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Uptick
Despite some softness on the adult side, unit sales of print books trended up in 2025 led by Mel Robbins’s The Let Them Theory, which sold more than 2.8 million copies. Bible sales also continued to rise last year after a huge pandemic-era boost, posting record numbers in the U.S. and U.K. Amid the box office success of The Housemaid, Freida McFadden has inked a three-book deal with longtime publisher Sourcebooks, extending through 2028. Plus, we’ve rounded up all the January book club picks you need to know about. Almost 50 writers are boycotting Australia’s Adelaide Festival of Arts after Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah was dropped from the lineup. Romance publisher 831 Stories has joined Substack to share news and host a Wuthering Heights reading group. The Globe and Mail highlights the symbiotic relationship between children’s publishers and school librarians. Vulture profiles University of Pennsylvania professor Justin McDaniel, who seems to have discovered the secret to getting students reading: existential despair. And Nancy Nordhoff, cofounder of the Hedgebrook women's writing retreat, has died at 93.
A mild rebound in children’s book sales helped to offset softness on the adult side, resulting in a 0.3% increase in unit sales of print books in 2025 over 2024. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins was last year’s top-selling title. more »
In 2025, sales of the Christian scripture hit a 21-year high in the U.S., according to Circana BookScan, with 19 million units sold. Meanwhile, in the U.K., sales were at “their highest point on record,” per SPCK Group CEO Sam Richardson. more »
Jenna Jankowski at Sourcebooks’ Poisoned Pen Press took world English print rights to three hardcover fiction titles by McFadden in an exclusive submission by Christina Hogrebe of Jane Rotrosen Agency. The deal follows the box office success of the film adaptation of The Housemaid. more »
Reese’s Book Club selects the sequel to The Last Thing He Told Me, Read with Jenna spotlights Stefan Merrill Block’s debut memoir, and more. more »
In 2024, publishers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands signed 4,250 contracts representing $85 million in foreign rights sales—a significant sum relative to the size of their markets. more »
RBmedia, one of the world’s largest audiobook publishers, announced this week that its catalog has surpassed 100,000 titles across 13 brands. more »
Deadline: Jan. 26. Pub dates: May 1–August 31, 2026. We’re looking for information about your biggest adult titles to be published from May 1 to August 31, 2026, to be included in our on-sale calendar, an ongoing feature on our website. Click here for more information. »
IPG signs two graphic novel publishers, and Lunar Distribution has inked a nationwide agreement with Warrant Publishing. more »
The author’s latest novel is a provocative exploration of immigration in America—readers can expect a bumpy ride. more »
- Freelance Design Professional - Library Ideas, LLC - Anywhere in the US.
- National Account Sales Assistant - Fox Chapel Publishing - Mount Joy, PA.
- Editorial Assistant, UNSQ Adult Editorial - Hachette Book Group.
- Director, Publishing Services (Consortium) - Ingram Content Group - Minneapolis, MN.
- Social Media Specialist - Ave Maria Press - Notre Dame, IN.
Job Moves
- Melanie Koch has been promoted to VP of subsidiary rights at Penguin Publishing Group.
- Wes Jakacki has joined HarperChristian Resources as VP of marketing.
- Elizabeth Guthrie, formerly talent director and literary agent at Lucinda Literary, has joined P.S. Literary Agency as associate literary agent.
- Elizabeth Trout has been promoted to senior editor at Kensington Books.
- Jisu Kim has been promoted to sales and operations director at Grove Atlantic.
Bookstore News
- Romance Bookstore Lands in Texas: Finney’s Books opened in East Austin last month.
- Indie Bookshop Comes to North Carolina: Box Turtle Books will host its grand opening in Shelby this weekend.
- Binc Opens Denver Scholarship Apps: The Book Industry Charitable Foundation will offer up to $7,000 for current booksellers to attend the Denver Publishing Institute. Applications are accepted through February 6.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi is #1 on our overall list this week. See the full list »
‘Kutchinsky’s Egg: A Family’s Story of Obsession, Love, and Loss’ by Serena Kutchinsky“When Paul Kutchinsky, heir to a London jewelry dynasty, risked his fortune to create a massive bejeweled egg, the price of failure was his business, marriage, and legacy, according to this spellbinding debut investigation by his eldest daughter, journalist Serena Kutchinsky.” more »
Picture of the Day
On January 6, debut authors Rebecca Novak (l.) and Lior Torenberg (r.) celebrated their upcoming novels Murder Bimbo and Just Watch Me, respectively, at Avid Reader Press’s Chaotic Neutral Happy Hour hosted at KGB Bar in Manhattan.
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Rising Stars
We rounded up 15 of the spring season’s buzziest debut authors of literary and children’s fiction. Children’s publisher Marble Press has expanded into adult titles upon acquiring the catalog of CamCat Books from Baker & Taylor. Sage Publishing has agreed to send a revised notice to its authors about their claims to Anthropic’s $1.5 billion copyright payout, after sending a misleading email in December about the settlement. Ahead of the Netflix adaptation of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation, Glamour talked with the romance author about her first forays into the film world. The Comics Journal does a postmortem on the lost art of the newspaper comic strip. Lit Hub’s Maris Kreizman recommends two new titles that help demystify the path to publication. Joyland Editions publisher Michelle Lyn King chats with author Sophie Strohmeier about the process of editing Joyland’s sophomore title, for Dirt. And the New York Times profiles children’s graphic novel titan Dav Pilkey.
This season’s buzzy adult and YA fiction debuts, including stories of a sex worker assassin, a New York cab driver accused of murder, and a Latina teen poet, are all about controlling the narrative. more »
The San Francisco–based children’s publisher has acquired the catalog and IP of CamCat Books from the soon-to-close Baker & Taylor in a transaction that includes 124 YA and adult titles. Marble cofounder Susan Szecsi said the press was “pleased to provide continuity for the catalog.” more »
After sending a missive that the Textbook & Academic Authors Association said misled authors about how much of the settlement proceeds they could receive, Sage Publishing has agreed to correct its original message. more »
Follett Content Solutions, the largest provider of children’s and YA print books to the U.S. preK–12 market, and Sora, the student reading app from OverDrive, are teaming up to provide schools with more streamlined purchasing access to a full range of print and digital materials for their students. more »
Budding bibliophiles who have graduated from easy readers but are not quite ready for longer books will have a new line of books just for them next spring. Simon & Schuster is introducing Star Chapter Books, an assortment of illustrated fiction for ages five through nine, designed to support developing reading skills. more »
Since its launch in 2022, Palestinians in Kidlit, a support group for established and aspiring creators, has helped usher nine books into print. We spoke with Hannah Moushabeck—author and co-owner of the Palestinian-owned, Massachusetts-based Interlink Publishing—and fellow members of the group about the importance of lifting up Palestinian voices and stories. more »
Princeton University Press’s Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series offers contemporary translations of classic philosophical works that weigh in on timeless topics from life, death, and politics to sports and travel. more »
Before finishing her latest novel, the bestselling author had to overcome serious illness and self-doubt. more »
A speed dating event becomes a blood bath in the debut author’s horror rom-com hybrid, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates (Gallery, Feb.). more »
- Freelance Design Professional - Library Ideas, LLC - Anywhere in the US.
- National Account Sales Assistant - Fox Chapel Publishing - Mount Joy, PA.
- Editorial Assistant, UNSQ Adult Editorial - Hachette Book Group.
- Director, Publishing Services (Consortium) - Ingram Content Group - Minneapolis, MN.
- Social Media Specialist - Ave Maria Press - Notre Dame, IN.
Job Moves
- Kim Lindman, formerly literary agent and contracts and royalties manager at Stonesong, has joined Simon & Schuster as associate manager of contracts.
- Chantal Canales has been promoted to associate marketing manager at Viking Penguin.
- Clarissa Hadge has joined Simon & Schuster’s independent sales team as field account manager for New England.
- Lauren Ortiz has joined Fortier Public Relations as assistant director.
Awards News
- Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize Winner: Marilyn Booth’s translation of Honey Hunger by Zahran Alqasmi has won this year’s Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, presented by the U.K.-based Banipal Trust.
Bookstore News
- California Bookshop to Relocate: Due to financial hardship, the Latina-owned Casita Bookstore will move to a smaller location in Long Beach.
- Indie Bookstore Revamps in Denver: West Side Books and Curios will reopen later this month following a remodeling.
- Indie Bookshop Expands in Ohio: Prologue Bookstore in Columbus will move to a larger space this spring.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi is the #1 title on our trade paperback bestseller list. See the full list »
‘The Distance of a Shout’ by Michael Ondaatje“Ondaatje presents a superb and comprehensive collection of selected works, or ‘condensary of time,’ that crystallizes for devotees and new readers alike the poet’s lifelong devotion to place.... Readers will revel in this astonishing volume.” more »
Picture of the Day
On January 6, author Nikki Shannon Smith (r.) and illustrator Don Tate (c.) celebrated the launch of their new picture book, Prince: A Little Golden Book Biography (Golden Books), with a “purple party” at Avid Reader Bookstore in Davis, Calif. Joining Smith and Tate was fellow children’s author Mike Jung (l.).
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Books of the Moment
Indie booksellers reported brisk sales this holiday season, largely thanks to a handful of hot titles including Virginia Evans’s The Correspondent, Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry, and John U. Bacon’s Gales of November. In the first new freedom to read lawsuit since the Supreme Court declined to hear Little v. Llano County, Kurt Vonnegut’s estate and the ACLU of Utah are challenging the state’s new “sensitive material review” law. McGraw Hill has appointed former tech exec Philip Moyer as its next CEO, and International Literary Properties has added publishing vets James Meader and Jennifer Bassuk to its leadership team. A film adaptation of Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid’s Secret is in the works following the box office success of The Housemaid, according to Variety. Skyhorse’s Regnery imprint will publish a book by Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado, reports the New York Times. UNESCO has named the Moroccan capital of Rabat as this year’s World Book Capital, per Time Out. The New Yorker revisits the work of pioneering literary fraudster Joan Lowell. And British author and editor David Roberts has died at 81.
