Latest news from The Bookseller

Freer moves to Michael Joseph for next book Nutritional therapist Amelia Freer, author of the bestselling Eat. Nourish. Glow. is to move from HarperCollins to Penguin Random House’s Michael Joseph for her new book. Michael Joseph will publish Freer’s first cookbook, Cook. Nourish. Glow. on 1st January 2016. It will contain more than 100 recipes.

Watchman is 'fastest selling' in HC US history Sales of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman (William Heinemann) have been “exceptional”, Waterstones’ m.d. James Daunt has said, with the book expected to top the Nielsen BookScan UK chart this afternoon.

Waterstones Wimbledon to close next month Waterstones Wimbledon will close next month, with staff redeployed to other branches. The shop's last day of trading will be 15th August after the premises was repossessed by its landlord for redevelopment. A spokesperson for Waterstones said the company "much regrets" the shop's closure and as yet "Waterstones has been unable to secure a suitable alternative site in Wimbledon." The store has six members of staff who will be offered redeployment to other shops in the Waterstones estate.

Self-published title competes on Polari longlist A self-published author will compete against books published by small and large presses for this year’s Polari First Book Prize. The longlist for the prize, awarded to a writer whose first book explores the LGBT experience, whether in poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction, was announced last night (20th July) at the Polari Literary Salon in London’s Southbank Centre. Among the longlist are Al Brooks’ The Gift of Looking Closely, which Brooks has self-published. The book is about a woman coming to terms with the death of her mother.

Alex Ferguson on UK book tour this autumn Sir Alex Ferguson will be taking part in a four-date theatre tour to launch his new book Leading (Hodder & Stoughton). Leading, co-written with investor and author Sir Michael Moritz, will investigate Ferguson’s years of management in Scotland and at Manchester United to “reveal the key tools he used to deliver sustained success on and off the field”. Ferguson will be interviewer on stage at events in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Aberdeen to promote the book.

German publisher Holtzbrinck drops DRM Verlagsgruppe von Holtzbrinck is the latest German publishing group to drop Adobe DRM (Digital Rights Management) from e-books. From August next month, all digital books from publishers Droemer Knaur, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Rowohlt und S. Fischer Verlage will carry digital watermarks instead. “Recent experience in Germany and abroad has shown that digital watermarks protect our author’s copyright just as effective and reliable as DRM” Peter Kraus vom Cleff, Rowohlt’s commercial managing director said.

E-book VAT 'holds back small markets' Charging VAT on digital books is “holding back the development of the e-book market in general, and especially in non-English and small-language markets”, the International Publishers Association’s (IPA) José Borghino has said. A global survey of VAT rates, conducted by the IPA and the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), has found there are “wide contrasts between [rates on] print and digital, as well as between nations and between regions”.

George R R Martin urges fans to vote on Hugo Awards George RR Martin has urged “every true fan” of science fiction and fantasy to vote for this year’s Hugo Awards to “help protect the integrity of the rocket”. The 2015 Hugo Awards, honouring the best science fiction and fantasy works and achievements of the previous year across a number of categories, including books, television, film, and fanworks, have been beset by controversy this year.

Nosy Crow acquires 'uplifting' sibling story Nosy Crow has acquired a sibling story for children aged 9+ by debut author S. E. Durrant. World rights for two books were acquired from Gillie Russell at Aitken Alexander Associates. Russell said: “Reading Little Bits of Sky made me miss my tube stop! Real, sad – but ultimately uplifting, it is that rare thing, a truly child-centred book with a strong heart and the ability to captivate anyone who reads it and leave them feeling moved and inspired.”

Arrow acquires The Shipyard Girls Arrow has acquired a new series by writer and journalist Amanda Revell Walton [pictured], writing under the pseudonym Nancy Revell. Publishing director Jenny Geras bought world rights to The Shipyard Girls and two other books from Diana Beaumont of The Agency Group. Walton was brought up in Sunderland, and comes from a long line of shipbuilders. The books will follow the fortunes of the first female workers in the Sunderland shipyards during the Second World War.

Unbound launches Picture Post campaign Unbound has launched a campaign to fund The Long Shot by writer and photojournalist Bella Bathurst. The book will document the history of British publication the Picture Post, a magazine that at one time was read by more than two-thirds of the country. It will also look at the careers of Picture Post’s editor Tom Hopkinson, and photographer Bert Hardy.

Southbank releases literature festival line up A four-day live reading of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick featuring actors and writers including Liza Klaussmann, Chibundu Onuzo and A L Kennedy will be among the events at Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival. The festival, which takes place from 28th September to 12th October, will also include the world premiere of The Hollow of the Hand (Bloomsbury), the debut collaborative book by singer PJ Harvey and photographer Seamus Murphy. There will be poetry readings and new songs performed by Harvey, and a screening of a short film by Murphy.