Latest News from The Bookseller

Lack of digital library investment 'pushing' users away A draft report commissioned by the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) has said £20m should be invested in digital services over the next three years to prevent libraries from becoming “soup kitchens for the written word.” The report, entitled 'Essential Digital Infrastructure for Public Libraries in England' and conducted by Bibliocommons, a commercial provider of library software systems, says libraries are “pushing" users away by their lack of investment in digital technology.

Haddon and Mantel lead BBC Short Story shortlist Hillary Mantel’s “controversial” story, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher (Fourth Estate) has made the shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award 2015 with Book Trust. Selected from 439 stories, this year’s shortlist includes Briar Road by novelist and former Rough Guides editor, Jonathan Buckley, and Broiderie Anglaise by poet Frances Leveston.

Nielsen Children’s Book Summit explores demographic change Takeaways from this year’s Nielsen Children’s Summit, held in New York yesterday (Wednesday 16th September), were change in America’s multicultural demographics; continued optimism about children’s and print; and an unhealthy trend in the price/value equation.

Michael Joseph signs heat's Isabelle Broom Michael Joseph has acquired two novels by heat magazine’s book reviews editor Isabelle Broom. Editor Kimberley Atkins bought UK and Commonwealth rights, including audio, from Hannah Ferguson at Hardman & Swainson. The first novel, My Map of You, will be published in 2016. The book is set on the Greek island of Zakynthos, and follows Holly, who arrives on the island after inheriting a house from an unknown relative and gradually uncovers family secrets that could change her life.

FBF names Rising Stars ‘funded’ trio Georgina Capel Associates rights manager Valeria Huerta, The Pigeonhole editorial director Anna Jean Hughes and SAGE executive director, product innovation Martha Sedgwick have been awarded funded trips to this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair by the event’s organisers.

New six-figure deal for James Oswald Crime writer James Oswald has signed a “significant six-figure” deal for two new books in his Inspector McLean series with Michael Joseph. Publishing director Alex Clarke bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to the books from Juliet Mushens of UTA. Oswald’s first Inspector McLean book, Natural Causes, was published by Penguin in 2013, and altogether five books have been published so far. The first book in the new deal will be published in February 2017 in hardback, with the second following in 2018.

Futurebook Digital Census 2015 launches The Bookseller has launched its annual tracker of the publishing's industry's transformation, the FutureBook Digital Census. The survey, which annually attracts more than 1,000 responses from across the book business, looks at the patterns of digital sales growth and industry views on subjects such as e-book pricing and the agency model.

Chicken House confirms break with Funke Chicken House has confirmed it is breaking with Cornelia Funke over the Mirrorworld series, but will still publish the backlist and hopes to work with the author in the future. The German author and illustrator is launching her own publishing house after disagreeing with her editors in the UK and the US, where she is published by Little, Brown, over the structure of the third book in the Mirrorworld series, entitled The Golden Yarn.

GCHQ to host Turing biography launch GCHQ – the Government Communications Headquarters – is to hold its first book launch for a forthcoming biography of Alan Turing written by his nephew. As the successor organisation to Bletchley Park (the central site of the UK's Government Code and Cypher School), GCHQ will host the launch of Prof: Alan Turing Decoded (The History Press) by Sir Dermot Turing. This will be the first time the organisation have agreed to hold such an event.

Bookshop holds sale for Calais library The Big Green Bookshop is to hold a “pay what you like” sale to raise money for the Jungle Library in Calais. The independent bookshop in London’s Wood Green has so far raised £2,500 for the so-called Jungle Library– a makeshift library set up by teacher Mary Jones at the refugee camp in Calais, which is nicknamed The Jungle. After an appeal, the bookshop has been inundated with book and monetary donations for the library.

Successful HarperCollins graduates begin placements The three successful candidates from HarperCollins' 2015 Graduate Scheme are to begin their placements at the business. Lily Cooper, Ralph Barker and Jordan Mulligan are beginning paid 18-month placements at HarperCollins, taking in different aspects of the business, including editorial, marketing, sales and digital.

International Read an eBook Day to be held OverDrive, which supplies e-books to schools, libraries and retailers, has declared tomorrow (18th September) as International Read an eBook Day. The event is billed as a “celebration of modern storytelling”, with readers encouraged to share why they love e-books using the hashtag #eBookLove on social media. OverDrive is a distribution platform which supplies e-books, audiobooks, music and streaming video to 30,000 libraries, schools and retailers across the world.