Publishers Weekly - June 06, 2022

104 Pages·2022·54.7 MB·English

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Check out the extensive
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Volume 269 June 6,
Number 24 2022
ISSN 0000-0019
F
E AT U R E S
21
Pushing Boundaries
New novels in translation explore social and political themes from
a variety of perspectives.
25
Stage to Page
After pivoting from acting to writing, Jessie Burton found success
with The Miniaturist; its follow-up arrives just as she’s coming to
grips with another big change: motherhood.
1–32
Children’s Institute Preview
ABA’s premiere children’s conference is back in person for the first
time since 2019, in Phoenix, June 20–22, with author appearances,
educational sessions, and more.
N
E W S
6 Urban Decay
Book sales in big cities are underperforming compared to those in
smaller markets.
7 Print Sales Drop Again in Late May
With declines in all categories, unit sales of print books fell 9.3% in
the week ended May 28 compared to the similar week last year.
10 Licensing Expo Returns In Person
Publishers who gathered at the show in Las Vegas, May 24–26,
said licensees were interested in manga and books focused on
social-emotional learning.
Bad Gays
12 A New Look for the Lisa Ekus Group
A Homosexual History
Forty years after founding the firm, which specializes in representing
by Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller
and promoting cookbook authors, Lisa Ekus has turned over the
reins to her daughter, Sally Ekus.
13 Deals
“This revelatory book is really an
Mindy Kaling’s Amazon imprint buys a novel by Sonali Dev, Ethelene
account of toxic power relations,
Whitemire sells a narrative nonfiction work to Viking, and more.
always with an eye to a better,
14 From the Archive
stranger, wilder future.”
On June 1, 1940, our correspondent in London reported on the
challenges British publishers faced in the early days of World War II. —Olivia Laing, author of Everybody
Cover photos clockwise from top l.: Victoria Aveyard, Ibram X. Kendi © Stephen Voss, Charlie
Jane Anders © Sarah Deragon, Cynthia Leitich Smith © Christopher Tassaf “A wry, rigorous account
VISIT US ONLINE FOR ADDITIONAL NEWS, of centuries of gay villainy.”
REVIEWS, BESTSELLERS & FEATURES.
—Shon Faye, author of
The Transgender Issue
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Put Your
C o n t e n t s
Finger
D & C
E PA R T M E N T S O L U M N S
19 Books in Spanish
With 50 Spanish-language titles and counting, Candlewick says
sales for its list were up 30% in 2021.
on the
20 Digital Perspectives
Promoting books today demands a deep understanding of how
social media, and BookTok in particular, works.
Pulse
64 Soapbox by Scott Russell Sanders
An author says children and artists alike can create works that
speak out against war and oppression.
B
E S T S E L L E R S
of Publishing
● Adult Hardcovers 16 ● Adult Paperbacks 17
● Children’s 18
R
E V I E W S
Fiction
46 Lifestyle
50 Religion/Spirituality
27 General Fiction
30 Mystery/Thriller
Children’s/YA
35 SF/Fantasy/Horror
52 Picture Books
37 Romance/Erotica
52 Fiction
38 Comics
56 Nonfiction
Nonfiction
BookLife
40 General Nonfiction
57 Paid Reviews
41
30
Q&A with Hua
Boxed Review
Moth Hsu
31
Q&A with
54
Ava Glass
Review Roundup
Picture books embrace
adventure and exploration
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CourtofMistandFury could Senior V-P, Children’s Book Editor Diane Roback
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be deemed obscene, and that
V-P, Operations Ryk Hsieh
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ordered the authors and publishers to defend the books in court, an Managing Editor Daniel Berchenko
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action that “stifl e[s] the voices of authors and publishers.” Senior News Editor Calvin Reid
News & Digital Editor John Maher
Features Editor Carolyn Juris
Senior Writer Andrew R. Albanese
The Freelance Isn’t Free Act Bookselling & International Editor Ed Nawotka
SeniorReviews Editor Peter Cannon
Senior Reviews Editor, Children’s Amanda Bruns
has been passed in New York
Reviews Editors: David Adams, Stephanie Buschardt,
Phoebe Cramer, Meg Lemke, Maya C. Popa,
State. The law is intended to Baker & Taylor sold its U.K. division,
Amanda Ramirez, Carliann Rittman, David Varno
Associate Reviews Editor Marc Greenawalt
establish and enhance the rights Baker & Taylor UK, to the Little Religion Editor Emma Koonse Wenner
Deputy Children’s Book Editor Emma Kantor
of freelance workers, including Group, parent company of the U.K.’s Editorial Assistant, Children’s Books Iyana Jones
Assistant Editor Drucilla Shultz
authors, journalists, and other largest wholesaler, Gardners. The Associate Editor, News Sophia Stewart
Copy Chief Robby Ritacco
writers on contract. sale came about six months after Director of Marketing Krista Rafanello
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Amandeep Kochar bought B&T from DirectorofSpecialEditorialProjects Adam Boretz
BookLife Editor Matia Madrona Query
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Post Hill Press has launched Follett Corp.
Director of Digital Operations Michael Morris
Digital Editorial Coordinator Marian Amo
a new imprint, Twin Flame,
Digital Department Assistant Nathalie Mairena
Digital Advertising Assistant Beatrice Viri
focused on nonfi ction titles in Blanche Cirker, who started Dover HR Generalist Nathaly Rivas
Accounts Receivable Cynthia Flaim
the spirituality, relationships, Publications in 1941 with her husband, Accounts Payable Sylvia Joanne Slowik
Assistant Office Manager Catherine Hosch
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who worked titles in the public domain, Dover Editor at Large Louisa Ermelino
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as an expanded its list to
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editor for include original works.
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Regional Sales Team: Deena Ali, Ian Littauer, Julia Molino
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News
Urban Decay
Book sales in big cities are underperforming compared to those in
smaller markets
SALES GROWTH OF THE 10 LARGEST BOOK MARKETS,
S
ince physical retailers started seeing a
2022 VS. 2019*
rebound in business after the plunge in sales
in the early days of the pandemic, Barnes &
DMA OVERALL GROWTH GROWTH VS. MARKET AVG.
Noble CEO James Daunt has often said that

