Hachette wins three at Trade Nibbies

Hachette was the big winner at the inaugural Bookseller Industry Awards clinching three prizes, while Foyles was awarded chain bookseller of the year.

Little, Brown took the prestigious Publisher of the Year award.

Around 600 people attended the awards ceremony in London this evening (17th May), which was held at the Royal Courts of Justice. It is the first time The Bookseller has run the awards, uniting its former retail awards with the long-standing Trade Nibbies.

Bookseller editor-in-chief and chairman of judges Neill Denny said: "This may be a tough period for the trade but all the winners of these awards represent terrific success stories that we can all learn from—the book trade is full of inspiring and creative businesses.

"We have extended the principle of open and transparent judging that we pioneered in our retail awards across the full width of the trade, and I can be very confident that these winners, from the biggest to the smallest, are 'best of breed'."

Little, Brown was the Publishing Technology Publisher of the Year, in part for its runaway success with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, the publishing phenomenon of 2009. Its young adult imprint Atom sold 16 million copies of the vampire series worldwide last year.

However, judges noted even after stripping out the success of Meyer, sales and profits at Little, Brown grew last year. One judge said: “There was strong publishing across the board. Against a backdrop of slipping sales [across the trade in general], Little Brown’s was an astonishing achievement.”

It capped a successful night for the Hachette publisher. Lennie Goodings, editor at Little, Brown imprint Virago, won the Bookseller’s Imprint and Editor of the Year. Buoyed by its literary awards, including Marilynne Robinson’s Orange Prize-winning Home, and list of titles selected for television book clubs, judges also singled out Virago’s balance of the commercial and critical success. One said: “Lennie sticks by her authors and comes up with winner after winner after winner—all the while remaining exceptionally modest.”

Hachette UK’s Printer Direct Delivery Solution was the recipient of Hachette’s third prize of the evening, winning the IBS Bookmaster Innovation in the Publishing Supply Chain award.

London independent Foyles won the most high profile retail award, walking away with the Martina Cole General or Chain Bookselling Company of the Year prize. Judges hailed its “big values, bold ideas and bookselling prowess”.

A hotly contested Lightning Source Independent Publisher of the Year was ultimately won by John Blake. Fellow indie Quercus clinched the Nielsen Marketing Campaign of the Year award for its work on Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy.

Hampshire independent One Tree Books was the Gardners Books Independent Bookseller of the Year with judges lauding its ability to demonstrate “how sustainable independent bookselling should be done today”.

W H Smith was Usborne Children’s Bookseller of the Year and the Book Depository won the BDS Direct Bookselling Company of the Year prize. The Mainstreet Trading Company, an independent in the Scottish Borders, won Walker Books Children’s Independent Bookseller.

Among the other winners were HarperCollins, whose social networking site authonomy.com won FutureBook Digital Innovation of the Year. Luigi Bonomi was announced as Orion Literary Agent of the Year. Penguin’s Joe Pickering’s work promoting David Vann’s Legend of a Suicide resulted in him winning the PPC Publicity Campaign of the Year.

Haynes’ Graham Cook won Frankfurt Book Fair Rights Professional of the Year.

Blackwell’s Charing Cross Road manager Steve Orchard triumphed in the Wiley Manager of the Year category while Waterstone’s Dorking’s Clare Boothby was named the Sue Butterworth Young Bookseller of the Year.

The winners in full
Sue Butterworth Young Bookseller of the Year - Clare Boothby, Waterstone’s
Dorking

Frankfurt Book Fair Rights Professional of the Year - Graham Cook, Haynes

PPC Publicity Campaign of the Year - Joe Pickering, Penguin

IBS Bookmaster Innovation in the Publishing Supply Chain - Hachette UK’s
Print Direct Delivery Solution

Walker Books Children’s Independent Bookseller - Mainstreet Trading Company,
St Boswells

Wiley Manager of the Year - Steve Orchard, Blackwell Charing Cross Road

Orion Literary Agent of the Year - Luigi Bonomi, LBA

The Bookseller Imprint and Editor of the Year - Lennie Goodings, Virago

BDS Direct Bookselling Company of the Year - The Book Depository

Futurebook Digital Innovation of the Year - HarperCollins - authonomy.com

Usborne Children’s Bookseller of the Year - W H Smith

Nielsen Marketing Campaign of the Year - Quercus - Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy

Gardners Books Independent Bookseller of the Year - One Tree Books, Petersfield

Lightning Source Independent Publisher of the Year - John Blake

Martina Cole General or Chain Bookselling Company of the Year - Foyles

Publishing Technology Publisher of the Year - Little, Brown