Write what makes you excited (This week in books)

This week! Books!

First up, thanks everyone for all the well wishes this past week, they meant a lot. I’m doing much better now and things should start picking up again around here. (And I’m still available to edit your work).

Being sick these past few weeks has not been fun at all, but I’m immensely lucky to have been able to weather it all at home. If you’re able, please join me in donating to Feeding America, which provides food to those in need. A lot of people are facing immense challenges these days, and we all need to pull together.

Now for the books and writing links.

Despite many bookstores being shut down and Amazon de-prioritizing books, print sales held steady in the past week, led by an uptick in kids’ nonfiction.

As many non-essential businesses around the country are shut down to encourage social distancing, bookstores are making the case that they are essential businesses.

How is the publishing industry faring during the time of coronavirus? Should you be querying? Where do we go from here? Agent Janet Reid, says: “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone really does.” And agent Jessica Faust: “It’s too early to tell the full impact of the Coronavirus on publishing.”

I’m hoping to write some more on the broader impact soon. Stay tuned.

But in the meantime: keep writing! My friends Christina Lauren, whose book The Honey-Don’t List was published this week, have some great advice in Writers Digest: write what makes you excited.

Does your book’s structure need work? Here are five signs from Savannah Cordova.

LitHub has a second round of quarantine book recommendations.

And Sesame Workshop has made 100 Sesame Street e-books available for free!

This week in bestsellers

Here are the top five NY Times bestsellers in a few key categories. (All links are affiliate links):

Adult print and e-book fiction:

1. The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben
2. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
3. Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs
4. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
5. Hit List by Stuart Woods

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
2. Untamed by Glennon Doyle
3. Educated by Tara Westover
4. Open Book by Jessica Simpson with Kevin Carr O’Leary
5. The Great Influenza by John M. Barry

Young adult hardcover:

1. Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
2. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
3. Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
4. One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus
5. Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Wings of Fire: Legends: Dragonslayer by Tui T. Sutherland
2. Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid by Jeff Kinney
3. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
4. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
5. Refugee by Alan Gratz

This week on the blog

Don’t forget that you can nominate your first page and query for a free critique on the blog:

• Nominate Your First Page for a Critique on the Blog
• Nominate Your Query for a Critique on the Blog

And finally, the coronavirus coverage in The Atlantic has been really incredible from the start, and I’d encourage everyone to subscribe (though they’ve made their coronavirus content free). This is the best summary I’ve seen on how the rest of this ordeal will play out.

Have a great weekend!

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.

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