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Posts Tagged ‘the Bookseller’

The Bookseller reports that, the success of this year’s Save Our Libraries Day – with 120 events held across the country to demonstrate support for local libraries threatened with cuts and closures – has led to calls for an annual National Libraries Day. The plan has the backing of a wide range of organisations including the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, Campaign for the Book, the Crime Writers Association, the Publishers Association and The Bookseller.

In her acceptance speech on Monday (6th June), the new Children’s Laureate Julia Donaldson (pictured)  signalled her intention to be an advocate for the public library service during her two years in the role, saying: “I care very much about libraries and I’m looking for more opportunities to speak out against the cuts and closures I see as so damaging to our children’s future.” She has since announced she plans to take a tour of libraries across the UK.

This week, ‘super agent’ Ed Victor announced that he is setting up a new digital and print on demand publishing venture, Bedford Square Books, which will release six titles by authors his agency represents this September, with another six planned for January 2012. Authors’ royalties will be 50% as opposed to the 26% traditionally on offer from publishers for ebooks.  Now, The Bookseller reports that agencies Curtis Brown and Blake Friedman are planning to follow his example. Agent Sonia Land has already made 100 of Catherine Cookson’s out of print titles available as e-books, apparently frustrated by the lack of interest from the traditional publishers. She reacted to the news of Bedford Square Books by warning publishers to “rethink their legacy operation”.

In July last year, US literary agent Andrew Wylie (AKA ‘the Jackal’), created an imprint called Odyssey Books and struck a deal with Amazon to make a number of classic titles by some of his extremely famous clients –  for example, Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint, Nabokov’s Lolita – available on Kindle. Random House reacted furiously by declaring that it now regarded the the Wylie Agency as a direct competitor. In the end Wylie was forced to scale down his plans, although books like Brideshead Revisited and The Naked and the Dead are still available on Odyssey.

As yet, Ed Victor’s move has not attracted such ire. The CEO of the Publishers Association, Richard Mollet, wished Victor luck and added that he “hope[d] he would consider joining the PA”.

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The Arts Council England is backing a bid by the independent publishers Route to find “Yorkshire’s next great author”. The company has launched a competition for 18-30-year-old aspiring authors with the prize of a book deal for the winner. The Bookseller quotes Yorkshire-born author David Peace (Red Riding, The Damned United) as saying, “As the major London publishing houses close their doors and eyes to unsolicited manuscripts this opening provides a rare opportunity for young unpublished novelists to have their work actually read and considered for publication.” Applicants, who must be living in Yorkshire, should apply including a synopsis and sample text up to 10,000 words by 31st May. More info on the Route Online website.