Things are hotting up in the publishing world, as all the bookshops brace themselves for the Christmas rush. Books are launching in every cafe, motel and abandoned railcar, and authors are peering nervously from behind the shelves to see if the public are going to keep flicking through their book … or actually take it to the tills. You can pretty much guarantee that at least 80% of the crowd in a bookshop in the weeks running up to Christmas is there to spy.

The first launch we’re going to this week, also in our capacity as a spy, is Ghost Signs of Dublin, in Dublin.

Later this week we’re looking forward to the Dublin Book Festival. There’s a solid programme of events running, with some exceptional authors on show, including John Boyne, Kevin Barry and Alice Taylor. (Did you know that Alice Taylor’s To School through the Fields was until very recently, and may possibly still be, the best-selling book ever published in Ireland?)

On Friday, we refocus our digital mind to London, to the futurebook conference, that’s being run in conjunction with The Bookseller. The line-up looks awesome here, and we’re particularly interested in finding out more about Movellas.

While we’re flitting about to all these glamorous things, and as the rain turns us into drowned editorial rats, we’re probably going to be thinking of what books to buy for Chrismas. Once we’ve had a proper think, and fought our way through the crowds of authors and editors clogging up the bookshops, we’re going to put together a list of what we think are the best buys.

And we’re also going to talk a bit more about ghost-writing.

Till then …