Despite consumer anxiety and shipping delays, indie booksellers had a strong holiday season thanks to several surprise bestsellers, including an account of a 1976 shipwreck, a debut epistolary novel, a queer hockey romance, and an Ann Patchett–approved picture book. more »
The ACLU of Utah, on behalf of the Kurt Vonnegut estate, three authors, and two students, argues that portions of House Bill 29, the “sensitive material review” law responsible for statewide book removals, violate the First Amendment. more »
Former Vimeo CEO and Google exec Philip Moyer (pictured) will succeed Simon Allen as head of the company starting February 9. Moyer said he was excited to take the helm at a time when advanced technology “has the power to shape the future of education.” more »
James Meader, most recently VP and associate publisher at Vintage, and Jennifer Bassuk, who has held senior roles at Amazon Publishing and Audible, have joined the leadership team of estate management firm International Literary Properties. more »
No matter your relationship status, Student of Love invites you to learn what it takes to build healthy, loving, & long-lasting relationships. From Laterras R. Whitfield, the host of the Dear Future Wifey Podcast, comes an essential guide with refreshing wisdom & heartfelt lessons designed to help you make right decisions in your relationships. (Sponsored) More »
With the acquisition, Kirkus Reviews will begin coverage of audiobooks, edited by former AudioFile managing editor Jennifer Dowell. The purchase follows the return of Meg LaBorde Kuehn, who departed Kirkus in July, as publisher and CEO. more »
United Talent Agency has signed Patterson as a client for literary representation worldwide, the agency announced. He was previously represented by Robert Barnett, who died in September. more »
As the closure of Baker & Taylor nears, the GA Group is holding a bulk sale of more than 462,000 books that remain in the library wholesaler’s inventory. more »
Patrick Nielsen Hayden (l.), editor-at-large at Tor Publishing Group, and Linda Quinton, publisher and VP of Tor’s Forge Books imprint, have retired, effective January 5. Each spent nearly four decades at the SFF publisher. more »
Looking to spotlight your latest book launch, industry panel, or literary event? Send us photos for consideration for our Picture of the Day feature in PW Daily. Check out our Instagram for inspo, and submit your pictures with suggested captions (including the photo’s date and location) here! »
The ALA Public Programs Office and the Pulitzer Prizes invite public libraries, including tribal and state libraries, to apply as hosts of the traveling exhibit “Pulitzer on the Road.” more »
The U.K.-based nonprofit said it provided more than 850,000 new books to 160 NGO and library partners in 22 countries last year. more »
The publisher of Boa Editions, which turns 50 this year, is making the case for protecting small presses amid widespread cuts to arts funding. more »
- Director, Publishing Services (Consortium) - Ingram Content Group - Minneapolis, MN.
- Social Media Specialist - Ave Maria Press - Notre Dame, IN.
- Email Marketing Specialist - Ave Maria Press - Notre Dame, IN.
- Marketing Assistant - Children's - Sourcebooks - Naperville.
- Marketing Associate, Hachette Nashville - Hachette Book Group - , NY.
Job Moves
- Maya Ono is being promoted to marketing manager at Avery Books and Tarcher.
- Olivia Hammerman has joined Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press as production editor.
- Laura Berry has been promoted to senior production editor at Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press.
- Wah-Ming Chang has been promoted to director of managing editorial at Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press.
- Olenka Burgess has been promoted to production director at Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press.
- Olivia Asaro has been promoted to product and title management director at Firebrand Technologies.
- Mike Salem has been promoted to lead engineer at NetGalley.
- Sarah Arbuthnot has been promoted to president at Supadu.
- Kennedy Campbell has joined ReaderLink as purchasing coordinator.
- Sharon Alcala has been promoted to senior account manager for Meijer at ReaderLink.
Awards News
- Pacific Northwest Book Award Winners: Omar El Akkad and Karen Russell are among the six winners of this year’s Pacific Northwest Book Awards, presented by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.
- Silvers-Dudley Prize Winners: Vivian Gornick and Adam Shatz are among the six winners of this year’s Silvers-Dudley Prizes, presented by the Silvers Foundation.
- Anne V. Zarrow Award Winner: Ruta Sepetys has won the 2026 Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature, presented by the Tulsa City-County Library and Tulsa Library Trust.
Bookstore News
- New Bookshop Lands in Michigan: Booked Up celebrated its grand opening in Kalamazoo last week.
- Children’s Bookshop Returns to N.C.: Liberation Station, the state’s only Black-owned children’s bookstore, has reopened in Raleigh.
- Pop-up Hits the Road in Oklahoma: The Chapterhouse delivers books and literary events across the Tulsa area.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Big Jim Believes (Dog Man #14) by Dav Pilkey is the #1 title on our children’s frontlist fiction bestseller list. See the full list »
‘Churn: The Tension That Divides Us and How to Overcome It’ by Claude M. Steele“Steele, a social psychologist and bestselling author of Whistling Vivaldi, delivers a captivating follow-up to that volume’s groundbreaking scholarship on the psychology of stereotypes.... It adds up to an elegant, concise, and moving suggestion that a little kindness would go a very long way.” more »
Picture of the Day
To celebrate the launch of his new book, The S@#t I’ve Heard at Yoga (Permuted Press), author Michael J. Norton (l.) joined Andy Cohen (r.) during his show, Watch What Happens Live, on January 5 as the evening’s featured bartender.
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Mixed Reviews
An otherwise strong holiday season for indie booksellers was marred by widespread shipping delays from publishers and distributors, as well as other supply chain disruptions. After acquiring four indie presses last year, Globe Pequot Publishing Group is showing no signs of slowing down with the purchase of cookbook publisher Lake Isle Press. Kensington Publishing is keeping it in the family by naming Adam Zacharius as its next president. The New York Times rounds up the most anticipated page-to-screen adaptations slated for this year. The Guardian’s Rafqua Touma sought out book recs from IRL booksellers after years of basing her reading diet on social media suggestions—and, shocker, got better results. The stars of the hit HBO adaptation of Rachel Reid’s ice hockey romance Heated Rivalry will lead a new fae romance series from audio erotica app Quinn, per the Hollywood Reporter. Bleeding Cool talks with Lunar Distribution’s Christine Merkler about phasing out the packaging that first set the company apart from the competition. For Asterisk, librarian and open access advocate Monica Westin considers why the universal digital library, a dream of the early internet era, has become available to machines and not humans. And longtime HarperCollins art director Thomas Starace has died at 78.
Indie booksellers reported robust holiday sales thanks to a variety of hot titles, but also expressed frustration with shipping delays and other issues, as Ingram and publishers struggled to keep up with an unanticipated surge in orders. more »
After acquiring four independent publishers in 2025, the Globe Pequot Publishing Group is continuing its spree with the purchase of cookbook publisher Lake Isle Press. more »
In a move that ensures that Kensington Publishing will continue to be led by a member of the Zacharius family, the son of chairman and CEO Steven Zacharius has been appointed to help lead one of the country’s largest independent publishers. more »
How do you stay relevant in a world where AI seems to be mastering capabilities once thought to be uniquely human? Human Edge in the AI Age is your answer. This is not another book about what AI can do. It's about what you can do to thrive alongside it by unlocking our human edge through eight timeless mantras. (Sponsored) More »
Dayman, who has previously held senior marketing positions at Random House and HarperCollins, has joined Little, Brown and Company as director of backlist. She was most recently executive director of marketing and publicity at Schiffer Publishing. more »
The publishing software firm’s Manuscript AI aims to help publishers sift through slush piles by evaluating submissions across such metrics as sales potential and adherence to genre conventions. “An average commissioning editor can process a couple of manuscripts a day,” says Trilogy managing director Alex Dare. “We can do the same job in a couple of minutes.” more »
Jazmina Barrera’s The Queen of Swords (tr. Christina MacSweeney) and Elena Garro’s The Week of Colors (tr. Megan McDowell), both released by Two Lines Press on November 11, introduce different sides of a pioneering Mexican author to English-language readers. more »
The reading promotion program expanded from a one-day event into a monthlong celebration for the first time in 2025. More than 300,000 people participated in 6,573 events across 34 countries from November 11–December 12. more »
Deadline: Jan. 13. Issue: Mar. 3. We’d like to hear about forthcoming recipe collections as well as culinary reference books, bios/memoirs, essay collections, and other food-related narrative nonfiction. Pub. dates: March–August. Click here for more information. »
Looking to spotlight your latest book launch, industry panel, or literary event? Send us photos for consideration for our Picture of the Day feature in PW Daily. Check out our Instagram for inspo, and submit your pictures with suggested captions (including the photo’s date and location) here! »
Eoin Purcell (l.), who spent over a decade leading Amazon Publishing in Europe, and former BBC editor Blathnaid Healy (r.) have cofounded Full Set, a Dublin-based independent nonfiction publishing house. Its first list will debut later this year. more »
This year marked the 10th anniversary of author-illustrator Emily Winfield Martin’s bestselling picture book The Wonderful Things You Will Be, which has sold nearly three million copies. She spoke with us about conscious and unconscious echoes of Maurice Sendak, and the gentle nudge of a squirrel and a rose that set her forthcoming picture book, The Wildest Thing, in motion. more »
- Social Media Specialist - Ave Maria Press - Notre Dame, IN.
- Email Marketing Specialist - Ave Maria Press - Notre Dame, IN.
- Marketing Assistant - Children's - Sourcebooks - Naperville.
- Marketing Associate, Hachette Nashville - Hachette Book Group - , NY.
- Senior Designer - W.W. Norton & Company - New York, NY.
Job Moves
- Sarah McEachern has been promoted to associate publisher at Deep Vellum and Dalkey Archive Press.
- Lindsey Owen has been promoted to associate editor at Scholastic.
- Frankie DeGiorgio has been promoted to assistant editor at Scholastic.
- Grace Vespa has been promoted to licensing coordinator at Scholastic.
- Alison Lewis has been promoted to VP and senior agent at the Frances Goldin Literary Agency.
- Gabriella Melendez has been promoted to agent at Great Dog Literary.
- Ismita Hussain has been promoted to senior agent at Great Dog Literary.
- Vaani Sai Nagallapati has been promoted to publishing assistant at Penguin Canada.
- Alison Thompson has been promoted to editorial assistant at Penguin Canada.
