Compass Points 12

Compass Points 12

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

What an amazing summer of sport it’s been – and of course there’s still more to come – lots more!  But if the amazing feats of team GB still haven’t convinced you to get off the sofa and put on the lycra then fear not; you only have to stagger as far as your kitchen in order to emulate the Olympians. If you can’t run like a hero – at least you can eat like one. The Big Sports Recipe Book is a super- powered collection of over 40 recipes from winning stars of the sporting world – published in aid of The Princes Trust. This book is a great way to experience the food which some of the UK’s top sportsmen and women associate with winning and features recipes from the likes of Rebecca Adlington, Jenson Button and Steven Gerrard . It’s getting lots of publicity – there was a piece in Taste Magazine this week and there will be lots more publicity to come in the regional press.

Find out more and order the book here

Still on a sporting theme; Not Out First Ball by Roger Morgan-Grenville is another title for those who’d much rather read about sport than get all hot and sweaty actually doing any. Long listed for the MCC Book of the Year 2012. David Gower said in his foreword "This is a joyful book...a relentlessly entertaining read and not just for cricket lovers either. Everyone should read it." The author was interviewed on TalkSport Radio recently – and there will also be an interview coming up shortly on Radio 5 Live. This is a delightful and witty book that is a love letter to cricket through the story of an accidental club that has lasted 25 years and 263 matches longer than it ever meant to. It’s a laugh-out-loud manifesto for anyone who has ever silently sobbed at the sight of their off stump cartwheeling off into the distance, or thrown their bat in disgust onto an autumn bonfire.  As the author says, “the whole glorious point of crickets is that so much of it is utterly pointless.”

Order the book here

Back to school – back to work – September can really feel like a time for new beginnings. What would you like to change about your life? It can sometimes seem as though we spend half our lives wishing for change — and the other half trying to avoid it. Everything I’ve Ever Learnt About Change is a stimulating and thought provoking collection of essays on change. Columnist and social commentator Lesley Garner writes: “The idea for a book about change came to me when I realised that it was all anybody ever talked about. It was a theme that blew like an invisible wind through every conversation.’” This book had a big piece in the Daily Mail (circulation 2 million) recently which you can read here and the book has also had publicity in The Daily Express and Easy Living Magazine. The Sunday Times Style section are about to run a big interview with Lesley in the next couple of weeks.

Order Everything I've Ever Learnt About Change here

But if all that change, sport and healthy living malarkey just seems like way too much effort – why not just get Hammered? Heavy Tales from the Hard Rock Highway by ex-Metal Hammer editor Kirk Blows shares never-before-published stories of rock’n’roll lunacy, giving readers an exclusive backstage pass to a chaotic world of sex, drugs and spandex, and taking us behind-the-scenes with heavy metal’s biggest, baddest (and often drunkest) names. Featuring exclusive encounters with rock legends such as Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Fleetwood Mac, Black Crowes, UFO, Paradise Lost, Hawkwind, Meat Loaf and Guns N’ Roses among others; Hammered: Heavy Tales from the Hard Rock Highway is a unique collection of adventures, anecdotes and interview experiences that noisily explores the stairways to heaven and highways to hell. As you would expect, this book is attracting a lot of attention in the online media, and you can read some of the rave reviews here,  and here,  and here, and here.

There has also been a great interview with Kirk on the Planet Rock radio station, and will be a big feature in Metal Hammer magazine shortly. Incisive, witty, provocative, and packed with enough sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll to satisfy even the most jaded thrillseeker; this is a must-read for anyone who’s ever worshipped a band or dreamed of being onstage.

Find out more about the book here

And here's a bit of Guns 'n' Roses just to get you in the mood ... and a bit of Meatloaf too!

OK, what is the best film ever? My top three would be Some Like it Hot, A Matter of Life and Death and The Jungle Book. Let’s face it – this is a discussion that’s as old as film itself – and when you get into that headed debate down the pub over the merits of Lord of the Rings versus Citizen Kane – you need the facts, and you need the stats to back up your argument. And that’s when you and your customers reach for the new edition of The Radio Times Guide to Films – the UK’s number one film guide.

