Much to everyone's surprise, Lynnne Truss's witty little book about punctuation (see News Review 19 from 19 January) has been a big hit all over the world. In the UK it passed 600,000 sales last month and is still heading the non-fiction bestseller lists, having held this dizzying position for 20 weeks. Read more
Book sales in the two biggest English language markets seem to be set on diverging paths.
In the US recent Book Industry Study Group figures for 2003 show a decline in general adult books of 2.6%, whilst children's book sales fell 0.7%. The BISG forecast is that adult book sales will continue to decline, but children's will show growth, starting with this year. Read more
Lawrence Lessig has put his money where his mouth is - and his publisher has helped him do so. Lessig, already well-known in some circles for his book The Future of Ideas, has long argued for the free dissemination of material on the web. Read more
The publication of a damning new report on libraries in the UK has turned the spotlight on to what they are and should be doing. The report, published by the library charity Libri , can be found at www.libri.org.uk. It is by Tim Coates, an ex-MD of Waterstone's, well-known in the book trade as a forceful character who does not mince his words. Read more
'Unless a writer is extremely old when he dies, in which case he has probably become a neglected institution, his death must always be seen as untimely. This is because a real writer is always shifting and changing and searching. The world has many labels for him, of which the most treacherous is the label of Success.'