News
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Andrew Lownie condemns publishing 'land grab'
15 Apr 2014
With the London Book Fair set to open tomorrow (8th April), agents have told The Bookseller there has been a “land grab”, with some major publishers accused of refusing to publish e-books where contracts state an author royalty rate of more than 25%. The Society of Authors (SoA) has also said it is seeing “unfair” practices from publishers. But publishers denied the claims, emphasising they have strong relationships with agents and always act in the best interests of authors.
Andrew Lownie, of the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency, said he was “increasingly concerned about the ‘bullying’ approach of some major publishers”. “An area of concern is publishers trying to unilaterally impose a 25% rate on contracts—clearly stated in the contract to be mutually agreed—arguing that that’s the ‘standard’ rate and simply uploading the books without agreement,” he added.
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Monica Porter's memoir sold to Head of Zeus
15 Apr 2014
UK rights in Monica Porter’s memoir, Raven: My Year of Dating Dangerously, originally published by Thistle, have been bought by Head of Zeus.
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More terrific reviews for Jessie Childs's God's Traitors
15 Apr 2014
In the quality of her research and sensitive handling of issues that remain raw to this day, Jessie Childs succeeds in evoking ‘the lived experience of anti-Catholicism’ as few have done before…Childs’s language is lively and inventive…By picturing Elizabethan recusants in all their complexity, Jessie Childs has enabled them to speak for themselves at last. John Cooper, Literary Review
Vivid but measured…never has the actual experience of the recusants been rendered with such a wealth of searing detail…richly packed, absorbing…It is a parade of extraordinary characters and a banquet of Elizabethan and Jacobean prose. Simon Callow, The Guardian (Book of the Week)
Splendid book…Childs does a splendid job of explaining this unenviable situation and of putting it in the wider context of Elizabethan Catholic life. There are many fruitful digressions. Jonathan Wright, The Tablet
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Recent Foreign Rights Sales
15 Apr 2014
Chinese rights in Nessa Carey’s The Epigenetics Revolution
German rights in Patrick Dillon’s The Story of Buildings
Hungarian rights in Cathy Glass’s My Dad’s a Policeman
Korean rights in Ian Graham’s The Ultimate Book of Impostors
German & Chinese rights in Daniel Tammet’s Thinking in Numbers
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Mail on Sunday serial for 'Coming Up Trumps'
14 Apr 2014
Baroness Trumpington’s new autobiography Coming Up Trumps, ghosted by agency author Deborah Crewe, was serialised this weekend in the Mail on Sunday.
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Two new articles from Joff Sharpe
11 Apr 2014
This week there are two fascinating new articles from business guru Joff Sharpe, whose new book Who Dares Wins in Business is attracting great reviews on Amazon, and currently available for just 99p.
Huffington Post: The Chinese S.A.S. - Speed, Ambition and Scale
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Simon Callow reviews God's Traitors
11 Apr 2014
There’s a great review of Jessie Childs’ God’s Traitors in today’s Guardian by Simon Callow.
‘Childs’s richly packed, absorbing book presents the human truth of all these momentous events.’
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Last Gentleman of the SAS serialised in the Mail
10 Apr 2014
The memoir of Lieutenant John Randall, the SAS officer who uncovered the horrors of Belsen, has today been serialised in the Daily Mail. The book was ghosted by agency author Mei Trow.
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Stolen Voices reaches Top Ten bestseller list
10 Apr 2014
The powerful new memoir Stolen Voices has reached Number 7 in the Sunday Times bestseller list.
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Cathy Glass remains at Number Four
09 Apr 2014
Cathy Glass’s latest fostering memoir Daddy’s Little Princess remains at Number Four in the Sunday Times bestseller list.
