The National Book Festival will not be held at the Washington Convention Center this year. Instead, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced, they will organize a virtual festival, with online events the weekend of September 25–27.
The Bookseller’s YA Book Prize was given to Juno Dawson’s Meat Market (Quercus Children’s).
McNally Jackson owner Sarah McNally writes an op-ed for the NYT about why many New York landlords would rather see retail spaces sit empty than give rent concessions. (Admitting to lower rents reduces the value of the building.) “We could solve our vacancy problem for good if all landlords simply charged their tenants a fixed percentage of what stores actually make, perhaps in addition to a modest base rent. This is common in shopping malls, which try to create a bustling, diverse row of shops. Why isn’t our city government invested in the same thing? I have two stores in malls — at City Point in Brooklyn and at the Seaport — and they will survive the lockdown because my landlords and I are partners. That’s how it should be for every bookstore, restaurant and bodega across the city.”
Former president and ceo of Ingram Book Company and then Waldenbooks Harry Hoffman III, 92, died on May 20, at home in his sleep. He was 92.