As publishers vie to persuade us to pack their titles for the holidays, we chart the evolution of the ’beach read’Summer reads, beach reads, holiday reads … at this time of year, the publishing world works itself into a sweat trying to force its novels into our carry-on luggage, or over the ether on to our Kindles. There are more books sold in the summer than during any other season: the well-established publishing calendar tends to see hardbacks released in the autumn to be given as gifts at Christmas, then repackaged as paperbacks in late spring. As Donna Harrington-Lueker sets out in her history of the beach read, Books for Idle Hours, the summer publishing rush is at least a century old, and has typically aimed “airy and froth-like” books on “young ladies” (the quote is from an 1888 work on summer books by Arlo Bates). The summer fiction market is changing, though, with more and more “serious”, “literary” novels showing up where once there were only thrillers and crime novels, bonkbusters and romances. So it is that Normal People by Sally Rooney is currently piled high on the tables of WH Smith’s Travel alongside Lee Child, Jodi Picoult and Bernard Cornwell.I’m aware of how contentious and porous discussions of genre can be. Generic labels, though, are the terms that booksellers and publishers think in and for literary novels, the chances of summer success are still relatively slim. Tom Tivnan, managing editor of the Bookseller, points to Nielsen BookScan data that... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-07-14 07:00:23 UTC ]
Efforts raise questions about the far right’s place in the broader culture wars waged by the Trump administration The far right US publisher Passage Press is now part of Foundation Publishing Group and it is connected via a Foundation director, Daniel Lisi, to Network Press, whose only title to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-06-03 10:00:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this
One of the first Iranian novelists to write in English, she examined the clash between East and West. Her debut novel, “Foreigner,” provided insight into pre-revolutionary Iran. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-05-14 17:24:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
While the novel remains a high-status cultural form, video game writing is still seen as a throwaway art – despite some of the biggest names in fiction being involvedI’ve been working in games for a little more than 15 years, and the main thing I’d say about it at this point is that it’s a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-04-30 08:00:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this
We’ve got the latest round-up of collection news for librarians: publishing world updates, new book announcements, adaptation news, and a ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-04-29 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters for decades, has died, his son said Sunday. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-04-14 02:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Crystal Maldonado, Julie Murphy, and other authors discuss the importance of joyful representation. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-04-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Influential novelists are imagining what women’s lives might look like without the demands of partners and children. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2025-04-04 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Mohr, who translated such German novelists as Alina Bronsky, chronicled the Berlin music scene in a 2018 book, and helped bring to life a number of musicians’ memoirs, died at his home in Brooklyn on March 31. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-04-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Mohr, who translated such German novelists as Alina Bronsky, chronicled the Berlin music scene in a 2018 book, and helped bring to life a number of musicians’ memoirs, died at his home in Brooklyn on March 31. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-04-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Booksellers take stand against influence of conservative billionaire by limiting orders of his company’s books and placing them on lower shelvesA conservative Catholic billionaire and media owner is facing an independent bookshop rebellion in France over his influence in the publishing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-03-22 06:00:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Two Dollar Radio has been quietly rocking the publishing world since its inception in 2005. The Ohio-based indie publisher and “family outfit” turns twenty this year, and we at Lit Hub want to extend a hearty happy birthday. In a literary landscape that’s often knocked for a fear of risk-taking,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-03-14 18:01:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Survey respondents in Brazil tell Nielsen BookScan they find physical-store pricing a barrier to book-buying. The post Brazil’s Book Market: Consumer Research Reflects Price Perceptions appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-02-27 00:20:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This week on The Lit Hub Podcast: How the publishing world can respond to Trump, and “What energizes you?” | Lit Hub Radio “When in doubt, leave the reaction out.” Eric Puchner on how to be funny when writing a novel. | Lit Hub Craft Ted Hamm on how Jimmy Breslin and Langston Hughes each […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-21 11:30:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“You see, but you do not observe.” –Sherlock Holmes, “A Scandal in Bohemia” * It all started with a book that made me curious. I was on a house call in Georgetown, invited to browse the personal book collection of a woman who used to be a professional rare book dealer like me. I spent […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-19 10:58:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Sophie Lewis chronicles the rise and fall of #girlboss feminism: “The funeral for ‘trickle-down feminism,’ eerily, keeps repeating itself, suggesting that, every time we report that the girlboss is dead, we’re being wishful.” | Lit Hub Criticism Rebecca Romney on unearthing a legacy of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-18 11:30:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This week, the book-reading internet was apparently in a mild uproar over six redesigns of Jane Austen novels, which will be published—with new introductions from popular contemporary YA romance novelists like Ali Hazelwood and Tessa Bailey—by Puffin, Penguin UK’s children’s imprint, in March.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-04 14:47:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Han Kang’s We Do Not Part, Adam Haslett’s Mothers and Sons, and Adam Ross’ Playworld all feature among the best reviewed fiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * 1. We Do Not Part by Han Kang, trans. by E Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-31 09:59:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this