Latest from The Bookseller

Search Press and Nosy Crow triumph at IPG Awards Search Press and Nosy Crow were both double winners at the Independent Publishers Guild Independent Publishing Awards 2015. Winners of the 13 categories were announced at a gala dinner hosted by author and publisher John Mitchinson at the IPG spring conference last night (5th March). Search Press was named IPG Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year, and also went on to win the Fox Williams Independent Publisher of the Year, and award chosen from the winners of the five publishing category winners.

Academic booksellers frozen out by D2C Academic publishers will put bookshops out of business if they continue to target universities and students with “aggressive” direct sales marketing, the chairman of the Booksellers Association’s Academic Committee has warned.

Manning leaves Hot Key Books Kate Manning has left her role as sales and marketing manager of Hot Key Books. Manning confirmed she had left the company to The Bookseller, but would not give any more information.   A spokesperson for Bonnier, which owns Hot Key, would not confirm if Manning had been made redundant, but said her role was “being absorbed into the Bonnier publishing group’s sales force, which is led by Helen Bower”.

Daunt: Waterstones shops should be 'more entrepreneurial' Waterstones shops should be "significantly more entrepreneurial than they are at the moment", James Daunt has said. Speaking on a panel at the IPG spring conference about chain bookshops, alongside Blackwell's David Prescott, Daunt said that the "point at which we become more confident in retailing, bookselling, and our shops has begun" but that many people at Waterstones were still "immersed in the culture which is central direction". "As much as we encourage it, booksellers in Waterstones are not taking risks at the moment," he added.

Frances Lincoln's Otter-Barry goes it alone Janetta Otter-Barry, publisher at Frances Lincoln (FL), is leaving the company to set up her own children’s publishing business Otter-Barry Books.

Grant tells IPG: 'Don't underestimate threat of PRH' Independent publishers shouldn't underestimate the threat of "game-changer" Penguin Random House, Hardie Grant founder and chief executive Sandy Grant told the IPG spring conference in a keynote speech this morning (5th March).

Peter Usborne to receive LBF Lifetime Achievement award Usborne Publishing founder Peter Usborne will receive the 12th annual Lifetime Achievement Award in International Publishing at this year's London Book Fair. After beginning his publishing career as chairman's assistant at BCP Publishing in 1968, where he ultimately rose to publishing director, he set up Usborne Publishing in 1973, and the company has now published more than 6,000 titles across six languages – English, French, Italian, Dutch, Brazilian, Portuguese and German – with a seventh imprint, Usborne Korea, launching later in 2015.

Harry Potter event for UK festivals Bloomsbury will tour UK literary festivals this year with a new event based on J K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. For the first time, the publisher has been given permission to put together an authorless Harry Potter festival event, so it has created “Boy. Wizard. Hero. Celebrating the Harry Potter Books”, for children aged nine to 11 years old.

France and Luxembourg ordered to restore e-book VAT The European Court of Justice has ordered France and Luxembourg to restore their standard VAT rates on e-books in a ruling announced today (5th March). The court upheld a decision previously made by European Commission, which ruled that the two countries cannot charge the same VAT rate on e-books as physical books.

Amazon proffers defence on GMB redundancy claims Amazon has responded to claims from the GMB union that it is failing in its legal duties when making staff redundant. GMB had accused the internet giant of failing to follow proper procedures when making redundancies from its UK fulfilment centres, including its warehouse operations in Swansea and Milton Keynes. However, in a statement to The Bookseller, an Amazon spokesperson said that the company is not making staff redundant, but instead has in place a system called "The Offer", which provides a cash bonus to staff members who are "ready for a new career".

Saudi government tackles academic copying Saudi Arabia is stepping up its efforts to eradicate the illegal photocopying and selling of academic titles at “copying centres” which are often found near the universities.

Bluebird hires Anna Bowen Pan Macmillan has appointed Anna Bowen to the new role of communications manager at new inspirational lifestyle imprint, Bluebird. Bowen will join the company on Monday 9th March and will report to Dusty Miller, non-fiction communications director at Pan Macmillan.