When it comes to children's fiction, an area in which little ones are trying to explore, learn, and enjoy themselves, we’d hope they can be given the freedom to read books that interest them, regardless of protagonist or topic.
Read MorePreviously we reported that not everyone was particularly happy with E.L James' latest addition to the Fifty Shades... series. Professional critics and readers alike had some not all too flattering things to say. But that appears to have done very little to prevent the title doing more than smashing Amazon's kindle pre-order record.
Earlier this week Cornerstone, an imprint of Random House, revealed that Grey was proving phenomenally popular and the figures prove it. Now industry sales aficionado, Nielsen, has confirmed it.
In its first three days, Grey sold 647,401 copies in all formats. That beats the previous *five-day* record, held by Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol by some 96,400 units - handing Grey the largest ever UK first-week sales for an adult book. In the US, the title has sold approximately 1.1 million copies.
Of course there have been suggestions there was little in the new title to even warrant its publication. But with new content pined for by fans (and what with it being about a second view of events) that may be somewhat missing the point. The proof, as they say, is in the industry-standard book sales statistics.
Well done E.L James.
The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has now sold 125 million copies worldwide, and Grey looks as though it might continue that trend.
Perhaps we have it within us to write bestsellers. And perhaps not... But even if we do, it's clear that such status doesn't guarantee undiluted affection of all works.
E.L James can certainly bear witness, having this week added to her phenomenally successful Fifty Shades... series with the release of Grey,a Fifty Shades book narrated by Christian Grey.
Of course Fifty Shades was the best-selling book since records began, and its film adaptation became a hit at the box-office. The new title was expected to do well, and it seemed on course in becoming the top Kindle pre-order of 2015. However, reviews haven't exactly been gushing with praise for the title:
Jenny Colgan in The Guardian observed the crucial Anastasia-Christian love affair now seemed "...the twisted work of an utter psychopath", adding,
The first trilogy was a fantasy. This book is far more realistic – and creepy beyond belief.
Rebecca Reid, in the Telegraph, wrote that Grey suffers for uncovering that Christian Grey is:
...about a million different shades of sexist.
There is at least one positive professional view. Francesca Cookney of the Mirrorassures would-be readers that the title does progress James' characterisation and provide keener relationship insights:
We learn that his desire for her submission is less about his own control as it is wanting to be loved and trusted, and accepted. Does that make him less attractive? Hell no. In fact I think we’re all about to fall just a little bit more in love…”
Early consumers of the title aren't all convinced. Positive reviews outnumber the less enthusiastic three to one on Grey's Kindle page, but criticism includes it being a "money spinner" and a "waste of money". One reviewer, 'Jen', seems to capture a substantial portion of the mood, noting:
This is essentially FSOG but with lazy asides from Christian.
Oof. Others are more enthused, but the level of disappointment appears pertinent. So, yet-to-read Fifty Shades fans, be warned. For everyone else - for everyone really, we're inclusive - BuzzFeed's 'Can You Tell The Real “Grey” Quotes From The Fake Ones?' quiz[warning, includes some silly erotica] is a fine, fun, aside.
George R.R. Martin likely feels fortunate in many ways. But that doesn't preclude him from needing to remind people to back off a bit. Last year the author of the famed A Song of Ice Fire series - understandably - responded to the Swiss daily, Tages Anzeiger, in strong terms regarding concerns about his age and health. We won't link to that (keeping things fairly polite).
Obviously stressing Martin out isn't going to help him complete the next installment any quicker. And now he's sought to remind fans of the TV series Game of Thrones, adapted from the A Song... books, exactly that. On his 'Not A Blog' livejournal page, Martin addresses one or two other matters and then is quite clear:
Meanwhile, other wars are breaking out on other fronts, centered around the last few episodes of GAME OF THRONES. It is not my intention to get involved in those, nor to allow them to take over my blog and website, so please stop emailing me about them, or posting off-topic comments here on my Not A Blog. Wage those battles on Westeros, or Tower of the Hand, or Boiled Leather, or Winter Is Coming, or Watchers on the Walls. Anyplace that isn't here, actually.
