Latest News from The Bookseller

Copyright changes set to 'decimate' illustrated publishing Publishers of books containing photos or illustrations of items such as furniture, architecture and jewellery could be forced to abandon stock to “fire sale”, or pulp titles, as early as next year, due to an unintended “knock-on effect” of revised copyright law.

HarperCollins scoops two at FutureBook Awards HarperCollins scooped two prizes at The FutureBook Awards, held at the end of The FutureBook Conference (4th December), but there were also wins for Hachette, Penguin Random House, Faber and BookTech Company of the Year, Reedsy.

Grey is most-read Kobo book of 2015 Kobo’s top-selling e-book title in the UK in 2015 was E L James’ Grey (Arrow).

Redmayne: 'Publishers should beware of cyber attack threat' HarperCollins UK c.eo Charlie Redmayne has urged publishers “living in a rose-tinted world” to beware the threat of cyber attacks which are “increasingly sophisticated and are happening all the time”. Closing the FutureBook Conference with his views on the changes taken place in the industry since he took the podium at the same event two years ago, he warned that publishers were “not seeing the risks” as direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketing becomes an “increasingly important” part of the industry.

Blair biography Broken Vows to Faber Faber has acquired a "major biography" of former Prime Minister Tony Blair entitled Broken Vows – Tony Blair: The Tragedy of Power by investigative historian Tom Bower.

James: 'publishers must go further to reach diverse groups' Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James says there are "huge sections of the population who don’t read because no one is telling the stories that they want to read".

Ali Smith and Etgar Keret contribute to Matchbook series Independent publisher Book Ex Machina will release the fourth edition of its Matchbook Stories, featuring narratives by Ali Smith and Etgar Keret, in February.

255 jobs at risk at PRH Rugby site Penguin Random House is proposing to close its distribution centre in Rugby, with all its 255 employees put at risk of redundancy. The publisher has made the “difficult” but “necessary” proposal to close the site in Central Park, Rugby, in early 2019 following an “extensive strategic review” prompted by a “changing marketplace resulting in over capacity” at the company’s distribution sites, which also include The Book Service (TBS) in Frating and Grantham Book Service (GBS) in Grantham.

Tributes paid to 'great' McIlvanney Tributes have been paid to Scottish crime novelist William McIlvanney, who has died.

Akala: 'My books out-sell CDs at gigs' Publishers should be doing “everything they can" to “collaborate with new technology” in order to reach new audiences and cater for existing ones, rapper and poet Akala has said. Speaking today at the FutureBook conference held at The Mermaid Theatre in London today (4th December), Akala said publishers should not become complacent in thinking they have “survived” the ‘digital revolution’, emphasising the importance of innovation and collaboration within the industry.

Michel Faber sends novel to Cameron in Syria protest The novelist Michel Faber has sent a copy of his novel The Book of Strange New Things to Prime Minister David Cameron in protest against the government’s decision to bomb Isis targets in Syria.

Cumberbatch writes to Santa for Letters Live Benedict Cumberbatch, Shami Chakrabarti and Thom Yorke are among the famous names who have written to Father Christmas as part of Letters Live.