ON BOOKS
Katie Allen in The Bookseller
      
Good news in an otherwise quiet week as several publishers report an increase in profits. HarperCollins UK has reported “significant operating profit growth” for its latest financial year to 30th June, with parent company NewsCorp citing Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue, Where the Wild Things Are, The Vampire Diaries and L A Candy as global standouts.

Stieg Larsson publisher Quercus has also revealed a tripling of revenue to £15m for the first six months of the year, while S&S UK has reported a sales increase of 18% year on year to end of June. M.d. Ian Chapman cited Paige Toon, Jane Costello, Lynda La Plante and Philippa Gregory as key during the period as well as Becca Fitzgerald's Hush Hush in children's.
Perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel? With July the first positive month for sales in the last nine, publishers will be hoping so.

The Man Booker bounce has already taken place for the “dozen” selected, with Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap (Tuskar Rock)  the strongest-seller so far, with sales of 5,593 since the nomination, and 28,460 copies overall. David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (Sceptre) has sold 30,450 copies to date across all editions, picking up sales of 1,264 last week. The bounce also affected lesser-selling titles, such as Damon Galgut's In a Strange Room (Atlantic) which scored a 6,200% week on week sales boost—it sold just three copies during the week ending 24th July, but 189 last week.

Plus a few interesting adaptations on the cards. Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie mysteries are to be turned into a six-part series for BBC1 next year, Paul Murray's Skippy Dies (Hamish Hamilton) is being lined up for the big screen by "The Crying Game"'s Neil Jordan, while Anna Maxwell-Martin and David Morrissey are to star in a three-part BBC1 adaptation of Winifred Holtby’s South Riding (Virago Modern Classics) to be broadcast later this year. Seasoned adapter Andrew Davies is on board.

And Devon will be bracing itself again for an onslaught of cameras and extras; after hosting Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”, the county this week saw filming begin on Stephen Spielberg’s version of Michael Morpurgo’s children’s classic and stage sensation War Horse (Egmont).
    
Katie Allen is
The Bookseller's media editor.