The Fiction Uncovered promotion launched earlier this year has received two more years of funding, enabling it to run through to summer 2013.
The promotion, which supports writers deserving of recognition but yet to receive media attention or a major prize, is being funded by Grants for the Arts, supported by Arts Council England and the National Lottery.
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Amazon.co.uk has chosen Elizabeth Haynes' debut Into the Darkest Corner (Myriad Editions) as its best book of 2011, as part of a top 50 selection made "after thoughtful consideration and lengthy debate", and taking into consideration reader reviews.
Haynes' novel, about the darker side of relationships, and featuring a woman at risk of domestic violence, has been "a huge hit with Amazon.co.uk customers and editors alike", the retailer said.
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The History Press is to publish a title which claims to offer new insights into the historical phenomenon of Jack the Ripper and the creation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
The Dracula Secrets: Jack the Ripper and the Darkest Sources of Bram Stoker by historian Neil Storey has been acquired by commissioning editor Jay Slater and will be published in May, on the 125th anniversary of the original Dracula publication.
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Capstone has sealed a three-book deal with personal development author Robert Kelsey, author of What's Stopping You? Why Smart People Don't Always Reach Their Potential and How You Can.
Executive commissioning editor Holly Bennion bought world rights in a deal struck through Isabel Atherton at Creative Authors Ltd.
Kelsey, a former City banker turned PR man, will turn to different, undisclosed personal development areas for the new books, with the first due out in early 2013.
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Northern Lights author Philip Pullman has launched an attack on the government's library policy, telling campaigners they were fighting a "war against stupidity", and criticising Brent council for "political bullshit" over its library closures.
He made the speech as library campaigners from across the country vowed to work together to put pressure on government, at a pioneering day conference held in London on Saturday (22nd October).
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Publisher Bloomsbury has organised a series of author events at Kensington Central Library for the first months of 2012.
The Bloomsbury Season will see events with Anna Reid and Lady Antonia Fraser held in January, with Man Booker shortlisted Stephen Kelman and Romesh Gunesekera in February, and with Justin Cartwright in March.
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Short Books has produced its first enhanced e-book for the digital version of Birdwatching with your Eyes Closed (3rd November), the new book from Simon Barnes, author of How to be a Bad Birdwatcher.
The book explores the phenomenon of birdsong, why birds do it and what it tells us about evolution. The enhanced e-book, narrated by the author, contains an embedded podcast, with birdsong from the robin to the nightingale included in sections at the end of each chapter.
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Vampirates author and long-time children's book publicist Justin Somper has set up Author Profile, a training company aimed at helping authors navigate the media and social networking.
Writers including Damian Kelleher, Graham Marks, Anita Naik and Jeremy Finch will be among the trainers in the new venture, co-founded by learning and development specialist Phillip Norman. Somper will run in-house training days for individual publishers and agents and well as out-of-house training for authors to book onto direct.
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The News of the World phone hacking scandal has hit the book industry, with the revelation that private material relating to individuals within the trade has been discovered by police during "Operation Weeting".
Both agent Peter Cox and publisher John Blake have confirmed that their personal details have been turned up by the Metropolitan Police as part of its investigations into illegal surveillance operations by the now defunct Sunday paper.
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Anthony Cheetham will unveil his new publishing company, Head of Zeus, in the summer of next year, with a biography of Catherine the Great by Robert K Massie bought from Random House US.
The venture—which Cheetham had planned to launch at Atlantic Books before leaving the publisher four months ago—will see him bring out a further 10 print titles in 2012 on a list of "general books with a slightly upmarket feel", alongside a digital-first popular fiction list.
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Penguin is promising a "whole year of celebration" for Sue Townsend next year to mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of her most famous creation's diary.
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One third of Bolton's public libraries are set to be closed after a full council meeting last night (19th October) endorsed the decision taken by the Labour-run council's ruling executive committee a week ago.
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Popular science writer Simon Singh has accepted a six-figure world English language rights pre-empt made at Frankfurt for his next book, The Mathematics of The Simpsons.