With 23,000 film reviews and 500 new entries, it really is a film fan’s must-have. The previous edition sold over 11,000 copies – and this edition will get masses of ongoing promotion in The Radio Times (which has a readership of 2.5 million) from now right up until Christmas! It's published today - make sure you have plenty on display!

Find out more and order it here.

And how could I not give you a clip a clip from my favourite film to finish with – well we’ve got to have some Marilyn to offset all that heavy metal – and what’s not to love about Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in drag?!

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 400 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

Compass Points is now back from holiday, so there will be more next week!

Compass Points 11

Compass Points 11

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

Wow, it’s great to start with a big bestseller! Sunshine on Scotland Street is at number nine in the Hardback Fiction chart on the Sunday Times Bestseller list this week! Alexander McCall Smith has sell-out appearances at the Edinburgh Book Festival coming up, as well a major interview in The Guardian and a piece on the author as performer for Chanel 4 news, so the book could rise even higher in the charts! Congratulations Sandy!

Order the book here

Have the Olympics inspired you to get out into the world a bit more – and visit some of the far flung countries that the athletes are representing? Hands up if anyone actually knows where Azerbaijan or Burkina Faso are? And who knows where the Winter Olympics in 2012 will be held? Well I can tell you – Russia. Which gives me a nice link to tell you about a new title from a bestselling series that’s coming out in October – City-Pick St Petersburg. The City-Lit and City-Pick books are published by Oxygen Books, and give you all the sights, sounds and flavours of city life in a collection of perfect gems of city writing. Already the series has taken us to the hearts of New York, Paris, London, Berlin, Dublin, Amsterdam and Venice and the St Petersburg title is already attracting media attention – The Bookseller made it a non-fiction highlight, and the book will feature at the Manchester Literary Festival and  launch at Waterstone’s Piccadilly. The book includes writing from Helen Dunmore, J.M Coetzee and Malcolm Bradbury as well as Joseph Brodsky, Alexander Pushkin and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The Times said of this series  ‘Superb … it’s like having your own iPad loaded with different tomes’ All the City-Lit books have been Amazon UK Top Ten city bestsellers – don’t let Amazon grab all the sales for this new one! Visit the City-Lit Café here - a great website with info on the books and lots of cool info on the cities as well!

 And find out more about City-Pick St Petersburg here.

And while we’re on the subject of Russia – who has heard of thriller writer Anna Starobinets? Well, The Telegraph said “she has been compared with a host of literary greats, including Edgar Allan Poe and George Orwell, Ray Bradbury and HG Wells’” She is a Russian journalist and internationally published author who was nominated for Russia’s prestigious National Bestseller Prize. You can find out more by reading the Telegraph article here. Now Hesperus, the champion of intelligent, bestselling translated fiction bring us The Living. After a global catastrophe called the Great Reduction, the number of people living on Earth has become fixed, remaining a constant three billion. The concept of death no longer exists (yes yes, I know it sounds like Torchwood – but read on). Instead people are reborn anywhere on the planet with an in-code that keeps track of information about all their previous incarnations. Humankind is no longer made up of individuals – people are only particles making up one composite organism called The Living. These particles live happily and die happily, according to a government-determined schedule. Yet… there is one man born without an in-code - a spare human being. His birth increases the number of The Living by one, which threatens global harmony. Who is ‘Zero’ and how will The Living survive? This truly enthralling, disturbing and unique anti-utopian fantasy novel that will have the reader gripped from page one – and if you’d like to read the first chapter then please email Pat@compass-dsa.co.uk to request one! It's published in October - find out more here.

Now I like a bit of futuristic dystopia as much as the next person – but sometimes you just need a laugh. Here's a link to some hilarious cartoons by Tony Husband. I Nearly Died Laughing (which features his characters The Yobs) by Tony Husband is published in September and Marc Riley of 6Music said of Tony that ‘Over the last 30 years, it’s safe to say he’s made me laugh out loud more than anybody else… he comes from a dark, twisted place.’ And this latest book of cartoons will not disappoint. Tony has created cartoons for many leading publications, including The Spectator, Private Eye, The Times and Punch. His Yobs strip (Private Eye) is one of the best-known comic strips in the UK and, at 25 years, one of the longest running. The book has an intro by Stephen Fry –order it here!

