Publishers Weekly June 27, 2022

Lawyers for Oni Press, Bloomsbury, and Barnes & Noble filed motions in a Virginia court seeking to dismiss charges that the books Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and Fury are “obscene for unrestricted viewing by minors,” raising the possibility that the court could restrict booksellers and librarians from providing the books to minors without parental consent. Taylor Norman, children’s editor at Chronicle Books, will join Holiday House as executive editor of Neal Porter Books on July 18. This marks the first time an editor other than Porter will acquire for the imprint, with Norman working remotely on the West Coast and Porter located in New York. Christian publisher David C Cook is expanding its staff and comic book offerings through the acquisition of the graphic arts studio Corvus Comics. Studio…

The Week Ahead At this year’s ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., the library profession “needs to consider the future of working conditions for librarians and library workers,” argues senior writer Andrew Albanese. publishersweekly.com/ala22 More to Come Heidi MacDonald recaps her visit to the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (June 17–19), back as an in-person event after a three-year hiatus. publishersweekly.com/toronto Children’s Bookshelf At the helm of Allida, a new children’s imprint launching in early 2023, will be Newbery winner Linda Sue Park and Clarion v-p and editorial director Anne Hoppe. publishersweekly.com/allida…

Earlier this month, a crowd that included Graywolf Press authors, past and current employees, and board members gathered to honor publisher Fiona McCrae as she prepares to retire after 28 years at the helm of the venerable literary press founded in Minneapolis in 1974. McCrae will step down in early July; associate publisher Katie Dublinski will assume the role of interim publisher on July 10 while the board continues its search for McCrae’s successor. The program included brief remarks by author Charles Baxter, who described McCrae’s “secret weapon” as “a wry sense of humor accompanied by a laser-like intelligence.” Those attributes, Baxter said, have positioned Graywolf to become a “North American outpost of great poetry, prize-winning essays, and fiction, socially conscious and alert to contemporary life.” For the occasion, Danze Smith…

Unit sales of print books fell about 5% in the week ended June 18, 2022, from the comparable week in 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The adult fiction segment was the only category to post an increase over 2021. The gain was led by Elin Hilderbrand’s The Hotel Nantucket, which sold more than 70,000 copies in its first week. Colleen Hoover had five books among the segment’s top 10 titles, which altogether sold nearly 200,000 copies. Sales of adult nonfiction fell by about 8%. As has been true for much of the year, the decline was due to weakness throughout the list, not because of a blockbuster seller a year ago. In fact, sales of the #1 title in the category in the most recent week, Battle…

With vivacity and sharp focus, booksellers and industry experts mingled at Children’s Institute 10 in Phoenix June 20–22, basking outside in Arizona’s sauna-like warmth between sessions. Everyone left with fresh insights, autographed ARCs, and a sugar rush from cookies at Scholastic Graphix’s after-party. ABA planned a nonstop slate of events, from small-group mentorship for newer stores to keynotes with high-profile guests. Panelists exchanged practical tips on using IndieCommerce 2.0 (coming in July), promoting staff picks through BookTok, and changing up storytimes. Ci10 spotlighted diverse booksellers, and the galley room and author receptions reinforced how essential racial and gender representations have become to children’s publishing. Content trends included emotional understanding, intersectional identities, and sci-fi/fantasy with a social justice subtext. An ebullient mood prevailed as attendees made the most of their time together,…

“The correct way, as I understand it, is to open a bookstore, and then you launch a book festival,” Alex George laughed. “But I did not do that.” George founded Columbia, Mo.’s Unbound Book Festival in 2015 and followed that up three years later with Skylark Bookshop, housed in a building a few blocks from the University of Missouri’s flagship campus. The festival and the bookshop remain separate entities, but their symbiotic relationship has only helped both to grow, despite the pandemic’s disruptions. George can best be described as a jack-of-all-literary-trades. Besides serving as Unbound’s executive director, and running Skylark, George has written three novels that became “Indie Next” picks and remain indie bookseller handselling favorites: A Good American (2012), Setting Free the Kites (2017), and The Paris Hours (2020). An Oxford…