Ruth Howells, Deputy Director of External Affairs at the Publishers Association, looks at whether the Government will decide to axe the reading tax and make digital VAT history this week: As the UK’s new chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivers the Government’s long-awaited Budget today, the UK publishing industry will be watching and listening…
No.10 Downing Street has joined the celebrations for World Book Day 2020, hosting thirty school children from Southwark to help ‘Share a Million Stories’ and celebrate reading for pleasure. Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell and children from Charles Dickens Primary School in Southwark for the event this week. Cressida Cowell…
The Government should make protecting the UK’s gold-standard copyright regime a top priority. Intellectual Property laws that are fit for purpose must be pre-requisites for all future UK trade deals, finds a report released today by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Publishing. The APPG, chaired by Andrew Lewer MBE MP, makes a number of…
James O’Brien, Rachel Reeves and Ian Murray beat David Cameron, Jess Philips and Melvyn Bragg to take home awards. Eclectic winning titles shine light on the pioneering women of Parliament, the nuances of modern political debate and football fandom. London. 26 February 2020: James O’Brien, Rachel Reeves and Ian Murray were announced as the winners…
The Publishers Association has appointed Catriona MacLeod Stevenson to the role of General Counsel. Catriona has over 13 years’ experience in advising copyright and brand owners on wide-ranging legal issues. She joins the Publishers Association from the legal team at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the trade association which represents the global recorded…
Today UK Research and Innovation launched its public consultation into its new Open Access policy. Stephen Lotinga, CEO of the Publishers Association, said: “Publishers support expanding Open Access for publicly-funded research. The best way to achieve greater openness is through a partnership involving researchers, funders, publishers and the wider academic community and we have repeatedly…
The most comprehensive overview of the UK publishing workforce ever recorded has been released today by the Publishers Association, showing that the number of women in senior leadership roles and representation of LGB+ staff are high within the industry, but there is still progress to be made in areas such as socioeconomic diversity, regional diversity…
David Cameron, Jess Phillips, Melvyn Bragg and James O’Brien are among those on the shortlist for the 2019 Parliamentary Book Awards, the only political book awards voted for by parliamentarians. Launched by the Booksellers Association and the Publishers Association in 2016, the annual awards champion the best of political writing and celebrate the link between…
The Publishers Association are delighted to present its Children’s Winter Reading List for parliamentarians. The Children’s Winter Reading List is a collection of books for children and young adults, nominated by members of the Publishers Association. All the titles are either festively themed, or perfect for reading over the colder months both before, during and…
Academic publishers want to make the transition to Open Access (OA) a reality as comprehensively and rapidly as possible and see transformative agreements as vital to this process, according to a new independent report published today. The report, authored by Dr Michael Jubb, emphasises the integral role agreements between academic publishers and institutions will play…
Picture book author and illustrator Nicola Kent has donated £500 worth of children’s books to the Play Service at London’s Whittington Hospital today, as part of her award prize as the Independent Booksellers’ Best New Illustrator. The prize, organised by the Publishers Association and voted for by independent booksellers, was awarded to Nicola earlier this…
Work in Publishing Week is a national campaign to inspire young people aged 14-24 to pursue a career in publishing, taking place from Monday 18th November to Sunday 24th November this year. Take part in #WorkinPublishing week by sharing why you work in publishing and what you love most about your job. You may…
The annual Trailblazer Awards now open for submissions, welcoming entries from book professionals aged 30 or under. The Trailblazer Awards, run by The London Book Fair, in partnership with the Publishers Association, together with SYP and BookBrunch celebrate young publishers who are demonstrating innovation and ambition in the book industry. Five Winners are selected by…
Former Blue Peter presenter and children’s author Konnie Huq led a delegation to 11 Downing Street today to hand-in a letter signed by 90 MPs calling for VAT on digital books to be scrapped, alongside representatives from leading literacy and accessibility charities. This comes as children’s laureate Cressida Cowell pledges her support for the campaign.…
The first ever cohort of Publishing Assistant apprentices have started their year-long programme of work and training this week. All under the age of 25 and from diverse backgrounds, the apprentices will be working for some of the biggest publishers in the country. LDN Apprenticeships are delighted to be delivering the first ever Publishing Assistant…
The Publishers Association has today released its five key industry priorities, following the announcement that a General Election will be held on 12th December. The UK Publishing Manifesto has been shared with all political parties ahead of the election and outlines what UK publishing needs from a new government to ensure the industry’s continued success. …
An urgent programme of work to support the publishing industry with the core legal and logistical challenges of a No Deal Brexit has been convened by the Publishers Association, with a free industry-wide event being held on Thursday 10th October at the Barbican Centre in London. The Brexit Forum for Publishers will focus on three core…
Demos report Quality Control finds that the majority of UK adults (59%) believe social media content should be edited by moderators (based on a nationally representative poll of 2,000 adults in the UK). The public thinks moderation would most help combat disinformation or ‘fake news’ (48%), followed by self-harm or suicide (41%) and terrorism (35%).…