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Latest headlines for the book industry The Bookseller 150 for 2020 has been revealed. Click here to see the full list.

December 22, 2020

MORNING BRIEFING Where the news comes first Home | News | Blog | Jobs | Charts

LATEST NEWS France freight delays 'hugely problematic' for publishers Publishers are experiencing severe delays to their stock deliveries, as France continues its freight ban imposed to contain the spread of the UK's new coronavirus variant.  Halls heralds 'remarkable' Christmas business and thanks trade for support Booksellers Association m.d. Meryl Halls has heralded “remarkable” Christmas trading for the sector as she thanked the trade for its “invaluable” support this year. Book Trade Charity gives out nearly £400k with help from trade crowdfunder The Book Trade Charity has given away nearly £400,000 to people this year, including £164,000 in Covid-19 hardship grants made possible by a trade crowdfunding campaign. Canongate promotes Lord, Luchsinger and Watt Canongate has announced a raft of promotions ahead of the new year, across its sales and audio divisions.  Avon scoops Redd's The Arctic Curry Club Avon has scooped The Arctic Curry Club by debut author and travel writer Dani Redd. DK donates 1,000 books to Manchester United Foundation DK has donated 1,000 copies of Life Cycles to youth education charity the Manchester United Foundation. Del Rey acquires four from Warren Del Rey, the SFF imprint of Cornerstone, has acquired A E Warren's four-book high-concept science fiction series, described as "Jurassic Park meets Sapiens, set within a bold new imaginative world".  Souvenir Press picks up 'new framework for family life' from Oster Souvenir Press will publish The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision Making in the Early School Years by Emily Oster. Greystone Books to publish hostage memoir from Édith Blais Greystone Books will publish Édith Blais’ memoir of being kidnapped and held hostage for 450 days in Burkina Faso at the hands of a militant group.  Farrago launches online e-book shop Duckworth imprint Farrago has this week launched its own online shop for e-book readers. Rebellion scoops 'chilling' novel by detective Smith Rebellion Publishing imprint Solaris has scooped “chilling” feminist novel Anna by police detective Sammy H K Smith as a lead title for summer 2021. Penned in the Margins bags Acts of Resistance Independent publisher Penned in the Margins has acquired an "inspirational" creative non-fiction book by writer and arts professional Amber Massie-Blomfield.

The Bookseller The Stage Media Company Ltd | 47 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XT Switchboard: 0203 358 0360 Subscriptions: 01371 851879 Latest headlines for the book industry The Bookseller 150 for 2020 has been revealed. Click here to see the full list. December 21, 2020 MORNING BRIEFING Where the news comes first Home | News | Blog | Jobs | Charts LATEST NEWS Dismay for bookshops as Tier 4 forces pre-Christmas closures Bookshops in London and the south-east have reacted with dismay after being forced to close their physical premises from end of play on Saturday (19th December), with just a few hours' notice. Print market soars following second lockdown For the first full week following the lifting of lockdown restrictions in early December, the print market sold 9.17 million books for £84.7m through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market—15% up in volume and 17% in value against the same week in 2019. Radio 2 Book Club moves to prime-time Steve Wright show The Radio 2 Book Club, now marking 10 years on air, is moving to a prime-time daytime slot on Steve Wright's show. Brinkhurst-Cuff curates Black Joy collection for Penguin Penguin Books is releasing Black Joy for young adult readers, a collection of writing on race and belonging curated by gal-dem editor-in-chief Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff. Elevate scheme for underrepresented writers lands ACE funding Cornerstones Literary Consultancy has been awarded Arts Council funding for its Elevate mentoring scheme, following a successful pilot run. Moomin marvellous: Brand raises £1m for Oxfam with Sort Of Books and Waterstones A special edition of The Invisible Child (Sort Of Books), featuring two short stories from the collection Tales from Moominvalley, has helped to raise £1m for Oxfam's projects supporting women and girls around the world. Promotions at Blake Friedmann for Pickering, Way, Pusey and Murrell