Indie Booksellers: 'Indispensible Players in Community Life'

Shelf Awareness

"It may seem like the e-book behemoth is taking over the publishing industry, but a trip to North Carolina proves that local bookshops have become indispensible players in community life," the Daily Beast noted in the sub-head for author Bill Morris's piece headlined "Amazon Won't Kill the Indie Bookstore."

Bill Morris reading at Scuppernong Books

One of the bookstores Morris read at on his recent tour for Motor City Burning was Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, which "didn't exist when I started writing my novel.... Indeed, the crowd at my reading was attentive, inquisitive--and willing to spend money on printed books. This intimate contact is vital to both readers and writers--and it's something that can't be replicated online. For readers, it's a chance to get inside the process of how books get made. For writers, who spend years in solitude putting words on a page, it's an invaluable chance to connect with their audience."

Lampkin

Scuppernong co-owner Brian Lampkin said, "For me and the six people who work here, it was something that was missing from our lives--a place where ideas and conversation matter. When you walk in the door, you feel like you're among human beings. The gratitude we got from the community was shocking. We're not going to get rich, but we're paying people well and giving them a sweet life. It's great for downtown. Independent bookstores are intellectual centers of a city."

As for Amazon, Lampkin observed: "I would like to say there's room in the world for everyone--if Amazon felt that way. When I worked at a bookstore in Seattle, the company was revered as part of the growing internet economy. But now I see them as the giant vampire squid, the enemy of the independent bookstore. I do have a sense that I must resist, but I can also see how they're good for writers."

Morris also read at the Regulator Bookshop in Durham, where co-owner Tom Campbell told him: "What we've done to respond to all that is to still be people who are interested in books and can have a conversation. Books are intimate things, and we can provide something that Amazon can't. People still like to walk into a physical place and pick up books and talk to people. It's almost retro in today's environment, like vinyl....

"People don't have as much time as they used to have. They don't read as many book reviews. We can guide people to books that we or someone in the business feels strongly about--and that helps. People need more guidance now."

Warner Bros creates Harry Potter franchise development team

31.07.14 | Charlotte Eyre - The Bookseller

Warner Bros has created a new development team to manage the Harry Potter franchise.

Based in London and California, the Harry Potter Global Franchise Development (HPGFD) team will “develop and execute a high-level strategic vision for the Harry Potter brand and its ancillary businesses, working closely with J K Rowling’s team at The Blair Partnership and other internal and external stakeholders and partners”.

Josh Berger, president and m.d. of Warner Bros UK, Ireland and Spain, is taking on the role of president of HPGFD alongside his current job.
Polly Cochrane, who is senior vice president and group marketing director at Warner Bros UK, is taking on the responsibility of senior vice president and chief marketing officer of HPGFD. Paul Condolada is joining the company as senior vice president of HPGFD and Harry Potter Digital.

Even though the last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Bloomsbury), was published in 2007, the franchise is still going strong. There are theme books in London, Florida and Osaka (Japan) and a film based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, one of J K Rowling’s Comic Relief Harry Potter universe titles, is due in 2016.
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Waterstones to broaden events profile

31.07.14 | Lisa Campbell - The Bookseller

Waterstones’ appointment of Pan Macmillan’s Sandra Taylor (pictured) as head of events and external relations marks a renewed drive for the retailer to broaden its events profile.

Taylor, a former Bookseller Rising Star who has worked on publicity campaigns for titles such as Burial Rites by Hannah Kent and The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton among others, will begin at the chain in October and plans a succession of events which help customers engage with authors and publishing “that they haven't had the opportunity to do before.”

On Taylor’s hiring, Rik McShane, Waterstones retailer director, said: “Sandra's appointment definitely marks a renewed drive to broaden our events profile. We have a fantastic team in Piccadilly and a host of eager and passionate booksellers out in the shops who already deliver a varied and successful programme of events across the country, but we know we can always do more. Sandra will be bringing her considerable expertise to bear on the wider estate, looking at different ways in which we can help our customers engage with authors and publishing that they haven't had the opportunity to do before.”
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Looking for Inspiration? Rejoice, O Mobile Poet!

