Zain Khalid’s debut novel is BROTHER ALIVE (Grove Press, July 12, 2022. Editor: Peter Blackstock, VP, Deputy Publisher, Grove Atlantic. Agent: Kent Wolf, Neon Literary.) He has been published in the New Yorker, The Believer, the Los Angeles Review of Books, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, and elsewhere. He has also written for television. He lives in New York City. How did you find your agent? He found me! He reached out after reading something of mine in The New Yorker. We ate a ribald lunch and discussed an idea for a short story about three orphaned brothers that would go on to become Brother […]
Archives for November 2022
Gunty, Perry Win National Book Awards
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty (Knopf) won the National Book Award for fiction at the 73rd annual awards ceremony—resuming an in-person event for the first time since 2019. Gunty, who didn’t prepare a speech, thanked her fellow nominees for “putting their work into the world.” She referenced something Sharon Olds had said at an event the previous day, “How we’ve been preparing to put forth actions for the good, and that’s why we don’t have to be afraid. And when I think about everyone else on this list, that’s what each of those books accomplished, as different as they may […]
People 11/16
At Simon & Schuster Children's, Katherine Devendorf has been promoted to vp, director managing editorial.
August Print Sales Fell 10 Percent
The AAP released StatShot data for August from participating publishers, reporting $686 million in trade sales, down (9.8) percent from $760 million last year—when stores had stocked up early for holiday sales due to supply chain issues. The month’s total for this year is well ahead of earlier past years’ numbers—$648 million in 2020 and $602 million in 2019. Adult sales were $475 million, a (9.3) percent decline from $523 million in August 2021. Hardcover sales fell (22.1) percent to $129 million and paperback sales were $174 million, down (5.6) percent. Mass market sales were $15 million, a decline of […]
Canada Council for the Arts Governor General’s Literary Awards
The Canada Council for the Arts announced the winner of its Literary Awards, with Sheila Heti's Pure Color winning the fiction prize.
Kobo Plus Subscription Services Add Audiobooks
In Canada, Kobo is expanding their Kobo Plus subscription ereading service to include an option for unlimited use of over 100,000 audiobooks. A single format — reading only, or listening only — costs $9.99 a month, and the combined reading and listening subscription is $12.99 a month. In a separate report on ebook reading and sales in 2022, Kobo says reading time on their platform in Canada declined “a slight seven per cent” compared to last year, “understandable given relative freedom from lockdowns and an easing of pandemic restrictions.”