Several promotions have been announced within the Blake Friedmann agency team, seeing Juliet Pickering, vice-head of books, and Daisy Way, currently finance manager, become directors, while James Pusey and Hana Murrell are to take up head of rights and senior rights manager roles respectively. Mian and Mitchell among 2021 Hachette Children's Novel Award judges Children’s author Zanib Mian, Waterstones children’s category specialist Georgina Mitchell, literary agent Hellie Ogden and Hachette Children’s Group’s senior commissioning editor Tig Wallace are to judge the Hachette Children’s Novel Award in 2021. Hodder Studio strikes two-book deal with Wolf Road author Lewis Hodder Studio is publishing the next two novels by Beth Lewis, author of debut The Wolf Road, starting with "powerful novel" The Origins of Iris, which touches on themes of self-discovery and survival. Bloomsbury cooks up Holland & Barrett partnership for Fearnley-Whittingstall campaign Bloomsbury is partnering with Holland & Barrett as part of the marketing campaign for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Eat Better Forever: 7 Ways to Transform Your Diet. Flynn to narrate W&N's Octopus Man audiobook Actor Johnny Flynn will narrate the audiobook of The Octopus Man by Jasper Gibson.  Elsevier expands Open Access options for Cell Press Journals Authors contributing to Elsevier's Cell Press portfolio of journals can make their research articles available for everyone to read immediately after publication from 1st January 2021. The Bookseller The Stage Media Company Ltd | 47 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XT Switchboard: 0203 358 0360 Subscriptions: 01371 851879 The most read stories of the week     Our round-up of the most read stories of the past week on The Bookseller: 1. Little, Brown terminates contract with Burchill after Twitter comments (£) 2. Hopkin departs Bloomsbury 3. Nardone launches Black Crow PR agency specialising in genre fiction (£) 4. PRH sells Vauxhall office in £67m leaseback deal 5. Titan snares Shirley Jackson tribute anthology of new stories 6. Indies voice concerns over availability of key titles (£) 7. Trapeze wins 10-way auction for broadcasters Garvey and Glover 8. Bloomsbury's Herdman lands Watson debut 9. James Bowen says goodbye to 'unforgettable' street cat Bob 10. Trade pays respects to John le Carré   Connect with us: The Bookseller, The Stage Media Company Ltd, 47 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XT. Registered No. 02316307. Subscriptions: 01371 851879 Latest headlines for the book industry The Bookseller 150 for 2020 has been revealed. Click here to see the full list.   December 18, 2020 MORNING BRIEFING Where the news comes first Home | News | Blog | Jobs | Charts LATEST NEWS Fungi and local authors prove Christmas hits for indies A non-fiction work about fungi and books with local interest are among the top-selling titles for indies ahead of Christmas, The Bookseller has been told.  Vuori promoted in Hachette contracts restructure, as two depart Hachette UK is restructuring its contracts department under the management of Anniina Vuori, who is newly promoted to director, while two divisional directors have left the business. Scholastic revenues plunge 32% but trade sales up in second quarter Scholastic saw revenues plunge 32% year on year to $406.2m and operating income fall 54% in the second quarter, as its business continued to be hit by the pandemic, although trade sales rose. Donaldson set to light up Christmas 2021 with 'magical' picture book A new Julia Donaldson picture book, The Christmas Pine, will be published by Alison Green Books in autumn 2021.  Kinney pens new Wimpy Kid and spin-off for Puffin Jeff Kinney is releasing Diary of a Wimpy Kid spin-off Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories with Puffin in 2021, ahead of the 16th title in the hit series. Audible Charts: A Promised Land puts down roots Barack Obama's A Promised Land (Penguin) has once again reigned atop the Audible weekly chart. Obama shares his favourite reads of 2020 Barack Obama has released a 17-strong list of his favourite books of the year, spanning memoir, fiction and non-fiction, including Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar (Tinder Press), How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang (Virago) and Isabel Wilkerson's Caste (Allen Lane).  Indie booksellers invited to complete 2020 Christmas trading survey Indie bookshops in the UK and Ireland are invited to complete The Bookseller’s annual Christmas trading survey.  