Author: Sharifah Williams

Inkitt’s (Not-So-) Secret Trick For Identifying Bestsellers

Berlin-based publishing company Inkitt recently raised $3.9 million to expand, and the internet is abuzz about the company’s ability to identify bestsellers. Forbes reported that Inkitt has so far published 24 Amazon Bestsellers (out of 37 total published books). The company’s CEO and founder Ali Albazaz said he studied the statistics of successful authors, including J.K. Rowling and Stephen King, who had been rejected multiple times by publishers, and decided to create a publishing house that made decisions based on reader engagement instead of connections or a track record. Basically, Inkitt collects and analyzes reader engagement data from their community-driven platform to identify successful manuscripts, and then puts marketing power behind those books. Next up, the company plans to focus its attention on audiobooks, print books in brick and mortar stores, and selling film rights.

The Literary Community Hosts An Auction For Puerto Rico

#PubforPR created an auction to benefit Puerto Rico’s relief efforts after Hurricane Maria, with authors, editors, illustrators, and literary agents contributing their time and talent to help raise funds. Marie Lu, Roxane Gay, and Rainbow Rowell are a few of the authors contributing to the fundraiser. Participants have the opportunity to bid on signed book bundles, personalized artwork, one-on-one conversations with editors or agents, and more. All of the funds will go to vetted local charity organizations, Unidos por Puerto Rico and ConPRmetidos.

Maybe We Won’t Be Getting That MY IMMORTAL Memoir

Earlier in September, Vox detailed the strange story of Rose Christo, the until-recently-anonymous alleged author of the infamous fanfic My Immortal. We also learned that Christo would publish her memoir Under the Same Stars: The Search for My Brother and the True Story of My Immortal in 2018. Well, according to Christo’s Twitter and Tumblr, that book isn’t happening after all. The Tumblr post states that the memoir will not be published because Christo altered documentation during the publication process to protect the identities of her family members. The details so far are vague. Between the theory that Lani Sarem of the Handbook for Mortals NYT Bestseller scandal wrote My Immortal, the troubling and unusual details of Christo’s past, and this recent update, I’d say this story can’t get any stranger. But that would be naive.

Thanks to Scout Press, publisher of The Visitors by Catherine Burns, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Catherine Burns’s debut novel explores the complex truths we are able to keep hidden from ourselves and the twisted realities that can lurk beneath even the most serene of surfaces.

Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother John in a crumbling mansion on the edge of a northern seaside resort. A timid spinster in her fifties, Marion does her best to live by John’s rules, even if it means turning a blind eye to the noises she hears coming from behind the cellar door…and turning a blind eye to the women’s laundry in the hamper that isn’t hers….

Librarian Rejects Book Donation From Melania Trump

A Massachusetts librarian turned down a selection of Dr. Seuss classics donated to her Cambridge elementary school by Melania Trump. The school librarian, Liz Phipps Soeiro, suggested that Trump donate books to “the underfunded and underprivileged communities that continue to be marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.” She also sent along a list of 10 alternative books that would better serve these students, including Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation written by Edwidge Danticat and illustrated by Leslie Staub. I want to send this woman a thank you card.

Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence: Longlist 2018

The American Library Association released the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence longlist. The award recognizes the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. the previous year. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward seems to be on every list this awards season and made it onto the Carnegie Fiction longlist alongside What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons and The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne. Roxane Gay’s Hunger and Sherman Alexie’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me made the Nonfiction list. The six-title shortlist—three each for the fiction and nonfiction medals—will be announced on October 25, 2017.

The Princess Bride Returns To Theaters

William Goldman’s classic love story The Princess Bride will return to theaters for its 30th anniversary. A short film about The Princess Bride‘s legacy by the film’s director, Rob Reiner, will accompany the screenings. The limited release will last only two days–Sunday, October 15, and Wednesday, October 18–as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series from Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies. I’m ready with the popcorn and all the best quotes.

Thanks to PageHabit for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

PageHabit offers monthly book boxes curated and annotated by acclaimed authors for the most diehard bookworms. Each box comes with an exclusive, author-annotated new release, a written letter from the author, a bonus short story, fun bookish goods and instant membership into an active online book community of over 20,000 members. For every box purchased, PageHabit makes a donation to support children’s literacy around the world, so you can read well and do good. Readers can choose from eight genres including Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Historical Fiction and more. Get 10% off your first box with code “RIOT”.

Marcel Proust, You Terrible Cheat

Well, well, well, Marcel. Letters discovered thanks to a rare copy of Swann’s Way revealed that Proust paid for positive reviews of the first volume of Remembrance of Things Past. The writer paid 300 francs, a considerable sum at the time, for a flattering reference to Swann’s Way to be published on the front page of one of France’s leading daily papers. And then he paid even more for a lengthier review to appear on the front page of another paper. Reviewing his own book, he described his writing as “almost too luminous for the eye … This book suggests almost the fourth dimension of the Cubists.” Good. Grief.

Sexists Need Not Apply

Sarah Davis-Goff and Lisa Coen, the women who run the Irish indie publisher Tramp Press, is closing its doors to sexist submissions. In the announcement they posted on social, Davis-Goff and Coen said they receive submissions that address them as “Dear Sirs” and cover letters where the submitter says they don’t read books by women… So, inspired by author Anne Enright’s essay about sexism in the publishing industry, they decided to take a stand and say no to those queries. Tramp Press seems to be doing well enough without the sexists–they published Mike McCormack’s Booker longlisted novel, Solar Bones.

