Murder Most Famous with Minette Walters

Murder Most Famous - BBC 2 series challenging six celebrities to write a crime novel with the tuition of best-selling author Minette Walters

The best writers on the best children's books: World Book Day 2008 exclusive

From TimesOnline: "Meg Rosoff, Eoin Colfer, Melvin Burgess and Jonathan Stroud introduce Puffin's finest classics, plus a competition to win the books"

The Orwell Prize 2008 longlist announced

The longlist for the 2008 Orwell Prize has been announced. 18 authors and 12 journalists are now in the running for two prizes that reward those who have most successfully achieved Orwell's aim 'to make political writing into an art'. A record 181 books have been submitted for this year's book Prize, surpassing both the Man Booker and Samuel Johnson Prizes. These include works by two Nobel Laureates (Doris Lessing and Orhan Pamuk), and the British Prime Minister (Gordon Brown). 54 journalists, including some of Britain's most renowned correspondents, have submitted for this year's journalism Prize, also a record

Quick Reads for 2008

Quick Reads are fast-paced, bite-sized books by bestselling writers and celebrities for adults who have lost or never had the reading habit, or avid readers wanting a short, fast read. On World Book Day, 6 March 2008, ten brand-new Quick Reads will be published:

Humble Pie by Gordon Ramsay (HarperCollins)
The Girl on the Platform by Josephine Cox (HarperCollins)
One Good Turn by Chris Ryan (Arrow)
Life's New Hurdles by Colin Jackson (Accent)
Happy Families by Adele Parks (Penguin)
The Hardest Test by Scott Quinnell (Accent)
East End Tales by Gilda O'Neill (Penguin)
RaW Voices of Hardship and Hope edited by Vanessa Feltz (BBC Books)
The Ten Keys to Success by John Bird (Vermilion)
Doctor Who: Revenge of the Judoon by Terrance Dicks (BBC Books)

Indie publishers booming

The UK's independent publishing sector is flourishing, with the number of start-ups increasing by almost 6% over the last three years. The boost, which indies attribute to technological advances and the increasing number of ways they have found to 'elbow' their way into chain retailers, has seen Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) membership hit an all-time high. It now has 515 members, up from 440 three years ago. Turnover ranges from a few thousand pounds to Faber's GBP16m through Nielsen BookScan in 2007 - The Bookseller

2008 Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year shortlist

The Bookseller magazine has announced the shortlist for the 2008 Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year

London Review of Books - February 2008

London Review of Books - Volume 30 Number 4, 21 February 2008 is now available
Technorati Tag: Books