The Prize for Sparkling New Fiction...

"The Desmond Elliott Prize is a new biennial prize for a first novel written in English and published in the UK. Named in honour of literary agent and publisher Desmond Elliott, one of the most charismatic and successful men in recent publishing history who died in August 2003, the Prize is designed to celebrate sparkling new fiction and is worth £10,000 to the winner."

- www.desmondelliottprize.org

To view the first ever longlist for this new prize, please click here.

The Best Book in the World...

A new website, 'Poll the People' has been launched in a bid to find out what is truly the world's favourite book.

Poll the People allows you to enter your top five films, albums and books of all time to participate in this ongoing international poll.

According to Glenn Cooper, who launched the site, it "was borne out of frustration with the endless stream of magazines, TV and online polls where results were based on a very limited survey".

Currently topping the chart for best book is Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Do you agree with this?

In the poll, recent successes such as Cecelia Ahern's P.S. I Love You, sit alongside classics such as Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice, but what do you think is the best book in the world....ever?!

Join a Library!

Saturday 26th April will be the first ever 'Join a Library Day'.

As part of the National Year of Reading's library recruitment campaign, libraries throughout England can expect a variety of new members as a universal joining form appears in the Daily Mirror.

Children's newspaper First News and local press nationwide will also offer their support to the campaign which will hopefully see thousands of people flocking to their libraries, where they will receive a 'Welcome to Your Library' joining pack. (350,000 have been produced.)

There is also an added incentive for young people to join as the first 235,000 new young members will receive a free copy of the NYR's Ultimate Book Guide, outlining the best children's and teen reads.

The National Year of Reading runs until December and aims to "help build a greater national passion for reading in England - for children, families and adult learners alike."

Leave a comment and let us know what you've got planned for national 'Join a Library Day'!

Orange Prize Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for this year's Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction has now been announced. The titles are as follows:

Fault Lines - Nancy Huston

The Outcast - Sadie Jones

When We Were Bad - Charlotte Mendelson

Lullabies for Little Criminals - Heather O'Neill

The Road Home - Rose Tremain

Lottery - Patricia Wood

The winner will be announced on 4th June.

More Than Words

This month we're loving the fantastic new range of Oxford World's Classics - featuring favourites such as Dickens, Shakespeare and the Brontes, alongside more unusual titles - there's an Oxford World's Classic for everyone!

The relaunch kicks off with the Dream and Desire collections - see our promotions page now for more information and to check when your favourite's due for release!

Galaxy British Book Awards Winners

JK Rowling and Ian McEwan were the big success stories at last night's Galaxy British Book Awards. The Harry Potter author celebrated the end of her bestselling series with the award for Outstanding Achievement. While McEwan won two of the awards, affectionately deemed the Nibbies, for his bestselling novella, On Chesil Beach.

Katie Price, who was controversially nominated for Children's Book of the Year for her title My Pony Care Book, lost out to Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman.

Here's the full list of winners:

Book of the Year - On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan
Outstanding Achievement - JK Rowling
Richard & Judy's Best Read of the Year - A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
Author of the Year - Ian McEwan, On Chesil Beach
Biography of the Year - My Booky Wook, Russell Brand
Children's Book of the Year - Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman, Francesca Simon
Crime Thriller of the Year - Book of the Dead, Patricia Cornwell
Newcomer of the Year - What Was Lost, Catherine O'Flynn
Popular Fiction Award - The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards
Popular Non-Fiction Award - Long Way Down, Ewan McGregor & Charlie Boorman.

Do you think JK Rowling's award was long overdue? Which was your favourite R&J read? Is your favourite author a winner? As always, let us know your thoughts - and be sure to tune in to Channel 4 at 4.40pm this Sunday to catch the whole ceremony!

Orange Broadband Award for New Writers Shortlist Announced

The shortlist of writers competing for this year's Orange Award for New Writers has now been announced.

The titles are:

Lauren Groff - The Monsters of Templeton

Joanna Kavenna - Inglorious

Lauren Liebenberg - The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam

The winner will be announced on 4th June and will be awarded £10,000 to help them pursue their writing career.

What do you think about the shortlist? Have you read any of the titles? Who should win? Leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts...

Welcome to the Holt Jackson blog!

Hi everyone and welcome to the brand new Holt Jackson blog.

We felt it was time we took note of the phenomenal popularity of blogging and social networking - and launching our very own blog seemed like the best way to do it!

Our blog will work very much in the same way as our 'Latest News' section always has; offering you the latest industry, and company, news. However, the format of the blog will allow for more extensive postings and also has a great advantage of allowing interaction.

Blogging is about comment and information so, while we inform you of the latest happenings (and perhaps drop a little bit of commentary in there!), we'll encourage you to get involved too. Read what we have to say and add your own comments, whether you agree or disagree, it's a great way for you to have your say!

Another exciting feature of our blog is Book of the Week. Each week, we will be detailing a new title that we think has something special. Largely by new, upcoming authors, our Books of the Week are selected by our buyers and promise to be excellent reads - literary gems of the future! (Be sure to check out this week's hot title - The Palace of Strange Girls.)

We hope you'll agree that the HJ blog will prove a great new communication tool, and we look forward to hearing your comments!

Best wishes,

HJ