Trade News from The Bookseller

Campaign group launches Amazon Christmas boycottAmazon Anonymous has raised £7,000 for a campaign urging people not to shop with Amazon this Christmas. The campaign group is asking people to sign up to its Amazon Free Challenge, where customers boycott shopping with Amazon from the 1st to the 25th of December to show the retailer that: “if they don’t pay their workers or pay their fair share of tax, we won’t pay them”. The group said instead it would help shoppers find more ethical alternatives to buy their Christmas presents from.

Educational Writers Awards 2014 shortlist revealed Four “outstanding examples of non-fiction books” make up the shortlist for the 2014 Educational Writers’ Award. The award, run by the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Society of Authors (SoA), celebrates educational writing that “inspires creativity and encourages students to read widely and build up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications”. The books on the shortlist are aimed at children and teenagers aged between 11 and 18.

Wimpy Kid becomes fastest seller of 2014Jeff Kinney's The Long Haul (Puffin) has retained its spot on the UK Official Top 50 for the second straight week by posting the best weekly sale of 2014, and in the process becoming the fastest selling book of the year.