Yes, I know that THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER named me "the third most powerful writer in Hollywood" last December. You would be surprised at how little that means. I cannot control what anyone else says or does, or make them stop saying or doing it, be it on the fannish or professional fronts. What I can control is what happens in my books, so I am going to return to that chapter I've been writing on THE WINDS OF WINTER now, thank you very much.
Hard to argue with, that. We wouldn't want to either - this is the man who in July 2013 destroyed a guitar, with Neil Gaiman for support. Seriously, let's just let him work. After all, it's not like there's a shortage of other great books to read in the meantime.
Pan Macmillan has handed Miranda Dickinson a six-figure, three-book deal, the Bookseller has reported. Six figures is sizable, and when the fifth largest publisher in the UK spends such an amount it's probably not on a whim. So just who is Miranda Dickinson, and why the sum?
The short answer is this: Dickinson is a Sunday Times bestselling author, about whom Caroline Hogg (a Pan senior commissioning editor) says, “If you’re a fan of women’s fiction, you’ll know what an inspiration Miranda is within the community."
The deal sees Ms Hogg acquire the world English rights for Dickinson's next three titles, so of course such praise is expected. Still, Dickinson is the author of six novels with the latest (Take A Look At Me Now) boasting a 4-star Amazon average and a 3.78 Goodreads score. And the author clearly has a fair amount of fans.
Miss R. Saberton writes about Take A Look At Me Now:
Well written, sympathetic characters that stay with the reader and, as always, delivered with Miranda's trademark compassion and humour. I loved it.
And a review from Pajama Book girl reads:
My first Miranda Dickinson novel has finally been read and I must say I enjoyed it greatly. Take a look at me now is extremely thorough in explanation and has a quirky and unique way in which it is wrote, this means that you are straight away dragged into the book by your hair!
Pan Macmillan will obviously be hoping for more of the same from the author, who has been delivering her stories like clockwork for the last five years. Since 2009 every late-October or early November has seen a new Dickinson novel.
Following the sequence we'd assume the new deal includes a release later this year, as well as books to be released in 2015 and 2016.
Yep, we've probably jinxed it!
Not everyone may be a fan of the author's work - being cliché and being too twee, the main criticisms - but every author has their critics, and we doubt Pan Macmillan is too worried.
Obviously we wish her well with the new deal. Dickinson herself writes in an update, "I'm moving on to the next big chapter of my writing life – and I’m so excited!"
Mills & Boon publisher Harlequin has launched an intriguing online extension to the series' scandalous world - in the shape of a digital hotel, The Chatsfield.
We'll admit we're perhaps not the biggest followers of the series, but both fans and the curious should check out what is an interesting undertaking by the publisher. And one aiming to deliver "the next chapter in storytelling".
That line comes from Harlequin's UK MD, Tim Cooper, as The Chatsfield seeks to deliver an engaging expansion of the Mills & Boon world through a unraveling three month story. And explaining the launch, Cooper adds:
Women are engaging evermore with on-going characters and wanting to interact and learn more about them and are consuming content in different formats across different platforms. So I looked to create an intersection between our series publishing programme and other media.”
The site will act as the home for all manner of scandal, delivered through a mix of multimedia linked to social media, uncovering a plot involving over 800 bits of content about a hotel which is rich in style, luxury and your typical Mills & scandal.
If that sounds right up your street get over to the site, perhaps 'check in' and enjoy the experience. If it doesn't, you may return to your favoured genre or series.
But before you do, it is worth noting that Harlequin's move is a noteworthy attempt to expand the fictional into the digital; potentially offering many fans another way to connect to their favoured titles. Perhaps the best way to do so is to just read them - but we can't help but admire potential innovation and added content.
We're certainly fans of David Mitchell's recent interactive leanings and - as the unofficial home of J.K Rowling's Hogwarts shows - there's high interest in making digital the worlds which much-loved characters inhabit.
Mills & Boon fans may perhaps already know that the series had a new site launched earlier this year. And with Harlequin becoming part of HarperCollings, support for any evolution will likely be well-backed.