Naked horseback riding. Being on a carousel for 24 hours. Fighting a bear. Leaving home. Illicit sex. If you stay Here this is just some of the things you’ll do. The Elsewhere series brings together some of the finest names writing today such as Michael Morpurgo, Joan Lindgard, Julia Donaldson, Roddy Doyle and Al Kennedy, to tell us through fiction and essays, tales of the real, the unreal, the known,  the unknown, the fantastical and the unbelievable. The series is quirky, saleable and the books are originally and beautifully packaged. There are four titles in the series: Here, There, Somewhere and Elsewhere, and they’re also available as a boxed set. The £7.99 price point is amazing value – big names, lovely looking books, a great price - what more do you need!

Here

There

Somewhere

Elsewhere

The complete boxed set of four titles

And finally – the latest in the eBooks versus real books debate. Like them or loathe them, estimates suggest over two million Kindles have been sold in the UK over the last three years. The Kindle e-reader has become one of the most iconic objects of our contemporary culture. But what happens when a Kindle dies? 101 Uses of a Dead Kindle shows the many imaginative, irreverent and often downright bizarre ways your dead Kindle can live on! It’s hilarious, weird and highly imaginative! The book should appeal to the vast range of Kindle owners and their friends across the UK and taps into the popularity of the 80s cult classic 101 Uses of a Dead Cat. It’s sure to become a must have gift for Kindle owners everywhere! Find out more about the book here!

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 400 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

Compass Points is now off on holiday - back in a fortnight!

Compass Points 10

Compass Points 10

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

Well, is anyone actually doing any work, or are we all sitting in front of a screen glued to the Olympics? Let’s hope your tills are ringing as loudly as our hands are clapping – and the first book that you really shouldn’t miss out on with this national fervour for all things cycling is Matt Carroll’s Escape Routes. This is Matt’s (who is an experienced travel writer and well know broadcaster) handpicked selection of 60 stunning cycling routes all over England. You don’t need to be a keen cyclist; this is your guide to exploring the beautiful English countryside. And with routes ranging from a five-mile pootle to a 20-mile day trip, there’s something for all levels of cyclist. Beautiful hand-drawn maps mark out the routes and step-by-step directions will guide you all the way round. And, when you’re ready to give your legs a rest, there’s a detailed list of cracking places to eat, drink, and sleep. With routes falling under categories such as ‘jaw-dropping views’,  ‘taste tour’, ‘best for pubs’, and ‘magical history tour’, and spectacular photography throughout, this beautiful guide will inspire you get off that sofa and off onto your very own cycle tour. There’s a cycle hire listing for each route, so you don’t even need to own a bicycle!

Order Escape Routes here for your cycling window display!

And talking of cycling – who hasn’t gone Wiggo wild this week? Just about everyone in Britain is crazy for our sideburned superhero – and now the race is on for which publisher can get their biography out first! Sorry guys – Birlinn get the yellow jersey - click below to find out about Bradley Wiggins Tour de Force which is out in October. It will include all the results of the London 2012 Olympic Games, plus tons of stuff on his extraordinary historic Tour de France win. It is written by Bradley’s long-standing friend and cycling journalist John Deering, who has had unique access to Team Sky since its inception. It doesn’t get much more wiggolicious than that!

Bradley Wiggins: A Tour de Force - order your copies now!

And here's a documentary about the great man - which was on ITV4 this week.

