Christopher Paolini is likely to turn his hand to science fiction for his next work, as the final book in his epic Inheritance Cycle series is published this week.
The series has sold 4.5m in export and UK sales, including 1.2m in the UK (TCM sales), since the first book Eragon was published in 2004.
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Independent bookseller Ron Johns is moving into children’s fiction publishing, following a number of successes as a publisher of picture books and coffee-table books under the Mabecron Books imprint.
Johns, who owns bookshops in Falmouth, St Ives and Plymouth, said booksellers are “well placed” to develop their links with local authors and to move into publishing titles themselves. Mabecron Books includes local author Helen Dunmore and illustrator Michael Foreman on its list.
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The Government emphasis on reading for pleasure could be behind an uplift in sales to school libraries, claims bookseller Marilyn Brocklehurst of the Norfolk Children's Book Centre.
She said: "The pronouncements by the government about reading for pleasure are having an impact; schools are asking us for support to develop their libraries. Teachers who care about reading now have a mandate to sort out the school library."
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The Seven Stories Bookshop in Newcastle has launched a range of bespoke licensed products featuring Nick Sharratt's illustrations to tie in with a new Jacqueline Wilson exhibition that launched at the Seven Stories centre last weekend.
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Macmillan Children's Books has created an animated cover for the e-book of Frank Cottrell Boyce's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, which it hopes will attract the interest of bloggers.
The covers can be seen at www.chittyfliesagain.com. The book itself will be published on Friday 7th October.
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Bonnier's new publishing initiative, headed by former Bloomsbury Group editor-in-chief Sarah Odedina, will be called Hot Key Books, and aims to have its first books published in time for the Christmas market.
Odedina, who is already acquiring titles, expects to have a full publishing team of 12 to 14 staff in place by January. She is currently recruiting for key positions including a publisher, sales and marketing director and editorial director for print and digital publishing.
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Waterstone’s has extended its children’s book prize to include teen fiction and picture books, in addition to books for five to 12 year olds.
Waterstone’s spokesman Jon Howells said: “The children’s award had done very well for us in its previous eight years of existence but it was time to see how we could take it to the next level and make it more inclusive across the breadth of children’s publishing.”
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Egmont has won the publishing contract for the latest preschool series to run on CBeebies, Baby Jake, which launched in July and which is expected to be the next big children’s hit.
Baby Jake was developed by Darrall Macqueen and combines storytelling, live action and 2D photographic animation and is focused on two young siblings.
Since launching on 4 July, Baby Jake has been a permanent fixture in the CBeebies iPlayer ‘Top Five’ and grew from 240,000 viewings in week one to a half a million viewings in week two.
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Usborne has bought a debut novel from prolific young adult blogger Lenore Appelhans, which the publisher expects to be “massive” following the sale of film rights to CBS Film and interest from YA bloggers.
Fiction editorial director Rebecca Hill bought the novel, called Level Two, from sample chapters. The novel won’t be completed until September. Hill said the acquisition is part of the company’s plans to make its teen lit more commercial, enabling it to compete with larger publishing houses.
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A blogging site that aims to boost authors' independent e-book sales has been created by writers Katherine Roberts and Susan Price in response to a significant contraction in many authors' earnings.
Roberts said: "The whole of paper-based publishing is now set up for bestsellers and instant profits, while e-books offer a better opportunity to build a long-term career." She added: "I am not aiming to make millions from this, I am aiming to make a living in the longer term."
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Kirsten Grant, campaigns director at Puffin, will leave Penguin at the end of the month to become a freelance children's marketing specialist.
Grant has 15 years of experience in the children's market and has been involved in the launch and reimagining of brands and authors including Eoin Colfer, Young Bond, Percy Jackson and Cathy Cassidy.
Grant established Roald Dahl Day as an annual school and retail event, and headed up the Puffin 70th anniversary and Very Hungry Caterpillar 40th anniversary campaigns.
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Jacqueline Wilson and Roald Dahl are among the high-profile authors selected for the 2012 £1 World Book Day books, which will revert to the single-book format for the first time in four years. The teen WBD titles will also go online for the first time following a pilot this year.
The changes were announced at the Book Industry Conference this morning (17th May).
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