JULY 30, 2014 - New York Times

By KIT EATON

FEAR not, fans of poetry: The app world has not left you behind. Some will even help you write your own poetry.

Poetry from the Poetry Foundation, free for iOS and Android, is my favorite way to read poems digitally. It includes thousands of poems, from Shakespeare to modern-day poets. While most are text entries, some are also available as audio recordings.

The app’s main purpose is to help you discover new poems. When you fire it up, whirling graphical dials spin automatically to select two categories at random, perhaps “worry” and “youth” or “humor” and “life.” Then you see a list of all the poems that fit these categories.

Tapping on a poem in the list takes you to a page where you can read the poem’s text or, if available, listen to an audio file. Tapping on a poet’s name will take you to a page about the poet’s life and work and other interesting details.

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Penguin Random House UK Joins The Future8 Awards As Exclusive Sponsor Of The Blogger Category

Today, SuperAwesome is announcing that Penguin Random House UK, the UK's biggest book publisher, is partnering with the Future8 Awards to exclusively sponsor its Blogger Category for aspiring bloggers aged 7-17.

Shannon Cullen, Publisher at Puffin, which is part of Penguin Random House UK Children's, will join the illustrious line-up of Future8 judges that also includes Wil Harris (Head of Digital at Conde Nast), Avid Larizadeh (UK Lead at Hour of Code) and JP Donnelly (Head of WPP Ireland).

The purpose of The Future8 Awards is to give young people life-changing opportunities, and Penguin Random House UK is helping to meet this challenge. The winner of the Future8 Blogger Award will receive:

Three "Special Correspondent" slots on the one of the prestigious blogs or online platforms that Penguin Random House UK uses to reach over 2 million readers every month. From the Penguin blog to the Happy Foodie cookery website - whichever platform is the best fit for their writing

Expert insight via a series of three mentoring sessions from a member of the Penguin Random House UK Children's Digital Marketing Team

A bundle of fabulous books and merchandise

For more information, please visit  www.thefuture8.com 

How Amazon Brought Publishing To Its Knees

Book2Book Thursday 31 July 2014

Morgan Entrekin is happy with the relationships he's developed with Amazon. As the president of independent publisher Grove/Atlantic Books, he witnessed the industry change as Amazon's introduction of the Kindle helped publishers like him embrace the digital revolution that has battered other industries.
It's the future that he's worried about.


Mashable

6 Questions to Ask Before Publicizing Your Book

Today's Feature Story: 6 Questions to Ask Before Publicizing Your Book Effective book publicity relies on planning ahead and defining success for you and your book. Here are six questions to ask before you begin.

Discussion: Introducing BackTypo, A Self-Publishing Tool with Italian Flair Giacomo D'Angelo, product manager at Narcissus.me describes how BackTypo promises to help authors build beautiful books simply and easily.

More News from PP: 2014 PEN Literary Award Winners Announced PEN American Center, the largest branch of the world’s leading literary and human rights organization, today announced the winners of the 2014 PEN Literary Awards.

From the Archives: Discoverability and the New World of Book PR Tips on how authors can use existing online tools and media outreach to sell more books, from publicity experts Barbara Henricks and Rusty Shelton.

The Dog by Joseph O’Neill - publication brought forward.

The Dog by Joseph O’Neill was originally scheduled for September release in UK and ANZ, but due to it being long-listed for the Man Booker Prize 2014, it is being released early on 1 August. I am delighted about this as I am a fan of his writing, loved Netherland a few years back.

The Dog

Joseph O’Neill

Fourth Estate - NZ$29.99

The new novel from Joseph O’Neill, his first since the Man Booker longlisted and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction-winning ‘Netherland’.

In 2007, a New York attorney bumps into an old college buddy – and accepts his friend’s offer of a job in Dubai, as the overseer of an enormous family fortune. Haunted by the collapse of his relationship and hoping for a fresh start, our strange hero begins to suspect that he has exchanged one inferno for another.

A funny and wholly original work of international literature, ‘The Dog’ is led by a brilliantly entertaining anti-hero. Imprisoned by his endless powers of reasoning, hemmed in by the ethical demands of globalized life, he is fatefully drawn towards the only logical response to our confounding epoch.

