A Mr. Beast book is coming… (This week in books)

This week! Books!

The wonderful organization We Need Diverse Books is launching the inaugural We Need Diverse Books Day next Thursday, April 3, and they have a range of suggested activities, from posting/sharing diverse books to making a donation to the organization. I’ll be returning to this subject next week, but for reasons that are probably readily apparent to you, WNDB’s work is more important than ever.

You probably knew that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta allegedly pirated a vast array of books to train its A.I. Imagine author Maris Kreizman’s surprise to find that they hoovered up her book too, WHICH HASN’T EVEN BEEN PUBLISHED YET.

Cat Zhang at The Cut profiles new S&S publisher Sean Manning, who has had a slightly atypical career path for a publishing executive as someone who worked a while in books-adjacent capacities before moving into the industry.

You may know Hachette as one of the Big 5 publishers in the United States, but the French company has become the subject of a mini-revolt among independent booksellers in its home country, who are chafing at its cultural dominance and the conservative views of its CEO, which they credit as contributing to the rise of the far right.

Your nephew’s favorite YouTube sensation Mr. Beast is teaming up with human juggernaut James Patterson on a Squid Games-esque thriller that is reportedly the subject of ten figure bidding war so… yeah. That is a thing that is happening in ye olde publishing industry.

If you are using A.I. to write your memoir… What are you even doing…

And my friend Tahereh Mafi is returning to the Shatter Me world with a new novel, Watch Me, and spoke with PW’s Iyana Jones about what it was like to return to the series as the real world grew more dystopian.

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. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
2. The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore
3. The Writer by James Patterson and J.D. Barker
4. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
5. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
2. Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
3. Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
4. Resolute by Benjamin Hall
5. The Tell by Amy Griffin

Young adult hardcover:

1. Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft
2. Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli
3. Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
4. Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
5. Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
2. Refugee by Alan Gratz
3. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
4. The Cursed Campground by FGTeeV with Joe Caramagna
5. Old School by Gordon Korman

This week on the blog

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

• A.I. has improved a lot. I’m still skeptical it’s useful for writing and editing
• How are you using A.I. these days?

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Bluesky
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally…

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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Photo: The Huntington, San Marino, CA