Angry Robot has books by two debut authors following its "Open Door Month", in which un-agented authors could submit their works directly to the publisher.
Editor Lee Harris negotiated both deals, each for world rights and a minimum of two books, with the authors. Harris signed the first deal with Cassandra Rose Clarke for her books, The Mad Scientist's Daughter and The Assassin's Curse.
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Quadrille has made a series of promotions and appointments within its sales teams, with Melanie Gray stepping up to become UK sales director, joining the board at the independent publisher.
The moves follow Faber's launch of indie sales force Faber Factory Plus, with Quadrille sales director Ian West leaving the company to join the new project in October as sales director.
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Stephen Kelman's Pigeon English (Bloomsbury) has made the shortlist of the £10,000 Guardian First Book Award, equaling its achievement on the Man Booker Prize this year, with Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos (And Other Stories) also making the final five.
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Penguin is launching a digital series of exclusive short works called Penguin Shorts, releasing nine titles by authors including Helen Dunmore, Toby Young and Colm Toibin.
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Constable & Robinson has acquired a second novel by author Tom Winter, with the publisher pitching it as reminiscent of Alan Bennett and Roddy Doyle.
Commissioning editor Victoria Hughes-Williams bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, in Lost and Found from Juliet Mushens at PFD, on behalf of Tricia Davey of Davey Literary & Media. C&R plans to publish it as a hardback in 2013.
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READ International has donated its millionth book to schools in East Africa, with Usborne Publishing m.d. Peter Usborne making the presentation with the Duchess of Cornwall.
Forty-three thousand of the books have been donated to the organisation by Usborne over the past two years, with the charity launching in 2005.
Usborne presented the book, an Usborne Children's Encyclopedia, to Tanzania's First Lady, Salma Kikwete, alongside the Duchess of Cornwall.
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David Baldacci, Stephenie Meyer and the originally self-published author Amanda Hocking have all joined the Kindle Million Club, selling more than one million copies of their books on the Amazon.com Kindle Store.
They join 11 other authors in the "Club" - Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child, Michael Connelly and Kathryn Stockett, as well as Suzanne Collins, John Locke, Janet Evanovich and George R R Martin.
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Lonely Planet is planning on giving travellers a closer look at favourite city break destinations, relaunching its city series in a new livery, with additional content based on reader feedback, in what it is calling its most significant redesign of the city series yet.
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Rider Books has acquired a "major new title" giving access to ideas behind mindfulness and cognitive therapy, Mind Whispering by Tara Bennett-Goleman.
Publishing director Judith Kendra bough UK and Commonwealth rights from HarperOne, with plans to publish in trade paperback in February 2013.
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Little, Brown has acquired a debut novel by Times critic, columnist and features writer Kevin Maher, with publishing director Clare Smith snapping up her first title for the imprint in a hotly-contested four-way auction.
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Newly relaunched Virgin Books imprint W H Allen has acquired a "hard-hitting" memoir by former Islamist Maajid Nawaz.
Publishing director Ed Faulkner bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Neil Blair and Zoe King at the Blair Partnership, with the title, Radical: My Journey from Islamist Extremism to a Democratic Awakening, to be published as a trade paperback original in summer 2012, priced £12.99.
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Agent David Godwin is touting a title on party etiquette by Pippa Middleton, sister of the Duchess of Cornwall, with reports she has had two meetings with publishing executives at HarperCollins as well as other houses.
Godwin told the Sunday Times that he was in discussions with Middleton, but added: "Things aren't at all clear at the moment. I don't think I can say anything at this time."
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The first official sales charts including e-book sales data have been published in the Wall Street Journal this weekend, with Nielsen BookScan now supplying e-book sales reports to the US paper.
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Bloomsbury is anticipating W H Smith's link-up with Kobo to sell e-readers will help create "another big Christmas" for e-books, as the Group's e-book sales grew by 564% over the first six months of 2011.
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The Publishers Association's international conference will focus on issues such as export sales and the growth of the English language, with speakers to include Barnes and Noble vice-president of digital content Theresa Horner, Pan Macmillan India managing director Daniel Watts and Susie Nicklin, director of literature at the British Council.
The event, tackling "The Changing Scene in International Markets for UK Publishers", will be held on Thursday 15th December from 8.45am to 5.30pm at Fishmongers' Hall, London, EC4.
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E-book sales and the acquisition of Continuum helped sales at Bloomsbury leap 16%, although relocation and restructuring costs led to pre-tax profit more than halving to £0.3m, in its latest set of financial accounts.
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HarperCollins has delayed publication of its autobiography of comedian Johnny Vegas, Becoming Johnny Vegas, due for release this autumn, until this time next year.
The publisher said the decision was taken in order to allow Vegas, whose real name is Michael Pennington, enough time to finish the book.
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Headline has acquired two novels by Mark Mills, previously published by HarperCollins, and author of bestselling title The Savage Garden.
Publishing director for fiction Imogen Taylor bought world rights excluding North America in the two novels, as yet untitled, through Stephanie Cabot at The Gernert Company.
The first book, which will be a contemporary novel set around an Oxfordshire estate, will be published in 2013. The second will have "more of a period setting", with both containing elementsof "surprise [and] intrigue".
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Octopus will publish the next tie-in title to ITV1 show "The Biggest Loser" next year, the third in the brand to be released by the Hachette publisher.
Publishing director Stephanie Jackson made the deal for UK and Irish rights with Shine commercial manager Maya Maraj for The Biggest Loser Cookbook, with plans to publish alongside the next series in January 2012.
The Biggest Loser Cookbook will include more than 100 recipes for calorie-counted meals, with a 14-day menu plan as well as shopping lists.
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The Publishers Association has warned publishers over a directory fraud, which appears to offer a free listing in the guide to the Bologna Book Fair, but in fact could charge publishers almost $2,000.
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Orion non-fiction publishing director Rowland White is moving back to Penguin in the role of publishing director for Michael Joseph.
White will focus on mainstream non-fiction and thriller-based fiction, and will report to MJ m.d. Louise Moore. Before joining Orion, he had previously worked for Penguin for 12 years.
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HarperCollins UK and Australia have won out in a five-way auction for hotly tipped Frankfurt Book Fair title The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.
HarperFiction crime and thriller publisher Julia Wisdom, together with Shona Martyn of HarperCollins Australia, bought the title in a two-book deal for UK and Commonwealth rights from Oliver Munson at Blake Friedmann, for what is understood to be a high six-figure sum.
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International co-edition publisher Quarto has increased its revenue and profit in the first nine months of 2011, with "much improved trading in the third quarter".
In its Q3 interim management statement the company, headed by chairman and c.e.o. Laurence Orbach, reported sales up by 5% to $130.7m (£82.8m) for the nine months to 30th September 2011, with profit before tax, amortisation of non-current intangibles and exceptional items up 3% to $24.7m (£15.7m) over the period. Profit before tax had increased by 9%, to $6.0m (£3.8m).
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Poet Seamus Heaney is to receive a lifetime achievement award at this year's Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards, with the gongs including an Irish Bookshop of the Year Award for the first time.
Also new this year, RTE Television will broadcast the highlights of the awards on 24th November at 10.45 p.m. The awards themselves take place in Dublin's Royal Dublin Society on 17th November.
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Hachette UK has appointed Matt Wright to the role of managing director distribution, effective immediately, promoting him from his role as finance director of Hachette Distribution.
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