Despite protests and violence at his book signing last Saturday in Eason’s bookshop on O’Connell Street, Tony Blair has easily secured the number one position in Ireland this week.

Blair’s memoir, A Journey, sold some 2,774 copies, some 350 more than the next bestselling title, the state’s Mathematical Tables, which sold 2,417.

Blair’s book sold some 800 more copies than Sheila O’Flanagan’s Stand By Me – the bestselling fiction title of the week with 1,956 sales.

According to sources at Eason’s the book sold some 700 copies during Blair’s signing.

The book offers ‘a frank account of a life in politics’ according to Blair himself and reveals his real opinions on Gordon Brown.

It has sold 92,060 copies in its first four days on sale in the UK, according to The Bookseller.

Irish author, Emma Donoghue has made the Booker Prize shortlist with her book, Room.

Speaking about the announcement Sarah Bannan, Head of Literature at The Arts Council, said, ‘In Room, Emma Donoghue has created a gripping and haunting work of fiction, one which stays with the reader long after the last page. She brings life to an authentic and original voice, and her prose is beautifully crafted. A gifted writer truly dedicated to her art, it is a great pleasure to see the book recognised by the Booker judging panel.”

Fellow Irish writer Paul Murray, whose book Skippy Dies was on the longlist, has not been included.

Donoghue has garnered considerabel attention since her nomination for a book that was “triggered” by the Fritzl case.

Her sales have been significant in Ireland and although overshadowed by Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap in the UK, she has sold well there.

Tsiolkas failed to make the shortlist.

The winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction will be announced on Tuesday 12 October at a dinner at London’s Guildhall.

The announcement will be broadcast on BBC News across television, radio and online.

The full short list is:
Peter Carey ~ Parrot and Olivier in America ~ Faber and Faber
Emma Donoghue ~ Room ~ Picador – Pan Macmillan
Damon Galgut ~ In a Strange Room ~ Atlantic Books – Grove Atlantic
Howard Jacobson ~ The Finkler Question ~ Bloomsbury
Andrea Levy ~ The Long Song ~ Headline Review – Headline Publishing Group
Tom McCarthy ~ C ~ Jonathan Cape – Random House

The Hughes & Hughes store in Dundalk, which was first opened in 2004, has reopened today creating eight jobs.

Derek Hughes, Managing Director, said, ‘To be re-opening our much acclaimed store in Dundalk is very gratifying and illustrates the long term confidence we have in Dundalk.  I am especially pleased for our Manager, Ellie Winters, and many of our staff, who will be rejoining us.’ He added that ‘Trading in our other five stores that have reopened has been very strong over the last three months and we are confident that Hughes & Hughes Dundalk will follow this trend.’

Ellie Winters, Hughes & Hughes Dundalk Manager said, ‘This is a great day for everyone in the Hughes & Hughes family and especially for people associated with the store here in Dundalk.  All eight of us are book enthusiasts and we are looking forward to sharing our knowledge and passion for books with our customers once again.’

The re-opened Dundalk store is still located at Clanbrassil Street, covers 3,200 sq ft and stocks 20,000 titles. The store offers a large young readers section including titles for pre-school age readers.

The new holding company that owns Hughes & Hughes, Sivota Limited, have now reopened six of the company’s former stores:
- Hughes & Hughes, St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, Dublin 2
- Hughes & Hughes, Pavillions Shopping Centre, Swords, Co. Dublin
- Hughes & Hughes, Omnipark, Santry, Dublin 9
- Hughes & Hughes, Dundrum Shopping Centre, Dublin 14
- Hughes & Hughes, Ennis, Co. Clare
- Hughes & Hughes, Clanbrassil Street, Dundalk, Co. Louth.

UPDATE: CHENILE KEOGH from Merlin has contacted IPN to clarify the position of Wolfhound titles saying, ‘this situation does not effect the Wolfhound list, all the Wolfhound titles are still on sale and will be for the foreseeable future.’

