Week 45/20 – week ending 6 November

Bookshop.org starts trading in the UK More than 150 independent bookshops have signed up to Bookshop.org, the independent-friendly online bookseller that began trading in the US earlier this year (see BookBrunch stories here and here). The number is a 50% increase on that reported by Bookshop.org founder Andy Hunter to the Independent Publishers Guild conference…

Week 31/20 – week ending 31 July

BA takes over Bertrams’ Booktime The Booksellers Association (BA) has taken on publication of Booktime magazine, wholesaler Bertrams’ book magazine for consumers. The BA’s first edition of the magazine will be out in October. Bertrams went into administration in June, with rival wholesaler Gardners acquiring its assets in July.  The BA had already taken over…

Week 23/20 – week ending 5 June

PA backs US suit against Internet Archive The Publishers Association (PA) has spoken out in support of members of the Association of American Publishers who have filed a lawsuit against the Internet Archive (IA). The plaintiffs are Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Wiley, and Penguin Random House. According to the suit, IA has been making available,…

Week 19/20 – week ending 8 May

Elliott Advisors buys Wordery Elliott Advisors, owner of Waterstones and Barnes & Noble, has bought Wordery, the online bookselling division of wholesaler Bertrams. Wordery will be a separate business from Waterstones. James Daunt, Waterstones CEO, told the BBC last week that the chain’s online sales were up 1,500% since the Covid-19 lockdown. Bertrams is owned…

Week 9/20 – week ending 28 February

LBF podcast line-up unveiled The London Book Fair (LBF) has unveiled its 2020 live podcast programme, featuring authors including David Mitchell, Lynda La Plante, Cressida Cowell, Janne Teller and Abigail Dean. Returning for the second time after launching last year, live podcasts will record on LBF’s Fireside Chat Stage across the event from 10th–12th March. Kicking…

Bookseller Briefing 23/19 – week ending 7 June

New Booker branding as Crankstart sponsorship begins Crankstart has officially taken over as supporter of the Booker Prize, ending 18 years of sponsorship by The Man Group. The charitable foundation, run by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Sir Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman, was announced in February as the prize’s new sponsor in a five-year deal.…

Bookseller Briefing 14/19 – week ending 5 April

  James Daunt says pay row obscures ‘decent progress’ at Waterstones Waterstones managing director James Daunt has warned that the company’s future is not yet secure. It follows a public row over pay, with booksellers and authors petitioning for the retailer to pay its staff the real living wage. Waterstones also this week released its…

Bookseller Briefing 13/19 – week ending 29 March

  Pinch of Nom becomes fastest-selling non-fiction title recorded Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson’s slimming cookbook Pinch of Nom (Bluebird), based on the authors’ food blog, has become the fastest-selling non-fiction title of the Nielsen BookScan era, selling a gastronomical 210,506 copies through its Total Consumer Market, beating Alex Ferguson’s My Autobiography (Hodder) in its first week on sale in…

Bookseller Briefing 9/19 – week ending 1 March

  China crackdown on maps sparks major production delays A new censorship crackdown in China has led to Beijing officals checking all books being printed in the country for maps, causing delays of up to eight weeks for production teams and derailing launches for books featuring any kind of map. Chinese censors have long taken a…