Latest book news from The Bookseller

Lee's reign continues, Grey sales near one million Harper Lee has kept hold of the Official Top 50 top spot for a third consecutive week with Go Set A Watchman (Heinemann). It shifted 27,122 copies and made £315,252 through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market, which equated to a 52.9% drop week-on-week.

Major cutbacks for St Bride Foundation Library The St Bride Foundation Library, which dates from 1895 and has a historic collection of printing trade and typographical materials, will open on a limited, paid-for basis only from now on, instead of having weekly opening days for visitors. Meanwhile its library manager, the only member of library staff, has been made redundant.

John Blake to release Cilla Black book John Blake will publish a book about the late Cilla Black next week. Black, whose real name was Priscilla White, died on Saturday 1st August at her home in Spain after falling over, hitting her head and having a stroke. She was 72. On Monday 10th August John Blake will publish Cilla: 1943-2015 by journalist and biographer Douglas Thompson. The publishing house said Thompson had interviewed Black “many times over the years – in numerous locations including Los Angeles, Scotland and Manchester”.

Mike Richards leaves Egmont Egmont Books’ marketing director Mike Richards has left the company following a reorganisation of the marketing team. Richards has been in marketing at Egmont for 15 years, promoting authors and brands such as Michael Grant, Lemony Snicket, Jim Smith, Winnie-the-Pooh and Star Wars. He would not comment on why he was leaving the company when contacted by The Bookseller, but said he has no plans at this stage about future career moves. Egmont said the position has been removed from the business and there will be no like-for-like replacement.

Winton Prize for Science Books shortlist revealed A “page-turning thriller” about the race to crack the genetic code, a portrayal of life in European Organization for Nuclear Research's (CERN) underground bunker and an exploration of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are among the titles shortlisted for The Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books.

Sunday trading consultation opens today The government has launched a consultation today (5th August) on plans to give local areas the power to allow large shops to open for longer on Sundays to help compete with online retailers. The government’s department for Business, Innovation and Skills said the reforms would give metro mayors and local authorities the power to determine Sunday trading rules that “reflect the needs of local people and allow shops and high streets to stay open longer and compete with online retailers.”

Hachette Children’s hires literary scouts Hachette Children’s has hired Maria B Campbell Associates as literary scouts to the group. Maria B Campbell Associates, which was already acting as a scout for YA imprint Atom Books, will now look for books for imprints Hodder Children's Books, Orchard Books, Orion Children's Books, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Quercus Children's Books. C.e.o. Hilary Murray Hill said she is looking forward to “a dynamic and creative relationship”.

Boots and Amazon strike partnership Amazon and Boots have struck up a partnership for the cosmetics chain to sell one of the e-commerce giant's e-reading devices and its Fire tablets. Customers are being offered a £5 Amazon gift card as an incentive to buy a Kindle Paperwhite device or Fire tablet from Boots, as part of an Amazon push to encourage customers to take up digital reading over the summer holiday period, accompanied by the Twitter hashtag #KindleSummer. Amazon has a large pop-up stand in the entrance to Boots in Waterloo Station in London, advertising the new retail relationship (see below).