In a statement to Irish Publishing News the company said that ‘Due to the very significant downturn in the book trade which has seriously affected the level of sales of books, the Directors of Merlin Books Limited (trading as Merlin Publishing under the Merlin imprint), have made the decision to cease its current publishing activities. As a consequence, Merlin Publishing will not be releasing any new titles for the foreseeable future.’

Gill & Macmillan Distribution, who had acted as the publishers distribution agents, announced that they had ceased ‘acting as distributor to Merlin Publishing with immediate effect.’ They further said that ‘All future orders, returns requests and queries should be addressed directly to Merlin Publishing.’

Primarily known for its true crime titles like, Paul William’s Crime Wars and Gangsters, Merlin also publishes the Wolfhound list which it acquired from that list’s founder Seamus Cashman in 2001.

It is unclear from Merlin’s statement how this move affects the remaining staff at the publisher.

In 2008, following concerns over material about Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) investigations contained in Paul Williams’ bestselling Crime Wars, Merlin was forced to withdraw the book from sale.

A finding of contempt followed and in January 2009 High Court judge, Mr Justice Brian McGovern imposed a fine of €5000 plus costs on the company.

Later that year Merlin was forced to lay off a number of editorial and marketing staff.

Starting today with the figures for August, and monthly from now on, Irish Publishing News will report the Top Ten Bestselling ebooks through Eason’s ebook store.

Obviously this is only one outlet and the figures for ebook sales are in that way somewhat biased. However until we can secure more sales data from other sources, they’ll remain the best we have.

Interestingly they represent a very different top ten then the weekly print top ten (for the lastest see here). Though this list will cover fiction and non-fiction, no fiction title has made the list.

According to Stephen Boylan, Eason Books Purchasing Manager, the best selling non-fiction title is Matt Cooper’s Who Really Run’s Ireland, but it isn’t selling enough to make the top ten.

Boylan also said, ‘Non-fiction (including academic) is a strong seller, but it tends to be spread across a wider range of titles whereas the new titles in fiction have repeated hits.’

And so, courtesy of Easons, the first Irish Top Ten Ebooks:

1) Pieces of my Heart by Sinead Moriarty
2) The Help by Kathryn Stockett
3) The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
4) The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
5) The Radleys by Matt Haig
6) The Passage by Justin Cronin
7) Legend of a Suicide by David Vann
8) The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
9) Champagne Kisses by Amanda Brunker
10) Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

A rather excellent video featuring Jamie Byng, who’ll be appearing at Mountains To Sea in Dun Laoghaire in September

Upwardly mobile | moving in and what not
And he discusses new digs!
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Book Launch: Renegades: Irish Republican Women 1900-1922
Ann was on Pat Kenny yesterday, interesting book this one.
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Moving on
This really should be read, considered, parsed, filed and re-visited by publishers across the globe. It’s message, however unpalatable, is a vital one!
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Gollancz appoints Nash as digital publisher
On a very selfish level I admire Gollancz as a publisher, if only because they publish some of the finest sci-fi and fantasy.
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Miriam O’Callaghan and Mercier Press title
And why wouldn’t they? (I commissioned Moxie while working at Mercier Press)
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Sell, Socialise and Survive at the Frankfurt Book Fair
Good advice on Frankfurt. IPN will be there so don’t be afraid to send us your stories and releases!
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Edinburgh
Nice note on Edinburgh from Laura!
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Waterstone’s to open bar and restaurants
I think this makes sense, but don’t quote me on it!
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Samsung launches e-reader with W H Smith
When will the ebook and ereading bug bite home here? 
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PW Select: A Quarterly Service for Self-Published Authors to Launch in December
Publishers Weekly will launch a quarterly magazine in December focusing on announcements and reviews of self-published titles. However, listed self-published titles will come at a fee of $149 to the author and reviews will only be on selected titles.
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Publicity for Mercier Press titles
Three of Mercier Press titles were reviewed in national papers at the weekend.
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Reivew: Rules for a Perfect Life by Niamh Greene
IN Rules for a Perfect Life, each of the 27 chapters, like those in some self-help manuals, is headed by a maxim, which will, if followed, apparently change your life for the better.
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Tales of the Burren, and other places
A nice list of new local history titles
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Ireland’s desperadoes of the veld
Masked Raiders: Irish Banditry in Southern Africa, 1880-1899, By Charles van Onselen
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Book Club: Tenderwire by Claire Kilroy
An interesting move this!
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Review: Jumping in Puddles by Claire Allan
The Balamory lookalike seaside village of Rathinch may look postcard-perfect to summer visitors. But for locals who live there all year, it is a place of squinting windows, a hotbed of righteous gossip.
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Founder of the Waterstone bookshop chain, Tim Waterstone will join, Jamie Byng, whose publishing house Canongate published Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and the global success, Life Of Pi, author Matthew Kneale and journalist Rachel Cooke in the Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire to debate the future of reading, writing and books.