However – back in the real world; let’s face it some of us are going to need to do a whole lot more than just buy a load of fancy cycling kit and grow some sideburns to make ourselves into Olympic champions. Giving up that chocolate doughnut and white wine habit might be a good place to start – and Beyond Sugar Shock by Connie Bennett is going to tell us how. The book promises us a Six Week Plan to Break Free of your Sugar Addiction and get Sexier, Slimmer and Sweeter! Connie’s approach is fun and motivational and the book offers much more emotional and physical care than your typical diet book.  There was a big two page spread on the book in Woman magazine last week – which has a circulation of over a quarter of a million readers. Here's Connie discussing the US edition of the book on a wacky US TV show

And here's where you can order the UK edition - which came out in June

Good news for Muckraker: The Scandalous Life and Times of W.T. Stead by W. Sydney Robinson, which has made it onto the shortlist for this year’s HW Fisher Best First Biography Prize - worth £5,000. This prize is awarded annually by The Biographers Club, and the shortlisted entrants are: Ian Donaldson – Ben Jonson: A Life (OUP); Joanna Hodgkin – Amateurs in Eden (Virago); Louise Miller – A Fine Brother: The Life of Captain Flora Sandes (Alma Books); Thomas Penn – Winter King (Penguin); W. Sydney Robinson – Muckraker: The Scandalous Life and Times of W.T. Stead (Robson Press) and Tom Williams – A Mysterious Something in the Light: Raymond Chandler (Aurum). The prize is awarded to the best book by a first-time biographer and the winner will be announced at a dinner on 13 November at the Saville Club in London.

You can order the book here

And find out more about The Biographers Club here

Well, Pink Floyd may have said that we don’t need it, and the kids may be on holiday right now – but just in time for that Back to School window display that you know you’ll be putting in soon; comes Education Education, Education:  Reforming England’s Schools by Andrew Adonis. Tony Blair said his three priorities were education, education, education and Andrew Adonis played a decisive role in turning this slogan into a reform programme. This book describes his quest to transform standards and opportunities in England’s schools, and his ambition to make English education truly world class. It is an essential book about a hot ticket issue by one of British politics’ genuine big-hitters which is published in September to coincide with the start of the new school term and the Party Conference season. The book will be serialised in the Daily Mail on 31st August and 1st September, then The Sunday Times will be running a major interview with Andrew Adonis on 2nd September.

Order Education Education Education here

And here's that classic Pink Floyd video - come on, who doesn't love this!

And now for something completely different. Who has heard of Greek poet Yannis Ritsos?  Considered by some to be "the greatest poet of our age" he was proposed nine times for the Nobel Prize for Literature and won the Lenin Peace Prize.  He was a left-wing activist and an active member of the Greek Resistance during World War II who wrote the most beautiful poetry in the face of personal tragedy, persistent ill health and systematic persecution. In Secret: A Version of Yannis Ritsos by David Harsent is published by Enitharmon Press in October and it has just been chosen as the Poetry Book Society's Recommended Translation for the Winter Quarter.  You can read this article all about Yannis Ritsos by David Harsent in last week's Guardian. And Yannis’s translator, David Harsent who is one of Britain’s most prominent contemporary poets, has himself has just won The Griffin Prize for Poetry (which is the world biggest most prestigious prize for poetry).  You can find out more about the prize here.

And you can order the book here - a rather lovely cover I think.

And finally – who’d like a poster for Fifty Shades of Grey? Ooohh yes please; me, me – pick me. Click here to get one.

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 400 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

That’s all for now folks, more next week!

Compass Points 9

Compass Points 9

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

Wow! It’s not often you get a backlist title, from a small publisher that suddenly becomes a bestselling sensation! And even less often is that book a translation – first published in 1957 by an author from Kyrgyzstan!! But Jamilla by Chingiz Aitmatov (published by Telegram Books) is that very book. It has been selected as the Waterstone’s Book of the Month for August but even before the promotion has started the sales have been phenomenal. The chain has ordered and re-ordered copies – now over 10,000! Waterstones in Doncaster sold 160 copies last weekend alone and Waterstones in Birmingham have said the title is outselling Fifty Shades of Grey!  Book Trust called it “ A simple and beautiful evocation of time, place and the power of love which deserves to be known as one of the world’s great and timeless love stories” while The Guardian praised its “ beautiful scenes of human kindness, wisdom, love and devotion, set against the background of stunning central Asian landscapes.” The cover is classy and striking – the writing is truthful and vivid – it’s the perfect holiday read – so don’t miss out on one of the biggest independent publishing success stories of the summer; find out more and order copies here!

