Latest trade news from The Bookseller - Faber launches London pop-up

Pre-Frankfurt deals from Virago, Century and JMP A flurry of publisher announcements just ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair has seen new deals for Virago, Century and John Murray Press. Century has pre-empted an “astonishing true story of a woman who possesses an extraordinary gift”, in what it describes as a "major" acquisition.

Publishers step up direct to consumer offers Publishers are continuing to explore new ways of selling directly to consumers and building relationships with readers. Penguin Random House this week launched an audience segmentation strategy, launched this week, which groups tog ether readers with similar attitudes, behaviours and motivations. Direct sales site HarperCollins.co.uk also recently went live. Smaller publishers are experimenting, too. Verso has had direct sales success this year, while Profile plans to launch a direct to consumer (D2C) website next year.

Open Road buys backlist for UK 'literary luminaries' US-based digital publisher Open Road has acquired a series of rights across various territories to the backlists of “some of Britain’s most beloved and exciting literary luminaries”. Rights to books by authors including Malcolm Bradbury and Lesley Glaister were acquired by strategic advisor Charlotte Greig, a former Picador editor who joined Open Road a year ago with a brief to acquire backlist titles.

Faber launches London pop-up Faber is to host its first pop-up shop in London’s Cecil Court, “the home of bookshops”, in the run-up to Christmas. Faber’s publishing and events arm Faber Social is working with Natalie Galustian Rare Books, in Cecil Court, to create the experience, which will kick off next Wednesday (8th October) and run until Christmas. Around 80 Faber titles will be sold from the shop, which will also host author events and art exhibitions, as well as offering signed and limited edition books.

Daunt Books 'tootles along' in transitional 2013 Sales revenue continued stable at Daunt Books in 2013, although the company predicts sales in the “more resilient and prosperous London” will be flat this year. Accounts filed on Companies House for the year ending December 2013 show turnover was down marginally by 1.9% to £7.9m across the seven shops in the estate; however  pre-tax profit stood at nearly £690,000, down 9.8% on 2012’s figure.