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News Review The headlines: in brief


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Trade figures call for distribution reforms after Grantham closure


Trade figures have called for reforms to traditional distribution aſter Penguin Random House (PRH) announced it would be closing its third-part distribution services operation at Grantham at the end of 2025. Bridget Shine, chief executive of the


TRADE BODIES HAVE CALLED FOR A RETHINK ON DISTRIBUTION


IPG, told The Bookseller: “It would be good to see distributors reduce their turnover thresholds for new clients and invest in the infrastructure and IT to serve more independents. While many of them are small, collectively they have a substantial and proven market, and some will grow into significant businesses in the years ahead.” She added: “This also feels like a moment for the industry to look afresh at distribution and consider new models and solutions. E-books, print- on-demand and direct-to-consumer sales have all changed the way books


of the Week


9%


Bloomsbury saw sales growth of 9% in the first four months of the financial year, ending 30th June 2023. The publisher said that trading had been in line with expectations. Bestsellers in the period included The Earth Transformed by Peter Frankopan, Trespasses by Louise Kennedy and the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling. The market expectation for the year ending 29th February 2024 is revenue of £273.1m and profit before taxation and highlighted items of £32.5m.


Rights deal TheBookseller.com


Faber seals deal for Keneally’s new novel Faber has seized Booker Prize-winner Thomas Keneally’s new novel, Fanatic Heart, a “moving, elegant and profound work that sheds light on some of the darkest events of history”. Associate publisher Louisa Joyner and commissioning editor Libby Marshall acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Australia and New Zealand) from Sam Copeland at RCW, and the book will be published in the UK and Ireland in November. It is set in 1847 and follows lawyer, journalist, activist and politician John Mitchel.


Rights deal Stat


get from publishers to end users, and more evolution will come. Independent publishers are adopting new and agile approaches to distribution that wouldn’t have been possible just a few years ago.” Davinder Bedi, m.d. of BookSource, agreed. “From our experience, being innovative, agile and open to change is the only way for a distributor to survive at this end of the sector”. Meanwhile David Taylor, senior vice- president at Ingram Content Group UK, praised print-on-demand for allowing the book “to be made as close to the customer as possible” delivering both financial and environmental benefits. Russell Evans, business development


director at Hachete UK Distribution, said its new distribution model, scheduled for launch in January 2024, would further develop its service to smaller publishers.


Orion signs up Lex Notebloom in pre-empt Orion Fiction has acquired The Man with a Thousand Faces by Lex Noteboom left in a “major” six-figure pre-empt. Publisher Sam Eades acquired world English language rights from Stella Nelissen at the Marianne Schönbach Literary Agency. Emily Hayward-Whitlock of The Artists Partnership will represent the book-to- screen rights. The novel is described as a “fast-paced political thriller set in a fictitious former Soviet state” and will publish on 3rd July 2025.


Babalola bags double TikTok nomination Bolu Babalola above, Douglas Stuart and Holly Jackson are among those shortlisted for the inaugural TikTok Book Awards UK and Ireland. Readers are invited to vote for


The Bookseller @thebookseller


@KyleBooks has acquired The Cheese Life by cheese connoisseurs Mathew Carver and @PatrickMcGuigan. buff.ly/3O62fAG


their winners using the Voting Hub on the TikTok App. Up for BookTok Book of The Year are Babalola for Honey & Spice (Headline Review), Sarah Underwood for Lies We Sing to the Sea (Electric Monkey), Stuart for Young Mungo (Picador), and Jessica George for Maame (Hodder & Stoughton). In contention for BookTok Author


of The Year are Dr Suzie Edge, Lex Croucher, Jackson and Babalola, while Portobello Bookshop, Chapters, The Feminist Bookshop and Mr B’s Emporium are shortlisted for Indie Bookshop of The Year. Other categories include Best Book


to End a Reading Slump, BookTok Creator of the Year, Best BookTok Revival and Best Book I Wish I Could Read Again.


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© Getty


© Nathalie Dekker


© Kelly Green


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