Meanwhile the sales figures for another superb translated fiction title from a small publisher continue to soar! A big thank you from all at Hesperus Press and from us here at Compass to all you fantastic UK booksellers for making The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared such a stunning success!

Order even more Hundred Year Old Man here

Who needs a bit of sunshine? Maybe you still have some? Here in London today it’s rather rainy – but whatever the weather’s doing outside your bookshop, make sure you’ve plenty of copies of Sunshine on Scotland Street inside and on display! Alexander McCall Smith has been tirelessly promoting the book in the media, in bookshops and at book festivals up and down the country and it’s sure to be another big seller for this immensely popular author. This book is the eighth in the 44 Scotland Street series. McCall Smith’s books have been translated into 46 different languages and have sold over 25 million copies throughout the world. Join Alexander McCall Smith on a walk round Edinburgh as he talks about the series.

Order Sunshine on Scotland Street here.

And don’t forget about Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill – a new children’s title from the same author. This is the second in the series which goes back to the early life of the famous Precious Ramotswe, when as an eight-year-old girl she was already solving mysteries many years before she founded her Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency. If you haven’t come across these two children’s books by McCall Smith (the previous title is Precious and the Monkeys) I really recommend them to you – they are beautifully designed, with very vibrant and atmospheric illustrations throughout, and great fun to read aloud.

Order Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill here.

Hurrah! A book from one of the Compass publishers is on the 2012 Man Booker Prize longlist. The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (published by Myrmidon Books) is the second novel from the acclaimed writer of The Gift of Rain which sold over 60,000 copies. The Garden of Evening Mists has the same sumptuous style and exotic imagery so beloved by readers and critics alike, and deals with Malaysia’s turbulent road to independence: a time of insurrection and uncertainty and terror. The full list of the twelve authors on the Booker longlist is: Nicola Barker, The Yips (Fourth Estate); Ned Beauman, The Teleportation Accident (Sceptre); André Brink, Philida (Harvill Secker); Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists (Myrmidon Books); Michael Frayn, Skios (Faber & Faber); Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Doubleday); Deborah Levy, Swimming Home (And Other Stories); Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies (Fourth Estate); Alison Moore, The Lighthouse (Salt); Will Self, Umbrella (Bloomsbury); Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis (Faber & Faber) and Sam Thompson, Communion Town (Fourth Estate). The shortlist of six will be announced on 11 September; and the overall winner on 16 October.

Find out more and order the book here.

The Oldie magazine celebrates its 20th anniversary this week with the publication of The Best of The Oldie: 1992 – 2012. With contributors including Auberon Waugh, Miles Kington, Beryl Bainbridge, William Trevor, Ruth Rendell and Sue Townsend as well as Richard Ingrams himself of course; the book is a 192-page, full-colour "antidote to youth culture”. If there’s one thing this magazine is terrific at, it is self-publicity – and there has been bucketloads of it this weekend for the book with big pieces in the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Independent – and there’s more to come throughout the summer.

Listen to a great interview with Richard Ingrams on the Today programme here.

And here's an article where Richard looks back on the early days of the magazine.

And you can order the book here!

And finally, we at Compass are bubbling over with Olympic excitement today – and were thrilled to be to be ringing and dinging our bells at 8:12am this morning! Did you join in? Were you already at work (!) or still snoozing in bed?! I was in my kitchen with my 9 yr old son – jangling the bells on various toys while outside we could hear church bells, door bells and car horns! 

Listen to the Olympic bells ringing this morning all around the country here!

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 400 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

That’s all for now folks, more next week!

Compass Points 8

Compass Points 8

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

Ah the power of publicity…You may recall we mentioned Elkie Brooks’ new autobiography Finding My Voice in last week’s Compass Points. Well following her appearance on BBC Breakfast this morning show, the title rose from number 59,761 to 46 in the Amazon bestseller charts! Don’t let Amazon get all the sales – display this book and it will sell – she has plenty of fans out there!

