The death of the book has been much exaggerated, it seems. Figures released recently by the Publishers Association show a marked increase in sales of digital books, with total consumer sales rocketing up 318 per cent since 2009. However, there’s no need to dismantle the bookshelves just yet. The digital slice of the book market still stands at only 6 per cent. Kindles et al might have the upper hand storage-wise; but, on this evidence, good old print and paper has some more puff in it yet.
Beryl Bainbridge, for instance, remains a publishing sensation. Her uncompleted novel, The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress, is due for release on May 23. If you can’t wait till then, you can sneak an exclusive preview here courtesy of the Telegraph. Polishing up the unfinished drafts of a dead author is always tricky, though David Foster Wallace’s posthumous volume The Pale King seems to have been greeted with applause. Whether Dame Beryl’s will meet with similar approval remains to be seen. Though, surely, it would be an ice-hearted reviewer not to give this literary great the send-off she deserves.
Unexpectedly, non-fiction is enjoying a renaissance too. Following my drum roll last month, it’s nice to see the newbie of the publishing world, Notting Hill Editions, fully launched and even nabbing its own Guardian editorial. In a happy coincidence, the imprint (devoted to essayistic non-fiction) has popped up alongside another welcome tribute to one of the greats – James Boswell. The inaugural Boswell Book Festival, running from May 20-22, is to take place in Boswell’s own Scottish pile, Auchinleck House. The programme boasts a clutch of the best in non-fictional writing from Kate Adie to Lynne Truss.
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