It’s a strong week for nonfiction when a Joan Didion collection (new collection, old essays) isn’t the most remarkable offering. Highlights include Cicely Tyson’s memoir, an autobiography of Ida B. Wells, Ben Montgomery’s rare history of justice in the Jim Crow era, and NYT columnist Charles Blow’s Black power manifesto. Fiction includes Keisha Bush’s debut novel, No Heaven for Good Boys, billed as a modern-day Oliver Twist set in Senegal. 9 new works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-january-26 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Fiction_Publishing_January_/218674 11 new nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-january-26 https://shop.aer.io/publishers_lunch/cl/New_Nonfiction_Publishing_January_/218676
Archives for January 2021
People, Etc.: Attorney Michael Rudell Dies
Entertainment attorney Michael I. Rudell, 78, died Monday. He was managing partner at Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, formed over 55 years ago, and represented many prominent authors. Staff recall, “His wicked wit, empathic personality, frustrating punning and extraordinary brilliance made him a star of the entertainment bar as well as the workplace.” Chris Dufault will move over to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group in the new role of senior vice president, group deputy publisher, publishing and sales operations, starting March 15 and reporting to president and publisher Maya Mavjee. He has been vp, group sales director for PRH. In the […]
November AAP Sales Rebounded On Big Hardcover Gains
Though we already know how the holiday sales season and year turned out from Bookscan, the AAP released their November StatShot report on Monday, showing a strong month of trade sales. The increases look big — trade sales of $870 million were well up from $649 million a year. But last November was a dismal outlier, so this year’s gain was more of a return to the norm, with sales running a little below the strong $883 million from November 2018. (Sales were $750 million in 2017, and $770 in 2016.) This year’s performance was helped considerably by the publication […]
Buzz Books Spring/Summer Preview: Nonfiction Part 1
Our season preview from our Buzz Books 2021 Spring/Summer sampler continues with nonfiction. Because of the number of titles, we have divided the preview in half, today featuring spring and summer books about politics and current events, social issues, and science and technology. The coming season includes titles from biography and memoir; history and crime; and essays and criticism. Get the “trade edition”of Buzz Books 2021 Spring/Summer from NetGalley or Edelweiss, or find the consumer editions all linked at our main Buzz Books website. Titles excerpted in Buzz Books are noted with an asterisk. (Please remember: Because we prepared this preview many months in advance, titles, content, and publication dates […]
Later This Week: Our Winter Editors Buzz Panel
Thanks to our co-presenter the American Booksellers Association plus kind enthusiasm from the community, we are expecting a packed virtual room for our winter Buzz Books Editors Panel this Wednesday at 7 PM EST. Make sure you register now if you have not done so already, and join moderator Jake Cumsky-Whitlock at Solid State Books in Washington, DC; co-hosts and authors Roz Chast and Patricia Marx; and seven great editors to hear about some of the season’s potential breakout titles
People, Etc.
Amanda Cook has been promoted to vice president and editorial director at Crown; and Madison Jacobs is now publishing manager. Vivian Lee will join Little, Brown on February 15, as senior editor acquiring fiction and non-fiction, reporting to Judy Clain. Lee most recently worked as an independent editor. Matteo Costa moves over to the consumer marketing team at Penguin Random House as vp, marketing development, reporting to Sanyu Dillon. He previously worked on the PRH author platforms team. At Princeton University Press, Alyssa Sanford and Matt Taylor have been promoted to publicist, and Tyler Hubbert has been promoted to promotions associate. Kuo-Yu Liang has […]