New York City 1.5% -14.1%
stores in urban areas are having the toughest time

Los Angeles 14.4% -1.0%
recovering. It turns out B&N is not alone in that regard.

Chicago 11.2% -4.2%
Kristen McLean, executive director of business

development and industry analyst for NPD Books & San Francisco -0.2% -15.6%
Entertainment, noted that sales in most retail segments Philadelphia 9.6% -5.8%
in big cities are having a difficult time making up the
Boston 4.6% -10.8%
ground lost since 2019. Looking at books in particular,

Washington, D.C. 7.2% -8.2%
eight of the country’s 10 biggest book markets have

Dallas/Ft. Worth 19.6% 4.2%
seen their sales performances this year through May

14 trail the 15% increase in the overall market com- Seattle/Tacoma 8.5% -6.9%

pared to the similar period in 2019, while many midsize Atlanta 20.7% 5.3%
markets have seen substantial gains, according to FASTEST-GROWING BOOK MARKETS, 2022 VS. 2019*
BookScan data.
DMA OVERALL GROWTH GROWTH OVER MARKET AVG.
BookScan analyzed print unit sales from two vantage

points: actual changes in sales in 2022 vs. 2019, and Portland, Maine 37.3% 21.9%
how sales in different DMAs (designated market Fresno/Visalia, Calif. 31.5% 16.1%
areas) in 2022 vs. 2019 compare to the 15% increase
Phoenix 26.1% 10.7%
posted by the overall market. Thus, sales in the New York

Others 26.0% 10.6%
metropolitan region, the country’s largest book market,

Green Bay/Appleton, 26.0% 10.6%
rose about 1% this year over 2019, a growth rate that
Wis.
trailed the overall 15% increase by about 14 percentage

Tampa/St. Petersburg, 25.4% 10.0%
points. On the other hand, Portland, Maine, saw sales
Fla.
increase 37% this year compared to 2019, 22 percent-

Orlando/Daytona, Fla. 24.9% 9.5%
age points above the market average.

San Antonio, Tex. 24.7% 9.3%
The weak performance by New York meant its mar-
Cincinnati 24.5% 9.1%
ket share of book sales fell from almost 7% in the 2019

