Brexit may be the daily headline in the UK right now, but British readers still like their European authors. According to research commissioned by the Man Booker International Prize (as reported in the UK’s The Bookseller), sales of translated fiction grew 5.5% last year, led by authors like Norway’s Jo Nesbø, Sweden’s David Lagercrantz and Read More …
Given the shortage of YA fiction for African readers, the Goethe Institute has been supporting a contest to find more YA writers, and chose to target Africa’s young adults themselves to find the new talent. 435 submissions from 13-19 year old authors across Africa were entered for the Afro Young Adult writing competition. Those 435 Read More …
For anyone who missed it, StreetLib began the New Year by launching digital portals for authors and publishers in 21 countries across 6 continents, including 5 in Africa. As explained at the time, StreetLib is the publisher behind The New Publishing Standard, and while TNPS is not a StreetLib promotional vehicle and we don’t usually Read More …
The numbers are in, and its more records falling as Morocco’s Casablanca International Book Fair pulls a crowd of 550,000, while Iraq’s Baghdad International Book Fair joins Cairo, Sharjah, Algiers and Muscat in the million+ Arab book fair club. I’m still trying to track an official number for the 2019 Cairo International Book Fair in Read More …
The Jewish-American journal Forward has just announced that it will print its last edition this spring. Publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen said in a statement that the print editions are, no longer financially sustainable. The Lebanon Express, reporting the story, explained that, Forward, founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily newspaper serving the American Jewish community, Read More …
The Hot Sheet is a publishing industry news-sheet for authors, produced every two weeks by Porter Anderson and Jane Friedman, and reviewed here every other Sunday (when possible) as one of the best bi-weekly industry overviews available to authors. We’re not interested in delivering breaking news, but perspective on stories that are likely to retain meaning for your Read More …
Fifty years ago this year the Beatles made their first visit to India, and among the highlights of the Bhutan Mountain Echoes Literary Festival in August will be a tribute to that event. This will be the ninth incarnation of the three day Bhutan festival (August 23-25), headed by Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak and Usha Read More …
There are three big digital book players in Sweden – Storytel, Bonnier’s Bookbeat, and Nextory. And this week comes news that Nextory has raised SEK 51 million ($6.2 million) as part of plans to become the biggest ebook operator in Sweden, and beyond. The fresh money (on top of SEK 50 million previously raised) comes Read More …
The Hot Sheet is a publishing industry news-sheet for authors, produced every two weeks by Porter Anderson and Jane Friedman, and reviewed here every other Sunday as one of the best bi-weekly industry overviews available to authors. We’re not interested in delivering breaking news, but perspective on stories that are likely to retain meaning for your long-term decision Read More …
After a devastating car-bomb attack in 2007 Baghdad’s famous book street, Al Mutanabbi, has been a shadow of its former self, but a revival began in 2015. As we enter the eleventh year since the devastation, Al Mutanabbi Street, which reaches almost to the Tigris, is thriving again. In March there will be special readings Read More …
After falling visitor numbers in recent years due to the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, making books seem a lot more expensive, this year’s event, which finishes today, is looking to be a record breaker. Cairo International Book Fair – 2.5 million visitors and only half-way through? Book discounts offered at the fair are an Read More …
Growth is always relative, so we shouldn’t get too carried away by the headline here – a variation on the headline run by the New York Times – “Most Afghans Can’t Read, But Their Book Trade Is Booming” – which is accurate to the extent that growth from a low start can seem like a Read More …
Amazon, it seems, will be closing its forums this Friday, and is sending interested parties to Goodreads. Across the indie-orientated publishing blogs the reaction is overwhelmingly one of dismay. Nate Hoffelder at The Digital Reader said, “If Amazon does follow through and kill its forums, it will b a loss to the local community but Read More …
