HarperCollins, Blackwell’s among the winners at British Book Awards

HarperCollins has been named Publisher of the Year and bookshop chain Blackwell’s won Book Retailer of the Year at the 2018 British Book Awards.

HarperCollins earned this year’s Publisher of the Year award due to its achievements across adult, children’s, educational, digital and audio publishing, resulting in eight percent growth in a flat market. The publisher was also commended for its ‘Midas touch with débuts’, including Gail Honeyman, Joanna Cannon and Gill Sims; its ‘astute’ work on brands such as Michael Bond’s Paddington, Agatha Christie and the reimagined Mills & Boon imprint; and its work to increase diversity on its list and in its workplace. ‘It had an exceptional 2017 in so many ways—from big brands to new names, super-commercial to high literary, and bestsellers to prize winners … It’s at the very top of its game,’ said the judges.

Book Retailer of the Year Blackwell’s was declared a ‘resurgent force’ in the UK industry. In 2017, Blackwell’s sales outpaced that of the overall market. That growth was spread evenly around the business: ‘across its high street bookshops, campus stores, institutional and corporate channels, and website alike’, said the judges. The chain also created a new events team to coordinate an expanded events program.

Other winners included Bloomsbury for Children’s Publisher of the Year, with the publisher recording ‘sharp growth across ebooks, audio and rights as well as print … with or without Harry Potter’; Faber for Independent Publisher of the Year; indie start-up Maths—No Problem! for Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher of the Year; and Viking for Imprint of the Year.

Nottingham’s Five Leaves Bookshop was named Independent Bookshop of the Year, after it achieved double-digit growth in 2017; and The Book Nook in Hove won Children’s Bookseller of the Year.

In the books category, Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (HarperCollins) was named Book of the Year and Debut of the Year. The title has sold 387,949 copies in the UK market across all print formats, and the book’s marketing campaign was also recognised for Marketing Strategy of the Year in the trade awards.

As reported by Books+Publishing, Australian author Jane Harper won the crime and thriller book of the year award, and winners were also announced in the categories of fiction, children’s, nonfiction: lifestyle, nonfiction: narrative, and (for the first time in 2018) audiobook.

The awards were presented at a ceremony in London on 14 May.

To read more on all the trade winners, click here.

Category: International news