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P UBLISHERS W EEKLY . COM N OVEMBER 1 9 , 2 0 1 8 Volume 265 November 19, Number 47 2018 ISSN 0000-0019 F EATURES 22 Morbid Curiosity Violent crime and the people who commit it continue to fascinate readers. 34 Believe the Women New thrillers take inspiration from issues raised by and relevant to the #MeToo movement. 44 Writing the Impossible Karen Thompson Walker’s second novel, The Dreamers, follows the spread of a mysterious sleeping sickness. 47–68 BookLife Six BookLife Prize judges offer tips for aspiring indie authors. N EWS 4 Publishing Honors Its Best The 2018 National Book Awards were presented at a gala in Manhattan last week, and a diverse slate of first-time nominees took home medals. 5 Sales Slip in Early November Unit sales of print books fell 5.3% in the week ended November 10 compared to the similar week last year, with all categories except young adult down. 8 Lightning Source Turns 20 The print-on-demand company, which launched in 1998 at an Ingram warehouse in Tennessee, now has overseas operations and offers the latest in digital printing. 10 South Korean Booksellers Face Slump Retailers in the country say book sales have been declining steadily over the past decade, and they’re looking for ways to stem the tide. 12 Deals Nina Simone’s daughter, Lisa Simone, sells her story; HC invests in a Dutch novel; Susan Wiggs re-ups for seven figures at William Morrow; and more. VISIT US ONLINE FOR ADDITIONAL NEWS, REVIEWS, BESTSELLERS & FEATURES. publishersweekly.com twitter.com/PublishersWkly facebook.com/pubweekly WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 1 Contents D EPARTMENTS & C OLUMNS 20 Library News The Cuyahoga County Public Library’s writer-in-residence program shows the library’s increasingly critical role in our literary ecosystem. 96 Soapbox by Harry Bingham An indie author says that reports of fiction’s decline are greatly exaggerated. B ESTSELLERS ● Adult Hardcovers 15 ● Adult Paperbacks 16 ● Children’s 17 ● Apple Books 18 ● International 19 R EVIEWS Fiction Nonfiction 69 General Fiction 82 General Nonfiction 72 Poetry 87 Lifestyle 74 Mystery/Thriller 79 SF/Fantasy/Horror Children’s 80 Romance/Erotica 90 Picture Books 81 Comics 91 Fiction 83 Q&A with Edward Humes 72 Boxed Review Trust Exercise 92–93 Reviews Roundup Religion for young readers 85 Q&A with Michael Mewshaw PW Publishers Weekly USPS 763-080 (ISSN 0000-0019) is published weekly, except for the last week in December. Published by PWxyz LLC, 71 West 23rd Street, Suite 1608, New York, NY 10010. George Slowik Jr., President; Cevin Bryerman, Publisher. Circulation records are maintained at ESP, 12444 Victory Boulevard, 4th Floor, North Hollywood, CA 91606. Phone: (800) 278-2991 or +001 (818) 487-2069 from outside the U.S. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Publishers Weekly, P.O. Box 16957, North Hollywood, CA 91615-6957. PW PUBLISHERS WEEKLY copyright 2018 by PWxyz LLC. Rates for one-year subscriptions in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank: U.S. $289.99, Canada: $339.99, all other countries: $439.99. Except for special issues where price changes are indicated, single copies are available for $9.99 US; $16.99 for Announcement issues. Extra postage applied for non-U.S. shipping addresses. Please address all subscription mail to Publishers Weekly, P.O. Box 16957, North Hollywood, CA 91615-6957. PW PUBLISHERS WEEKLY is a (registered) trademark of PWxyz LLC. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement No. 42025028. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: IMS, 3390 Rand Road, South Plainfield, NJ 07080 E-mail: [email protected]. PRINTED IN THE USA. 2 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2018 ONLINE & ON-AIR LAST WEEK’S TOP REVIEWS THE MOST-READ REVIEWS ON PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM LAST WEEK WERE... #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 publishersweekly.com/ publishersweekly.com/ publishersweekly.com/ publishersweekly.com/ publishersweekly.com/ heads secret deadsit whatif suppose Retail Association hopes to both liven up the discusses his contribution to Sharing the From the industry and attract retailers with lower annual Wisdom of Time, a collection of stories from Newsletters membership dues and innovative programs. Pope Francis and other elders from around publishersweekly.com/bobmunce the world. Tip Sheet publishersweekly.com/garyjansen Samantha Harvey, author of The Western Podcasts Wind, examines how novelists solve Blogs problems when writing historical fiction. Week Ahead publishersweekly.com/samanthaharvey PW senior writer Andrew Albanese reflects on ShelfTalker Children’s Bookshelf the National Book Awards and how Michelle A book buyer shares how Obama’s blockbuster memoir might jump-start bookstores can go beyond YA author Sarah Dessen has what is expected to be a strong holiday Sherman Alexie when selling moved to HarperCollins. season for bookstores. books by Native American publishersweekly.com/ publishersweekly.com/weekahead