period to about 6.1% in 2022. Portland’s share, Salt Lake City 23.9% 8.5%
meanwhile, inched up to 0.5% in 2022 from 0.4% in
Des Moines/Ames, 23.8% 8.4%
2019. Overall, the 10 largest book markets accounted Iowa
for about 31% of total book sales through early May, Flint/Saginaw, Mich. 23.5% 8.1%
down from just over 34% in the comparable period
Columbus, Ohio 22.8% 7.4%
in 2019.
Grand Rapids/ 21.9% 6.5% AN
McLean said that while at first NPD thought the SC
Kalamazoo, Mich. K
O
O
slow recovery in the major markets was tied to stricter B
Providence, R.I. 21.8% 6.4% PD
N
retail lockdowns implemented there, it has since E:
C
*Print units sold January 1–May 14, 2022, vs. comparable period in 2019. R
become clear that the biggest factor is the migration U
O
S
6 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JUNE 6, 2022
News The Weekly Scorecard
Print Sales Fell 9.3% in
Late May
Overall, the 10 With declines in all categories, unit sales of print books fell
9.3% in the week ended May 28, 2022, from the comparable
largest book week in 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Adult
nonfi ction continued to struggle, with units down 12.7%
markets accounted for about from the week ended May 29, 2021. The #1 title in the
category was Atomic Habits by James Clear, which sold
31% of total book sales
nearly 19,000 copies. Last year at this time, Acoustic
Guitar Primer by Bert Casey was the category’s top title,
through early May, down
selling about 25,000 copies. The bestselling new release in
the category in the most recent week was Elena Aguilar’s
from just over 34% in the
The PD Book, which sold just over 7,000 copies. Adult fi ction
sales had a rare down week, falling 1.4%. Where the
comparable period in 2019.
Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was the top title in the
category, selling more than 40,000 copies. Last year, Legacy
by Nora Roberts was #1, selling about 33,000 copies. In the
of people away from big cities. She noted that each
most recent week, Roberts’s Nightwork was the top new
area has a specific cause for the soft recovery in book
release, selling almost 27,000 copies. The War of Two Queens
sales. For example, she explained that in the Boston by Jennifer Armentrout sold almost 14,000 copies in its fi rst
area—where sales were up only 5% (10 points below week, good enough for 10th place on the category list.
Juvenile fi ction sales dropped 10.6% from 2021. In both 2021
the industry increase)—the slower growth was due to
and 2022, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss was #1 in
the switch to remote learning at the city’s many uni-
the category, selling approximately 50,000 copies in each
versities, as well as office closures that allowed
week. Erin Napier’s The Lantern House was the bestselling
employees to move to less expensive areas—such as new release in the category, selling nearly 12,000 copies.
nearby Portland. A similar trend can be seen in North- For the year to date, total unit sales were down 6.5% from
the same period in 2021.
ern California, where the San Francisco Bay Area was
the only DMA to have a decline in sales in 2022 vs.
TOTAL SALES OF PRINT BOOKS
(in thousands)
2019, while nearby (about 200 miles away) and less
MAY 29 MAY 28, CHGE CHGE
expensive Fresno/Visalia saw book sales increase by
2021 2022 WEEK YTD
more than 16 percentage points over the industry Total 14,183 12,864 -9.3% -6.5%
average.
It is also worth noting that the two major book UNIT SALES OF PRINT BOOKS BY CATEGORY (in thousands)
markets that had the best sales performances in MAY 29 MAY 28, CHGE CHGE
2021 2022 WEEK YTD
2022 vs. 2019—Dallas/Fort Worth and Atlanta—have
Adult Nonfi ction 5,511 4,810 -12.7% -10.2%
been popular destinations for people leaving older
Adult Fiction 3,283 3,238 -1.4% 5.0%
metropolitan areas. And people, and book buyers, are
Juvenile Nonfi ction 1,310 1,172 -10.6% -9.3%
moving to cities that up until now have ranked outside
Juvenile Fiction 3,220 2,886 -10.4% -7.1%
the top 100 BookScan DMAs. That growth is seen in
Young Adult Fiction 590 533 -9.7% -4.2%
the “other” line, where 2022 print sales were up 26%
Young Adult Nonfi ction 81 73 -10.2% -2.7%
over 2019.
McLean noted that the migration away from big cities
UNIT SALES OF PRINT BOOKS BY FORMAT
(in thousands)
had started before Covid but was accelerated by the
MAY 29 MAY 28, CHGE CHGE
pandemic. Research shows book buyers are more likely 2021 2022 WEEK YTD
to come from middle- and upper-class households, she Hardcover 3,992 3,448 -13.6% -10.1%
added, and these are also the workers most likely to Trade Paperback 8,359 7,919 -5.3% -3.4%
have the opportunity and means to migrate. The migra- Mass Market Paperback 776 559 -27.9% -20.4%
tion trend raises a number of questions for McLean Board Books 651 571 -12.3% -4.9%
about the book market, such as how indie bookstores
in some of the outlying areas may benefit from the shift
SOURCE: NPD BOOKSCAN AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. NPD’S U.S. CONSUMER MARKET PANEL COV-
and how publishers should adapt their marketing and ERS APPROXIMATELY 80% OF THE PRINT BOOK MARKET AND CONTINUES TO GROW.
sales efforts. —Jim Milliot
7
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