- Zainab Mirza has been promoted to assistant editor at Penguin Canada.
Bookstore News
- Iowa’s First Romance Bookstore Moves: HEA Book Boutique has relocated to Cedar Rapids.
- GoFundMe for California Bookstore: Dandar’s Boardgames and Books is accepting donations after a wind-fueled fire destroyed an entire block in downtown Arcata.
- Another California Bookshop Seeks Aid: Northtown Books is also accepting donations after the recent Arcata fire.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins is the #1 title on our adult hardcover nonfiction bestseller list. See the full list »
‘Paradiso 17’ by Hannah Lillith Assadi“Assadi spins a beautiful and heartbreaking novel out of a Palestinian man’s deathbed reflections.... This is remarkable.” more »
Picture of the Day
On December 15, coauthors Phillip Cox (l.) and Giorgia Lupi (c.) discussed their new book, Speak Data: Artists, Scientists, Thinkers, and Dreamers on How We Live Our Lives in Numbers (Chronicle), with writer and designer Maggie Gram (r.) at Rizzoli Bookstore in Manhattan.
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Machinations
A growing number of tech companies—including, most recently, Amazon and ElevenLabs—are introducing interactive AI features to digital books, drawing debate over these tools’ legality and usefulness. Hachette Book Group has named Ed Spade and Abigail Koons to top positions in commercial operations and subsidiary rights, respectively. After a long delay following an investigation into its financial reporting methods, Barnes & Noble Education has posted its final results for fiscal year 2025. New York governor Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill late last month protecting school library catalogs from censorship, saying it would “confuse” the obligations of librarians. Children’s author Robert Munsch, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and dementia, announced plans for dozens of his books to be published posthumously. The Atlantic’s Paul Farhi considers why books about President Trump aren’t selling like they used to. For the Comics Journal, Gina Gagliano unpacks how the closure of Baker & Taylor will impact the comics world. The New York Times looks back at the biggest trends that drove the book business last year. And the Economist traces how the self-help genre has evolved in step with society’s woes.
Amazon’s “Ask this Book” and ElevenLabs’ “VoiceChat” features add a new layer of AI-powered interactivity between books and readers—and raise questions about the legality and reliability of such tools. more »
Spade (l.), a former executive at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and HarperCollins, has been named SVP for commercial operations at Hachette Book Group, while Koons, a longtime agent, has been appointed VP of subsidiary rights. more »
After completing an investigation into its financial reporting, the higher educational retailer has filed its delayed 10-K with the SEC, which confirmed a small sales increase in the fiscal year ended May 3, 2025 and an improved bottom line. more »
One World lands Ibram X. Kendi’s new examination of race in America, Summit takes the latest novel from Room author Emma Donoghue, and more. more »
HarperCollins Christian Publishing has purchased the brand, which publishes Christian books, journals, devotionals, and more. HCCP president and CEO Mark Schoenwald said the acquisition “allows us to develop new products and further expand our reach in the faith-based market.” more »
The chief publishing officer for Tyndale House, who was behind such bestsellers as the New Living Translation of the Bible and the Left Behind series, will retire this summer after 39 years at the Christian publisher. more »
Mathews has been appointed president of the division, while also retaining his current roles as EVP and chief growth officer of Scholastic. He has served as interim head of Scholastic Education since June 2025. more »
See what we published in this week’s print issue of Publishers Weekly, including our Writers to Watch feature and more. »
Following backlash from the French Literary Translators Association, HarperCollins France confirmed it is “conducting tests” with a company that “uses experienced translators who utilize artificial intelligence tools” to translate Harlequin titles into French. more »
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín will take over for Judge William Alsup, who has retired, in the class action lawsuit against the AI firm. Judge Martínez-Olguín previously presided over a similar suit against OpenAI. more »
The new publisher’s Glam Beat! imprint will publish English-language girls’ love manga, webcomics, and light novels in both digital and print formats. more »
The former PW editor, who stepped down at the end of 2024, will helm the international publishing newsletter, starting today. He succeeds Porter Anderson, who died late last year. more »
- Social Media Specialist - Ave Maria Press - Notre Dame, IN.
- Email Marketing Specialist - Ave Maria Press - Notre Dame, IN.
- Marketing Assistant - Children's - Sourcebooks - Naperville.
- Marketing Associate, Hachette Nashville - Hachette Book Group - , NY.
- Senior Designer - W.W. Norton & Company - New York, NY.
Job Moves
- Brent Taylor has been promoted to VP and executive agent at Triada US Literary Agency.
Bookstore News
- Fire Tears Through California Bookshops: A massive, wind-fueled fire destroyed several businesses in downtown Arcata, including Northtown Books as well as Dandar’s Games and Books.
- New Bookstore Lands in Maine: Cat Yard Book Shop recently opened in Skowhegan.
- Black-Owned Bookshop to Close in Atlanta: Medu Bookstore will shutter after 35 years in business as its owner prepares to retire.
- Texas Bookstore to Shutter: Patchouli Joe’s in Denton will close its doors this March.
- Oklahoma’s Newest Bookstore: Meadow Market Books hosted a soft opening in Tulsa this past weekend.
- New Mexico Bookstore to Shut Down: Samizdat Bookstore & Teahouse in Los Alamos is slated to close this February.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Our Latest Starred ReviewsCheck out all the books to receive starred reviews in PW that are hitting bookstore shelves this week. more »
The Widow by John Grisham is the #1 title on our adult hardcover fiction bestseller list. See the full list »
‘Python’s Kiss’ by Louise Erdrich“Pulitzer winner Erdrich dives deep into the American psyche in this spectacular collection.... With its range of voices and styles, this puts Erdrich’s powers on full display.” more »
An inside look at the publication process for the bestselling author’s illustrated memoir. more »
Picture of the Day
On December 30, Warwick’s in San Diego hosted its first bookstore proposal, featuring couple Chris Biddix (r.) and Matt Southerlan. | | | |
Year in Review
An increasingly challenging distribution landscape, federal cuts to the IMLS and NEA, and the rise of AI made 2025 a turbulent year for the book business, despite some bright spots. Six authors who opted out of Anthropic’s proposed $1.5 billion copyright class action settlement earlier this year have filed new copyright suits against a handful of AI companies—including OpenAI, Google, and Meta—seeking larger payouts. PW’s longtime children’s editor Diane Roback will step back in March, taking on the role of editor-at-large. Consumer holiday spending rose nearly 4% from 2024, despite speculation that economic pressures would make buyers more tight-fisted, the New York Times reports. In the New Yorker, Vauhini Vara probes the possibility that readers will come to prefer AI-generated writing over books by humans. For the Guardian, author Ella Risbridger considers the romance boom and why, despite its enduring popularity, the genre is still dismissed by many critics. A coterie of today’s most interesting writers and thinkers shared what they read this year over at our literary vertical the Millions. And on Substack, author Lincoln Michel reflects on what he learned about the publishing industry from putting out a novel in 2025.
This is our last PW Daily of the year—both the newsletter and magazine will return on January 5. Happy holidays!
This is our last PW Daily of the year—both the newsletter and magazine will return on January 5. Happy holidays!
The Trump administration targeted several book-adjacent government agencies, while libraries and comics publishers reeled over Baker & Taylor’s closure and Diamond’s bankruptcy, respectively. more »
Six authors who opted out of the the proposed Anthropic settlement have filed individual lawsuits against Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Meta, xAI, and Perplexity AI, seeking $150,000 for each title from each defendant per the Copyright Act. more »
Narwhal and Jelly want to be friends forever with you in this hilarious 10th book of the funny and adorable New York Times bestselling kids graphic novel series from Ben Clanton. “The most lovable duo since Frog and Toad.” —Dav Pilkey, bestselling creator of Dog Man and Captain Underpants (Sponsored) More »
During her long career at the magazine, Roback oversaw the expansion of Publishers Weekly’s coverage of the children’s book market during a period when the sales of children’s books exploded. Starting March 2, Roback will become editor-at-large. more »
After 16 years acquiring and publicizing sports titles at Triumph Books, the publishing veteran has launched Ames Sports Literary & Publicity Agency, a combined literary agency and book publicity and marketing company. more »
The literary agent and social media expert, whose Substack has earned her a reputation as a romance publishing guru, predicts which trends will shape the industry next year. more »
In Mutiny (FSG, Apr. 2026), the journalist discusses the economic shifts that undermined the prospects of a generation. more »
- Marketing Associate, Hachette Nashville - Hachette Book Group - , NY.
- Senior Designer - W.W. Norton & Company - New York, NY.
- Awards & Honors Manager - National Book Foundation - New York, NY.
- Digital Sales Analyst, Online & Digital Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Custom Publishing Assistant - W.W. Norton & Company.
Job Moves
- Kelly Hargrave has been promoted to senior editor for Tangerine Press at Scholastic.
Bookstore News
- A New Bookstore in Iowa: I’ll Meet You There, located in the Czech Village neighborhood of Cedar Rapids, also features a cafe.
- Romance on Wheels: Homed in a purple bus, mobile bookstore Rescued by Romance brings its titles to communities throughout northern Colorado.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins is the #1 title on our adult hardcover nonfiction bestseller list. See the full list »
‘Hold Me Like a Grudge’ by Celine Ong“Ong debuts with a riveting queer sports romance that deserves a place in the subgenre’s canon.... Fans of Heated Rivalry will be thrilled.” more »
Picture of the Day
Author Kiran Desai (r.), whose novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sonny (Hogarth) was a finalist for this year’s Booker Prize, was in conversation with journalist Razia Iqbal (l.) at New York City’s the Strand on December 4 as part of PEN America’s PEN Out Loud series.
