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News stories from the book world in August 2009

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August 2009

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Dan Brown frenzy in September

31 August 2009

You can't have missed the news that Dan Brown's latest thriller, The Lost Symbol, will be released worldwide on 15 September. As readers queue up to place advance orders for one of the most eagerly anticipated books in history, there are also anxieties about how this one book will distort the performance of the book trade.   Read more

Romance - a rave for readers

17 August 2009

The romance genre is doing very nicely, thank you, in spite of the recession. When conglomerate publishers such as HarperCollins and Simon and Schuster have been announcing sharp downturns in sales (see last week's News Review ), Harlequin/Mills & Boon (the US and UK companies respectively) just go from strength to strength.   Read more

Publishers' operating profits plunge

10 August 2009

Recent results from two big international publishing companies show that the recession is hurting quite badly. Sales fell 2.5% at Simon & Schuster (S & S) and operating income was just $6.1.m (£3.65m), down from $14.6m (£8.75m) a year ago.  Read more