Between the covers: 03/02/2013

Your weekly guide to what's really going on inside the world of books

* News from our mole at the Jaipur Literature Festival: the Booker-winning novelist and Independent columnist Howard Jacobson was mobbed by teenage girls. Jacobson appeared in several events, talking about "The Novel of the Future" and "The Jewish Novel" as well as starring in sessions about his own work. And how does he feel about being the Justin Bieber of Indian letters? Really touched, he told us. "One girl could recite the last line of The Finkler Question. India is where real reading is happening."

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Congratulations to Jojo Moyes, another stellar author who used to write for The Independent. MGM has bought the film rights to her last but one book, Me Before You, and is planning to make a movie with Moyes as script consultant. "Jojo's book is frankly one of the most unique, emotional and engaging love stories written in recent years," said the company's president, Jonathan Glickman. The news came out at the Costa Prize party on Tuesday evening, at Quaglino's in London, which by coincidence was full of actors. Did Moyes spot anyone who might play Will, a man who has to use a wheelchair following an accident, and Lou, who becomes his carer? Gary Kemp? Sophie Ward? Maureen Lipman? Helen Lederer? Patricia Hodge? Jenny Agutter? Maybe not …

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This season's most fashionable literary canapé is the cheese straw, we can reveal. They first appeared at the Orange Prize last summer, and were liberally distributed around the Costa Prize this week. There's even a recipe for them in Mary Berry's Baking Bible (BBC Books, £25).

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Another Indy writer appears in a new anthology of ghost stories whose profits will be used to support a children's home in India. Christopher Fowler, the IoS's "Invisible Ink" columnist, is one of 14 authors who have contributed stories to Dark World, which is published by Tartarus Press and edited by a 17-year-old A-level student, Timothy Parker Russell. He will be visiting the Amala Children's Home in Tamil Nadu in July 2013, and has produced the paperback to raise funds for its work. "There is an intriguing story from Jayaprakash Satyamurthy set in Bangalore and Dubai," he says, "and a beautiful tale from Fowler about an Indian palace. In Reggie Oliver's 'Come into My Parlour', horrors are closer to home, while Stephen Holman locates his unsettling story in a Los Angeles arts academy." Next up, Timothy is off to study English at university. The book is available from www.tartaruspress.com at £14.95.

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The venerable publisher Random House caused a Twitter storm last weekend (like a storm in a teacup, but quicker), when an employee used its account to tweet: "I step in the Random House building like I'm the shit / tell 'em gimme 50k Announced First Print – or I'ma quit." It was the new boss of social media at parent company Knopf, who is a fan of the lyrics of Kanye West. "We're still getting a feel for what works and what's fun on Knopf socials," he explained.