Booknews

STRUIK NATURE AND ZEBRA PRESS LAUNCH E-BOOK LIBRARY APPS FOR IPAD

Two Random House Struik imprints have just launched e-book library apps for the iPad. The apps, Earth & Nature (Struik Nature) and South Africa in Print (Zebra Press), will house a wide selection of natural history and current events e-books at discounted prices.

Cape Town Book Fair 2012: Revamped and Ready to Wow

After an almost two-year absence, The Cape Town Book Fair is back – remodelled and set to impress. The Fair will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 15 – 17 June.

Previously an annual event, last year the organisers announced that the Cape Town Book Fair would become a biennial event, starting in 2012. To support this re-launch, the Fair is under new management and has undergone an impressive branding transformation too, with a revamped logo, website and new marketing material.

Write your personal story

Random House Struik and GetSmarter, South Africa’s leading online educator, are proud to present the second presentation of the Random House Struik Write a Non-Fiction Story course. The 10-week part-time course, which starts on 7 May 2012, is presented entirely online through GetSmarter’s innovative online learning platform.

Everyone has a personal story to tell. Whether it’s an autobiography, memoir, a biography of a fascinating family member, a travel adventure or a historical account, people want to write their stories and preserve their memories for posterity. However, few people feel that they have the time, money or opportunity to learn how to craft personal, engaging non-fiction stories.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS: THOMAS PRINGLE AWARDS 2011

The English Academy of Southern Africa is pleased to announce the winners of the Thomas Pringle Awards. The Thomas Pringle Awards recognise writers who have demonstrated extraordinary insights in their work. Two of the three categories run this year have been finalised.

UMUZI WINS AUCTION FOR NEW LAUREN BEUKES NOVEL

Random House Struik is delighted to announce that its Umuzi imprint has acquired the next two novels by star novelist Lauren Beukes.

Umuzi’s bid won a closely contested auction for southern African rights conducted by Beukes’s agent Oliver Munson of Blake Friedmann Literary Agency in London last week.

The rising trajectory of Cape Town-based author Lauren Beukes started with her first futuristic novel Moxyland (2008) and continued with Zoo City (2010), for which she received the internationally prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award.

Effective Internet Writing ~ Facebook hit a trillion page views this month

Google reported that Facebook hit a trillion page views this month. Writing for the Internet is the key to your company’s online success.

“Storytellers will be the heroes of the 21 st century.” ~Kevin Roberts, Worldwide CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi.

Booksellers' Choice Award winner announced

Alex Smith wins this year’s Booksellers’ Choice Award 2011
Wednesday, 17 August 2011, Woking, UK

Writer, teacher, textile merchant and bookseller, Alex Smith is the winner of this year’s award for: Four Drunk Beauties

Simon Skinner, Sales Director Nielsen BookData, presented Alex Smith with a cheque for Rand 20,000. Nielsen has sponsored the Booksellers’ Choice Award and supported the Sefika Awards for many years. Following the awards presentations, Simon Skinner said: “I was delighted to present the award to Alex Smith and to offer my warm congratulations both to her and to Random House, her publisher. We are proud to support these awards and work with publishers, booksellers and writers to reward writing of a very high calibre. Last year’s winner was John van de Ruit who previously won in 2006 and there has been a string of high profile authors winning this award in the past. We are delighted to be associated with the South African book industry.”

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Wall of Days by Alastair Bruce to be published in the UK

The novel Wall of Days by debut novelist Alastair Bruce, published by Umuzi in 2010, is heading for big things.

It is being released in the United Kingdom this month and will be launched at the Edinburgh Festival on 18 August 2011. The UK publisher, which has acquired world English rights excluding southern Africa, is Clerkenwell Press. This brand new imprint of the prestigious publisher Profile Books (also owners of Serpent’s Tail and The Economist Books) has selected Wall of Days as one of its three launch titles.

Communicate or Face the Consequences

Will the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) be anything like the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA)?

The CCMA deals with over 100 000 cases a year. How many will the new Commission deal with?

RHS Creative Writing student gets published

Random House Struik and leading online education company, GetSmarter are pleased to announce that Stanley Kenani has been chosen as the first author to be published under eKhaya, the brand new ebook imprint from Random House Struik. Kenani was a student on the GetSmarter and Random House Struik Creative Writing course, which offers students the opportunity to submit their manuscripts to be considered for publication.