Spotify wants you to listen to audiobooks (This week in books)

This week! Books!

A few links for you on this sunny Friday in NYC.

In a move that could really shake up the audiobook industry, and thus the entire publishing industry, Joan Solsman at CNET reports that Spotify sees audiobooks as a massive area of growth, which was behind its recent acquisition of audiobook distributor Findaway. In order to facilitate audiobook sales, Spotify will depart from its traditional subscription model to offer a la carte sales.

Michelle Zauner was already acclaimed for her music as Japanese Breakfast, now she’s a bestselling memoirist as well. I really enjoyed her interview with David Marchese about the reception of Crying in H-Mart and her relationship with her parents.

Really enjoyed this little glimpse into James Patterson’s life.

And in writing advice news, agent Kate McKean reminds you that you can’t please everyone so just do your best, and a hearty “here here!” to Kristen Lamb for her reminder that novel-writing mastery really does matter despite what you hear in some circles.

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. Sparring Partners by John Grisham
2. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
4. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
5. Verity by Colleen Hoover

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
2. Killing the Killers by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
3. Finding Me by Viola Davis
4. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
5. Here’s the Deal by Kellyanne Conway

Young adult hardcover:

1. Family of Liars by E. Lockhart
2. Loveless by Alice Oseman
3. One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
4. Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean
5. I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
2. Refugee by Alan Gratz
3. Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman
4. When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
5. Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

This week on the blog

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

• Avoid aimless stage direction
• Be specific about who is doing what and why (query critique)

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 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, we all largely have a sense that social media is bad for us, collectively and individually. But does the nascent science around it back that up? It’s murky.

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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