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Done Deals
This year was an eventful one for mergers and acquisitions in the book biz, affecting every sector of the industry, from libraries to children’s publishing. Trump administration policies are dealing blows to Chicago’s bilingual children’s bookstore Los Amigos Bookstore on two fronts, as ICE raids rattle its customers and tariffs complicate the importation of Spanish-language titles. Plus, we rounded up the year’s top headlines in the world of libraries, bookselling, and children’s publishing. TikTok has signed agreements with Oracle and two other U.S. investors, advancing its deal to continue its stateside operations, the New York Times reports. The Bookseller documents the recent explosion of author scams powered by AI email scrapers, in which phishers solicit money for fake marketing services, book club inclusion, and other services. British entertainer and bestselling children’s author David Walliams has been dropped by HarperCollins UK following allegations of harassment, the Telegraph reports. New York’s Poetry Center has digitized a trove of audio recordings dating back to 1949, including readings and lectures by James Baldwin, Joan Didion, Pablo Neruda, and more. And with The Housemaid making a splash at the box office over the weekend, Deadline looks ahead at all the other Freida McFadden movie adaptations in the works.
The collapse of ReaderLink’s proposed purchase of Baker & Taylor led to the sale of the wholesaler’s distribution business to Lakeside Book Company. Meanwhile, three of the Big Five made acquisitions and a new player emerged to buy two major hybrid publishers. more »
It was an eventful year for booksellers, who dealt with such obstacles as the Trump administration’s tariffs, National Guard occupations, and brush fires. Plus, Barnes & Noble acquired the Bay Area–based Books Inc. and drew indie presses’ ire over its buying practices. Despite it all, Independent Bookstore Day still managed to be a huge success for retailers across the country. more »
Distribution, federal funding, the freedom to read, and digital and print collection development were behind the most-talked-about library stories in 2025—and they aren't going away in 2026. more »
Manga editions of Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants books, an exclusive tour of Shel Silverstein’s archives, and the unexpected pairing of Stephen King and Maurice Sendak were among PW’s most-clicked stories about kids’ and YA books in 2025. more »
As the deployment of ICE agents to the Windy City rattles the customer base of Los Amigos Books, the bilingual bookshop is also contending with tariffs as it seeks to become a distributor for Spanish-language titles. more »
The Helsinki-based Get Lost has begun testing BookID, an AI-powered manuscript analysis tool aimed at helping authors and publishers position their work in the market. more »
With the holiday season in high gear, people are counting the days until Christmas, often keeping track on an advent calendar. A raft of new books for kids and teens aim to replicate that experience, featuring open-a-chapter-a-day anticipation. more »
Four decades have passed since young readers first climbed on the North Pole-bound Polar Express along with Santa and the narrator of Chris Van Allsburg’s Christmas classic. Clarion has released two new editions of The Polar Express in celebration of the anniversary. We spoke with the author and his publishing team about reaching this milestone. more »
“Mr. Willowby’s Christmas tree/Came by special delivery” in 1963’s Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by the late Robert Barry. Now, in a never-before-published sequel discovered by Barry’s son, Mr. Willowby’s Head Over Heels Christmas, characters from the original picture book take a sleigh-inspired adventure. more »
- Senior Designer - W.W. Norton & Company - New York, NY.
- Awards & Honors Manager - National Book Foundation - New York, NY.
- Digital Sales Analyst, Online & Digital Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Custom Publishing Assistant - W.W. Norton & Company.
- Senior Marketing Associate - Fox Chapel Publishing - Mount Joy, PA.
Job Moves
- Sydney Hackley is being promoted to junior designer at Little Bee Books.
- Jaime Gelman is being promoted to editor at Little Bee Books.
- Anna Brill has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Viking Penguin.
Bookstore News
- Binc Announces Year-End Fundraiser: The Book Industry Charitable Foundation is launching an end-of-the-year campaign to raise $50,000 by offering to double any donation up to $6,000 through December 31.
- Daunt Strikes Back: Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt has denied responsibility for the closing of Chicago’s Volumes Bookcafe, where owners say sales have suffered since an outpost of the chain opened nearby, according to the Daily Mail.
- Books on the Move: Mystery Solved, a genre specialty bookshop housed in a VW van, is Utah’s only mystery-focused bookstore.
- Illinois Gets New Bookstore: Sunshine Book Nook in Urbana offers new and used books.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Our Latest Starred ReviewsCheck out all the books to receive starred reviews in PW that are hitting bookstore shelves this week. more »
The Widow by John Grisham is the #1 title on our adult hardcover fiction bestseller list. See the full list »
‘To Ride a Rising Storm’ by Moniquill Blackgoose“The smart and exciting sequel to Blackgoose’s Nebula Award–winning debut, To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, digs into the colonialism and classism of magic academy and dragon rider tropes.... Readers will be eager for more.” more »
Picture of the Day
On December 11, author Nancy Matsumoto (far r.) hosted a panel on women in the food systems industry at the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood in celebration of her book Reaping What She Sows: How Women Are Rebuilding Our Broken Food System (Melville House). Joining Matsumoto (from l.) were Olivia Watkins of Black Farmer Fund, Lisbeth Pacheco of Ethos Coffee Roasters, Sam Garwin of GreenWave, June Russell of the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming. | | | |
Mass Destruction
As Readerlink prepares to end its distribution of mass market paperbacks at the end of this month, we dive deep into the long history—and imminent final chapter—of the once vibrant format. Scholastic had a solid second quarter, seeing gains in both its sales and profits. Mary Anne Carter, who chaired the National Endowment for the Arts during President Donald Trump’s first term, has been confirmed to once again lead the agency as it continues to slash its grant programs. Two Democrats in Congress have reintroduced the federal Right to Read Act, which would open up funding for literacy initiatives and guard against book bans. And we’re spotlighting our final Notable of 2025, longtime Consortium president Julie Schaper. The Week tries to get to the bottom of the ongoing slump in nonfiction sales, while the Guardian worries that the genre itself might be on its last legs. The Bookseller looks at the explosive growth of audio, from the rise of audio-first acquisition to music streaming platforms’ forays into the format. Barack Obama shared his favorite books of 2025, and the Cut visits Bottega Veneta’s new “library,” which writer Max Berlinger says exemplifies “fashion’s fetishization of all things literary.” And on the Open Book podcast, David Steinberger chats with former Abrams CEO and Galpón Press founder Michael Jacobs.
A friendly reminder that there will be no print issue of PW next week. The magazine will return January 5!
A friendly reminder that there will be no print issue of PW next week. The magazine will return January 5!
After years of steady sales declines, the format—credited with democratizing book buying and reading—will largely disappear next year. more »
Gains in the company’s children’s book publishing and distribution, as well as international groups, offset declines in its entertainment and educational solution units, while lower costs helped boost operating income to $82.9 million from $74.7 million a year ago. more »
Carter, who also led the National Endowment for the Arts during President Donald Trump’s first term, has historically supported the agency’s literacy initiatives as well as funding for creative arts therapies. more »
The stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION― available while supplies last! The collector’s hardcover features stenciled edges, full-color custom character endpapers, unique foiled front and back case stamps and foiled cover elements. “Romantasy’s latest It Couple may have just emerged.” –E! News
An epic love story that defies the gods. (Sponsored) More »
The Consortium president, who has been with the company for 30 years and will retire in 2026, is changing book culture one client publisher at a time. more »
U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and newly sworn-in U.S. Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ-07) have reintroduced the Right to Read Act, designed to increase federal funding to address the nation’s literacy crisis. According to a statement, the legislation “reaffirms that first amendment rights apply to school libraries in response to the alarming trend of book banning.” more »
The philanthropic foundation has announced 57 grants totaling more than $38.4 million, including a $2 million grant to the Association of Rural and Small Libraries. ARSL executive director Kate Laughlin called the pledge “transformative.” more »
Ingram has inked a deal with Archetype Publications, and C&T has announced a new partnership with Leisure Arts. more »
The Government Accountability Office released a report on the condition of public library buildings in the U.S., finding that 70% required additional maintenance and only 20% report “good” or “very good” condition. more »
The author’s latest novel is a provocative exploration of immigration in America—readers can expect a bumpy ride. more »
- Digital Sales Analyst, Online & Digital Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Custom Publishing Assistant - W.W. Norton & Company.
- Senior Marketing Associate - Fox Chapel Publishing - Mount Joy, PA.
- Associate Manager, International Sales Latin America and Caribbean - Hachette Book Group - New York.
- Sales Associate, Gift Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
Job Moves
- Jiayun Yang has joined Podium Entertainment as subsidiary rights manager.
- Kathy R Green has been promoted to literary agent at Embolden Media Group.
- Rebekah Von Lintel has been promoted to senior literary agent at Embolden Media Group.
- Karen Bullock has joined Macmillan as senior manager of strategic projects and business development.
- Courtney Dodson, most recently worldwide head of operations and design, has been named worldwide publisher at Amazon Publishing and Brilliance Publishing.
Awards News
- PEN America Literary Awards Longlists: The 2026 awards, to be presented in March, will confer nearly $350,000 across 10 categories to writers and translators.
Bookstore News
- NYC Theater, Bookshops Team Up: 59E59 Theaters will collaborate with Argosy Book Store, the Drama Book Shop, and McNally Jackson to celebrate its upcoming production of The Bookstore.
- North Carolina’s New Mobile Bookstore: Willbloom Books, an indie based out of a mint-green bus, has rolled into Weaverville.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Big Jim Believes (Dog Man #14) by Dav Pilkey is #1 on our overall list this week. See the full list »
‘Hell’s Heart’ by Alexis Hall“Hall makes an ambitious pivot from witty romance to epic space opera in this dazzling retelling of Moby Dick set in the gaseous miasma above Jupiter after humanity’s exodus from Earth.... This thrills.” more »
Picture of the Day
San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie (l.) issued a proclamation declaring December 12 as Drag Story Hour Day in the city, in celebration of DSH’s 10th anniversary. During a visit to the San Francisco Public Library on December 14, Lurie presented the proclamation while joined by the city’s drag laureate, Per Sia (r.).
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Under Pressure
A law firm founded by White House official Stephen Miller is pushing the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate Penguin Random House’s DEI policies and programs for “race- and sex-based discrimination,” filing its complaint just one day after PRH motioned to dismiss President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the publisher. Trailblazing graphic novel publisher NBM has been acquired by Portland, Ore.–based comics press Ablaze. Publishing sales continued to recover from their summer slump in October, and the National Book Critics Circle Awards longlists have been announced. We’re spotlighting our penultimate PW Notable, Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger. Plus, we reported from this year’s Guadalajara International Book Fair, where the movers and shakers of Spanish-language publishing strategized for the future. And books won’t be included in the E.U.’s deforestation regulations after all. The hedge fund that owns Barnes & Noble and Waterstones is looking to list the bookstore chains on the stock market, reports the Financial Times—less than a month after CEO James Daunt called an IPO “an inevitability.” Netflix is adapting Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods, with Moore serving as co-showrunner, per Variety. And on the heels of the success of HBO’s Heated Rivalry adaptation, the Wall Street Journal explores how “hockey romance” became a publishing phenomenon.
