Houghton Mifflin Harcourt up for sale (This week in books)

This week! Books!

Yes, it’s a Saturday edition of TWIB but, like, what is time? Will every day be election day in the future? Who can say??

On to the links!

Bestselling YA author Justina Ireland is offering a series of really fantastic writing advice dispatches in her newsletter, I highly recommend subscribing!

It appears as if the consolidation of US trade publishing is going to continue, as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is up for sale. HMH isn’t one of the “Big 5” major publishers, but it’s still a sizable publisher.

This is a time of tremendous anxiety for many people, and I saw two really great posts on fear and anxiety this week. First by writer Judy Lee Dunn, who writes about confronting fear, and the other by agent DongWon Song, who writes about the usefulness and perils of anxiety.

What’s the key to a successful author/agent relationship? Agent Jessica Faust weighs in.

And upstart indie online bookselling company Bookshop.org has expanded to the UK.

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 Sentinel by Lee Child and Andrew Child
2. A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
3. The Return by Nicholas Sparks
4. Three Women Disappear by James Patterson and Shan Serafin
5. Shakeup by Stuart Woods

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
2. Untamed by Glennon Doyle
3. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
4. Group by Christie Tate
5. Killing Crazy Horse by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

Young adult hardcover:

1. Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
2. Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
3. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
4. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
5. All This Time by Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure by Jeff Kinney
2. The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate
3. Bill Nye’s Great Big World of Science by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone
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

In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:

• How to format a query letter
• Don’t rely on empty banter to show personality (page critique)

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Twitter
• Follow my page on Facebook
• Join the Facebook Group
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally, as it appears as if we will be in the midst of a transition as a country, it’s worth confronting what about the last four years was and wasn’t an aberration for the United States.

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 guide to writing a novel (now available in audio) and my guide to publishing a book.

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