Publishers Weekly

the week in publishing

John Byrd (r.) has been named president and CFO of Cinco Puntos, the independent publisher founded in 1985 by Lee Merrill Byrd and Bobby Byrd, based in El Paso, Tex. Press cofounder Bobby Byrd (l.) will now serve as publisher emeritus. Tracy van Straaten, Scholastic’s longtime head of publicity, is leaving the company after 13 years to return to her hometown of Chicago to launch TvS Media Group, a new boutique public relations and consulting agency. ZE Records cofounder Michael Zilkha has launched ZE Books, a new small press based in Los Angeles that will publish “literary mixtapes from visionary writers, artists, and musicians.” Barnes & Noble issued a formal tender offer to its shareholders for an acquisition bid from Elliott Capital Advisors to buy the bookselling chain for $6.50 a share in…

publishers weekly

President George Slowik Jr. Executive V-P, Publisher Cevin Bryerman V-P, Editorial Director Jim Milliot V-P, General Manager Carl Pritzkat V-P, Children’s Book Editor Diane Roback V-P, Executive Editor Jonathan Segura Associate Publisher Joe Murray Art Director Clive Chiu Managing Editor Daniel Berchenko News Director Rachel Deahl Senior News Editor Calvin Reid News and Digital Editor John Maher Features Editor Carolyn Juris Deputy Reviews Editor Gabe Habash Senior Editors Peter Cannon, Mark Rotella Senior Reviews Editor Rose Fox Reviews Editors Everett Jones, Hannah Kushnick, Meg Lemke, Maya C. Popa, Seth Satterlee Children’s Reviews Editor Amanda Bruns Senior Writer Andrew R. Albanese Bookselling & International Editor Ed Nawotka Religion Editor Emma Koonse Wenner Associate Editor, Children’s Books Emma Kantor Assistant Editor Drucilla Shultz Associate Art Director Nicole Cadavid Copy Editor Robby Ritacco Director of Marketing Krista Rafanello Marketing Manager Stacey Gill Sales Coordinator Deena Ali Licensing Director Christi Cassidy Director of Special Editorial Projects Adam Boretz BookLife Editor Matia Burnett Director of Strategic…

bestselling books of 2019 so far

After a couple of years of political books dominating the bestseller lists, an adult fiction title is the bestselling book in print in the first half of 2019. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens has been buoyed by support from Hollywood powerhouse and publishing kingmaker Reese Witherspoon, who picked it for her book club and whose production studio optioned it for film. The novel, which was published by Putnam last August, sold more than 907,000 copies in the first six months of the year, according to NPD BookScan, and more than 1.1 million copies since its release. With those numbers, Owens beat out Michelle Obama to top both the adult list, where the former first lady’s memoir was #2, and the combined bestseller list, having sold more than 888,000 copies…

bestselling books, jan.–june 2019

TOP 20 ADULT BESTSELLERS 1. Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens (Putnam) Unit sales: 907,192 2. Becoming Michelle Obama (Crown) Unit sales: 888,611 3. Girl, Stop Apologizing Rachel Hollis (HarperCollins Leadership) Unit sales: 505,809 4. Girl, Wash Your Face Rachel Hollis (Nelson) Unit sales: 490,019 5. Educated Tara Westover (Random House) Unit sales: 454,989 6. The Tattooist of Auschwitz Heather Morris (Harper) Unit sales: 365,246 7. Unfreedom of the Press Mark R. Levin (Threshold) Unit sales: 267,751 8. Howard Stern Comes Again Howard Stern (Simon & Schuster) Unit sales: 265,295 9. You Are a Badass Jen Sincero (Running Press) Unit sales: 250,048 10. The Mueller Report (Scribner) Unit sales: 243,007 11. Strengthsfinder 2.0 Tom Rath (Gallup) Unit sales: 235,821 12. It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way Lysa TerKeurst (Nelson) Unit sales: 232,932 13. The Woman in the Window A.J. Finn (Morrow) Unit sales: 230,098 14. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Marie Kondo (Ten Speed) Unit sales: 229,730 15. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson (Harper) Unit sales: 221,913 16. The…

indie pubs score at socialism conference

Conversation rooted in leftist literature served as the foundation for the 2019 Socialism Conference, held July 4–7 in Chicago. The conference, organized for the first time this year by Haymarket Books, was cosponsored by Haymarket and Jacobin magazine, with support from the Democratic Socialists of America, In These Times magazine, Mondoweiss, New Politics, the New Press, Science for the People, and Verso Books. This year, the book fair at the conference, which was previously a small part of the event, included more publishers and organizations selling books than ever before. Exhibiting publishers included the New Press and Verso, alongside hundreds of books from Haymarket and other independent publishers and sellers of left-leaning, Marxist, and radical books. In the spirit of camaraderie, and to encourage customers to purchase books by authors leading…

because a novel is worth a thousand tweets.

Through Fire and Over Water Maria Krechowec This is an autobiography of a girl growing up into womanhood in a harsh environment where she battled to survive against huge obstacles in an insane world. Where death and famine walked hand in hand. By sheer determination, courage and fortitude, she overcame these odds to reach her ultimate goal of having a family and home she could call her own in a distant land. Know Maria Krechowec’s experiences growing up into womanhood during the Second World War. $21.92 paperback978-1-5144-6694-0also available in hardcover & ebookwww.xlibris.co.nz Infertility Caused by Decreased Oxygen Utilization and Jinn (Demon) Dr. Mira Bajirova Dr. Mira Bajirova, an Associate Professor, Obstetrician-Gynecologist and In Vitro Fertilization Consultant from Paris, explores the two main causes of Infertility: Decreased Oxygen Utilization and Jinn (Demon). Filled with insights from the…