Latest Book News from The Bookseller

London Book Fair's latest deal highlights Deals revealed during the last two days of London Book Fair 2015, which concluded yesterday (16th), include an "intense auction" for a thriller by Melanie Raabe, which went to Mantle, a "stunning psychological suspense novel" by Margaret McQuaile which went to Quercus, and a debut by Goodreads strategist Jade Chang’s, snapped up by Fig Tree.

Loose Women select next book club titles Karen Joy Fowler's We are All Completely Besides Ourselves and David Nicholls' Us are the next two books to be selected for the ITV Loose Women Book Club. The recently-launched book club called Loose Books, sees a different Loose Women panellist pick a book to read each month, which will be announced on the show and on the website. A month later there will be a discussion about the book on air, with viewers invited to send in their thoughts.

Gerald sets out Booktrust goals Diversifying funding sources, making the Best Book Awards a biennual event and enforcing the idea of reading for pleasure are some of the goals for new Booktrust chief executive officer Diana Gerald, who took up the post in March. Gerald, who joined Booktrust from educational charity Ark Schools, said her first priority was understanding how the book industry works and driving home the idea of reading for pleasure.

Three more from Chambers for HarperFiction Kimberley Young, publisher of women's fiction at HarperCollins, has signed world English language rights in three novels by Kimberley Chambers The six-figure deal with Tim Bates at Pollinger Ltd will see HC publishing Chambers until 2020. Young said: "Kimberley Chambers is a legend as are her legion of fans. She has such a unique talent for bringing her characters alive that I live in fear of meeting them! Kimberley’s larger than life characters, and the amazing twisting plots that never let up are combined with a humour that is incomparable."

Alma Books to launch new children's and YA list Alma Books is launching a children’s and YA list of classic and translated titles and is hiring illustrators such as Axel Scheffler and Chris Mould.  Alessandro Gallenzi, co-publisher at Alma, will launch 10 titles this September and 25 next year under the Alma imprint, and says the list is a “natural continuation of work we have done in the field of fiction and classics”.

Philip Gwyn Jones warns on 'internecine' book wars The shift to social reading is “liable to consign the traditional publisher and many a writer to decline and defeat in the Civil War for Books”, Philip Gwyn Jones is to say today (16th April), with the reader becoming the prize. In a speech at the London Book Fair this afternoon, Gwyn Jones will say that the book itself “will become less commercially valuable than the details around its sales transaction – when it was done, where it was done, amongst what other activities, alongside what other purchases”.

O'Reilly hits the US top spot Bill O’Reilly’s Legends and Lies (Henry Holt) becomes the sixth title to top the US book chart in 2015. It is the fifth full-length Non-fiction title focussing on the lives of historical figures written by the political commentator for publisher Henry Holt to have reached the summit since 2011. O’Reilly’s Killing series, which has examined the deaths of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and JFK, Jesus and World War II general George S Patton have collectively sold more than 6.4m copies across editions.

German union Verdi promises Amazon strikes The German labour union Verdi, which has a longstanding battle with Amazon over wages, has threatened to organise another series of strikes this year. According to Reuters, the union says Amazon is a retailer so should raise pay for its warehouse workers in accordance with collective bargaining agreements across Germany’s mail order and retail industry.

PRH signs deals with Mofibo and Scribd Penguin Random House UK is to make "thousands" of English-language audiobook titles available to Mofibo subscribers in Denmark and Sweden. Meanwhile Penguin Random House Audio will also make 9,000 audiobooks available via subscription service Scribd, predominantly in the US.

PEN début fiction prize shortlist revealed Books set in America, China and Iraq are among those shortlisted for the Début Fiction prize in the 2015 PEN Literary Awards.

Record number to hand out World Book Night titles A record number of institutions, including prisons, libraries and hospitals, will hand out books this World Book Night. The event, held on 23rd April to coincide with UNESCO International Day of the Book and the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare, will see individuals and institutions hand out books to people who do not usually read for pleasure.

Comma sells rights in drone title Comma Press has sold the German and American rights for Atef Abu Saif’s The Drone Eats With Me. Beacon Press has acquired North American rights and German rights have been signed by Unionsverlag. The book documents the siege that took place in Gaza in July and August 2014 through the diary entries of Palestinian writer Saif. His account of life on the Gaza strip has already received media coverage in publications as the New York Times, the Guardian and the Sunday Times.