Praise for ‘Netherland’:

‘An excellent novel.’ Barack Obama

'An exquisitely written novel, a large fictional achievement, and one of the most remarkable post-colonial books I have ever read.' James Wood, New Yorker

‘[I have] not read anything that quite so brilliantly captured the exuberant madness and cultural diversity of [New York].’ Jeremy Paxman, Guardian (Books of the Year)

‘There is a very special sort of gratitude you can feel for a book that is so formidably written that it has you anxious to get back to it and pining a little bit to be away from it.’ Sebastian Barry, Guardian (Books of the Year)

‘Dazzling … and told with great grace and daring.’ Kate Summerscale, Sunday Telegraph (Books of the Year)

‘The post-9/11 novel we’ve been waiting for: a witty, vivid, aphoristic, fiercely intelligent narrative.’ Philip French, Observer (Books of the Year)

‘Too good for the Booker.’ Robert McCrum, Observer (Books of the Year)

'”Netherland” is so expertly woven that it is impossible for a reader not to admire what it essentially is – a beautifully written exploration of memory and self.' Sunday Telegraph

'The wittiest, angriest, most exacting and most desolate work of fiction we've yet had about life in New York and London after the World Trade Centre fell. I devoured it in three thirsty gulps, gulps that satisfied a craving I didn't know I had. O'Neill seems incapable of composing a boring sentence or thinking an uninteresting thought.' New York Times

'Extraordinary. O'Neill is a writer of dizzying elegance.' FT

'O'Neill's novel was nominated by critics as a book of the year more times than any other title in 2008, and it's not hard to see why. Its perceptiveness and lingering air of sadness will beguile you more powerfully than you may at first expect.' Sunday Times

Top 10 war poems

This week marks a century since the outbreak of the first world war. Chosen from 1,000 years of English writing about war, poet and Oxford professor Jon Stallworthy selects some of the best attempts to think through this most extreme of human experiences

Read more writers' top 10s

• Jon Stallworthy - theguardian.com, Wednesday 30 July 2014 
• 
  
• 

Celebration and lament … the war memorial at Shildon, near Sedgefield. Photograph: John Giles/PA

"Poetry," Wordsworth reminds us, "is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings", and there can be no area of human experience that has generated a wider range of powerful feelings than war: hope and fear; exhilaration and humiliation; hatred – not only for the enemy, but also for generals, politicians, and war-profiteers; love – for fellow soldiers, for women and children left behind, for country (often) and cause (occasionally).

Man's early war-songs and love-songs were generally exhortations to action, or celebrations of action, in one or other field, but no such similarity exists between what we now more broadly define as love poetry and war poetry. Whereas most love poems have been in favour of love, much – and most recent – war poetry has been implicitly, if not explicitly, anti-war. So long as warrior met warrior in equal combat with sword or lance, poets could celebrate their courage and chivalry, but as technology put ever-increasing distance between combatants and, then, ceased to distinguish between combatant and civilian, poets more and more responded to "man's inhumanity to man". I have chosen poems from both the old "heroic" and the modern "humane" traditions. With so many fine poems to choose from, on another day I might have selected another team

More

and then Read more writers' top 10s

Literary stars at Auckland Libraries in August

Meet Karin Slaughter Monday 11 August // Central City Library Don't miss this chance to meet New York Times best-selling crime author Karin Slaughter, whose books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Best known for her Grant County and Will Trent series, Slaughter travels back to 1970s Atlanta in her new stand-alone title, Cop Town.

Craft and chat with Rachael Herron Thursday 21 August // Orewa Library  Hear author Rachael Herron speak about her new book while you knit or create your favourite handicraft. Rachael is the author of four Cypress Hollow novels, as well as a number of other books. She'll be with us to promote Fiona's flame.

An evening with Laini Taylor Wednesday 27 August // Remuera Library  Come and meet internationally acclaimed and bestselling author of Daughter of smoke and bone, Laini Taylor, for one night only at Remuera Library! Laini is touring the world promoting the final book in her trilogy, Dreams of gods and monsters. Don't miss this unique opportunity to listen to her talk and ask questions!

