:Latest book trade news from The Bookseller

IMPAC award looks for new sponsorship The €100,000 International Impac Dublin Literary Award is looking for new sponsorship after the trust fund established to back to prize ran dry last year.  The Irish Times has reported that for the first time in its 20-year history, the prize will be entirely publically funded by Dublin City Council while another sponsor is sought. The award will retain its name, though, while the search is ongoing, the newspaper said.

Kathy Rooney leaves Bloomsbury Bloomsbury Information m.d. Kathy Rooney has left the company as part of a restructure. Rooney, part of the senior management team at the publisher, left at the end of May to pursue other opportunities, beginning with a non-executive role at information management platform Librios. Vafa Payman, currently international business development director at Bloomsbury, will now head up Bloomsbury Information.

US e-book sales down 6% in 2014 E-book sales in the US declined by 6% in 2014 compared to the year before, statistics released by Nielsen show. Information presented at BookExpo America and derived from PubTrack Digital, which collects e-book sales data from more than 30 of the largest publishers in the US, showed that in 2014 just under 223 million e-books were sold in America, down from almost 240 million units in 2013. E-books made up 26% of all book sales in 2014, down from 28% in 2013.

Sagan is Waterstones first 'Rediscovered Classic' Waterstones has launched a new promotion on classic literature entitled Rediscovered Classics: The Best Books You’ve Never Read, with Francoise Sagan's Bonjour Tristesse its first choice. The promotion will see a new classic title every month promoted by Waterstones shops throughout the 287-strong estate, along with online support and direct email marketing. The company said the new promotion follows the success of its Book of the Month titles.

Blackman tells of 'surprise' at laureate 'vitriol' Malorie Blackman has urged the next children’s laureate to speak their mind, despite describing her "surprise" at the “vitriolic reaction” she had received to some of her own campaigns. Blackman is coming to the end of her two-year stint in the role and the new laureate will be announced next week.

'Fair Contract Initiative' from Authors Guild The Authors Guild of America has launched a Fair Contract Initiative to “address the major inequities in many boilerplate contract terms today” and educate authors on what terms they can negotiate on. The initiative, announced on Friday (28th May) at BEA, aims to “restore balance to the author-publisher relationship and help authors achieve a fair return for the efforts they contribute to the joint venture of book publication”.

American booksellers at BEA: 'endangered' no more? Citing 48 new regular member companies in the last year, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) leadership is declaring an end to a six-year crisis in US independent bookshops. At its annual meeting at BookExpo America in New York City on Thursday (28th May), c.e.o Oren J Teicher told the assembly, "We are engaged in decoupling the word 'endangered' from 'bookstores'."

Bonus for staff as Usborne tops Nielsen chart Usborne has given all its members of staff a £100 bonus after the publisher was the top-selling children’s imprint in April and May. For the four weeks ending 16th May, Usborne Publishing’s sales totalled £1,211,170, ahead of second-placed Puffin Books’ £1,198,985 through Nielsen BookScan Total Consumer Market (all children’s sales).

Bennett, MacFarlane and Riddell receive Hay Medals Alan Bennett, Robert Macfarlane and Chris Riddell received Hay Medals this weekend at the Hay Festival. The medals are awarded annually to celebrate important contributions to literature.

Harris appointed IPG president Jonathan Harris is the new honorary president of the Independent Publishers Guild. Harris joined the IPG in 2000 shortly after setting up his publishing company, Learning Matters, which he sold to SAGE in 2011. His experience in publishing includes the launch of Blackstone Press and being m.d. of Letts Educational. Since selling Learning Matters, Harris has advised and mentored start-up businesses. Harris succeeds Sonny Leong as honorary president. Leong will continue to be involved with the IPG as the coordinator of its newly created foundation.

Two Roads buys stray dog's story Two Roads has bought the “true story behind the heart-warming and miraculous tale of a stray dog who captured the hearts of millions the world over when he joined a team of Adventure Racers”. Kate Hewson, in her first acquisition for the John Murray Press imprint, bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, in Arthur: The Dog Who Came in from the Jungle by Mikael Lindnord from Simon Trewin at WME at auction. The book will be ghost-written by former publisher and editor Val Hudson.

Three wins for Gaiman's 'Graveyard' at Audie Awards The audio adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book won three awards at the US Audie Awards, which recognise achievements in audiobooks.