Bloomsbury mounts big campaign for Such a Fun Age paperback Bloomsbury is to embark on "one of its biggest campaigns" ahead of the paperback release of Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid.  Lipscomb, Mangan and Savidge to judge Costas Professor Suzannah Lipscomb will chair the judging panel for the 2020 Costa Book of the Year prize, where she will be joined by vlogger Simon Savidge, actor Stephen Mangan and presenter Angellica Bell. Morgan signs four-book deal with HQ HQ has signed a new four-book deal with prolific Sunday Times bestseller Sarah Morgan, starting with The Christmas Escape.     Naffis-Sahely joins Poetry London Poetry London has appointed André Naffis-Sahely as its new poetry editor. The Bookseller The Stage Media Company Ltd | 47 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XT Switchboard: 0203 358 0360 Subscriptions: 01371 851879 Latest headlines for the book industry The Bookseller 150 for 2020 has been revealed. Click here to see the full list.   December 17, 2020 MORNING BRIEFING Where the news comes first Home | News | Blog | Jobs | Charts LATEST NEWS Osman, Obama and Pinch of Nom battle for Christmas number one Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin), Pinch of Nom Quick & Easy (Bluebird) and Barack Obama's A Promised Land (Viking) are all in the running for the Christmas number one spot, as the print market heads into its final week before Christmas. Welsh bookshops to close from Christmas Eve in new lockdown Non-essential shops will be closed in Wales from the end of Christmas Eve trading as part of fresh lockdown restrictions, it has been announced. Frankfurt Book Fair cuts jobs in 'painful' restructure Frankfurt Book Fair has completed its restructure and cut an undisclosed number of roles in what it has called a “painful and far-reaching” process. Child brings back Clarice Bean for 'Christmas classic' with HCCB Lauren Child is bringing back Clarice Bean in a “spectacularly cinematic Christmas classic” for HarperCollins Children's Books. Virago wins Kohda's Millennial vampire debut in six-way auction Virago has acquired a Millennial vampire tale—Claire Kohda's debut novel Woman, Eating— in a six-way publisher auction.  Sceptre lands Qureshi’s debut short story collection after four-way battle Sceptre has won a four-way auction to publish Huma Qureshi’s prize-winning debut short story collection, Things We Do Not Tell the People We Love, next November. Atkinson’s Life After Life on track for BBC One adaptation BBC One has commissioned a four-part adaptation of Kate Atkinson’s Costa Award-winning Life After Life from House Productions. Fane sells over 70,000 tickets for online season Production company Fane has announced it has sold more than 72,000 tickets, 54% of those including a book, for the online events season it launched in September. Viper wins Dave’s 'pulse-pounding thriller' Miranda Jewess, senior commissioning editor at Serpent's Tail imprint Viper, has acquired The Last Thing He Told Me by US author Laura Dave after a four-way auction. Nardone launches Black Crow PR agency specialising in genre fiction Publicist Jamie-Lee Nardone has launched Black Crow, a boutique marketing and events agency specialising in genre fiction, pop culture and “all things nerd”. Puffin scoops ''magical' Stachera debut Puffin has scooped The Ice Whisperers, a "haunting and magical" debut novel from Helenka Stachera, in a two-book deal. New look for Hitchens paperbacks with Atlantic Atlantic Books is releasing new mass-market paperback editions of 12 of Christopher Hitchens’ works, including God Is Not Great, Hitch-22 and Mortality, with fresh cover designs. The Bookseller The Stage Media Company Ltd | 47 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XT Switchboard: 0203 358 0360 Subscriptions: 01371 851879 Latest headlines for the book industry The Bookseller 150 for 2020 has been revealed. Click here to see the full list.   December 16, 2020 MORNING BRIEFING Where the news comes first Home | News | Blog | Jobs | Charts LATEST NEWS Pinch of Nom Quick & Easy weighs in at the top Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson's Pinch of Nom Quick & Easy (Bluebird) has soared straight into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, with 133,116 copies sold in its first week on the shelves. Little, Brown terminates contract with Burchill after Twitter comments Hachette division Little, Brown has cancelled a book deal with Julie Burchill as a result of controversial comments made by the journalist on Twitter.  