Here she is on BBC Breakfast

And here's the information on the book

And talking of titles that are selling fast – over 20,000 copies  of The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared have now been released into the UK book trade. And it is Waterstone’s strongest performer in their current Book Club promotion.  This  “imaginative, laugh out loud bestseller” (The Daily Telegraph)  is published by Hesperus Press – and if you’d like a copy of the Hesperus catalogue so that you can see what other gems of translated world fiction are coming up this autumn, then please email Pat@compass-dsa.co.uk with Hesperus Catalogue in the subject box and your name and address.

Order Hundred Year Old Man here and have a look at the Hesperus Press website here.

Do you tweet? Or do you just look at other people’s tweets? Or do you want to follow other people’s tweets – but don’t know how to sort the tweets from the chaff as it were? The Sunday Times has just listed The Twitter 100: Who to Follow and Why. One of those deeply cool individuals was @sixthformpoet – and what luck, there’s a book coming from him from Summersdale this autumn!  Since his first tweets at the start of 2011, this mysterious figure known has attracted over 30,000 followers on Twitter  (although following The Sunday Times article this is sure to rise) with his offbeat, witty and pun-laden observations on modern life. This collection brings together the best of The Sixth Form Poet’s pithy one-liners and whimsical poems, brought to life with Tom McLaughlin’s quirky illustrations. The book is published on 7th November 2012, ISBN 978 1 84953 319 5. Why not start following him now to see what the fuss is about?

Hurrah! I think the weather is finally about to improve! Just in time for the school holidays too! Make sure you’ve got plenty of copies of Cool Camping Kids for all of those families looking for some wholesome outdoor activities to fill the six week break with! You can see cool camper 7yr old Kira reviewing the book here on YouTube and you can order the book here!

Who feels like they’re going mad? Right now? All the time? Or just sometimes? Fear not – you are not alone. A provocative new book Back to Sanity by Steve Taylor is a fascinating look at the all too often downright crazy behaviour of human beings, allowing us to understand and recognize our “madness” better so that we can improve our lives. There was a huge piece in The Daily Mail (which has over two million readers) last week on this title – and the issue of mental health is never far away from media attention – so order this book now.

Well, the Olympics are nearly upon us. Excited or couldn’t give a monkey’s? Either way, make sure that you have copies of London’s Olympic Follies: The Madness and the Mayhem of the 1908 London Games by Graeme Kent in your Olympic books display. The London Olympics of 1908 was intended to reveal Britain and its empire at its zenith. The games opened in the pouring rain, which was to continue for the whole two weeks. Before the games had ended, almost everything that could go wrong had gone wrong, the organisers were universally condemned and it had caused a number of international incidents. Hmm…remind you of anything? The author is going to be interviewed on the BBC news on 24 July – all great publicity for this brilliant book! Find out more about the book here.

I’m afraid I have no pithy comments to add this week to the ongoing eBooks versus real books debate. However, on the subject of new technology (as we fogies still call it) in general; this still makes me laugh every time I watch it.

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 400 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

That’s all for now folks, more next week!

Compass Points 7

Compass Points 7

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

Enthusiasm is building for the Swedish crime novel The Gingerbread House by Carin Gerhardsen which is published on 25 October in the UK (it comes from the same Swedish publisher as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).  Bloggers and reviewers online are already falling over themselves to praise this gripping read – which has just published in the US. Read an online review of the book here. The US media have been queuing up to talk to Carin – last week for example she was on a US radio station together with Stieg Larsson’s partner – the link between the two authors is definitely going to be terrific for publicity! Read an interview with Carin Gerhardsen here.

The serialisation of Mick - the sensational biography of Jagger by Christopher Andersen has now begun in The Mail and oooh er missus; it’s pretty spicy stuff! Read some extracts below - and then make sure you have plenty of stock – this publicity is a gift!

Jagger - Carla Bruni - Donald Trump - Sarkozy - the plot thickens!

Jagger and Bowie - together in bed as well as on stage?! Who knew?!

 Order the book here -  the media spotlight is shining on the The Stones right now!

