With the season’s book events cancelled and digital promotion taking on a more important role than ever, today we launch two installments in the most successful sampler program in publishing: Buzz Books 2020 Fall/Winter and Buzz Books 2020: Romance. The Fall/Winter sampler presents excerpts from 30 highly anticipated fall titles, bringing together debut voices, beloved authors, breakout books, provocative nonfiction, and a selection of new YA titles as well. Plus, the anthology begins with a comprehensive preview from Publishers Lunch of hundreds of noteworthy Fall/Winter books to have on your radar. It’s all the fun and discovery of galley grabbing and booth surfing at Book Expo, in a work-from-home package. (We’ve been preparing for digital sampling and discovery at scale since we started Buzz Books nine years ago — and there’s an established audience of booksellers, librarians, reviewers and pre-ordering book lovers who eagerly anticipate each new Buzz collection.) And with publishers withdrawing from this year’s RWA well before the pandemic was an issue, we knew authors and publishers would need launch and discovery platforms more than ever.
Let’s review the basics: Most Publishers Lunch readers will want the trade editions of Buzz Books, which include marketing/publicity and rights information and contacts for all of the titles, plus easy click-throughs to read or request full digital galleys on most titles. Download the trade editions to read on your platform of choice from NetGalley or Edelweiss, where our samplers regularly top the most downloaded lists and drive further discovery, along with hundreds of reviews.
For viral sharing among readers, the consumer editions of Buzz Books 2020 Fall/Winter are available for download now for Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Kobo, and Google Play, among other online retailers, with click-throughs for preorders within each ebookstore. (Also all linked at our main Buzz Books website.)
This year, for the first time, we’re taking the discovery adventure even further and convening a Publishers Lunch Buzz Books Presents (#LunchBuzz) Zoom panel of six top editors presenting breakout fall titles in the format you know and love, on Wednesday, May 20 at 7 pm EDT. We’ve curated the feature titles from the latest edition of our popular digital samplers, and we have other surprises in store. (The event will also serve as a fundraiser for BINC.) Pre-registration is available here. Our digital panel will feature titles by Ashley Audrain, Victoria Gosling, Bryan Washington, Simon Stephenson, Becky Cooper, and Vendela Vida.
The Romance sampler can also be downloaded from NetGalley or Edelweiss (in trade editions), with the consumer version available for Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Google Play, and Kobo.
Prepare for the coming season by downloading our free Buzz Books collections, and join the viral buzzmaking on social media at #BuzzBooks2020. Buzz Books are one of our favorite “good for everyone” projects — from authors and publishers to booksellers, librarians and readers — and they are driven by a wide circle of cooperation, enthusiasm and partnership. It starts with the participating authors, agents and publishers, and moves to our ebook distribution and promotion partners. Thanks to all, and enjoy the buzz!