Jasanoff, Obioma and Williams named Booker Prize judges The 2021 Booker Prize judging panel will be chaired by Harvard historian Maya Jasanoff and features twice-shortlisted writer Chigozie Obioma and former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. Trapeze wins 10-way auction for broadcasters Garvey and Glover Trapeze will be publishing Did I Say That Out Loud? by broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, creators of the "Fortunately" podcast, following a 10-publisher auction. MCB swoops for McKay's The Swallows' Flight Macmillan Children’s Books has acquired The Swallows’ Flight, the companion to Hilary McKay’s award-winning First World War novel The Skylarks’ War (MCB). BookTrust launches Christmas appeal Reading charity BookTrust has launched its 2020 Christmas fundraising appeal, calling on members of the public to help vulnerable children across the country. Netflix UK picks up Turton's Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Stuart Turton’s Costa Award-winning debut The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle will be adapted as a seven-part series for Netflix UK.  Bloomsbury's Herdman lands Watson debut In her first fiction acquisition as publishing director at Bloomsbury, Emma Herdman has bought Metronome, Tom Watson's debut novel. Amazon Charts: Obama holds firm against the muscle of Pinch of Nom Barack Obama's A Promised Land (Penguin) has held the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Non-Fiction top spot, despite a strong challenge by Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson's Pinch of Nom Quick & Easy (Bluebird). Cape lands Windsor-Smith's 'tour de force' graphic novel Jonathan Cape has landed Monsters, the first full-length graphic novel in 35 years from legendary comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith. Ness' Burn to hit the small screen with Bad Robot Bad Robot has optioned Patrick Ness’ Burn for a TV adaptation.    John Blake to publish Marie McCourt's story of 'sheer fight, determination and love' John Blake has acquired Justice for Helen by Marie McCourt, which will tell the story of a grieving mother’s battle to find her daughter’s body and prevent any other family from suffering the same experience as her family's by campaigning for Helen's Law. The Bookseller The Stage Media Company Ltd | 47 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XT Switchboard: 0203 358 0360 Subscriptions: 01371 851879 Latest headlines for the book industry The Bookseller 150 for 2020 has been revealed. Click here to see the full list.   December 15, 2020 MORNING BRIEFING Where the news comes first Home | News | Blog | Jobs | Charts LATEST NEWS London's Tier Three 'may affect some sales but book-buyers will still shop local' London booksellers have expressed confidence customers will continue to “shop local” and support bookshops, in spite of unease caused by news that the capital will be moving into the more restrictive Tier Three this week to help cut coronavirus infection rates. Hopkin departs Bloomsbury Bloomsbury Consumer Publishing managing director Emma Hopkin is departing the company on 31st December, "following an assessment of the future business needs of the Consumer division". PRH sells Vauxhall office in £67m leaseback deal Penguin Random House has sold its Vauxhall Bridge Road office for £67m in a leaseback deal that the publisher says will see it remain there for at least 15 years. Hachette UK reveals inaugural Grow Your Story intake The writers joining Hachette UK's inaugural Grow Your Story programme will include Charlotte Forfieh, Indigo Griffiths, Remi Graves, Ramya Jegatheesan, Ismail Karolia, Amina Makele, Lola Okolosie, Sara Sehdiv and Sumerah Srivastav. Sabah Khan joins S&S as head of publicity Sabah Khan is joining Simon & Schuster UK as head of publicity for the adult publishing division. Bookstat: Ross finds the Way to the top L J Ross' Cuthbert's Way has swiped the Bookstat e-book number one for the week ending 12th December. North's genre-bending Western to W&N Weidenfeld & Nicolson is publishing a "genre and gender-bending take on the classic Western" from Anna North, Outlawed, about an outcast woman on the run. Welbeck acquires 'optimist's guide' to surveillance, data and privacy Welbeck Publishing has acquired Good Data: An Optimist’s Guide to Our Digital Future by Sam Gilbert.  