The Bookseller Group launches consumer title

17.06.11 | Neill Denny

We Love This Book, The Bookseller's sister consumer magazine and website, launches next week with a circulation of 100,000.

The free quarterly magazine is designed to alert readers to exciting new books and to provide a platform for publishers to market their titles direct to the public.
The cover feature of the launch edition is themed "forbidden love" and is centred on an in-depth interview with Alan Hollinghurst ahead of his latest novel, while also encompassing non-fiction and commercial women's fiction—an approach indicative of the magazine's inclusive approach geared around both themes and genres.

Other editorial highlights include a new short story from David Mitchell, former prime minister Tony Blair picking his "desert island books", a detailed look at forensic crime fiction and an extensive children's books section. The associated website, www.welovethisbook.com, launches simultaneously and features blogs, features, reviews, reading events and a "find a bookshop" guide.

Editor Ed Wood says: "We Love This Book is all about bringing reading to life, in both meanings of the phrase: bringing books of all kinds to life; and bringing reading into people's lives—just like the writers, booksellers, librarians, literary festivals and local reading groups whose passion makes the magazine what it is. We also want to break down the barriers around genres and markets, to focus on story-telling and ideas."
The magazine will first appear on Saturday 25th June, during Independent Booksellers' Week and on National Reading Group Day, and copies will be available in hundreds of independent bookshops. It will also be distributed through libraries and at selected literary -festivals, including the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival at Harrogate. Sample launch copies will be handed out to London commuters at railway stations including Waterloo, Charing Cross, King's Cross and Victoria.

The Reading Agency, and its Reading Groups for Everyone initiative, is supporting the launch and has co-ordinated the library distribution; the entire allocation was snapped up within two hours of it being offered to libraries.
The launch of We Love This Book represents The Bookseller's first foray into consumer publishing. "We want to enthuse readers with new books, new authors and new genres. We want them to discover great books. We want to give a very big ‘shout' for reading as a terrific way of spending leisure time," said Bookseller Group m.d. Nigel Roby.