Wellington author shortlisted for Australian book prize

 It’s been an amazing few months, says Wellington-based Australian writer Tracy Farr, whose novel The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt (Fremantle Press) has just been shortlisted for the 2014 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards. 

‘The thrill of having my novel shortlisted for this award, following on from its longlisting in April for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, is immense,’ said Farr.

‘It’s particularly rewarding to have my first novel sit alongside works by long-established and much-awarded writers like Alex Miller, Richard Flanagan and Tim Winton,’ said Farr.

A media statement published on the State Library of Western Australia’s website said 552 books were entered into the awards over nine categories.

The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt has been shortlisted in the Fiction category alongside Miller’s Coal Creek, Flanagan’s Man Booker-longlisted The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Winton’s Eyrie, Amanda Curtin’s Elemental, and Evie Wyld’s Miles Franklin Award winner, All the Birds, Singing.

The winner will receive a $15,000 cash prize and will go into the running for the People’s Choice Award ($5,000) and the overall Premier’s Prize ($25,000).

Fremantle Press CEO Jane Fraser said it was wonderful to help put new authors on the road to success by publishing their books.

‘The WA Premier’s Book Awards is a nice way to cap off a year that has included recognition in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Awards, the Miles Franklin Literary Award and many others,’ said Fraser.

Farr is currently working on a new novel. She will be appearing in two sessions at WORD Christchurch Writers & Readers Festival in New Zealand at the end of August. The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt has been adapted for radio broadcast and will feature as a reading on Radio New Zealand National later in 2014. The book is distributed by Penguin NZ and is available from all good bookstores, online distributors and fremantlepress.com.au.

More information about the awards is available from http://pba.slwa.wa.gov.au/

More information about the book is at: http://www.fremantlepress.com.au/books/1373

To read reviews of the six shortlisted books in the Fiction Category of the WA Premier's Book Awards, read The West Australian's books pages at thewest.com.au/books 

Read Maggie Rainey-Smith's earlier review on my blog - http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.co.nz/2013/08/the-life-and-loves-of-lena-gaunt-novel.html

How Soccer Can Lead to Love

By Off the Shelf Staff | Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Off the Shelf sat down to talk to Brigid Paskula, who has just published a wonderful novel, The Sun and Other Stars, that is set in a little town in Italy and is filled with charming characters and romance.

The story, which centers around Etto, a butcher’s son, and his friends is about love and forgiveness and cleverly uses soccer as the connection between all the characters and their stories.  
Having just lived through the passion of the World Cup we were intrigued about what made Brigid decide to mix love and calcio, what it’s like to live in Italy, and how a small Italian village is just like living in north-west Illinois.

Have you ever lived in a village like San Benedetto, and what was your experience there?

I took a job as a babysitter in Alassio, Italy the summer I turned 26. The family was wonderful. Everyone in the town knew them and by extension, knew who I was. Our mornings were spent at the beach in front of their house, then we would have lunch and a nap, and run errands in the afternoon. One of the regular errands was a butcher shop called Macelleria Valdora which was run by a guy my age named Nello and his parents.

- See more

THE ROUNDUP from PW

iBooks Bestsellers: 'Fifty Shades' Reigns Again
A week after the first trailer for the film adaptation of "Fifty Shades of Grey" dropped, the book hit #1 on Apple's chart. more » »

Bidart, Wolcott Among 2014 PEN Winners
The PEN American Center announced the winners of the 2014 PEN Awards. James Wolcott was the recipient of the $10,000 Diamonstein Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay Award for "Critical Mass," and poet Frank Bidart was granted the $5,000 Voelcker Award for Poetry. For the first time, the winner for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction will be announced live at the September 29 awards ceremony. more » »

Macmillan Expands Library E-book Lending
Macmillan announced Tuesday that it will make its full catalog of frontlist e-book titles available to libraries via its public library e-lending pilot. In a statement, Macmillan president of sales Alison Lazarus said that after a year of experience with its current pilot, Macmillan officials now have “a better sense of the market” and “feel comfortable expanding our offering to our full catalog.” more »

Flipkart Raises $1 Billion : Flipkart, India's largest e-tailer, said on Tuesday it raised a fresh round of funding worth $1 billion as it tries to aggressively scale up after Amazon's rapid expansion in the country has heated up competition.

