Saturday, May 23, 2015

Latest book trade news from The Bookseller

Amazon has begun fining publishers for late deliveries of books to its warehouses. 
Meanwhile, some payments to publishers have been delayed by what the company referred to as a “technical error”.
The e-commerce giant has written to suppliers warning that if they do not hit delivery targets, they will be charged between 3-10% of the cost of the goods. 
George Orwell
James Meek's Private Island (Verso Books) has won the Orwell Prize for books, which celebrates political writing.
Meek was announced as the winner of the annual prize at a ceremony at the University of Westminster yesterday (21st May).
Pan Macmillan has appointed Jamie Coleman as commissioning editor on its non-fiction team, as well as making a number of other appointments and promotions.
Coleman, who will publish humour and gift titles for the Boxtree list, joins from Greene & Heaton literary agency, where he started in 2013.
His client list at Greene & Heaton included Michael Booth, Emma Chapman, and @50shedsofgrey.
Greystone Books has acquired 1,000 Lashes, a collection of writings by imprisoned Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi.
The blogger was was sentenced to 1,000 lashes by the Saudi authorities last year, and is currently serving a prison sentence.
The book will be published in the UK in July, with proceeds donated to a non-profit organisation that is working to support the author.
Greystone has acquired world English language rights in the book.

Brigid Coady has won the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA) Joan Hessayon Award for her book No One Wants to be Miss Havisham (HarperImpulse).
Coady was presented with the £1,000 prize for the award, given for new writers, at the RNA’s Summer Party, held this evening (21st May) at the Royal Overseas League in London.
Bangladesh flag
More than 150 writers from around the world, including Margaret Atwood, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Yann Martel, Salman Rushdie and Colm Tóibín, have condemned the murders of three secular bloggers in Bangladesh this year. 
The group, which also includes publishers and lawyers, has joined PEN International and English PEN in calling on Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina Wajed and her government to ensure that these events are not repeated and the perpetrators are brought to justice.


Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP) has seen a boost in turnover in 2014, with a small growth in the independent publisher's digital sales.
For the year ending December 2014, JKS recorded a turnover of £4.9m, up 6.5% from £4.6m in 2013. Profits for the year stood at 10% of total group turnover and the group also has £1m in cash resources, which will be used to reinvest in future publishing activities, the company said. 
Pearson
UK media investment firm Sandbox Partners has acquired the Family Education Network (FEN), which includes Jeff Kinney’s Poptropica, from Pearson. The financial details were not disclosed.
FEN provides educational resources for parents, teachers, and students, while Poptropica is an online children’s world for children aged 6-15. It was created by Jeff Kinney, author of the Wimpy Kid series (Penguin RandomHouse Children’s), who will stay in the role of creative director.
Louise O'Neill
Quercus is to publish an adult edition of Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill above, the winner of the YA Book Prize 2015.
The publisher hopes the adult edition will get more space in bricks and mortar bookshops and attract more coverage outside of YA press circles.
Quercus’ Niamh Mulvey, who edited the book, said: “The YA edition has shown us that this is one of those very special books with the potential to reach readers of all ages and genders.”
Stan Lee
Simon & Schuster UK will publish a graphic memoir by renowned comic book creator Stan Lee.
Iain MacGregor, non-fiction publishing director at S&S UK, bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Matthew Benjamin, senior editor at Touchstone S&S US, who acquired world rights from the Susan Crawford Literary Agency.
Lee is known for helping to create popular comic book heroes such as The Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. His graphic memoir will be titled AMAZING FANTASTIC INCREDIBLE: A Marvelous Memoir.
The leading French cultural products chain Fnac opened its first store in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Tuesday (19th).
Ed Vaizey
Author and campaigner Alan Gibbons has reissued his request for a public debate on libraries with culture minister Ed Vaizey.
In a letter written on his website, Gibbons congratulates Vaizey on the Conservative party’s recent election win and his return to his seat in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

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