The session takes place on Sunday 12th September at 1.45pm as part of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown’s book festival, Mountains To Sea which is entering it’s second year in 2010.

The discussion comes at a time of great change in the world of books and the panel will explore this new digital landscape. With the launch in Ireland of Apple iPad and news that Amazon’s newest Kindle device is both the best selling Kindle ever and the best selling product on Amazon there will be much to discuss.

John Blake has signed a deal with Prizeman & Kinsella client and Showbiz editor for Irish Sun newspaper, Jennifer O’Brien for an authorised biography of ‘Jedward’, John and Edward Grimes, the former x-factor contestents.

The journalist will have ‘full access to their manic schedule in the run up to the festive season’ according to her agent Yvonne Kinsella.

The book will trace their route from birth to superstardom with exclusive material featuring judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Danni Minogue.

According to Kinsella the book will help ‘us understand just what celebrity judge Louis Walsh saw in the two lads who got booed off the stage from day one, only to become overnight sensations securing advertising deals, a number one album in Ireland, their own fashion line, a single due for release in the UK and Ireland for Christmas and a panto role.’

The book will be released in time for christmas and will coincide with the duo’s tur which starts in November.

The Irish Independent has launched a book club with a twist.

Instead of hosting the conversation online as with the Irish Times Book Club, the Independent instead is travelling around the country to meet with local book clubs to discuss their monthly choice.

The first book club to feature was The Gutter Bookshop Reading Group which meets once a month in the Gutter Bookshop in Cow’s Lane, Temple Bar.

The book under discussion was Clair Kilroy’s, Tenderwire.

The group is moderated by The Gutter Bookshop’s Bob Johnston, who selects the title for discussion each month.

Cló Morainn Covers
Nice post again!
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The economics of political memoirs
Interesting note on Political memoirs in the Uk and their sales!
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I Am Number Four – Pittacus Lore
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WH Smith slashes prices as e-book war intensifies
It’s getting hot and heavy there in ebooks!
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Smarter Than The Average Alec
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CALL ME ‘WRITER’ NOT ‘POET’, PLEASE
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James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Walt Whitman are a girl’s best friend
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The Life of a Full Time Writer – yep, that would be moi!
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Room
Nice review of Room from Raven Books
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Lennon takes the lead
Rampaging ex-paramilitaries, undercover cops and the return of familiar serial killers – there’s lots out there for lovers of the crime genre, writes DECLAN BURKE  
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Review: Girl In A Spin by Clodagh Murphy
Write what you know, they say, but Dublin author Clodagh Murphy has broken the rule and set her second novel in the world of British politics.
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The Temple House Festival – Music & The Arts
Was there for No Place Like Dome, smashing grounds.
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Go Read This | Author Ray Connolly explains why he is publishing his latest novel chapter by chapter, online | Books | The Guardian
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Panel Picking: SXSW 2011
It thrills me that the book community is actively participating in the South by Southwest Interactive festival.
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Movie adaptation – No Country for Old Men
I loved the book, just loved it! Aint seen the movie yet.
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Armouron Toys Hit the Shelves
Go Oisín
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More Concerns about Australia/New Zealand Bookselling Giant; McNally Jackson Still Waiting for Espresso to Brew
Bookstores in crisis everywhere it seems
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Learning some things at dinner in Sao Paolo
Fascinating post from Mike Sjatzkin
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