners and staff at all ABA member bookstores can now cast their ballots for the 2012 Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards. Voting is open till March 31 via an electronic form on BookWeb.org

Monday, March 5, 2012

Shandi Mitchell wins Kobzar Literary Award (Canada)

The $25,000 Kobzar Literary Award, a prize which uniquely honours books with a Canadian-Ukrainian theme, was presented to author Shandi Mitchell at a gala ceremony in Toronto on Thursday evening. Mitchell, who lives in Nova Scotia, was recognized for her 2009 debut novel, Under This Unbroken Sky, which tells the story of a Ukrainian-Canadian family living on the Prairies during the Great Depression. The jury - authors Denise Chong, Randall Maggs, Nino Ricci, and M.G. Vassanji - described the book as a "compelling and poignant narrative that honours the ancestry of many Canadian Ukrainians who worked for a better life during the depression era." Under This Unbroken Sky previously won the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Caribbean and Canada) for Best First Book

BTB #283: Predicting the Present

Predicting the future is a dangerous proposition, but predicting the present isn't necessarily any easier a task. In his closing keynote presentation to the recent NFAIS 2012 Conference, Joseph Esposito echoed science fiction author William Gibson, who said, "The future is already here – it's just not very evenly distributed." In other words, the raw materials of our future scenarios are lying all around us

Children's literature expert Turan Mirhadi honored

Turan Mirhadi, veteran researcher and co-founder of the Children's Book Council, was honored during a ceremony held at the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia last week

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Wicked Young Writers' Award (UK)

Young people can submit entries for the Wicked Young Writers' Award until Tuesday 31 July 2012. A shortlist of 100 finalists will be announced in the autumn, followed by a special showcase of the winners' entries at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre, home of the award-winning musical

Slate to begin a monthly review of books

Slate has introduced a monthly book review, the latest expansion of literary criticism online as stand-alone book review sections in newspapers have dwindled. The section will nearly triple the number of book-related articles that Slate publishes, covering fiction, nonfiction and the occasional children's book

James Atlas will edit for Amazon

The longtime publisher and author James Atlas has signed up with Amazon to edit a series of biographies, he said this week, following in the footsteps of another veteran, Laurence Kirshbaum, the publisher and agent who jumped to Amazon Publishing last year

2012 Blue Peter Book of the Year prize

Schoolchildren across the U.K. voted Gareth P. Jones the winner of the 2012 Blue Peter Book of the Year prize for his novel The Considine Curse, the Guardian reported. British kids also selected Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid as Blue Peter's Best Children's Book of the Last 10 Years, besting J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, along with eight other shortlisted bestsellers for ages 5–11

2012 Golden Kite Awards winners

The winners of the 2012 Golden Kite Awards, presented to children's book authors and artists by their peers and sponsored by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, are:

Fiction: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (Philomel/Penguin)
Nonfiction: Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming (Schwartz & Wade/Random House)
Picture book text: Over and Under Snow by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal (Chronicle)
Picture book illustration: Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children)

Honor Books:
Fiction: Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic)
Nonfiction: Mysterious Bones: The Story of Kennewick Man by Katherine Kirkpatrick, illustrated by Emma Stevenson (Holiday House)
Picture book text: These Hands by Margaret H. Mason, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children)
Picture book illustration: Follow Me by Tricia Tusa (Harcourt Children's Books)

Sid Fleischman Award for Humor: The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander (HarperCollins)

The awards will be presented August 5 at the Golden Kite Luncheon during SCBWI's 41st Annual Conference on Writing and Illustrating for Children, which takes place in Los Angeles August 3-6

Friday, March 2, 2012

Harry Potter eBooks to be distributed to Public and School Libraries through OverDrive

Pottermore, the online experience and home of the Harry Potter eBooks created by J.K. Rowling and partnered by Sony, has announced it has entered into an exclusive worldwide eBook and digital audiobook distribution agreement with OverDrive for public and school libraries. Under the terms of the agreement, OverDrive will manage hosting and digital fulfillment for libraries for the Harry Potter collection of eBooks and digital audiobooks in English and more than 20 other languages to OverDrive's network of over 18,000 public and school libraries worldwide

The shock, nerves and embarrassment of recording audiobooks

Audiobooks are increasing in popularity but many authors admit they have a phobia about reading their own books. What is it like for those writers who record audio versions of their work? Two writers give their contrasting experiences to BBC Radio 4's Front Row

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Acorn Media buys stake in Agatha Christie estate

Production company Chorion sells its 64% stake in the Agatha Christie estate to US home entertainment company Acorn Media

Sales, earnings dip at Harlequin

Weakness in print sales in its overseas markets led to a slight decline in revenue and earnings at Harlequin in 2011, parent company Torstar reported this morning. Revenue fell 1.9%, to C$459.4 million, and operating earnings were down 2.0%, to C$82.4 million. Foreign exchange had a negative impact on results, including depressing earnings by C$6 million

Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year shortlist

The shortlist for the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year has been announced:

A Century of Sand Dredging in the Bristol Channel: Volume Two by Peter Gosson (Amberley). A book that documents the sand trade from its inception in 1912 to the present day, focusing on the Welsh coast

Cooking with Poo by Saiyuud Diwong (Urban Neighbours of Hope). Thai cookbook. "Poo" is Thai for "crab" and is Diwong's nickname

Estonian Sock Patterns All Around the World by Aino Praakli (Kirjastus Elmatar). Covers styles of socks and stockings found in Estonian knitting

The Great Singapore Penis Panic: And the Future of American Mass Hysteria by Scott D Mendelson (Createspace). An analysis of the "Koro" psychiatric epidemic that hit the island of Singapore in 1967

Mr Andoh's Pennine Diary: Memoirs of a Japanese Chicken Sexer in 1935 Hebden Bridge by Stephen Curry and Takayoshi Andoh (Royd Press). The story of Koichi Andoh, who travelled from Japan to Yorkshire in the 1930s to train workers at a hatchery business the art of determining the sex of one-day-old chicks

A Taxonomy of Office Chairs by Jonathan Olivares (Phaidon). Exhaustive overview of the evolution of the modern office chair

The Mushroom in Christian Art by John A Rush (North Atlantic Books). In which the author reveals that Jesus is a personification of the Holy Mushroom, Amanita Muscaria

Ezra F. Vogel wins 2012 Lionel Gelber Prize

Sara Charney, chair of the Lionel Gelber Prize Board and niece of Lionel Gelber, has announced that Ezra F. Vogel has won the 2012 Prize for Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China was named the winner by a five-person jury and selected from their previously-announced shortlist