Latest News from The Bookseller

Nielsen developing festival sales channel Nielsen is in the testing stage to develop a festival sales channel to record sales from Hay and Edinburgh Literary Festivals.  The information company has been liaising with Hay Festival and Edinburgh Book Festival on the prospect of producing a BookScan “festival sales measurement” after working with bookshop managers Gareth Howell-Jones from Hay and James Shaw from Edinburgh. The company is currently in the testing and validation phase of producing the channel, and so sales from the latest Hay festival, which ended on Sunday (31st May), have not been recorded.

Grey pre-orders top bestseller lists Pre-orders of E L James’ new Fifty Shades of Grey novel, Grey (Arrow), have leapt to the top of retailers' bestseller charts in both physical and digital formats. The novel, which will be released on 18th June, will tell the story of Fifty Shades of Grey from the point of view of Christian Grey. James announced the book on 1st June, just over two weeks before the release of the novel.

Kensal Rise Library re-opens after five-year battle Kensal Rise Library is set to open for the first time in five years this weekend, with a community open day. The library was closed by Brent Council in 2011 and denied permission for a community library in the space, becoming a flashpoint for library campaigners, with authors such as Alan Bennett, Philip Pullman, Jacqueline Wilson and Zadie Smith throwing their backing behind the campaign to reopen the library.

Perfect 10 for Keyes’ ‘Woman’ Marian Keyes has notched her tenth UK Official Top 50 number one, returning to the pole position for the first time in over two years.   Keyes’ The Woman Who Stole My Life (Penguin) sold 24,139 copies through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market, an impressive 27% rise on its first week sales. She bumps David Nicholls from number one after his one-week reign with Us (Hodder) which had a week on week volume decline of 22.7% selling 19,195 units and dropping to third.

WH Smith sales increase 1% WH Smith's total group sales for the last quarter grew slightly by 1% compared to the same period in 2014, although high street sales were down. The high street division saw both total sales and like-for-like sales fall 4% compared to last year in the 13 weeks ending 30th May. However, the losses were offset by growth in the travel business, where total sales grew 8% and like-for-like sales increased 4%. The company said it saw saw gross margin improvement and that its new store opening programme, both in the UK and internationally, was progressing well.

Bertelsmann buys 40% stake in Brazilian training company Bertelsmann has invested in a “leading” corporate training company in Brazil as part of its plans to increase its footprint in the country’s education market. Affero Lab offers digital solutions for learning as well as classroom-based and blended training solutions for companies. Bertelsmann will become a key shareholder in the company with a stake of more than 40%. This is Bertelmann’s first direct investment in an education firm in Brazil.

Instagram sensation Ostrovsky in Hardie Grant deal Hardie Grant UK has acquired the autobiography of Instagram “sensation” Josh Ostrovsky, also known as The Fat Jew. Publisher Kate Pollard bought UK and Commonwealth rights for Money Pizza Respect from Rachel Clements at Abner Stein on behalf of Byrd Leavell at Waxman Leavell. Ostrovsky has more than 4.1m followers on Instagram.

Authors for Nepal raises £14k for earthquake victims An auction of signed books, critiques by literary agents, and more has raised more than £14,000 for victims of the Nepal earthquakes. Authors for Nepal, set up by Surrey-based writer Julia Williams, who also works as an editor at Harlequin, auctioned off 281 items donated by a variety of authors and trade figures. The total raised was £14,553.82. The money will go to New Zealand-based charity First Steps Himalaya, and will be used to build six classrooms.

Norman Baker in Biteback deal Biteback will publish a book by former Liberal Democrat MP and minister of state for the Home Office, Norman Baker. The politician, who lost his seat in last month's election, spent 18 years in the House of Commons, speaking out on matters such as the death of David Kelly and MPs expenses.

Blackwell's and Bodleian unite for £2,500 essay-writing prize Blackwell’s Bookshops and the Bodleian Library are joining to launch a new academic essay-writing prize. The Blackwell’s & The Bodleian Libraries Academic Writing Prize will offer £2,500 to the best student essay of up to 5,000 words on the subject of ‘What is Genius?'. The prize is open to undergraduates studying at any UK university.

Zapper to publish augmented reality Picoult novel Zapper, a UK-based technology firm specialising in augmented reality, is publishing a version of Off the Page, the teen novel by Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha Van Leer, with additional augmented reality (AR) technology. The book, which is also being published in hardback and e-book by Hodder & Stoughton, is a romantic story about Delilah, a high school student, and Olive, a fairy prince.

Redmayne to star in 'Fantastic Beasts' Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne has been cast as the lead actor in Harry Potter spin-off film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, written by J K Rowling. Redmayne will play Newt Scamander, the wizarding world’s pre-eminent "magizoologist", who travels the world and documents magical creatures in his book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, used by Harry and his friends at school in the original series.