As well as all the normal enjoyment of seeing your book on a shop shelf, I’m also slightly amazed when I stop to think that it was only 12 months ago that Iberia was in the same notepad I’m yet to fill.
The m.d. of the Booksellers Association pays tribute to its members and the shop-floor staff who have ensured bookshops remain central to high streets.
It might seem odd for a magazine called The Bookseller to have a dedicated issue for “booksellers”, but this week’s issue is a dedicated one for, well, booksellers.
The New Futures Initiative - launched at the end of September and announced in The Bookseller - is a scheme to reach out to individuals from underrepresented groups and encourage them - through mentoring and tangible support - to open a bricks and mortar bookshop.
The pandemic altered where readers bought books and the types of titles they purchased—and it’s time publishers used their profits to help bookshops out.
A recent report from Public First, with additional research from EY, found that in 2025 TikTok helped generate £175m in consumer spending on books and concluded that one in four 18–24-year-olds on TikTok bought a book after seeing it on the platform. This week, BookTok creators assessed whether the platform has encouraged people into indie bookshops.
Taking inspiration from real-life reports, Holly Bourne changes direction in her latest YA novel, And Then We Screamed, which confronts the horrors facing teenage girls.
Back in the mists of time – or at least 2024 – sales of NielsenIQ BookData’s History & Military category hit record sales of £65.9m, but there is some mixed news for 2026 with the volume figure in History & Military slipping by 7.9%.
Children should be involved in decisions that directly affect them and it is vital that their voices are heard and considered when evaluating which books are made available to them.
News for emerging authors: June
We need to hear children's voices