Almost everyone mentioned that debut fiction has become harder to launch. For writers, the stakes are do or die: A debut sets the bar for each of their subsequent books, so their debut advance and sales performance can follow them for the rest of their career. - Esquire
Who else can’t read cursive? I asked the class. The answer: about two-thirds. And who can’t write it? Even more. What did they do about signatures? They had invented them by combining vestiges of whatever cursive instruction they may have had with creative squiggles and flourishes. - The Atlantic
Donoghue doesn’t know why one story “about a risk-loving boy thief and the scary/seductive witch whose island he repeatedly sneaks on to” gripper her. But she remembers “the implicit lesson I learned from my mother: give those you love what they crave.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Understanding someone 100% is probably an illusion. And madness can be seen as a stand-in term for the parts you don’t comprehend. I think those who suffer from madness know they are not completely known.” - The Guardian (UK)
Elin Hildebrand’s noves, "set among the misbehaving moneyed class on Nantucket Island juggle romance and crime and a sun-kissed beach vibe that her fans soak up like coconut oil.” But Hildebrand is saying goodbye to all that. - The New York Times
"As English fluency has increased in Europe, more readers have started buying American and British books in the original language, forgoing the translated versions that are published locally. This is especially true in Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and, increasingly, Germany.” - The New York Times
Unseen and unacknowledged labor is as central to book publishing as Republican politicians being overpaid to write books that no one except their own political action committee actually buys. - LitHub
The Hay and Edinburgh festivals ended their relationships with Baillie Gifford because participating writers threatened to withdraw unless the firm divested from fossil fuels and any company doing business in Israel. Other book festivals followed suit, and Baillie Gifford "read the room" and withdrew entirely. - The Guardian
Robert Thompson, CEO of HarperCollins parent company News Corp, has repeatedly called Spotify a game changer for the audiobook market; the 14% rise in audiobook sales at the publisher in its most recent financial quarter, which accounted for about half of HC's digital revenue, seemingly proving his point. - Publishers Weekly
Beginning in January 2025, the company will stop stocking books regularly, and will instead sell them only during the holiday shopping period, from September through December. - The New York Times
"The zine — that unruly riff on the glossy magazine, often handmade, always self-published — has long been associated with revolution. DIY dabblers and political thought guerrillas, superfan scenesters and couriers of counterculture have all found a home (therein). … Small presses, indeed, can turn over heavy pages of history. Let’s rifle through them." - Quartz
The layoffs, which the company described as part of a corporate restructuring, come as major publishing companies have been buffeted by sluggish print sales and rising supply chain costs, and have struggled to find new ways to get books in front of customers who have migrated online. - The New York Times
Following the decisions by the Hay Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival, both prompted by withdrawals and boycott threats by participating writers, the Borders Book Festival and Cheltenham Literature Festival have cut ties with the financial firm, Cheltenham at Baillie Gifford's suggestion. - The Guardian
"The former staffers said they offered their resignation due to what they described as a 'heartbreaking' work culture plagued by increasingly low morale over the past year, but they said their four-week notice was rejected and they were locked out of their emails by the afternoon." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
