Latest Book News from The Bookseller

The Book People revenue down 6% in 2014 In the year that Endless acquired The Book People it reduced operating losses (before exceptional items) to £1.4m, but revenue was down 6%.

Quercus hires Follain, promotes Riley and Bierwerth Quercus has promoted Jon Riley and Stef Bierworth and appointed former Canongate publishing director Katy Follain, and announced a new division and a new imprint.

Cape shortlisted twice for Goldsmiths Prize The shortlist for the Goldsmiths Prize 2015 has been revealed today (1st October) with the finalists "embodying the spirit of invention."

Harlequin Mondadori bought out to create HarperCollins Italia HarperCollins has continued the expansion of its Global Publishing Program with the creation of HarperCollins Italia. Harlequin Mondadori, which has operated in Italy for 34 years and was formerly a joint venture with Harlequin Enterprises and Mondadori Libri, will now be fully owned by HarperCollins after it bought Monadadori's 50% share in the company. The Italian press has reported that HarperCollins paid €6.7m for the buyout.

Trade turns out for Trewin's memorial “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’” was among the musical tributes in Wednesday’s celebration of the life of Ion Trewin, author, publisher and literary director of the Man Booker Prizes. And indeed it was, the sun streaming through Shirazeh Houshiary’s “Warped Window” in St Martin-in-the-Fields, dappling the church’s own choir and the Central School of Speech and Drama Chorus whose combined contributions went some way toward summing up the breadth of Trewin’s life and interests.

New Zog picture book from Donaldson and Scheffler Scholastic has acquired world rights to Zog and the Flying Doctors, a new picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The deal for world rights to the book, which is a follow-up to Zog and features Zog the dragon, Princess Pearl and Sir Galahad, was made by Alison Green of Alison Green Books, an imprint of Scholastic. Donaldson is represented by Caroline Sheldon of the Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency. Since it published in 2010, Zog has sold over one million copies and has been published in 19 languages, according to Scholastic.

Best of the Best celebration for Bailey's prize The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction is to mark 20 years with two weeks of programming with BBC Radio 4’s “Woman’s Hour” and a partnership with Waterstones. The Best of the Best celebration will also include an event on 2nd November at the Piccadilly Theatre in London, with award-winning actors including Stanley Tucci, where the best of the best novel of the past 10 winners will be announced.

HarperCollins acquires youngest-ever GBBO star's cookbook HarperCollins has acquired Twist, the first cookbook from The Great British Bake Off’s youngest ever contestant, Martha Collison.  Publisher Grace Cheetham acquired world rights from Claudia Young at Greene & Heaton. Martha Collison contended in the 2014 series of GBBO - progressing to the quarter finals despite also studying for her AS levels - and impressed judges and viewers alike for her skilful ‘Showstoppers’ and technical-challenge feats.

CILIP urges libraries to welcome refugees Libraries have a "major" role to play in welcoming refugees following the government’s announcement that 20,000  will be arrive in the country over the next five years. In a blog post, CILIP outlined that libraries are an "important" source of information and "key" to signposting refugees to other local services. It also emphasised that school libraries play a "major role in supporting refugee children as they find their way around their new country.”

British 'indie' author signs six-figure US deal A self-published British author based in Norfolk has bagged “a good six-figure deal” ahead of Frankfurt with US publisher Grand Central Publishing. The author’s agent, Lorella Belli, sold world English rights to bestselling ‘indie’ author Kirsty Moseley’s next two novels: Fighting to be Free and Worth Fighting For to Gran Central, a division of the Hachette Book Group. The novels are due to be published in print and digital in March and Autumn 2016 respectively. UK rights are currently being negotiated.

New Don DeLillo novel to Picador A new novel by Don DeLillo will be published in 2016.

UK rights for banned book still available UK rights for Ted Dawe’s divisive award-winning YA novel, Into the River, are still available, Penguin Random House NZ has confirmed, after US and Canadian rights were sold to independent American publisher Polis Books. Polis Books also acquired the rights to Dawe’s earlier novel Thunder Road directly from the publisher, with plans to publish both books in hardcover and e-book in June next year.