America First Legal, founded by Stephen Miller, has asked the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate Penguin Random House’s DEI policies and programs, which it called “apparent race- and sex-based discrimination.” A PRH spokesperson told PW the publisher “maintains a strict policy prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal employment opportunity for all.” more »
The Portland, Ore.–based Ablaze has acquired the venerable graphic novel publisher’s nearly five-decade backlist, all current contracts, and its imprint brand, with NBM founder Terry Nantier staying on as a consultant and packager. more »
October sales rose 6.7% over a year ago at publishers that report to AAP’s StatShot program. The increase followed a 14% jump in September, likely reflecting Amazon’s return to more normal buying patterns after reducing orders over the summer. more »
The National Book Critics Circle has unveiled the seven longlists for its annual awards. Finalists will be announced on January 20, with winners to follow at a ceremony on March 26 in New York City. more »
C&T Publishing is now the premier distributor for Leisure Arts’ extensive backlist—more than 1,150 print and digital books—plus new frontlist titles. This partnership expands C&T’s catalog with even more creative inspiration and trusted designs, including crochet, knitting, coloring books, and sewing. Read the full press release. (Sponsored) More »
The longtime Authors Guild CEO has been a leader in the fight against AI companies’ use of copyrighted materials without compensating authors, as well as the ongoing surge in book bans. more »
The publishing world’s biggest Spanish-language event, which closed on December 7, drew more than 950,000 visitors. Some 18,400 publishing professionals from 64 countries participated on the fair, as did a vibrant delegation from guest of honor Barcelona. more »
At the Guadalajara International Book Fair’s second annual audiobook forum, panelists discussed the development and challenges of the Spanish-language audio segment, identifying opportunities in the U.S. market and among young readers. more »
Books and other printed material have officially been exempted from the European Union Deforestation Regulation, which mandates that only “deforestation-free” products be sold in the E.U. Book manufacturers had spent countless hours debating how to meet the requirements, as well as making significant financial investments to achieve those objectives. more »
Stephanie Perkins is back—and it was worth the wait. Her adult debut, Overdue, is a slow-burn stunner with lush pink edges, custom endpapers, and a foiled case stamp. “The book her readers have been waiting for.” —Christina Lauren
Is it time to renew love or start a new chapter? (Sponsored) More »
The novelist joins the free speech organization for a two-year term, following his election by membership at PEN America’s annual general meeting held earlier this week. He succeeds author Jennifer Finney Boylan. more »
The deal “deepens the longstanding relationship” between the audiobook publisher and W.W. Norton, per an announcement. more »
Author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt teams up with science journalist Catherine Price to speak directly to tweens in The Amazing Generation: A Guide to Freedom and Fun in a Screen-Filled World, drawing on Haidt’s adult bestseller The Anxious Generation. more »
- Digital Sales Analyst, Online & Digital Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Custom Publishing Assistant - W.W. Norton & Company.
- Senior Marketing Associate - Fox Chapel Publishing - Mount Joy, PA.
- Associate Manager, International Sales Latin America and Caribbean - Hachette Book Group - New York.
- Sales Associate, Gift Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
Job Moves
- Maria Correa, previously editor at Random House Books for Young Readers, has been named editor of Random House Studio at Random House Children’s Books.
- Courtney Dodson has been named as worldwide head of operations and design at Amazon Publishing and Brilliance Publishing.
Until He Comes by Amir Tsarfati is the #1 title on our trade paperback bestseller list. See the full list »
‘Judy Blume: A Life’ by Mark Oppenheimer“Journalist Oppenheimer contends in this impressive biography that Blume ‘rewired the English-speaking world’s expectations of what literature for young people could be.’ ... Fans will be delighted.” more »
Picture of the Day
On December 16, the Strand in Manhattan hosted a Jane Austen Tea Party, held in celebration of the author’s 250th birthday. The event included a panel discussion and Austen trivia led by authors Brandon Taylor, Jennifer Egan, and Adelle Waldman. The bookstore’s events team also donned Jane Austen–inspired costumes. Pictured from the team are (from l., back row) Tiko Tjiptarto, Elena Esposito, Walker Iversen, and (front row) Christi McQueen.
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Final Chapter
After nearly a year in court, the bankrupt Diamond Comic Distributors is moving to liquidate the company, giving up on a messy restructuring attempt that has brought months of chaos for the involved companies and comics publishers alike. While books about race and gender continue to be frequent targets of censorship efforts, John Green’s Looking for Alaska and Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes are the two most banned titles in schools so far this decade. Digital media app Hoopla’s year-end data, compiled from more than 10,000 public libraries, showed a substantial increase in audiobook borrowing, while romantasy and thrillers forged ahead as the most popular genres among users. And today we’re spotlighting our latest 2025 Notable, longtime NAIBA executive director Eileen Dengler. Netflix will adapt Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Date, with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry as producers, reports Deadline. The New York Public Library rounded up this year’s most checked-out books across the city, and in each of the five boroughs. On Substack, publicist Kathleen Schmidt talked with Books-A-Million CEO Terry Finley about bookselling today. Greta Rainbow considers the state of Big Five publishing amid the decline of glossy magazines, for Dirt. And for the New York Times, sociologists Caitlin Petre and Julia Ticona break down how AI could be the nail in the coffin for the future of creative work.
After trying for nearly a year to restructure the company, the key comics and graphic novel distributor has filed for Chapter 7 and will now focus on selling off its assets. more »
A new report from PEN America on the 52 most frequently banned books since 2021 shows schools across the country targeting titles related to race, LGBTQ+ identities, and sexual abuse, as well as bestselling novels by Green and Picoult. more »
The media app studied circulation data from more than 10,000 public libraries, finding romantasy and thrillers leading the lists of top audiobooks and e-books. Borrowing of audiobooks, Hoopla’s biggest category, increased 18% in the year. more »
Injured, disabled, and in pain, a fawn appears one evening at the door of the author’s home. Abandoned by her mother, having endured an exceptionally brutal winter, she has survived a solitary woodland existence. A singular connection unfolds as the author begins writing and photographing through the unexpected events of the following years. (Sponsored) More »
The longtime executive director of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association leaves her mark on the entire industry. more »
The initiative, developed by the Black Book Accelerator, aims to give more exposure to books by Black authors. Since its launch, the monthly lists have spanned 711 distinct titles by 483 authors, and 98 publishers. more »
We asked staffers at children’s publishing houses to tell us about their favorite children’s or YA book they read this year. Here we present their recommendations. more »
Beloved author Kasie West’s sparkling adult rom-com debut about a hopeless romantic falling for the one man she never expected. “West’s adult debut is everything―vulnerable, spicy, funny, and squeal-out-loud romantic.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Can a swipe right turn into swept away? (Sponsored) More »
Deadline: Jan. 13. Issue date: Mar. 2. We’d like to hear about forthcoming recipe collections as well as culinary reference books, bios/memoirs, essay collections, and other food-related narrative nonfiction. Pub. dates: March–August. Click here for more information. »
The latest thriller from the Norwegian crime writer—about a police detective tracking a serial killer—is his first set in the United States. more »
Evil Genius (Ecco, Feb.), the novelist’s propulsive latest, chronicles a young woman’s awakening to the destructive forces of her own desire. more »
- Senior Marketing Associate - Fox Chapel Publishing - Mount Joy, PA.
- Associate Manager, International Sales Latin America and Caribbean - Hachette Book Group - New York.
- Sales Associate, Gift Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Sales Associate, Gift and Specialty Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Associate Digital Marketing Manager / Digital Marketing Manager - Zibby Media - New York, NY.
Job Moves
- Samantha Edelson has been promoted to VP and associate publisher at Macmillan Audio.
- Jennifer Donovan has joined Macmillan Audio as editorial director.
- Emily Dyer has been promoted to marketing director at Macmillan Audio.
- Kelly Glover has been promoted to senior director of children’s sales and marketing at Penguin Random House Canada.
- Cindy Pang has been promoted to in-market sales associate at Penguin Random House Canada.
- Zhenia Shestunova has joined Penguin Random House Canada as publishing operations assistant.
- Anna Trew has been promoted to manager of consumer insights and solutions at Penguin Random House Canada.
- Anthony de Ridder has been promoted to creative director of marketing design at Penguin Random House Canada.
- Rachael Richardson has been promoted to social media manager and marketing associate at Grove Atlantic.
Bookstore News
- Indie Bookstore Lands in Kentucky: Wildings Bookshop opened in Lexington earlier this year.
- California’s Newest Book Nook: Baileys Book Nook opened its doors in Redding this month.
- New and Used Bookshop Comes to Ohio: Sunshine Book Nook hosted its grand opening last weekend in Urbana.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Big Jim Believes (Dog Man #14) by Dav Pilkey is the #1 title on our children’s frontlist fiction bestseller list. See the full list »
‘Mothers and Other Strangers’ by Corey Ann Haydu“Haydu’s wonderful adult debut explores the interwoven lives of two families.... It’s a beautiful tale of complicated friendships.” more »
Picture of the Day
On December 5, author and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett (l.) discussed the importance of picture books with actor and children’s literacy advocate Jennifer Garner (r.) at 92NY in Manhattan.
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High Note
After revealing our 2025 person of the year on Friday, we’ll be rolling out our five PW Notables throughout this week, starting with former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Plus, we’ve announced BISG’s Brian O’Leary as the winner of our third annual lifetime achievement award. Amazon’s new AI-powered “Ask This Book” feature in the Kindle App will give spoiler-free answers to readers’ questions about the book they’re reading, reports the Verge. A North Carolina library board has been dissolved by country commissioners after it voted to keep a picture book about a trans boy on library shelves, reports the Washington Post. The Guardian investigates how indie darlings like Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men and Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection became overnight hits. Rolling Stone looks at how the queer hockey romance novel Heated Rivalry became a hit HBO series. The Financial Times charts the efforts of publishers, prizes, and government programs in the battle to stave off declines in children’s reading rates. Lit Hub asked 52 book designers to pick their favorite book covers of the year. And literary agent and former sales exec Carole Bidnick has died at 76.
