News: books

Freight resumes after France and UK reach agreement on travel ban

Freight services are resuming again between the UK and France today (23rd December) after the two governments reached agreement on lifting a travel ban.... Read more

Indies report slowing sales as nervous shoppers play safe

Indie bookshops in Tiers 2 and 3—which, unlike Tier 4 shops, can still open their doors to customers—have reported a change in customer behaviour this week, with reduced... Read more

France freight delays 'hugely problematic' for publishers

Publishers are experiencing severe delays to their stock deliveries, as France continues its freight ban imposed to contain the spread of the UK's new coronavirus... Read more

Brinkhurst-Cuff curates Black Joy collection for Penguin

Penguin Books is releasing Black Joy for young adult readers, a collection of writing on race and belonging curated by gal-dem editor-in-chief Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff.... Read more

Moomin marvellous: Brand raises £1m for Oxfam with Sort Of Books and Waterstones

A special edition of The Invisible Child (Sort Of Books), featuring two short stories from the collection Tales from Moominvalley, has helped to raise £1m for Oxfam's projects supporting women and girls around the... Read more

Book Trade Charity gives out nearly £400k with help from trade crowdfunder

The Book Trade Charity has given away nearly £400,000 to people this year, including £164,000 in Covid-19 hardship grants made possible by a trade crowdfunding... Read more

Radio 2 Book Club moves to prime-time Steve Wright show

The Radio 2 Book Club, now marking 10 years on air, is moving to a prime-time daytime slot on Steve Wright's show. Read more

Vuori promoted in Hachette contracts restructure

Hachette UK is restructuring its contracts department under the management of Anniina Vuori, who is newly promoted to director. Read more

Naffis-Sahely joins Poetry London

Poetry London has appointed André Naffis-Sahely as its new poetry editor. Read more

Jasanoff, Obioma and Williams named Booker Prize judges

The 2021 Booker Prize judging panel will be chaired by Harvard historian Maya Jasanoff and features twice-shortlisted writer Chigozie Obioma and former Archbishop of Canterbury... Read more

Little, Brown terminates contract with Burchill after Twitter comments

Hachette division Little, Brown has cancelled a book deal with Julie Burchill as a result of controversial comments made by the journalist on Twitter. ... Read more

Lipscomb, Mangan and Savidge to judge Costas

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb will chair the judging panel for the 2020 Costa Book of the Year prize, where she will be joined by vlogger Simon Savidge,... Read more

Lightning Source UK renamed Ingram Content Group UK

Print-on-demand service Lightning Source UK Ltd has been renamed Ingram Content Group UK Ltd. Read more

PRH sells Vauxhall office in £67m leaseback deal

Penguin Random House has sold its Vauxhall Bridge Road office for £67m in a leaseback deal that the publisher says will see it remain there for... Read more

New look for Hitchens paperbacks with Atlantic

Atlantic Books is releasing new mass-market paperback editions of 12 of Christopher Hitchens’ works, including God Is Not Great, Hitch-22 and Mortality, with fresh cover designs.... Read more