Bloomsbury Children's acquires Atinuke history in 'hotly contested' auction Bloomsbury Children’s Books has acquired Atinuke's The Brilliant Black History of Britain, a "spectacular new narrative for primary schoolchildren," which will be illustrated by Kingsley Nebechi. Canongate lands Robson's 'cutting-edge' pop science title Canongate is to publish Thinking Makes It So by David Robson, after securing the title in a five-way auction.  Titan snares Shirley Jackson tribute anthology of new stories Titan Books is releasing a collection of original stories in tribute to late horror author Shirley Jackson, edited by Ellen Datlow and featuring tales from Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman and Paul Tremblay among others. Farrago set for stand-up summer with one from Moore Duckworth imprint Farrago has acquired Ian Moore’s Death and Croissants, the first book in the Folle Valley series, a series of "humorous mysteries" set in the Loire region of France.  The Bookseller The Stage Media Company Ltd | 47 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XT Switchboard: 0203 358 0360 Subscriptions: 01371 851879 Latest headlines for the book industry The Bookseller 150 for 2020 has been revealed. Click here to see the full list.   December 14, 2020 MORNING BRIEFING Where the news comes first Home | News | Blog | Jobs | Charts LATEST NEWS Trade pays respects to John le Carré The book trade is mourning the loss of thriller writer John le Carré–whose real name was David Cornwell–who died in Cornwall following a short illness on Saturday night (12th December), aged 89.  Indies voice concerns over availability of key titles Some independent booksellers are concerned that key titles are experiencing slow reprints and availability issues, affecting their stock in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  Five-year stats show library service entering 'rapid decline', finds Coates The public library service has entered a phase of “rapid decline” as figures show visits have declined sharply and loans have plunged in the past five years, campaigner Tim Coates has said. Avon and Mushens Entertainment hunt for new commercial writer of colour Avon has joined forces with agent Silé Edwards at Mushens Entertainment for a competition to find a new commercial writer of colour, with the winner handed a two-book deal.  Bloomsbury appoints Baroness Lola Young as non-executive director Baroness Lola Young has been appointed as a non-executive director of Bloomsbury. Baddiel writes 'urgent' polemic on antisemitism for TLS Books TLS Books, the publishing imprint of the Times Literary Supplement, is publishing an “urgent” polemic on the realities of antisemitism by David Baddiel. Yellow Kite gets organised with the Style Sisters Yellow Kite will publish the debut from organising and styling duo Charlotte Reddington and Gemma Lilly, a.k.a the Style Sisters.  Hodder strikes two-book deal with Caraval author Stephanie Garber Stephanie Garber is returning to the world of Caraval with two new books for Hodder & Stoughton. Costa and Reading Agency to give out 100,000 books for Christmas Costa Coffee has teamed up with charity The Reading Agency to give out 100,000 books ahead of Christmas to those hardest hit by the pandemic. Book subscription service booming, reports Blackwell's Blackwell’s has reported an upswing in the popularity of its bespoke Book Subscription service, ahead of Christmas.  Sandycove acquires Ryan's 'razor-sharp' debut novel Sandycove, the Dublin-based imprint of Penguin Random House, has acquired Holding Her Breath, Eimear Ryan's debut novel.  Angry Robot acquires 'horrifying and fascinating' debut from Calder Szewczak Angry Robot has acquired the debut novel, The Offset, from writing duo Natasha C Calder and Emma Szewczak who will publish under the pseudonym Calder Szewczak. The Bookseller The Stage Media Company Ltd | 47 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XT Switchboard: 0203 358 0360 Subscriptions: 01371 851879 The most read stories of the week     Our round-up of the most read stories of the past week on The Bookseller: 1. BA and Bookshop.org respond to bookseller criticism 2. William Collins pre-empts 'radical' Dalrymple debut (£) 3. Octopus unveils guerrilla campaign for Women Don't Owe You Pretty 4. Booksellers bolstered by record sales after lockdown (£) 5. Bloomsbury lands first novel in 48 years from Wole Soyinka 6. Cape wins Crooks' 'phenomenal' debut novel in 10-way auction 7. AAA adjusts entry criteria to become more inclusive 8. Greg Evaristo joins Bonnier Books UK board 9. YA author James launches Climate Fiction Writers League 10. Monica Ali's first novel in a decade to Virago in five-way auction   Connect with us: