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News stories from the book world in January 2009

January 2009

Book discounting - danger or opportunity?

26 January 2009

Book discounting has come back into the news with the announcement that, despite falling sales in 2008 and all the turbulence in the world economy, the level of discounting in book sales in the UK actually increased last year. The value of sales declined from £1.80bn ($2.48bn) to £1.78bn ($2.46bn).  Read more

Bestsellers across the globe

19 January 2009

So who are the most popular fiction writers across the globe? Rather surprisingly, a recent study shows that Khaled Hosseini and Ken Follett share that accolade. They are the only writers to have books in the top ten in seven out of the nine countries where data was available.   Read more

Children's books still booming

12 January 2009

Children's books are still doing well in spite of the recession. In the UK Christmas sales were up by 8.5% (£4 million - $6 million) on the previous year.  Read more

So what about the book business in 2009?

5 January 2009

No-one could call 2008 an easy year. As well as an unprecedented worldwide credit crisis it has ended with an abrupt slide into a severe global recession, which will affect every country in the world and all aspects of life.   Read more