Green's Books Come Under Fire Again : First it was Florida, then Wisconsin. John Green's books, though not "The Fault in Our Stars," have come under fire from parents.

Ventura Wins $1.8M in Defamation Case: A jury awarded former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura $1.8 million on Tuesday in his lawsuit against the estate of "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle.

10 Comic Books That Deserve to be Movies: With Comic-Con in the rear-view, Indiewire has picked out some of the best recent titles that most seem suited to big-screen adaptation.

Casting 'The Goldfinch' : Warner Bros has bought the rights to film Donna Tartt’s bestseller. Who do you think would be perfect to play Theo Decker and company – and who should direct?

VIEW ALL »

Three events at the busy Children’s Bookshop in Wellington

1)   The Speed of Light book launch –

On Thursday August 14th at 6pm we join with Joy Cowley, and Gecko Press to launch “Speed of Light”, Joy’s new novel.

When a strange old woman is literally blown in to an affluent but dysfunctional family, and when things go wrong, her influence is suspect.

With a father more interested in money than family, a brother in prison, a sister with a secret, and a mother in denial, it’s no wonder Jeff buries himself in the safe world of mathematics.

When a storm hits Wellington, a strange old woman is blown into Jeff’s life, challenging everything he thinks is true.

All welcome, free of charge – to rsvp please contact matariki@geckopress.com

2)  Gary Crew – Australian author is the guest of Storylines NZ and will be holding a seminar at The Children’s Bookshop on Thursday 26th August at 6pm

Strange Journeys: The Thrills & Spills of the Multi-Tasking Writer
Featuring award-winning Australian children's author Gary Crew.
Join Gary as he covers all his major works including site locations, drafts and how he writes. It will also have images from Gary’s research trip to Stephens Island to research NZ’s extinct flightless wren.

Booking essential with Storylines –  http://www.storylines.org.nz/shop/Seminar+Series/Heritage+Hotels+Seminar+Series+Wellington.html

3) An invitation to people interested in writing and illustrating picture books.

Sunday Seminars - The Art and Rhyme of Picture Books.

We still have places left- for prospective authors/illustrators and all children's book lovers - a master class with two of our very best.

Ruth Paul - (author illustrator of The Animal Undie Ball, Two Little Pirates, Bad Dog Flash, The King's Bubbles, Stomp, and many others)

and

Juliette MacIver - (author of the Marmaduke Duck books,Toucan Can, The Frog Who Lost His Underpants and others )

August 10th 11am – 1pm at The Children’s Bookshop, Shop 26 Kilbirnie Plaza Wellington.
$25 each – limited to 20/25 attendees. Bookings essential. Morning tea provided.

please contact John on  books@thechildrensbookshop.co.nz

John McIntyre
The Children's Bookshop
Shop 26 Kilbirnie Plaza
Kilbirnie
Wellington 6022


Phone:
04 387 3905
Fax:
04 387 3288
Email:
books@thechildrens bookshop.co.nz

'Your Bookseller and the Perfect Fit'

Shelf Awareness

"There are many different ways books can surprise and delight. I think--I hope--any book lover can relate.... The greatest satisfaction of a bookseller resides here as well. We truly want share with you the passion we feel for 'our' books. If you've ever asked, you know what I'm referring to. You feel it when her voice intensifies, eye-widen and cadence accelerates. 
You see it when he takes off to grab a book, returning to present it to you--two-handed--like a holy text. We're passionate about books. It's why we're here, working at Booksellers.... We've got something that can't be reduced to a formula nor coded as an algorithm. We've got a passion for books and a desire to share it."

--From a Booksellers at Laurelwood, Memphis, Tenn., blog post headlined "Your bookseller and the perfect fit."

