Latest news from The Bookseller

The Midnight Gang strikes Christmas Number One David Walliams’ The Midnight Gang (HarperCollins Children's) is the 2016 Christmas Number One, selling 79,200 copies for £474,684 and seeing off a challenge by an insurgent Five on Brexit Island (Quercus), while surprise hit The GCHQ Puzzle Book (Michael Joseph) had a strong third place finish.

Weldon seeks to reassure PRH staff on redundancy terms Penguin Random House UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon has confirmed to staff that the company’s redundancy terms across its London sites are four weeks’ pay per year of service.

Sainsbury's' Selby warns publishers to heed waning appeal of celeb memoirs Sainsbury’s head of books and music Pete Selby has said the market this year for celebrity autobiographies has been particularly challenging", and warned that the industry is not adjusting to waning demand.

J K Rowling launches new 'real and personal' website J K Rowling has revealed a new “real and personal” website designed to reflect her "writing desk", which also features answers to fans’ questions about her recent film "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".

MJ reassures trade on CGHQ Puzzle Book stock Michael Joseph, publisher of surprise Christmas hit The GCHQ Puzzle Book, has assured retailers that the book "should remain in stock until Christmas" after a number of booksellers reported that the surge in demand for the title had resulted in it going out of stock last week.

Sarah Hall and Colin Thubron among 2017 Man Booker judges Novelist Sarah Hall is to judge the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction alongside travel writer Colin Thubron, literary critic Lila Azam Zanganeh, and artist Tom Phillips.

Slug's Night Before Christmas wins Amazon competition Amazon's competition for an aspiring writer to reinvent Clement Clarke Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas", has been won by freelance copywriter Lucy Banks for her story about a slug living under the floorboards at Christmas.

Boris Johnson accused of breaching ministerial code after book signing Boris Johnson has been accused of breaching the ministerial code of conduct by allegedly promoting his book The Churchill Factor (Hodder) during a diplomatic trip to Serbia last month.

Jury still out on German book trade's Christmas While sales have steadily picked up in Germany in the run-up to Christmas, the jury is still out if this will be enough to finish the year on a positive note.

BookTrust and Rick Stein join forces to promote reading Children’s reading charity BookTrust is partnering with the Rick Stein Group to encourage more children to read for pleasure by giving away special editions of A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea (Barefoot Books).