Monday 8th September

Latest News

WH Smith Eyeing Bid For Borders UK Arm
edinburghnews.scotsman.com

WH Smith is considering a bid to buy the British arm of troubled bookseller Borders

HMV Defies High Street Slowdown
www.telegraph.co.uk

Video Games up, Books down

Controversial 'Child Bride Of Muhammad' Novel Finds UK Publisher
www.guardian.co.uk

Gibson Square has bought Sherry Jones's controversial novel about the child bride of Muhammad

Potter Printer Axes Final Salary Scheme
www.telegraph.co.uk

St Ives, the company that printed the Harry Potter books, has become the latest to close its final salary pension scheme to existing employees

It's time to confess; I have become as addicted to the bestseller book charts as I am to wine, caffeine and emails; desperate all the time for a new fix, even though I know it will inevitably lead to another painful come-down.

Arts Council Website Backs Celebrity Short Story Competition
andrewcrofts.blogspot.com

Youwriteon.com, the Arts Council sponsored website that helps new writers get published, is backing a competition for short stories around the theme of modern celebrity.

My Editor Gently Weeps
andrewcrofts.blogspot.com

I find myself in the interesting position this week of having two hardback books I have ghosted coming out from two different publishers on virtually the same day and competing pretty much for the same shelf space.

Talking To The X-Factor Generation
andrewcrofts.blogspot.com

Any young hopeful scouring the website of The Stage for auditions and lucky breaks over the next few weeks is likely to be exposed to a startling pink banner ad

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Opinion

Kindle Fails To Set Light To Unsold E-book Pile
www.theregister.co.uk

Evidence is mounting that predictions of iPod-grade sales and billion-dollar revenues were a smidge optimistic

'Piracy Could Kill The Golden Goose If Digital Rights Vanish'
www.independent.co.uk

Great content is being stolen, says Ashley MacKenzie, who examines the pitfalls of the rapidly increasing digital revolution and its impact on the entertainment industry. Will TV and film be its next victims?

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Obituaries

Pauline Baynes
www.independent.co.uk

Illustrator who depicted Lewis's Narnia and Tolkien's Middle-earth

Andrew Crozier
www.guardian.co.uk

Poet, publisher and rescuer of many forgotten works

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Feature Items

Twitter Novels: Not Big Success Stories Yet
www.readwriteweb.com

In Japan, mobile phone novels called "keitai shousetus" have become so successful that they accounted for half of the ten best-selling novels in 2007

Expat's Ambition To Put Asia On Literary Map
www.telegraph.co.uk

When it comes to publishing books in English, the centres of world power are in New York, London, and Sydney

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Books in the Media

Sean Connery - You Only Live Once
scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com

If you question him about his past, he may accommodate your interest but he doesn't seem significantly to share it...

Chick Lit With An Edge
www.guardian.co.uk

Jane Fallon left her job as a TV producer to write novels she calls 'chick noir'. Her latest features a lying, deluded husband who, she tells Patrick Barkham, bears no resemblance to her partner, Ricky Gervais

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Latest Reviews

2b Or Not 2b?
books.guardian.co.uk

Despite doom-laden prophecies, texting has not been the disaster for language many feared

Nothing To Be Frightened Of By Julian Barnes
www.telegraph.co.uk

Julian Barnes's all too commonplace book

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