This week! Books! Hundreds of Simon & Schuster employees and over 3,500 other supporters signed a letter calling upon S&S CEO Jonathan Karp to stop publishing books by former members of the Trump Administration, including Vice President Mike Pence, who recently received a reported multi-million book deal for his memoir. The letter cited Pence’s advocacy […]
Kate McKean
98% of books released in 2020 sold less than 5,000 copies (This week in books)
This week! Books! A factoid this week about the publishing industry certainly got some eyeballs popping. In an article about how the publishing industry is weathering the pandemic, Alexandra Atler and Elizabeth A. Harris noted that 98% of the books newly published in 2020 sold fewer than 5,000 copies. Sales have inexorably drifted to the […]
Amanda Gorman’s books poised for 3 million first printing (This week in books)
This week! Books! I was a bit unplugged from the news and social media this week, but I still saw a few links to share with you. Amanda Gorman’s stunning poem The Hill We Climb is one of her three upcoming books that will be released in 2021, and Penguin Random House is planning on […]
Matthew Salesses challenges assumptions about writing craft (This week in books)
This week! Books! We had a peaceful and inspiring inauguration day, and 22-year-old Youth Poet Laurette Amanda Gorman was a breakout star with her incredible poem “The Hill We Climb.” Penguin Random House is rushing to publish a hardcover edition the poem, which is already available for pre-sale. Speaking of politics, Ibram X. Kendi published […]
National book award winners! (This week in books)
This week! Books! It was a big week in the book world! Congrats to the National Book Award winners! Fiction: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu Nonfiction: The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Tamara Payne and Les Payne Poetry: DMZ Colony by Don Mee Choi Translated literature: Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu […]
Is it OK to resend a query? (This week in books)
This week! Books! President Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land arrives next Tuesday, which is going to have massive reverberations in the bookselling world, not least of which because it clocks in at a hefty $45 list price. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reviewed it for the New York Times, and Smithsonian Magazine looks at where it […]
