Waterstones is removing Kindles from stores
Waterstones is removing Amazon’s Kindle devices from many of it stores as sales “continue to be pitiful”.
Creative Access future at risk without funding
Creative Access will run out of funding next year unless an urgent new source is found, the charity's founder Josie Dobrin has warned.
Logan wins Polari First Book Prize
Glasgow-based author Kirsty Logan has won the Polari First Book Prize 2015 for her short story collection, The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales (Salt Publishing).
Now in its fifth year, the Polari First Book Prize celebrates the best debut books exploring the LGBT experience, whether through poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction.
Benji Davies wins Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award
Benji Davies’ Grandad’s Island (Simon & Schuster) won children’s book of the year at the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards yesterday (5th October), after also winning the best picture book prize.
Davies was crowned the overall winner after beating off competition from three other category winners. Fiona Watt and Stella Baggott picked up the baby and toddler prize for Baby’s Very First Slide and See Animals (Usborne), and Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton won the 5-9 fiction award for The 13-Storey Treenhouse (Macmillan’s Children’s Books).
Immersive experience launches new George R R Martin title
Waterstones Deansgate will become Westeros Deansgate today to launch George R R Martin's Game of Thrones prequel, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Fig Tree wins brain injury story after eight-way auction
Fig Tree has acquired rights to a proposal for a book about the brain and brain injury in an eight-way auction.
Juliet Annan, publishing director at Fig Tree, bought UK & Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) in an auction conducted by Will Francis of Janklow & Nesbit.
Henning Mankell dies after cancer battle
Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell has died following a battle with neck and lung cancer.
His UK publishers, Penguin Random House imprints Vintage and Harvill Secker, said it was a "privilege to have worked with a man of such talent and passion" and that the world was "a sadder place for having lost such a charismatic and honourable man."
A leading figure in the 'Nordic noir' genre, Mankell is best known for the Wallander series featuring detective Kurt Wallander.
Scholastic UK promotes Maybury
Scholastic UK has promoted David Maybury, former commissioning editor, to the newly created role of media development director.
The publisher created the position because it is looking to grow its licensed publishing and leverage its brands more effectively.
'Chilling' debut to Canongate
Canongate has acquired an “original and darkly chilling debut” by Jess Kidd.
High streets to benefit from rates 'revolution'
High streets will be revitalised once local councils are allowed to keep the £26bn raised from business rates, the Chancellor George Osborne has said.
Author launches search for BAME children’s writers
Author Leila Rasheed has created a writer development scheme, funded by the Publishers Association and Arts Council England, to encourage writers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds to write children’s books.
Rasheed said she set up the Megaphone project because she couldn’t find books featuring Asian children when she was young.
Amazon expands one-hour deliveries in London
Amazon has expanded its one-hour delivery service, Prime Now, to London postcodes by a factor of five.
The expansion, predominantly across South-West London, follows the opening of a new Amazon delivery hub in Wimbledon. One-hour delivery is now available to Prime customers in Merton, Wandsworth and Sutton, while postcode eligibility for delivery within a two-hour window - which has reportedly trebled since the service begun in June 2015 - extends to Kingston, Sunbury and Croydon.