With Christmas around the corner we have been getting into the festive spirit and writing our letters to Father Christmas.

Here is a look at what is on our Christmas list this year, plenty of ideas for presents for lovers of crime writing everywhere.

Obviously top of the list is a Weekend Break Package to the 2013 festival, including 3 nights accommodation plus a weekend rover ticket to guarantee a place at … Read More >>

Harlan Coben will appear as a Special Guest at the 2012 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

In figures released this month by Public Lending Right (PLR), it would seem crime and thriller titles are killing off romantic novels, with crime now dominating the list of most-borrowed titles from libraries across Britain.

Statistics show that authors such as Lee Child, James Patterson, Harlan Coben, Ian Rankin and Liza Marklund (the latter three of which are all appearing … Read More >>

An array of agents, writers, scouts, literary critics and publishers are backing a new literary award (announced on Wednesday – 12.10.11) but names are being kept under wraps. It is said the advisory committee will be announced within the next fortnight and, funding permitted, the prize could be up and running as early as 2012.

The award, named rather simply The Literature Prize, has been set up to “establish a clear and uncompromising standard of excellence”, with … Read More >>

Waterstone’s 3-for-2 offer is officially over (see our news post here for readers views on the end of the recognisable offer), with new promotional offers of 25% and 33% off selected titles, as well as money off promotions.

On its blog, entitled ’Big news! 25% and 33% off new paperbacks is the new 3 for 2!’ the Waterstone’s Nottingham branch has today expressed: “Waterstone’s has changed. Our ’3 for 2′ was famous. It’s what we were known for, it has been … Read More >>

It’s taken printed book sales two weeks longer to reach the £1bn mark this year than in 2010.

£29.5m was spent at UK booksellers in the week ending 24th September, bringing the total for these 83 weeks of 2011 to £1.008bn, which is down 5.3%, or £53m on 2010, when book sales passed the £1bn mark on 11th September.

The decline in printed book sales is largely down to the transfer of sales from print to digital, with … Read More >>

The Bookseller’s campaign ‘Fight For Libraries’ provides a focal point for campaigners, librarians and the rest of the trade to defend libraries.

The manifesto reads…

We are fighting for public libraries because they form an essential seed-bed for the wider reading culture of the nation, a culture from which the whole of society benefits.

Libraries seed communities with books and ideas in a way which is irreplaceable. They provide books to people who wouldn’t otherwise see or afford them, … Read More >>

Since the Kindle was first released to the world in November 2007, Amazon’s revolutionary wireless reading device has divided opinion throughout the literary world. With the announcement on Radio 4 this week that Waterstone’s are to launch their very own e-reader in early Spring 2012, we look at the debate surrounding the move to the digital world.

The effect on the environment is a question which crops up time and time again. As with all technological advances, … Read More >>

After a decade, high-street chain Waterstones decision to abandon their influential ’3 for 2′ sales promotion has provoked hot debate from readers, writers and publishers alike.

The decision follows the sale of the chain to Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut and the appointment of independent bookseller James Daunt.

For more than a decade, the promotion has been a key plank in the company’s marketing strategy. Now Britain’s biggest bookseller, with 296-stores in total, the business are now said to … Read More >>