The late Gabriel Garcia Marquez left an unpublished novel featuring themes not dissimilar to his most-loved works, it has been revealed. The Colombian writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature died on the 17th of April. He stopped writing in 2004, and the unpublished manuscript, En Agosto Nos Vemos ("We'll See Each Other in August"), was completed around that time.
Garcia Marquez biographer, Gerald Martin, says the new work isn't wholly unexpected, but has changed quite a bit since he was made aware of it:
"The last time I talked to Gabo about this story it was a stand-alone which he was going to include in a book with three similar but independent stories. Now they're talking about a series of episodes in which the woman turns up and has a different adventure each year."
It really does seems the writer was busier in his final writing years than most had thought, shaping We'll See Each Other in August into a fuller body of work - and one which ponders the themes of secret lives, love and eroticism which Garcia Marquez' so masterfully handled.
It would of course be wonderful to have another of the writer's works available, but whether we'll get to see the novel in print is currently undecided.
The decision to not publish it was made by Garcia Marquez himself, and any decision to make it available would now be one for the writer's family. Speaking to the Huffington Post, Cristobal Pera of Penguin Random House Mexico's said such a decision was yet to be made.
For now then, we only have an excerpt from the manuscript - printed in Spain's La Vanguardia newspaper.
It introduces us to a woman in her 50s. The lady makes annual visits to her mother's grave on a tropical island where, each year she has adventures. In the excerpt, which may be the first chapter, the lady has an affair with a man of similar age at the hotel in which she is staying.
Unfortunately, the chapter is only published in Spanish (found here). Non-Spanish speakers might get a functional sense of the story with in-browser translation. But who wants functional? We'd rather (hopefully) wait for an full English language version.
We're not going to say much here except to say we think the below visual offering from Cloud Atlas author, David Mitchell is brilliant. What we have is an interactive teaser 'cover' for the author's September 2nd novel The Bone Clocks.
The book is described as a 'metaphysical thriller' - following themes of time and space Mitchell is clearly fond of exploring. Readers will witness the life of Holly Sykes through her years, backdropped against exhausting European oil supplies.
Intriguingly Holly is an "unwitting player in a murderous feud played out in the shadows and margins of our world."
More about The Bone Clocks can be found here. Otherwise, have a click away below.
The wonder of the Internet has finally put right the slightly disappointing fact that Harry Potter's Hogwarts isn't real (sorry). Now, thanks to an unofficial website, Harry Potter fans can enroll online to study at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry. Really.
The site, Hogwarts Is Here, is a cross between a Massively Open Online Course (MOOC), and a sort of online role-playing game. It allows visitors to sign up and browse or to join one of the four Hogwarts houses, and take courses crucial to the acquisition of magical knowledge.
Studies include Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration and Defence Against The Dark Arts, and are apparently maintained and supported by attentive academic staff (volunteers).
The site seems an incredibly polished and engaging affair, especially for something not officially endorsed or linked to film licenses. With sections on student life, academic standards and a careers page, there's even a considerable FAQ section on hand. Likely because even Hogwarts students want to see when their deadlines are.
Essentially Hogwarts Is Here is a site created and maintained by fans because they love the world of Harry Potter. And honestly we hope it's able to keep running on that basis.
If you're interested in having a look, why not head over now; you can even generate a Hogwarts acceptance letter. Oh, and one more thing: if you do sign up, perhaps consider joining House Hufflepuff.
They always seem to get the least amount of love, don't they...
We're all familiar with book launches, but add the word 'edible' and it might seem a tasteless way to undo the author's hard work. Never fear though, it's all part of debut novelist Sarah Holt's plan for the booklaunch of Love and Eskimo Snow, a novel published by Valley Press next month. The launch of the title - which is available now - no doubt took some planning, and is helped in large part by Edible Stories.
The company is charged with delivering a six-course meal to intrigue and excite the senses, as attendees consider the central question of Holt's title: the varied experience of love. A fascinating evening surely awaits, and those interested enough can quite possibly attend.
The book launch will be in the Shoreditch area of East London on the 25th May, and tickets are available for £57:50. If supporting a debut novelist needs any sweetening, such a unique experience - alongside the promises of a key insight into the plot - might be just the thing.
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