Modeling fortitude and resilience, the former librarian of Congress—who was fired without cause by the White House in March—says “it’s time to regroup” amid uncertain federal funding for literature and the arts. more »
The recipient of PW’s third annual lifetime achievement award is being recognized for his successful 10-year tenure as the head of BISG, in an era when the industry has grappled with massive and near constant change. more »
The breakout romantasy sensation that has taken the internet by storm—bursting with suspense, romance, and breathtaking twists, this heart-stopping debut now has an embossed cover, silver foiling, and bonus scene from the highly anticipated sequel, Light Wielder. Love is the deadliest weapon. (Sponsored) More »
The audiobook platform has teamed with TikTok to help listeners discover trending titles on the app through curated lists. more »
The new Dog Man and Wimpy Kid books take the top spots on our list for the second week in a row. Plus the Atria edition of self-publishing success story Theo of Golden climbs the charts, and we clock other big books of the holiday season so far. more »
FSG lands Naomi Klein (l.) and Astra Taylor’s take on the far right’s apocalyptic thinking, and Celadon nets a behind-the-scenes look at Gilmore Girls from its creator and star. more »
See what we published in this week’s print issue of Publishers Weekly, including our pick for Person of the Year and more. »
Bidnick worked in sales at Holt Rinehart & Winston and Scribner before serving as director of sales for the A Day in the Life photo book series. She pivoted to agenting in 2000, representing authors in the cookbook, health, and wellness spaces. She died on December 2 in Berkeley, Calif., of brain cancer. more »
The cofounder of Drag Story Hour, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, discusses the evolution of the nonprofit children’s reading series, as well as its plans for the future. more »
- Associate Manager, International Sales Latin America and Caribbean - Hachette Book Group - New York.
- Sales Associate, Gift Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Sales Associate, Gift and Specialty Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Associate Digital Marketing Manager / Digital Marketing Manager - Zibby Media - New York, NY.
- Executive Director, Client Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York.
Job Moves
- Blake Faire has joined the Stable Book Group as marketing associate.
- Carmel Madadshahi has joined Montague Books and the Stable Book Group as editorial and marketing coordinator.
- Jack Zinsser has been promoted to marketing manager at the Stable Book Group.
- Kierra Sondereker has been promoted to senior editor at Ulysses Press and VeloPress.
- Abbey Gregory has been promoted to designer and head designer at the Stable Book Group and Montague Books, respectively.
- Yesenia Garcia has been promoted to operations manager for production at the Stable Book Group.
- Jade Draper has joined Sourcebooks as customer experience representative.
- Nicole Turner has joined Sourcebooks as production specialist II.
Awards News
- NBCC Awards Longlist for Fiction: Angela Flournoy, Katie Kitamura, and Karen Russell are among the 10 authors longlisted for this year’s National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.
- Boa Names Manuscript Prize Winner: Jordan E. Franklin’s make it to the end (of the movie) has been chosen by Boa Editions as its 2025 Blessing the Boat Selection, which recognizes poetry collections by women of color. The manuscript will be published by Boa in fall 2027.
Bookstore News
- Chicago Indie Expands Its Offerings: Quimby’s Bookstore has launched an in-house print and design service for self-published zines, comics, and art books.
- Manhattan Bookshop to Host Final Sale: Ahead of closing, Bluestockings Cooperative in the Lower East Side is selling the last of its stock to offset its debts and benefit a prisoner solidarity organization.
- New Hampshire’s Newest Indie: Bound Together opened in Nashua last month.
- New Bookshop Touches Down in Wyoming: Indie Darling Bookstore has opened its doors in Lander.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Our Latest Starred ReviewsCheck out all the books to receive starred reviews in PW that are hitting bookstore shelves this week. more »
The Widow by John Grisham is the #1 title on our adult hardcover fiction bestseller list. See the full list »
‘This Story Might Save Your Life’ by Tiffany Crum“A podcaster’s disappearance casts suspicion on her secretly besotted best friend and business partner in Crum’s dynamite debut.... By turns hilarious, harrowing, heartbreaking, and profound, Crum’s mystery ticks every box. It’s a triumph.” more »
An inside look at the publication process for the Edgar Award–nominated author’s latest novel. more »
Picture of the Day
On December 9, Paula Haney (c.) celebrated the launch of her new cookbook, The Hoosier Mama Book of Breakfast Bakes (Agate Publishing), at the Hoosier Mama Pie Company in Evanston, Ill. Joining Haney were (from l.) Agate publicity manager Jacqueline Jarik, Agate production manager Jane Seibold, Hoosier Mama general manager Marroz Franklin, and the book’s photographer, Laura Scherb.
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Man of the Hour
At a moment when censorship efforts are met with little resistance by the courts and government, Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya, our 2025 Person of the Year, has made it the publisher’s mission to defend the freedom to read. We talked with indie booksellers across the country about this holiday season’s hottest children’s and YA titles. A new conference in Boston wants to rethink the way writers connect with agents—and with the publishing industry at large. Many high school students are no longer being assigned full books, with curriculum increasingly geared toward short-form reading and writing, according to a survey by the New York Times. Longtime Yaddo president Elaina Richardson is stepping down, also per the Times. A Magic Tree House animated series is in the works from AI entertainment company Spuree, reports Variety. Google may soon add an AI digital assistant to its app for ebooks and audiobooks, allowing users to ask Gemini questions while they read, according to Digital Trends. Vulture’s Kathryn VanArendonk talked with comedian Anthony Jeselnik about his unlikely turn as a book influencer and his mission to get men to read. And Bellevue Literary Review’s founding nonfiction editor Jerome Lowenstein has died at 92.
The Penguin Random House CEO has gone all in on protecting the First Amendment and the freedom to read. For his efforts and those of PRH, he is Publishers Weekly’s Person of the Year. more »
Booksellers are heralding a cornucopia of holiday and everyday choices for children and teens this December. We checked in with them about which titles are flying off the shelves, from seasonal picture books to tried-and-true classics. more »
Research from the forthcoming TBR Writing & Publishing Conference reveals a possible disconnect between writers’ instincts and agent interest in their manuscript, an issue the event is attempting to reconcile. TBR cofounder Whitney Scharer estimates that writers are “not identifying the correct agent for them 66% of the time.” more »
Starting next fall, the Berlin-based press will launch a U.S. copublishing program with New Vessel, Steerforth, and Deep Vellum with a focus on fiction and nonfiction translated from Hebrew, as well as English-language originals exploring “plural, humanistic forms of Jewish life.” more »
Publishers Group West signs two new publishers, and Simon & Schuster inks a deal with Ablaze Publishing. more »
A YA Book List
After a year of celebratory events, the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth on December 16, draws near. To mark the occasion, we’ve compiled a list of new and forthcoming YA novels that pay homage to the author’s wise and witty works. more »
In Making Rent (Apollo, Jan.), the musical director recounts shaping the production from its early days through the unexpected death of creator Jonathan Larson and beyond. more »
- Associate Manager, International Sales Latin America and Caribbean - Hachette Book Group - New York.
- Sales Associate, Gift Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Sales Associate, Gift and Specialty Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Associate Digital Marketing Manager / Digital Marketing Manager - Zibby Media - New York, NY.
- Executive Director, Client Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York.
Job Moves
- Erinn Pascal, formerly senior editor at Andrews McMeel Kids, is joining PJ Library and PJ Publishing as author stewardship manager.
- Caroline Timmings has been promoted to editor at Harlequin Intrigue.
Bookstore News
- Bookshop-Bar Opens in Long Island: The Bookstore, a “bartender co-op” in Patchogue, offers both booze and books.
- Baltimore Bookstore Promotes Literacy: Urban Reads Bookstore has hit the road with a mobile library.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Big Jim Believes (Dog Man #14) by Dav Pilkey is #1 on our overall list this week. See the full list »
‘The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg—and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema’ by Paul Fischer“Writer and film producer Fischer explores in this entertaining group biography the lives and works of filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg.... This is a sure-fire hit for cinephiles.” more »
Picture of the Day
On December 6, the Jane Austen Society of North America’s New York chapter hosted a meeting at Marymount Manhattan College in honor of Austen’s 250th birthday. The event featured talks by authors and Austen scholars Devoney Looser (l.) and Janine Barchas, as well as book signings and, of course, birthday cake.
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Spring into Publishing
Our editors sifted through thousands of titles to bring you the spring season’s most notable releases, including steamy romantasies, immersive histories, profound poetry collections, mouth-watering cookbooks, and much, much more. Poetry Corp., a new collective of five New York-based small presses, is embracing the collaborative ethos that once ruled indie publishing. A report from digital reading platform Everand and book club app Fable suggests that readers still favor word-of-mouth recommendations over algorithmic ones. Stockholm-based e-book and audiobook subscription service Storytel has started selling English-language audiobooks directly to listeners in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The Bookseller considers whether publishing’s obsession with influencers might be harmful for the industry. Reference librarians are increasingly being asked to find books and papers hallucinated by AI, Gizmodo reports. On Substack, Open Letter Books publisher Chad W. Post explains the importance of a strong backlist for nonprofit presses. For Talking Points Memo, Megan Greenwell blames private equity firms for helping kill the voice-driven blogs that once dominated the media landscape. And British editor and literary agent Faith Evans, who cofounded the U.K.-based Women in Publishing, has died at 83.