Antiquarian Books News from Ibookcollector

Fine Literature: with Collections of James Joyce & Ray Bradbury

Each lot illustrated in the online version of the catalogue.
Bid directly from the site. Now available in the Bid Live Now section

Please visit our website to view over 500 lots of important literary first editions, author collections, manuscripts, signed and limited editions, and thought-provoking science fiction and fantasy. Included are collections of Truman Capote, Ian Fleming, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Jack London, Cormac McCarthy, James Whitcomb Riley, John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and others. An important collection of Ray Bradbury headlines the Science Fiction and Fantasy section, with Edgar Rice Burroughs, E.E. "Doc" Smith and their cohorts.

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Bi-centenary of publication

18 July 2014 marked 200 years since the publication of A Voyage to Terra Australis, the classic account of the voyage of HMS Investigator written by Matthew Flinders.

To celebrate, Hordern House has published in full an important eyewitness account of the fate of the Flinders expedition originally written in 1806. As is discussed in the introduction and notes, this anonymously published Narrative was almost completely overlooked for more than two centuries, but is now proven to have been written by one of Flinders' officers, Surgeon's Mate Robert Purdie.

This discovery is particularly significant as the Narrative is the only major published account to be written by a veteran of the expedition besides Flinders' own Voyage.

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First Edition Superman for Sale

A pristine copy of Action Comics #1 will go on auction in August, eBay announced recently.  In 1938 the ‘Superman’ comic book could be purchased for ten cents. There are apparently about fifty copies of the comic book remaining and the copy for sale is considered to be in good condition.

An expert has said that the book looks and feels like it just came off the newsstand. The colours are seemingly “deep and rich and the quality of the white pages is amazing for a comic that is 76 years old."

A copy of the book that was not as well-preserved sold for $2.1 million in 2011. The book is currently owned by a collector who is putting it up for auction without a reserve price. He is expected to donate a portion of the proceeds to charity.

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Morgan Library & Museum

From now until 14 September 2014 the Morgan Library & Museum is exhibiting ‘Miracles in Miniature: The Art of the Master of Claude de France,’ which features works by the well-known manuscript illuminator. Known more simply as the Claude Master, he emerged as an independent artist in the French city of Tours around 1508 and apparently disappeared shortly after 1520. Though his actual name has been lost for centuries, his current identity – linked to the two prayer books he created for France’s Queen Claude (1499-1524) – was established in a 1975 monograph by the art historian Charles Sterling. Although his career was brief his legacy stands at the pinnacle of this exquisite art form.

In the exhibition, Queen Claude’s prayer book is opened to this centerpiece. Visitors can also study every luminous page of the volume in a series of 132 enlarged digital facsimiles viewable on a nearby screen. They are can also be viewed online at the Morgan website. 

To Contact Ibookcollector
Ibookcollector © is published by Rivendale Press. 

Hillary's Book Tour on Track

Shelf Awareness

photo: Erica Miller/The Saratogian

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton's signing event for Hard Choices drew more than 1,200 people to the Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Here Clinton is escorted by Northshire co-owner Chis Morrow, with general manager Nancy Scheemaker standing watch just behind them.

Under the headline "Possible Clinton candidacy draws many to Northshire," the Saratogian reported that the former First Lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State "is no stranger to the Spa City, having visited in the past as U.S. Senator. One trip several years ago included an afternoon stop at Saratoga Race Course."

5 Great Midwestern Novels You May Have Missed & The Unfortunate Publication of Three New J.D. Salinger Stories

By Jason Diamond on July 30, 2014 - Flavorwire

We’ve talked about how great the Midwest is for writers today, but from Hemingway’s Michigan to Bellow’s Chicago and Cather’s Nebraska, the region has always provided readers with plenty of great literature over the years. Since this week marks the birthday of Indiana’s own Booth Tarkington, we thought of a few novels from the region that you may have overlooked, and should consider placing on your bookshelf alongside Augie March and Sister Carrie. … Read More

You Get What You Pay For: The Unfortunate Publication of Three New J.D. Salinger Stories

By Jason Diamond on July 29, 2014 

As we mentioned briefly yesterday, small publisher Devault-Graves realized that the rights to three J.D. Salinger stories from the 1940s — “The Young Folks,” “Go See Eddie” and “Once a Week Won’t Kill You” — were up for grabs, so the publisher pulled off an unlikely literary coup, and purchased the rights to publish them. It’s a bold move, one that will surely net some bucks for a publisher whose stated mission is “converting backlisted books into ebooks through two imprints.” The only problem is that the stories themselves aren’t very good. … Read More

Story competition goes quarterly

The team behind the Global Short Story Competition has announced that it is going quarterly.

