Latest Book News from The Bookseller -

Shelley, Espiner, Wood and King in major Hachette roles In a major shake-up of senior management at Orion, David Young is to retire as Orion c.e.o. at the end of this year, followed by major new roles for David Shelley, Katie Espiner, who joins from HarperCollins as Orion's m.d, and Jon Wood. There is promotion too for Charlie King at Little, Brown, but there is no place in the new Hachette regime for current Orion General m.d. Lisa Milton.

Profit edges up at Bloomsbury Bloomsbury grew both revenue and profit in the 12 months to end February, in what chief executive Nigel Newton called "a good year" for the company. However the adult trade division saw a 10% decline in revenue over the period. Revenues at the publisher stood at £111.1m for the year ended 28th February 2015, up 1.5% from £109.5m in 2014. Profit before taxation was up 1% to £9.6m, from £9.5m in the same period last year.

Folio Society drops prize sponsorship The Folio Society has confirmed it will not renew its title sponsorship of The Folio Prize after completing its initial two-year agreement with the award. The prize, known as the Literature Prize before The Folio Society agreed to sponsor it, is now on the hunt for a new sponsor, and hopes to have one in place so the prize can be awarded again next spring.

Marozzi wins RSL Ondaatje Prize Justin Marozzi has won the £10,000 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize for 2015. The Allen Lane author won for his title Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood, which is a historical portrait of the ancient city of Baghdad -the first published in English in nearly 80 years.  Marozzi is a former foreign correspondent who has spent much of the past decade living and working in Iraq, with long assignments in Afghanistan, Darfur and Somalia.

Alexander McCall Smith bags comic fiction prize Alexander McCall Smith has won this year’s Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Fatty O’Leary’s Dinner Party, published by Birlinn imprint Polygon. This is the first time McCall Smith, the author of No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series published by Little, Brown, has appeared on the comic fiction prize shortlist. He beat off competition from Caitlin Moran, Irvine Welsh, Nina Stibbe, Helen Lederer and Joseph O’Neill.

Atlantic signs Vince Cable on economy Atlantic has signed a book on the economy from former business secretary Vince Cable, who left Parliament earlier this month after being voted out in the general election. Cable served as a Liberal Democrat MP for Twickenham for nearly 20 years, and for the past five years has been business secretary in the coalition government.

Claims of Audible clash with German publishers Audible is alleged to be threatening to delist any German publishers which do not agree to new contract terms, according to a report in German news magazine Der Spiegel.

Author Solutions contests 'class action' claim Lawyers for Author Solutions have said that a lawsuit against the company should not be allowed to progress as a class action. In documents filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP says the theory that “every one of the thousands of authors who has ever purchased (for any reason) a bookmark, an advertisement a publicity campaign, a radio interview or any other marketing service offered by AS, has been deceived” should be rejected.

PRH launches Mockingbird re-read campaign Penguin Random House will begin a To Kill a Mockingbird re-reading challenge this week, ahead of the July release of Harper Lee’s second novel Go Set a Watchman (William Heinemann). The 10-day global social media campaign, running from 21st May to 31st May, is described as a “read-along for readers old and new, (re)discovering and discussing the book together to a loose 10-day plan”.

Nesbø and Torday join Bookbuzz list Books by Jo Nesbø, Piers Torday and Frances Hardinge are among those on Booktrust’s Bookbuzz list (full list below). Every year, Booktrust offers secondary schools the chance to give their students the choice of a book from a list of 17 fiction, non-fiction and poetry titles. The Bookbuzz campaign aims to encourage more 11 to 13-year-olds to read for pleasure.

Twenty7 buys Irish scout's debut New Bonnier fiction imprint Twenty7 Books has acquired a Dublin-based crime series by Irish literary scout Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin. Fox O’Loughlin is a literary scout and current chair of Irish PEN, as well as being the creator of popular writers’ resource www.writing.ie. She will write the series under the pen name Sam Blake. The three-book deal for UK and Commonwealth rights was agreed between publisher Joel Richardson and WME London’s Simon Trewin.

Scottish Book Trust gets £95k for young writers The Scottish Book Trust has been awarded £95,000 for a new national programme for young writers, from Time To Shine, Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy. The Young Writers programme will include a conference, development of writers groups across Scotland, and an online platform to showcase work by young writers. It will be delivered in partnership with Youth Arts Hubs and literature organisations across Scotland.