The Bookseller
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| Editor | Philip Jones |
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| Former editors | Nicholas Clee, Louis Baum, Neill Denny |
| Categories | Publishing, Bookselling |
| Frequency | weekly |
| Circulation | 50,000 |
| First issue | 1858 |
| Company | Bookseller Media Ltd |
| Based in | London |
| Language | English |
| Website | TheBookseller.com |
The Bookseller is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine, while Katie Allen is editor of the website edition.[1] The magazine is home to the Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to the book with the oddest title. The award is organised by The Bookseller's diarist, Horace Bent, and had been administered in recent years by the former deputy editor, Joel Rickett, and the current charts editor, Philip Stone. We Love This Book is its quarterly sister consumer publication.
The subscription-only magazine is read by approximately 50,000 persons each week, in over 90 countries, and contains the latest news from the publishing and bookselling worlds, in-depth analysis and features. It is the first publication to publish official weekly bestseller lists in the UK, using data courtesy of Nielsen BookScan. Approximately 15,000 retail employees, 14,000 librarians and 13,000 publishers read the magazine on a weekly basis.
The magazine also produces approximately a dozen supplements on an annual basis, and produces four "Buyers Guides". The Bookseller also produces three daily publications at both the annual London Book Fair, in April, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, in October. The website, TheBookseller.com, is visited by approximately 60,000 unique users each month.
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History [edit]
The Bookseller was founded by Joseph Whitaker, the first editor of the magazine, in January 1858, and was marketed as "A Handbook of British and Foreign Literature". His sons, Joseph Vernon Whitaker and George Herbert Whitaker took over editorship of The Bookseller in 1875 and 1895 respectively, with George Herbert Whitaker taking the decision in 1909 to move the magazine from a monthly to a weekly publication. However, World War I severely disrupted publication and it was not until the late 1920s that the magazine resumed its weekly schedule. In 1928, The Bookseller entered troublesome years, with the magazine entering joint editorial control between both The Publishers Association and the Booksellers Association. It was edited by the Publishers Association president Geoffrey S Williams and became known as The Publisher and Bookseller. However, the decision proved less than successful, and in 1933 the decision was reversed, with editorship being awarded to Edmond Segrave – 28 years old at the time. He remained in charge for almost 40 years.[2]
In 1945, he hired Philothea Thompson as his personal assistant, and when Edmond Segrave died in 1971, she took over stewardship of the magazine until 1976. David Whitaker joined his family magazine in 1977 for little over two years, with Louis Baum assuming editorial responsibilities in 1980. Under Baum, the magazine went under radical change, with numerous design changes, culminating in the decision to become a full-colour publication in the late 1990s. The self-named "legendary diarist", Horace Bent, made his first appearance during this time (although "his" Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year began in the late 1970s), while the magazine also began to feature the first Nielsen BookScan bestseller lists.[2]
In 1999, Nicholas Clee became editor, months before the magazine was sold to a division of Nielsen Business Media. In 2004 Retail Week's Neill Denny arrived and oversaw another major redesign, which included the controversial decision to move its "Publications of the Week" information online only.[2]
Modern day [edit]
Following the demise of Publishing News, The Bookseller is the only paper magazine reporting on the UK publishing, bookselling and library industry on a weekly basis, although the magazine also includes frequent stories, features and columns from the international scene. Numerous famous names from the UK book trade contribute to the magazine via the opinion columns, including Kate Mosse and Anthony Horowitz, while the website provides a forum for anyone to voice their opinions on news and features concerning the trade.
See also [edit]
Notes [edit]
External links [edit]
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