By Graeme Stirling

Video book trailers are a nifty idea. Even if you’re not a fan of a well-established author, a well-made preview will still attract your attention and might even tempt you into buying a book you would never otherwise have glanced at. Publishing giants Hodder & Stoughton know this, and they’ve done a good job of the recent spat of meta-trailers for Stephen King’s new book, Mr. Mercedes. Not that the likes of King really need any promo work at this point. Sort your budget allocation out, Hod-Stough.

By Graeme Stirling

As writers go, Philip Roth sits fairly high up on the food chain. He is a National Book Award and Pulitzer winner, a mainstay of the north-eastern intellectual scene and regularly referred to as one of the most important and eminent men in American letters. It came as a surprise to everyone, then, when the news hit that he was going to appear on Colbert.

By Graeme Stirling

This year sees the release of the last film to feature the much missed Philip Seymour Hoffman, A Most Wanted Man. The tense, rather brooding and rather thoughtful thriller is based on an acclaimed novel by John le Carré, and is one of many recent and upcoming adaptations of his work. Why? Because le Carré is simply unparalleled at what he does.

By Agnieszka Ramian

The 25th of May is best known as Towel Day, Douglas Adams’ and his unconventional novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) appreciation day. Inspired by ordinarily titled Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe by Ken Welsh (1972), the concept first was presented to the public as a radio programme and then adapted into (originally) a five volume book. It sold a mind-blowing number of 250,000 copies within only three months and won top rank on the Sunday Times Best Seller list (1979) and was 24 on Waterstone's Books/Channel Four's list of the 'One Hundred Greatest Books of the Century' (1996). Its major success was also reflected in being ranked number four on BBC's "Big Read", which was  an attempt to find the "Nation's Best-loved book".

Millions of fans all over the world find their ways today to pay tribute to Adams’ life and work by doing things such as: carrying around a bath towel for a day, answering all questions: ‘42’, creating galleries of 42 must-see for hitchhikers photos/places and more! When it comes to us, IWG: Books team, we thought we would join the celebration by compiling a Book-et List made of 42 books one should read in their lifetime. Note, books will be presented in an ‘almost’ random order.

By Graeme Stirling

Ghostwritten follow-ups are nothing new in the publishing industry, especially when it comes to thrillers and books aimed at young adult readers. The concept may have been invented by two landmark series that never had original authors to begin with; The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. 
Now, literal fiction factories hiring desperate students are churning out similar work; Robert Ludlum’s massively successful Bourne series is being added to annually by his ghost, the James Bond franchise has become an author lottery to see who gets to have all the fun of writing the next one and certain, particularly terrible crime writers (you know who you are) are hiring ghostwriters to back them up on their work whist they’re still alive.

By Graeme Stirling

To follow on from Sunday's Author Corner on the great Stephen King, we have a special segment on John Sandford; a fellow author and somebody that King himself is a big fan of.

By Graeme Stirling

For many a student ploughing their way through university, books are a key asset. If this sounds like stating the obvious, we should add that it’s not for the reasons you might think. Particularly when it comes to social sciences and humanities subjects, which are increasingly popular among UK students, nothing seems more important to the marking system or the keen eye of the academic staff member than referencing. Would-be graduates spend more time providing evidence of their reading and filling their perfectly reasonable essays with vaguely relevant quotes, in-text references and segues than they do writing the paper to begin with. Ploughing, then, is the operative word, as the process of scanning hundreds of pages for a quotable point to back up your own is its own form of monotonous labour.

By Graeme Stirling

Every one of us knows the old adage about not judging a book by its cover – though this rarely has anything to do with our beloved books – but what of judging one by its weight? No, this isn't an obscure commentary on obesity, but a glance at an issue that few seem to discuss despite its relevance in contemporary publishing.

By Graeme Stirling

The literary world has changed as much as anything else over the past half-century, and for many years now a war has been going on amongst its members (not the paper versus e-book debate, which will fizzle out long before this).

On one hand stand the genre authors and their legions of fans. Until recently, these were most prominently represented by crime writers. These days, the massive surge in “young adult” books and the endless dead-horse-flogging of the supernatural types have taken on the mantle. Unfortunately, in both cases, the very worst of the writers seem to get most of the attention (without naming names, just take the top one of each camp’s sales list).

The other side is a quieter place, home to the authors of literary fiction. These writers, spread around the world and with a prominent enclave in the northeastern United States, are the intellectuals. They are the defenders of the old literary traditions, well-educated men and women with an appreciation for the reality around us and the ability to write powerful prose and craft effective stories without bringing up dragon-riding vampires afflicted with lycanthropy.

By Graeme Stirling

Drinking is one of those pastimes as old as society itself that would-be censors tend to worry about. Parents clamour over the potential influence on their children, whilst better-humoured critics decry its overblown use in fiction – one medical worker tallied up none other than James Bond’s average daily alcohol intake, based on a review of Fleming’s novel series, and concluded that the famously philandering spy would in reality be completely impotent; meanwhile, Pierce Brosnan risked his role as Bond on screen by refusing to smoke cigarettes. Were it not for him, the franchise-saving Daniel Craig version might never have happened.