The great man himself live- back in 1972 - his prime?

And while we’re on the subject of British musical national treasures – Elkie Brooks is currently touring the UK to promote her autobiography Finding My Voice. Her professional debut at age 15 began a career that has spanned most musical genres and collaborations with some of the finest musicians of their generation; making her a household name. In the next few weeks she is doing interviews on most of the local BBC radio stations, and is live on BBC Breakfast TV on 18 July.

Order the book here

And here she is performing Pearl's a Singer back in 1977!

Now – would you describe Nick Clegg as a national treasure? Or is he more of a national irritation? The paperback edition of the acclaimed biography by Chris Bowers is out in August – and media interest in the tensions of the coalition has never been more fervent. How things have changed since early April 2010 when Nick Clegg was fighting for recognition, the young, fresh and personable leader of Britain’s third political party. Two weeks later he was the focus of ‘Cleggmania’ and his popularity was compared with Churchill’s.  Four weeks after that he became the second most important figure in the government – but within a year he was ridiculed and reviled as popular hopes turned to disappointment.  But who is Nick Clegg? And by what route did he enjoy one of the most spectacular rises – and falls – in British politics? Order the book here

But if you’d prefer to read about one of the truly great British leaders – then you’ll have to wait for the paperback edition of a very well reviewed biography of Churchill himself – which is coming from Birlinn in September.

And finally – both booksellers and customers are loving The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared. Read this big spread from last week's Saturday Telegraph.

This newsletter is sent weekly to over 400 booksellers. If you would like to order any of the titles mentioned, then please click here to go to the Compass New Titles Website.

That’s all for now folks, more next week!

Compass Points 6

Compass Points  (6)

Your weekly round up of publishing news, publicity information and trivia!

This week at Compass we are enjoying reading Watermelons – a highly entertaining and very provocative new title by James Delingpole which is published in October.  James Delingpole is the bestselling British author and blogger who helped expose the Climategate scandal back in 2009. At its very roots, argues Delingpole, climate change is an ideological battle, not a scientific one. In other words, it's green on the outside and red on the inside. At the end of the day, according to Delingpole, these "watermelons" of the modern environmental movement do not want to save the world. They want to rule it.

Hear James discussing the book here

And order copies of the book here

“I haven’t tasted chocolate for ten years and now I’m walking down the street unwrapping a Kit-Kat. It tastes amazing. Remember when Kate Moss said ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’? She’s wrong: chocolate does. When I think of the wasted tears, the evenings spent alone, the friends lost, all those shared meals I’ve avoided... it strikes me as incredibly sad. I’ll never get those years back.”

At the age of 32, Emma Woolf decided to face the biggest challenge of her life: to let go of her addiction to hunger, exercise and control, and finally beat anorexia. An Apple a Day is a compelling and life-affirming true story of love and recovery – just published and getting a lot of very positive press coverage. The issue of body image is never far away in the media – and now Emma (who is the great niece of Virginia Woolf incidentally!) is just about to start writing a weekly weekend column for The Sun – which will heighten her profile still further.

Watch an interview with Emma Woolf here

And find out more about An Apple a Day here

Fifty Shades of Grey? More like Fifty Shades of Horrendously Badly Written – come on, let’s make sure the bookselling public have plenty of opportunity to read the original and best. Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland was first published in England in 1748 and is generally considered the first original English pornographic novel. One of the most prosecuted and banned books in history; it is republished by Arcturus Classics in August – and with a terrific retail price of £3.99 it’s a no-brainer to add to every bookshop’s mummy porn – sorry erotic fiction – display.

Order copies of Fanny Hill here

Publicity is building for The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared - the international publishing sensation which has sold over two million copies across the globe and is published in the UK by Hesperus this month. Waterstones have just announced that they have chosen it as one of their next twelve Book Club reads.

Read more about the Waterstone's Book Club in The Bookseller here

Watch the promotional film here

Order the book here

Real books or eBooks? The debate rages on. Why not watch this cute film  to help you make up your mind!

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That’s all for now folks, more next week!