The chill over the publishing world (This week in books)

This week! Books!

Trump’s return chills embattled LGBTQ book industry: ‘They’re stepping back’ – Surina Venkat, The Hill / What if Editors Don’t Want <Your Kind of Book> Anymore? – Kate McKean, Agents + Books – We’ve long suspected that book bans and censorship have cast a chill over the publishing world, particularly on the children’s side, and Surina Venkat from The Hill has some publishing folks on the record saying yes, the effect is real. Agent and author Kate McKean also wrote a helpful corrective perspective not to over-index on these quotes, as there’s nothing absolute in the book world.

Twin Cities Bookstores Contend With ICE – Claire Kirch, Publishers Weekly – As they have across the country with disasters natural and man-made, bookstores in Minneapolis are serving as community hubs during the horrific recent ICE raids, despite financial and emotional tolls.

Wiley Names Inaugural AI Chief – Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly – Nonfiction publisher Wiley has appointed a chief AI officer to commercialize “AI-driven offerings” and transforming “content and data into high-value intelligence products and services.” Lovely.

Why Did the Publisher Do That? – Kate McKean, Agents + Books – Rachel Reid stans have discovered the age-old publishing tradition of metadata “leaks.”

Wish Fulfillment Every Day: A Conversation with Rachel Kahan, Executive Editor at William Morrow – Alia Hanna Habib, Delivery & Acceptance – An enjoyable wide-ranging interview with editor Rachel Kahan on changing tastes, adapting to the market, and careers in publishing.

George Saunders Says Ditching These Three Delusions Can Save You – David Marchese, New York Times – Saving this one for the weekend.

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 Housemaid by Freida McFadden
2. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
3. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
4. The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave
5. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
2. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
3. Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
4. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
5. Firestorm by Jacob Soboroff

Young adult hardcover:

1. Dragon Cursed by Elise Kova
2. Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
3. If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin
4. Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter
5. Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
2. Refugee by Alan Gratz
3. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
4. The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
5. Growing Home by Beth Ferry

This week on the blog

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

• How often to follow up with a literary agent

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Bluesky
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally:

A New Understanding of Human Beings’ Most Basic Desire – John Kaag, The Atlantic – Already can’t wait to read Rebecca Newberger Goldstein’s new book, which posits that staving off entropy is the key to the meaning of life.

Have a great weekend! Abolish ICE!

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