Adult Book Sales Fell, Kids Books Rose in October
publishersweekly.com – Friday March 24, 2017
Sales of adult trade books fell 13.1% in October compared to October 2015, while sales in the children’s/young adult segment rose 1.9%, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the AAP as part of its StatShot program.
The decline in adult trade was led by a 24.1% drop in hardcover sales, the biggest trade format, as well as a 21.0% decline in mass market paperback and a 31.9% drop in the sale of physical audiobooks. Sales of digital audiobooks rose 7.6% in the month over October 2015, and e-book sales were up 2.6%. For the first 10 months of 2016, sales in the adult trade category were down 3.2% compared to the same period a year ago.
Lit Agents Join Forces In Agents Round Table
publishersweekly.com – Friday March 24, 2017
In response to a changing marketplace, 10 women literary agents have launched the Agents Round Table (ART), a consortium of independent agents who have pledged to share knowledge, resources, and contacts.
The goal of ART, according to Regina Ryan who has an eponymous shingle, is to better meet the needs of their clients. "This is new in the publishing world," Ryan said. "My authors love the idea of my being able to consult with this group. They know they’re getting advice and wisdom from first-rate agents with literally hundreds of years’ of experience in publishing."
London Book Fair 2017: For Publishers, Business Is Booming, but Brexit Means Uncertainty
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday March 15, 2017
The 2017 London Book Fair officially opened today, and at the fair’s opening press conference LBF director Jacks Thomas smiled as she raced through her slides. For the second year in a row, Thomas noted, publishers headed to London with fairly strong sales in the U.K. (and the U.S.), with literature in translation growing, children’s and digital audio surging, and print books—and bookshops—looking especially resurgent.
But following Thomas on stage at Olympia’s Grand Hall, a panel discussion broke down the potential effects of the looming Brexit on publishers, one day after British lawmakers cleared the way for the formal work of leaving the E.U. to begin.
London Book Fair 2017: More Evidence of a Print Renaissance in the U.K.
publishersweekly.com – Tuesday March 14, 2017
In his opening keynote at the London Book Fair’s pre-conference, Quantum, Steve Bohme, research director at Nielsen Book Research U.K. ran down Nielsen’s just-released 2016 book industry stats, which showed British print book purchases on the rise for the second year in a row.
“In 2016, consumers turned up their printed book purchases by around 4%,” Bohme told attendees. “And with higher prices boosting spending, we saw spending on printed books by U.K. consumers up by 7%."
Writing Competition Seeks To Discover New Irish Talent
hotpress.com – Saturday March 11, 2017
An African-themed short-story and poetry competition aims to promote aspiring, emerging and established writers based in Ireland.
The competition marks Africa Day 2017 and this is the third year that the it will take place. Irish Aid has again teamed up with The Irish Times on an African-themed short story and poetry competition for writers of all ages.
DHH literary agency to hold writer pitch sessions
thebookseller.com – Saturday March 11, 2017
D H H Literary agency is to hold pitch sessions for unrepresented writers next month.
Five agents will be available for a 10-minute slot for an individual pitch session and each writer will receive "honest and valuable feedback". The agents are approaching this with a view to finding new clients. The pitch sessions will run from 4pm to 7pm on 12th April at Library Club on St Martin’s Lane.
Each writer will only be able to approach one agent on the team, with information on the event and each agent available on the DHH website. Writers will need to email their work in advance to apply for a place. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday 5th April.
Video: Children's writing fellowship announced in Seamus Heaney's honour
irishnews.com – Thursday March 9, 2017
A new 'children's writing fellow' honouring Seamus Heaney and his contribution to literature, is to be appointed to inspire future generations of creative talent.
Developed by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Queen's University Belfast, the two year, part-time post will attract £15,000 a year.
Once in post, the children's writing fellow will perform a range of duties designed to promote an interest in reading and writing from an early age by encouraging creativity and engagement with books.
Australian science fiction authors feel let down by local publishers
abc.net.au – Thursday March 9, 2017
While the overall Australian publishing scene is robust, Australian science fiction writers believe their work is not being adequately supported by the industry.
"It's quite difficult to get a science fiction novel published by an Australian publisher," says Cat Sparks, a publisher of science fiction anthologies.
Ritchie leaves Curtis Brown for A M Heath
thebookseller.com – Thursday March 9, 2017
Literary agent Rebecca Ritchie is leaving Curtis Brown after five years to join A M Heath.
Ritchie is moving to her new role on 18th April to develop her list of commercial fiction and non-fiction. As well as co-founding Twitter initiative #PitchCB, Ritchie has worked alongside Sheila Crowley and represented authors herself such as Red magazine’s literary editor Sarra Manning, Alex Lake, author of After Anna (Harper), the Sunday Times Top 10 paperback bestseller and Iona Grey, author of last year’s overall Romantic Novel of the Year Letters to the Lost (Simon & Schuster).
What Moonlight Teaches Us About The Importance Of Creative Writing Training
huffingtonpost.co.uk – Tuesday February 28, 2017
Tarell McCraney, the writer of the play which is the basis of the film Moonlight which was last night’s Oscar winner for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay amongst other awards, was in the year above me at Yale, where we were both studying for an MFA in Playwriting at Yale School of Drama.
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