Our editors have sifted through thousands of submissions to bring you the season’s most notable new releases, from game-changing histories to high-voltage romantasies. more »
As more small presses join up to form cooperatives, Poetry Corp. is reclaiming the experimental, collaborative ethos of indie publishing. more »
The Einstein Conspiracy pits two FBI agents against a cunning undercover operative on a mission to abduct Albert Einstein, who Hitler believes holds the key to building the atomic bomb. The agents are plunged into a shadowy, surreal America where Nazi rallies take place and small, once quaint villages are transformed into mini fascist utopias. (Sponsored) More »
A survey of 1,600 users on the digital platforms found that readers still favor book recommendations from people over algorithms, while audiobook listening outpaced e-book reading. more »
Citing the growing popularity of reading and listening to books in English across Europe, the Stockholm-based company has begun offering English-language titles from Penguin Random House and Hachette for sale in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. more »
Former middle school teacher Taryn Souders is the author of the Edgar Award–nominated Coop Knows the Scoop and other mysteries for young readers. Here, she reflects on incorporating lesser-known history in her books, including her forthcoming novel, Secrets of the Broken House. more »
We spoke with the Newbery Honor–winning author and adult memoirist about her new middle grade book, The Moon Without Stars, and helping kids learn how to seek help. more »
The author argues in The Blood Countess (Bloomsbury, Feb.) that notorious 17th-century Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Bathory was wrongly accused of killing 650 women and girls. more »
- Sales Associate, Gift Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Sales Associate, Gift and Specialty Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Associate Digital Marketing Manager / Digital Marketing Manager - Zibby Media - New York, NY.
- Executive Director, Client Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York.
- Public Relations and Media Manager - MamaBear Books - lakeway, TX.
Job Moves
- Alyssa diPierro has joined the Future Of Agency as campaign manager (contract) and can be contacted at alyssa@thefutureofagency.com.
- Kailey Wolcott has joined the Future Of Agency as senior publicist (contract) and can be contacted at kailey@thefutureofagency.com.
Bookstore News
- James Patterson’s Holiday Tradition: The author has distributed $300,000 in holiday bonuses to 600 indie booksellers across the country.
- Connecticut B&N Unionizes: Members of UFCW Local 919 who work at Barnes & Noble in North Haven unanimously ratified their first union contract.
- Florida Feels the Love: Love Story Book Co. has opened in Tallahassee’s Mahan Square Shopping Center.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
The 2026 Old Farmer’s Almanac is the #1 title on our trade paperback bestseller list. See the full list »
‘Whidbey’ by T Kira Madden“The propulsive debut novel from Madden, author of the memoir Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, explores the aftermath of child sexual abuse.... This is unforgettable.” more »
Picture of the Day
On December 6, Wild Rumpus Books hosted a story time in 20-degree weather during the Reindeer Day holiday festival in Minneapolis. During the event, Emily Kilgore read from her picture book, The Christmas Book Flood, illustrated by Kitty Moss (FSG Books for Young Readers).
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Flying High
Private equity firm the Chernin Group has made a minority investment in Fourth Wing publisher and romantasy powerhouse Entangled, which was reported to be valued at $400 million in the deal. Oxford University Press has sold its longtime Manhattan headquarters to an investment group and moved into a new space on Fifth Ave. Charlie Kirk’s new book, published yesterday, has topped Amazon’s bestseller list, selling more than 60,000 copies on the website, according to the Wall Street Journal. Free Comic Book Day will return on May 2, 2026, with lots of big changes from its original iteration under Diamond Comics, per the Beat. India has proposed a mandatory royalty system for AI companies that train their models on copyrighted content, reports TechCrunch. Jon Repetti looks back at publishing history to consider the blurry distinction between genre and literary fiction for the Los Angeles Review of Books. And Confessions of a Shopaholic author Sophie Kinsella and Southern poet and novelist DéLana R.A. Dameron have died at 55 and 40, respectively.
The private equity firm has invested in such media companies as Barstool Sports, Hello Sunshine, and Crunchyroll. Entangled Publishing cofounder and CEO Liz Pelletier will retain majority ownership and full creative control of the company. more »
Oxford University Press has sold its longtime Madison Ave. headquarters to a group led by Benchmark Properties, a brokerage and investment firm, and moved into a new office space on Fifth Ave. The move comes one week after Scholastic offloaded its own Midtown offices, with plans to lease back part of the property. more »
Collected here for the first time are Pope Leo XIV’s sermons and speeches given since his May 8, 2025 election. His Holiness calls for peace and offers hope for our shared global community. (Sponsored)
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Jane Curry, who will take the helm of Simon & Schuster Australia and New Zealand January 19, succeeds Dan Ruffino, who announced his resignation last month. She is currently managing director of Sydney-based independent publisher Ventura Press. more »
After 30 years, Public Lending Right International has become a formal international organization, headquartered in Geneva. The group, which ensures rightholders are paid by libraries for works lent to patrons, includes the International Publishers Association and Federation of European Publishers. more »
Starting next month, new books in the Amazon Kindle store published without digital rights management will be available for readers to download in EPUB or PDF format. more »
Deadline: Jan. 12. Issue date: Feb. 9. PW is collecting information to appear in the Preview issue for the American Booksellers Association Winter Institute 2026. Please submit information on each invited author who will be attending the show. Submit one form per title. For each, add a brief note from an in-house expert on why they’re excited about the book. Click here for more information. »
The publisher will auction off 175 signed, deluxe editions of Paul McCartney’s oral history of the Beatles in support of independent bookstores around the country. more »
The Nightboat Books publisher is recalibrating the now “medium-size” nonprofit press, which turns 20 this year, by prioritizing collaboration, nurturing new editors, and redoubling its commitment to work that resists convention. more »
- Sales Associate, Gift Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Sales Associate, Gift and Specialty Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York, NY.
- Associate Digital Marketing Manager / Digital Marketing Manager - Zibby Media - New York, NY.
- Executive Director, Client Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York.
- Public Relations and Media Manager - MamaBear Books - lakeway, TX.
Job Moves
- Cecelia Sagun has joined Simon Maverick as editorial assistant.
Awards News
- Kinsey Wins CFF First Novel Prize: Darrell Kinsey’s Natch has won this year’s First Novel Prize, presented by Brooklyn’s Center for Fiction.
Bookstore News
- New Indie Heads to North Carolina: Floodplain Books is slated to open in Wilmington next year.
- Michigan Bookstore Goes Digital: Comma Bookstore & Social Hub will shutter its brick-and-mortar location in Flint, transitioning to an online storefront.
- Ohio Bookstore Expands: Birch Tree Bookery, the first indie bookshop in Marion, has opened a second location in Bucyrus.
- Iowa’s Newest Bookshop-Cafe Combo: I’ll Meet You There has opened its doors in Cedar Rapids.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Big Jim Believes (Dog Man #14) by Dav Pilkey is the #1 title on our children’s frontlist fiction bestseller list. See the full list »
‘Upward Bound’ by Woody Brown“Brown’s compassionate debut delves with great insight into the lives and minds of the disabled residents of an adult day care center in Southern California.... This captivating work illuminates a world too often ignored.” more »
Picture of the Day
On December 4, Callie Hart celebrated the audiobook release of the second book in her Fae & Alchemy romantasy series, Brimstone (Podium Audio), hosted by Podium Entertainment at Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles. The event featured a discussion between (from l.) moderator Tahereh Mafi, Hart, and audiobook narrators Anthony Palmini and Stella Bloom.
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Talking Shop
Last week’s Black Friday and Small Business Saturday set the tone for the holiday buying season at indie bookstores across the country, with many shoppers showing enthusiasm for local alternatives to Amazon and big box stores despite economic anxieties. At Wiley, Q2 profits were slightly up thanks to revenue from AI licensing deals, which helped make up for sales declines in its learning group. Romance publishing veteran Dianne Moggy will retire from Harlequin at the end of the year after more than 40 years at the publisher. France’s Angoulême International Comics Festival has been officially canceled following creator boycotts and publisher withdrawals over accusations of mismanagement, Forbes reports. Waterstones CEO James Daunt told the BBC that he would be open to selling AI-generated books at the U.K. bookstore chain. HarperOne will publish the first full-length book by Pope Leo XIV to come out in the U.S., Peace Be with You!, in February. Casting has begun for A24’s film adaptation of Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, per the author’s Instagram. And the Beat considers what Netflix’s imminent acquisition of Warner Bros. could mean for DC Comics.
With the holiday sales season kicking off last weekend, some indie booksellers reported an influx of customers intent on shopping local, while others contended with severe weather and economic uncertainty that kept customers away. more »
Sales in the company’s learning group fell 11% in the second quarter largely due to lower orders from Amazon. A strong showing in Wiley’s research group, bolstered by more AI deals, helped increase profits in the quarter. more »
The romance publishing veteran will step down from her role as VP of editorial on December 31 after more than 40 years at the publisher. Bryony Green has been promoted to publishing director and will lead Harlequin’s romance program following Moggy’s departure. more »
Kossakowski joins Hachette Book Group from Sourcebooks, where she served on the international sales team and spearheaded strategy for such territories as Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. Prior to that, she held roles at HarperCollins. more »
The independent publisher of literature in translation has partnered with Turnaround Publishing Services to distribute 40 backlist titles as well as new releases overseas. more »
Deadline: Jan. 12. Issue date: Feb. 9. PW is collecting information to appear in the Preview issue for the American Booksellers Association Winter Institute 2026. Submit information on each invited author who will be attending the show. Submit one form per title. For each, add a brief note from an in-house expert on why they’re excited about the book. Click here for more information. »
S&S has inked a deal with Humanitas Media, and IPG will distribute for Crown House Publishing. more »
Two decades ago, sibling collaborators Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm’s peppy cartoon heroine burst onto the still nascent kids’ graphic novel scene in Babymouse: Queen of the World! Since then, the Babymouse books and two spinoff series have sold more than 3.6 million copies. We spoke with the creators about reaching this milestone. more »
The British actor and comedian’s I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home (Berkley, Jan.) finds a geriatric serial killer accused of a fresh slaying. more »
- Executive Director, Client Sales - Hachette Book Group - New York.
- Public Relations and Media Manager - MamaBear Books - lakeway, TX.
- Publicist, SMP - Macmillan Publishers - New York.
- Publicity Manager - Non-Fiction - Sourcebooks - New York, NY.
- Publishing and Events Coordinator - Rosenfeld Media LLC - New York City, NY.
Job Moves
- Gillian Levinson has been promoted to VP and publishing director at Random House Children’s Books.
- Heidi Kilgras has been promoted to VP and associate publisher of Random House brands at Random House Children’s Books.
- Shana Corey has been promoted to VP and associate publisher of Random House brands at Random House Children’s Books.
