New crime imprint at Grove Atlantic
Independent publisher Grove Atlantic has launched Atlantic Crime, a new imprint that will release 18–24 titles per year.
New science imprint at Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The mission: “publish books that illuminate and elucidate the central questions and fundamental ideas of modern science for readers.”
On the List: The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan
Kemper Donovan is a full-time writer and host of the podcast All About Agatha, dedicated to all things Agatha Christie.
Can You Copyright a Work If You Used AI to Assist You?
The deceptively simple USCO policy may not be so easy to enforce.
How Much Do Blurbs Matter? A Look at All Perspectives
Within hours of an essay by S&S’s Sean Manning, major media outlets started calling up industry insiders to get their reactions.
Reader Asks: Is BookTok really responsible for selling one in 12 print books?
Why is the industry attributing sales so directly to BookTok when it has never done so with other social media?
Book sales update: dystopian novels enjoy sales boost
Books by Ray Bradbury, Margaret Atwood, and George Orwell enjoyed increased sales after President Trump was inaugurated for the second time.
Cool tool alert: ISBN visualizer
This online tool allows anyone to see all of the books published by a single publisher in a specific reserved block of ISBNs.
IngramSpark increases printing prices, including its “global distribution fee”
Anyone with an IngramSpark account has likely seen the news: The distributor will increase POD pricing in April of this year.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros: fastest-selling adult title in history of BookScan
The publisher, Entangled, reports total sales of 2.7 million copies for Onyx Storm during the first week.
Bottom Line January 2025 bestseller lists
The January 2025 bestseller lists are now available at the Hot Sheet website, free to everyone. Here are some points of interest.
January 2025 Bestseller Lists
Three distinctive monthly bestseller lists: top 50 hidden gems, top 50 self-published ebooks, and top 50 self-published print books.
Expect the Creative Process to Be Uneven and Messy
Getting stuck is a lousy feeling, but a normal part of the messy and uneven creative process. Here are some tips for working through it.
The Perfect Guide for Where to Submit Your Writing (Does Not Exist)
We often long for perfect guidance about where to submit our writing, but there’s no substitute for getting to know the landscape ourselves.
6 Tips on Writing Disabled Characters
Writing characters with disabilities doesn’t have to be difficult. It only requires a little work to understand how things look from the character’s position.
Free Yourself from Rewriting Paralysis
When the revision process meanders off-course, leaving a project stranded, here are some tips for regaining momentum.
Scene and Structure: The Wave Technique
To keep readers engaged, build each scene toward a breaking point then reveal something new about the characters, their world, or the plot.
Turn Your Short Pieces Into a Finished Nonfiction Book
If you’ve amassed a heap of assorted essays, flash pieces, chapters, and ideas, here’s a step-by-step guide to shaping them into a book.
Links of Interest: January 29, 2025
The latest in bookselling, trends, traditional publishing, Amazon, legal concerns, media & the creator economy, AI, and culture & politics.
New UK publisher: The River Light Press
They will publish “heavyweight” nonfiction books written by academics, journalists, or writers who have developed a strong brand identity.
New agent at George Borchardt
Pronoy Sarkar has joined as a literary agent; most recently he was an editor at Little, Brown. He is focused on nonfiction.
New agent at Massie & McQuilken
Michael Taeckens has joined as a literary agent; he will continue as publicist at Broadside PR, which he co-founded in 2015.
FairyLoot partners with PRH UK on new imprint
Subscription box company FairyLoot will launch a fantasy publishing imprint in partnership with a division of Penguin Random House UK.
On the List: Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik
Lili Anolik is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and a writer at large for Air Mail.
Once a Stalwart, the Historical Romance Market Goes Soft
While some historical fiction authors are pivoting to other subgenres, others may move toward self-publishing.