"Queen of Shops" Mary Portas made headlines this week with her report into the woes of Britain's high streets, calling for free local parking, better support from the government on business rates, and mentoring for smaller shops from the larger retailers.
Waterstone's m.d. James Daunt hailed her findings: "I've always believed that booksellers should be at the heart of the communities they serve, and that is exactly what we are doing with Waterstone's. Mary Portas obviously has a similar, strongly held philosophy and her report holds much sense." The BA also welcomed the report, urging that there is "no time to waste" in implementing her recommendations,
Following on from founder and Canongate m.d. Jamie Byng's predictions of a global spread for World Book Night in the next couple of years, the US counterpart has revealed its line-up. Chris Cleave's Little Bee (S&S) is the only title from a British author to make the list of books to be given away, which spans Maya Angelou, Dave Eggers, Stephen King and Nicole Krauss.
As in the UK, one million books will be given away, but in the US 50,000 givers will be recruited, with the number of titles on the list increased from 25 to 30. Like Byng, the US executive director Carl Lennertz promised that new or light readers would be focused upon in places such as nursing homes, schools, hospitals and military bases.
More news from the US as it emerges Laini Taylor's fantasy novel Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Hodder) has been snapped up by Universal Pictures. No time-frame has yet been announced for the film, although publication of the second title in the trilogy is lined up for September 2012 release in the UK.
Talking of films, UK crime specialist indie No Exit has signed the sequel to Drive, James Sallis' novel which was made into a film starring Ryan Gosling* this year. Called, yes, Driven, it is scheduled for June 2012 and will be published along with the 12 titles in Sallis' backlist under a new livery.
(*Ryan Gosling who, incidentally, may work in publishing. Haven't spotted him around Bookseller HQ yet but there's till time…)
And two very different life stories are on the starting blocks. "EastEnders"' Dot Cotton, June Brown, is to tell all for S&S in 2013, while SImon Cowell will find himself in the spotlight in a new biography from Bernie Ecclestone biographer Tom Bower. Faber promises "juicy details, hard-to-get interviews and never-before-revealed facts" in the title, lined up for spring.
Merry Christmas, and see you in the New Year.