Judge Alan D. Albright of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division again ruled that Texas’s “READER Act,” which would require booksellers to rate every book they sell to public school libraries based on vague notions of “sexually explicit material,” is unconstitutional. He issued a permanent injunction against the law. Albright, who made the same ruling in 2023 before the case was appealed, agreed with plaintiffs Blue Willow Bookshop, BookPeople, the ABA, AAP, Authors Guild, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, that “READER can and does violate the First Amendment in several ways.” Albright […]
Ask an Expert: Agent Marietta Zacker
Marietta Zacker has worked with books, authors and illustrators throughout her career—studying, creating, editing, marketing, teaching and selling. She supports independent bookselling, believes in libraries and takes pride in her work as a Latina in the world of publishing. She is always on the lookout for visual and narrative stories that reflect the world we live in, not the bubbles in which we put ourselves. She loves books that make readers feel and shies away from those that set out to teach the reader a lesson. What is your philosophy for representation when you take on a client? What questions […]
Forthcoming: Josh Shapiro’s WHERE WE KEEP THE LIGHT
On January 27, Harper will publish WHERE WE KEEP THE LIGHT: Stories From a Life of Service by Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. According to a release, “in his book, Shapiro opens up about the toughest and most pivotal times of his life including: when an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s residence while he and his family slept inside, when he was under consideration to be Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election, and how experiences in his childhood shaped him to be the empathetic leader and pragmatic problem-solver that he is today.” VP, executive editor Sean Desmond acquired […]
WARN Notices Show the Extent of B&T Layoffs
As part of their company shutdown, Baker & Taylor will lay off 112 employees at their headquarters in North Carolina on January 23, and another 67 employees in New Jersey on January 4 and 23, according to WARN notices. On October 6, they let go 523 employees, the majority of whom worked at warehouses in Illinois and Georgia, though those states have not posted their WARN notices yet. Baker & Taylor has not filed for bankruptcy, and are handling liquidation privately with their main bank lender, CIT Northbridge Credit. As previously reported, B&T will not provide any severance to employees, and […]
New Books Publishing October 21
This week’s fiction releases include new novels by Joe Hill, Gish Jen, John Grisham, and a posthumous collection from Harper Lee, as well as PL’s own Erin Somers. New nonfiction includes memoirs by Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Malala Yousafzai. 20 works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-october-21 20 works of nonfiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-october-21 Also publishing this week are new titles by Olivie Blake and Angela Buchdahl, both excerpted in our Buzz Books 2025: Fall/Winter anthology. You can see the personable Buchdahl discuss her book at our nonfiction author/editor panel here (which has garnered over 3,000 views). We consult a number […]