authors. sarahdessen publishersweekly.com/ More to Come beyondalexie Global Rights Report Writer Jason Sacks talks about his new book, Erin Morgenstern, author of the 2011 best- American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1990s, seller The Night Circus, sold North American and about comics in the ’90s, from the Image PW Insider rights to The Starless Sea to Jenny Jackson explosion to “Marvelcution.” He also talks at Doubleday. about running the Comics Bulletin website. This year’s National publishersweekly.com/erinmorgenstern publishersweekly.com/moretocome Book Awards were BookLife Report unique for many LitCast reasons. PW Michelle Argyle at Melissa Williams Design We interview scientist Daniel Botkin about associate news reimagines the cover of Spinning by indie his novel Tsavo, which presents differing author Janine Kovac. perspectives on wildlife conservation. editor John Maher recaps the event, publishersweekly.com/janinekovac publishersweekly.com/danielbotkin and deputy reviews editor Gabe Habash talks about the books. Religion BookLine FaithCast publishersweekly.com/pwinsider10 Bob Munce of the newly formed Christian Gary Jansen, an author at Loyola Press, WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 3 News CRAMPTON Publishing Honors Its Best NANCY The 69th National Book Awards were presented at © PHOTOS a gala in Manhattan last week, and a diverse slate NBA of first-time nominees took home medals ALL t the 2018 National Book Awards ceremony, held at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan on November 14, much of the political fervor A underpinning the past two ceremonies was again on display. The evening began with the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, given to Doron Weber, v-p and program director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In his speech, Weber said he Elizabeth Acevedo won the award Jeffrey C. Stewart took home the award was especially proud of his ability to use Sloan funding to for Young People’s Literature. in the nonfiction category. support women writers and writers from marginalized communities. “I don’t have to remind you that, especially today, we need to safeguard creative freedom for writers of every stripe,” he said. “We must defend their rights, or lose them.” The second lifetime achievement award of the evening, the Medal for Distinguished Contributions to American Letters, was awarded to Chilean-American author Isabel Allende, the first Spanish-language author and second not born in the United States to receive the award. Allende, in an emotional speech, accepted the award Isabel Allende was given the Medal for “on behalf of millions of people like myself Sigrid Nunez (r.), fiction winner, with her editor, Sarah Distinguished Contribution to American McGrath of Riverhead Books. Letters. who have come to this country in search of a new life.” She then added, “This is a dark time, my friends. woman, as a Latina, as a person whose accent holds certain It is a time of war in many places and potential war every- neighborhoods, whose body holds certain stories.” where—a time of nationalism and racism. I write to preserve The winner of the first National Book Award in Translated memory against the ocean of oblivion and to bring people Literature was Yoko Tawada for The Emissary, translated together. I believe in the power of stories.” from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani. Tawada could not The five category prizes each went to first-time nominees, be in New York for the ceremony, so a representative of the and all went to writers of color. Elizabeth Acevedo, author of author, writer Monique Truong, read a note from her: “I think The Poet X, won the National Book Award for Young People’s it’s great that the translated literature category for the Literature. “I walk through the world with a chip on my National Book Awards has been resurrected.” (There was, shoulder,” she said in her acceptance speech. “I go into so once, a National Book Award for Translation, which was cut many spaces where I feel like I have to prove that I’m allowed in 1983.) “Translation,” the note continued, “gives a book to be in that space—as a child of immigrants, as a black wings to fly across national borders.” 4 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ NOVEMBER 19, 2018 News The Weekly Scorecard Unit Sales Dropped 5.3% in Early November Unit sales of print books fell 5.3% in the week ended Nov. 10, 2018, compared to the similar week in 2017, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Sales were down in all major catego- ries except for young adult. The widespread decline is likely due in part to distractions caused by the midterm elections that were held on November 6. Last year at this time, there was no particular blockbuster that drove overall unit gains. The top-selling overall title in the week ended Nov. 11, 2017, was The Getaway (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #12) by Jeff Kinney, which sold more than 203,000 copies in its first week.