The deal, Singh's first since winning the legal case that kept him off writing for three years, was done with Bloomsbury, via by Patrick Walsh of Conville and Walsh. Richard Atkinson will be his UK publisher, joined by George Gibson at Bloomsbury New York and Kathleen
Farrar at Bloomsbury Australia.
Independent publisher Beautiful Books entered administration earlier today (11th October). The company has ceased to trade and four members of staff have been made redundant.
A spokesperson for London firm Leonard Curtis, the administrating company, said those handling the case would now evaluate Beautiful Books and creditors would receive a report. In a statement, the publisher said: "All the employees at Beautiful Books would like to thank everyone with whom we have worked over the past six years."
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Atlantic Books made a loss of £1.8m on turnover of £6.9m in 2010, the company has confirmed. But chief executive Toby Mundy said the publisher was likely to grow 15% on 2010's figures this year and had also reduced its costs by 15%.
Mundy said the 2010 losses came about after Atlantic increased its overheads to push ambitious growth plans, including with the launch of its Corvus imprint, while the economy flatlined. The company's 2010 turnover was flat year-on-year, at £23,773 below its 2009 total.
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British novelist Adam Foulds is among the 12 winners of the 2011 European Union Prize for Literature, announced today at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Each winner of the prize, which recognises the best new or emerging authors in the EU, receives €5,000 and the opportunity to have their work translated into other languages.
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An administrator for Beautiful Books is expected to be appointed by close of business on Monday (10th October).
In a letter to authors, David Lewis, director of The Beautiful Group PLC, said the company has had cash flow difficulties, and discussions to find a buyer, or another publisher prepared to keep some or all of its titles in print and pay royalties under current contracts, have not borne fruit.
Lewis told authors that notice of intent to appoint an administrator has been given and it was likely that that would take place on Monday.
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Librarians have warned that the year-long stalemate with the major publishers over the terms of e-book lending could damage the already beleaguered service.
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Simply Books in Bramhall, Cheshire, will host the second Telegraph Book Club Tour Literary Event, to take place this Friday (30th September).
The event will feature author Patrick McCabe interviewed by journalist Geraldine Fox. Jenny Sheils, marketing manager at National Book Tokens, which sponsors the tour, said the bookshop was chosen after "dozens of fantastic comments which championed its qualities as a valued local bookseller.”
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Author Julian Barnes, shortlisted for this year's Man Booker prize for his novel The Sense of an Ending, has said it is "national self-mutilation" to damage the public library service.
Barnes said: "Like most writers of my generation, I grew up with the weekly exchange of library books, and took their pleasures and treasures for granted. The cost of our free public library system is small, its value immense. To diminish and dismantle it would be a kind of national self-mutilation, as stupid as it would be wicked."
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Agents who wish to publish their clients’ work must offer them a detailed explanation of what they will personally gain from the arrangement and obtain their full and written agreement, the president of the Association of Authors Agents has said.
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Library campaigners have expressed intense disappointment with the Arts Council’s first strategy document on libraries. with one claiming it is not "devised to meet people's needs".
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Former children's laureate Jacqueline Wilson is the latest high-profile author to take part in a fundraising benefit in aid of Brent's six threatened libraries.
Wilson will do the event at 6pm on 28th September at St Martin's Church in Mortimer Road, London, the same venue that hosted a packed benefit from author Alan Bennett in May.
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The Publishers Association has told MPs that economic analysis contained in the Hargreaves Review was "fundamentally flawed" and that the review's proposals to weaken copyright with new exceptions are not supported by strong economic analysis.
The trade body has submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, which is taking evidence from a range of bodies affected by the intellectual property review.
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Internet venture Afictionado plans to launch a pay-monthly e-book library in 2012.
The company is yet to approach publishers to take part in the scheme, but is promising to offer "strong returns" to publishing partners, paying them 60% of subscription revenues.
The scheme involves e-books lent to subscribers, with access blocked once the loan period is finished. The scheme is intended for monthly subscription plans only, and will not use advertising.
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