- Sara Sargent has been promoted to editorial director at Rodale Kids.
- Zoe Karoub, most recently an intern at Macmillan Children’s, has joined Random House Children’s Books as publicity assistant.
- Doug Shipman will join South Arts as president and CEO, effective January 20, 2026.
- Emily Engwall has joined Poisoned Pen Press as marketing and publicity manager.
Awards News
- Winners of the Goodreads Choice Awards: Fredrik Backman’s My Friends and Emily Henry’s Great Big Beautiful Life are among the winners of this year’s Goodreads Choice Awards, selected by more than 7.5 million voters.
Bookstore News
- Binc to Offer ComicsPRO Scholarships: The Book Industry Charitable Foundation will double the number of scholarships it offers for comic store owners and their employees to attend the ComicsPRO industry meeting in Glendale, Calif., held February 18-21.
- NYC’s First Fantasy Bookshop: Love & Legends Books opened in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood last month.
- New Bookstore Blooms in Upstate N.Y.: Botanica Books has landed in Saratoga Springs.
- Wisconsin’s Newest Indie: The Nerdy Word will host its grand opening in Union Grove this weekend.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Big Jim Believes (Dog Man #14) by Dav Pilkey is #1 on our overall list this week. See the full list »
‘Reproductive Wrongs: A Short History of Bad Ideas About Women’ by Sarah Ruden“St. Augustine’s advocacy of celibacy to avoid the dangers of female sexuality and Charles Dickens’s cautioning against putting off marriage for economic reasons are among the questionable pieces of literary advice about women on offer in this expansive study.... The result is a biting, revelatory overview of misogyny’s long literary history.” more »
Picture of the Day
On December 2, author and former D.C. broadcast news producer Christina Kovac (r.) celebrated the release of her new thriller, Watch Us Fall (S&S), with a discussion with author Angie Kim (l.) at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C. | | | |
Survey Says
Our annual salary and jobs report returns, with responses from than 700 publishing professionals painting a portrait of an industry that is growing more diverse and less enamored with AI. The Institute of Museum and Library Services has reinstated its federal grants, which had been previously terminated by the Trump administration, following last month’s decision by a federal court to halt the dismantling of the agency. Penguin Random House is seizing on the sustained popularity of KPop Demon Hunters with a new publishing program spanning multiple children’s and adult divisions, with titles based on the film planned through 2027. Public libraries are growing their physical media collections, including DVDs and Blu-rays, as streaming services’ offerings narrow due to IP disputes, reports 404 Media. Author R.F. Kuang has pulled out of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature citing the BDS movement’s call for a boycott of the UAE, per the Bookseller. Olivia Nuzzi’s memoir, which generated buzz for its revelations about the journalist’s affair with RFK Jr., isn’t exactly flying off of New York City bookstore shelves, according to CNN. The heads of several British small presses talked with Lit Hub about their open letter from October laying out the funding crisis in indie publishing across the pond. And for the latest episode of the Open Book podcast, David Steinberger talks with Sourcebooks founder and CEO Dominique Raccah.
This year’s report, based on 726 responses to our annual survey of publishing professionals, reveals that the industry is becoming increasingly diverse—and increasingly skeptical of AI. more »
In response to a U.S. District Court’s permanent injunction in State of Rhode Island v. Trump, a case brought by 21 states’ attorneys general to halt the dismantling of federal agencies, the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced that it “has reinstated all federal grants.” more »
In partnership with Netflix, Penguin Random House has announced a multi-book program based on the hit family film in a range of formats, including activity books and manhwa, to be published across its children’s and adult divisions through 2027. more »
The women-focused media and lifestyle company, headed by book club maven Reese Witherspoon, has teamed with luxury fashion brand Coach to launch Sunnie Reads, a community for Gen Z readers. Its inaugural pick will be announced in January. more »
The team at Atria’s bilingual imprint for Latinx authors and readers is heading back to FIL with a mission. more »
Mexican author Juan Pablo Villalobos, a longtime resident of Barcelona, will return to his hometown of Guadalajara as part of the Catalan capital’s delegation at this year’s FIL. more »
Jo Nesbø, Miye Lee, and others are heading in new directions. more »
The author of A Gentleman in Moscow discusses the author credited with popularizing detective fiction in Japan. more »
Job Moves
- Matt Warner, previously marketing director at Baker & Taylor Publisher Services, has joined Cherry Lake Publishing Group as director of marketing.
- Milena Brown will be joining One World as VP and deputy publisher.
- Margo Shickmanter has been promoted to VP and executive editor at Avid Reader Press.
- Cecelia Sagun has joined Simon Maverick as editorial assistant.
Awards News
- Watty Award Winners: Sapphic sports romance Behind the Camera is the grand prize winner of this year’s Watty Awards, presented by Wattpad.
Bookstore News
- New Bookshop Lands in Ohio: Escape into Fiction opened earlier this fall in Powell.
- Kansas City Bookstore to Shutter: Afterword Tavern & Shelves is slated to close in January.
- Florida Gets a New Bookstore: No Shelf Control bookshop recently opened its doors in St. Augustine.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick is the #1 title on our trade paperback bestseller list. See the full list »
‘The Book of Alice’ by Diamond Forde“The dazzling latest from Forde draws on the King James Bible to lyrically recount the story of the poet’s grandmother, Alice, a Black woman who journeys from the American South to New York during the Great Migration and overcomes heartbreak and long odds to raise a family along the way.” more »
Picture of the Day
On December 1, the Library Shop in San Diego began a week-long celebration of its grand opening in a former public library space. The bookstore’s inaugural event featured a conversation between KPBS arts and culture reporter Julia Dixon Evans (r.) and author Cory Doctorow (l.) about his latest book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It (MCD).
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Seeds of Doubt
Many publishers—and small presses in particular—are rethinking how they use Edelweiss amid steep price hikes, which began earlier this year following the November acquisition of the platform by software company Valsoft. Bloomsbury has partnered with Google Cloud with the aim of leveraging the tech giant’s AI tools to boost book discovery and sales. For the first time ever, Spotify Wrapped includes year-end audiobook streaming data—and the numbers suggest romantasy has yet to loosen its grip on listeners. The Japanese government is planning a unified distribution service platform to consolidate manga publishers’ exports, according to Japan News. Meanwhile, manga publishers themselves are looking to Africa for new talent as demand for the format grows among the continent’s younger generations, Nikkei Asia reports. The New York Times Magazine analyzes the distinctive writing style of AI chatbots. The Guardian profiles Peepal Tree Press, the U.K.-based indie publisher of Caribbean and diasporic writers, 40 years since its founding. And Publishing Perspectives editor-in-chief Porter Anderson has died.
Significant cost increases implemented by the company are causing publishers to reevaluate how they use the service, including cutting the number of titles they list. Edelweiss execs say the higher prices reflect its current value and are needed to keep it viable. more »
The publisher will collaborate with Google Cloud with the goal of improving sales, marketing, and inventory management. The academic division will also implement AI in an effort to improve learning outcomes. Founder and chief executive Nigel Newton said the partnership will “demonstrate how cutting-edge technology can increase the discovery and sales of books.” more »
For the first time, the streaming giant is including audiobook listening data in its annual Wrapped feature, with Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing securing its spot as the most-listened-to title of the year. more »
There is no winning with a narcissistic partner—and no one should have to play their game to survive. In Break Up with Narcissism, Dr. Alina Kastner, renowned systemic psychotherapist and expert in narcissistic relationships, delivers the ultimate guide to freeing yourself from narcissistic abuse. (Sponsored) More »
In addition to her new role, Bergstrom will continue leading the Gallery Publishing Group. She originally joined the publisher in 1998 as editorial director of Simon Spotlight, later transitioning over to the adult division in 2004. more »
The new nonprofit arm of Interlink Publishing, the nation’s only Palestinian American–owned indie press, is dedicated to “amplifying banned, suppressed, and censored voices” through mentorship, events, and funding for translated literature. more »
Penguin Young Readers Group has a graphic novel for every reader’s bookshelf in Spring 2026! Stock up on must-have new titles including Last Comics on Earth: Across the Doodleverse, PAWS: The Trouble with Leo, Unfairies, Maxwell Dark: Bad Blood, and Shock City Punks. (Sponsored) More »
The well-funded, AI-powered self-publishing platform has introduced author voice cloning for audiobooks, expanded translation services, and grown to 6,000 users. “With AI, everyone will be able to publish a book,” said founder and CEO Yehuda Niv. more »
New titles help readers navigate a changing financial picture. more »
In The Wage Standard (Dutton, Mar. 2026), the University of Massachusetts Amherst economics professor probes the gulf between American productivity and American wages. more »
Job Moves
- Kennedy Rooke has been promoted to retail director at Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore.
- Kitanna Hiromasa, formerly associate publicist at Riverhead Books, has joined Grand Central Publishing as publicist.
Awards News
- PEN America Names Grant Winners: The organization has announced this year’s recipients of grants for works in progress, including the PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants and the PEN/Bare Life Review Grants, among others.
- Libro.fm Bookseller Choice Award Winners: Audiobooks of Amal El-Mohtar’s The River Has Roots and John Green’s Everything Is Tuberculosis are among the winners of this year’s Libro.fm Bookseller Choice Awards, as selected by indie bookshops around the world.
Bookstore News
- Kansas Bookshop Changes Hands: Hedgehog.INK Bookstore in Fort Scott was sold to new owners this week.
- Black-Owned Bookstore Lands in Chicago: Honey And Hue will offer books by BIPOC authors in the city’s Beverly neighborhood.
Click here to join the conversation in PW's Facebook group for booksellers.
Big Jim Believes (Dog Man #14) by Dav Pilkey is the #1 title on our children’s frontlist fiction bestseller list. See the full list »
‘Kin’ by Tayari Jones“Jones delivers a triumphant novel of two motherless girls from rural Honeysuckle, La., who follow very different paths into adulthood.... It’s a tour de force.” more »
Picture of the Day
On November 19, City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco hosted Mexican author Daniela Rea (r.) and her translator John Gibler (l.) to celebrate her new book, Fruto: Bearing the Burden of Care (City Lights).
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