Begun more than six years ago, the competition has until now run on a monthly basis but has switched to one which runs for three months at a time, with the new one running from August 1 to October 31, 2014.

The prizes continue to be £100 for the first prize and a £25 prize for highly commended writers. The entry fee remains £5.

The competition, which has topped £11,000 in prize money handed out, has had entries from more than 60 countries over the years.

Each competition is judged by Fiona Cooper, an author in North-East England, where the competition’s organisers Inscribe Media are also based.

Competition administrator John Dean said: “It was becoming a little too challenging to sustain the competition on a monthly basis but we think writers will respond to the idea of a quarterly one that continues to seek out and showcase the very best of new talent worldwide.”

The competition, which has been supported by best-selling author Bill Bryson since it was established six and a half years ago, can be entered at www.inscribemedia.co.uk

* There is plenty of time to enter Inscribe Media’s latest free flash fiction competition at its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538 or accessed through www.inscribemedia.co.uk

Quentin Blake to publish 'inclusive' children’s book

30.07.14 | Charlotte Eyre

Sir Quentin Blake has written and illustrated a children’s book for 5-7 year olds, The Five of Us (Tate Publishing, September), about five friends, each with an unusual ability.

Disaster strikes on a day out in the countryside but the friends - Angie, Ollie, Simona, Mario and Eric - work together to save the day.
One character uses a wheelchair, one has a stutter and another's eyesight is impaired but Blake said he never mentions disabilities because "it's all about abilities".

“My friends are just five ordinary children who happen to be amazing,” he told The Bookseller.

He said: “The book makes use of the old folk-tale idea of five servants or five brothers each of whom has special powers.  Of course, as it says on the first page, my story takes place 'not long ago' (actually it might have been last week) and 'not very far from here'."

Blake said the book was initially rejected by another publisher but that Tate Publishing, who last year published Three Little Owls, an Italian rhyming story illustrated by Blake, responded with “immediate enthusiasm”.

Roger Thorpe, publishing director at Tate, said he “jumped at the opportunity” to take on the project. “Quentin mentioned he had some plans for a book that he’d been thinking about for years and asked whether the idea of a book about children going on an adventure who happen to have a different kinds of ability might be of interest… My sister was a wheelchair user all her life and it struck me as odd how few children’s books are truly inclusive,” he said.

The Five of Us will be released in hardback (£11.99) on 4th September.

Stanfords to hold travel writing festival

30.07.14 | Lisa Campbell - The Bookseller

Stanfords is to hold a Travel Writers Festival at the Destinations Show in London next year.

The travel bookshop, with a flagship store in Covent Garden and a second store in Bristol, will hold the festival over four days from 29th January to 1st February at Olympia in Kensington.

The festival will take place in a specially built new theatre within the show, complete with its own entrance for writers and green room.

The author line-up for the event has not yet been released and Stanfords said there is still time for publishers to put forward their authors to speak.

Tony Maher, Stanfords managing director, said: “We have had a retail presence at The Destinations Show for a number of years, and the move to Olympia London gives us the opportunity to create a whole new travel festival. This is the first UK festival focused on travel writing, and we know there’s a huge appetite for it amongst readers, and those who are passionate about travel. We’re lucky to have a partner, in Clarion Events, who understand the potential and will help us deliver a great experience for the writers and the audience alike.”

The Destinations Show is sponsored by the Times, and attracts between 8,000-12,000 visitors a day. Each visitor to the show spends on average £3,970 per person per year on holidays.
Book industry events manager Jo James, now heading up the industry-wide Books Are My Bag campaign, is co-ordinating the festival. She said: “I’m delighted to be working with Stanfords, a truly iconic brand, to programme this series of events at the festival. It’s an amazing opportunity for the publishing world and writers alike.”

Sam North, director  of the Destinations Show, said it would be “overflowing with zealous travellers eager to hear these renowned authors.”
Jo can be contacted on 07980 788 828 or jo@jojames.co.uk.