Dolly Parton Sings Dumplin’

That’s right! Dolly Parton will be working on the soundtrack for the upcoming film adaptation of the YA novel, Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy. Parton’s music played a role in the original story so it makes sense that Jennifer Anniston, who’s producing and starring in the film, and who is a Parton fan, would reach out to the country star. According to Parton, the film will use some of her vintage tracks, but she’ll also be writing new songs for the movie.

Thank you to Rakuten Kobo Inc. for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Calling all listeners—audiobooks are now available from Kobo. Find all your eBooks and audiobooks together in the FREE Kobo App for iOS and Android. Save with a subscription for the best deal on audiobooks—your first 30 days are FREE.

Dee Rees Will Direct An Adaptation Of Joan Didion’s The Last Thing He Wanted

Director Dee Rees will adapt Joan Didion’s political thriller, The Last Thing He Wanted, for film. Rees garnered attention at the Sundance Film Festival as the director of Mudbound, a film based on the book by Hillary Jordan, which recently sold to Netflix for $12.5 million. Didion’s novel is about a Washington Post reporter who quits her job to take up work as an arms dealer for covert government forces. Didion has been all over the news lately–most recently due to the announcement of her documentary coming to Netflix next month.

The First Annihilation Trailer Is Out

Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation is being adapted for film, and today we got the first teaser trailer. The story follows a female scientist (played by Natalie Portman) leading an expedition of three more women into strange terrain. The cast includes Gina Rodriguez and Tessa Thompson. Based on the trailer, the film looks like it’s going to be perfectly tense and full of thrills, which I’m here for (expect all the creepy flora and fauna). But take a look and judge for yourself.

PeopleTV Premiers A New Bookish Show

PeopleTV aired the first episode of a new show called Shelf Life, which is being advertised as a place where viewers can find out about buzzy upcoming books, hear from authors, and chat about book culture. The show is hosted by Oprah’s Book Club and special projects producer Jill Adams. The premier focused on must-read books for the fall curated by People and Entertainment Weekly book editors, and interviews with authors including Ruth Ware (The Lying Game).

Thank you to Provenance by Ann Leckie for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Following her record-breaking debut, award winner Ann Leckie, returns with a new novel of power, theft, privilege and birthright.

A power-driven young woman has one chance to secure the status she craves and regain priceless lost artifacts prized by her people. She must free their thief from a prison planet from which no one has ever returned.

Ingray and her charge return to her home and find their planet in political turmoil, at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict. They must make a new plan to salvage her future, her family, and her world, before they are lost to her for good.

Pennywise Returns In 2019

Send in the clowns. Stephen King’s IT will return to theaters for a sequel on September 6, 2019. I don’t think anyone’s surprised what with the success of the first, which became the top-grossing horror film of all time domestically. The upcoming release will continue the story with the kids returning to Derry as adults. And guess who’s been waiting all smiles and balloons? The kids from the first film will likely return for flashbacks, but the director has yet to be confirmed.

Author Junot Díaz Calls For Help For Puerto Rico

The author of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao called for help for hurricane-battered Puerto Rico. The American territory suffered terrible losses, including lives and resources, from Hurricane Maria. Díaz delivered his remarks at a Massachusetts fundraiser. A native of the Dominican Republic, the author said people need to unite to help Puerto Rico heal in the wake of devastation. If you’re looking for a way to help, check out this effort from Restless Books.

The Book Of Mormon Becomes The Most Expensive Manuscript Ever Sold

The manuscript, previously in the possession of the Community of Christ, was sold to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for $35m. According to the Community of Christ who announced the sale price, it’s the highest ever paid for a manuscript. In second place is Bill Gates’s $30.8m purchase of Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester. Although, Mark James of the antiquarian booksellers Bernard Quaritch made a good point when he said “$31m in 1994 would be worth much more now.” The LDS plans to display the manuscripts to the public in the coming months, and the Community of Christ will retain the rights to publish and protect the copyrights of its editions of the Book of Mormon.

Thank you to The Blind by A.F. Brady, published by Park Row Books, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

An addictive psychological suspense debut about a woman who goes so far off the deep end, she might never make it back up…

As the best psychologist at Typhlos, Manhattan’s most challenging psychiatric institution, Sam James believes if she can’t save herself, she’ll save someone else. This savior complex serves her well in helping patients battle their inner demons. When a mysterious patient is admitted, Sam is determined to unlock his secrets and his psyche, but his twisted past leads to some terrifying discoveries about her own life. And so the mind games begin.

Ladies Represent!

I was over here raising the roof when the National Book Foundation announced this year’s 5 Under 35 honorees. All of the honorees are women and three are women of color. What what. The 2017 list is: Lesley Nneka Arimah, author of What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky: Stories; Halle Butler, author of Jillian; Zinzi Clemmons, author of What We Lose; Leopoldine Core, author of When Watched: Stories; and Weike Wang, author of Chemistry. An all-woman list has only occurred once before.

Today In Adaptations

Marlon James is writing the adaptation of his Man Booker Prize-winning novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. The chief director of the HBO series Insecure, Melina Matsoukas, is behind the series’ development, and she’s on board to direct as well as executive produce the show. James will also executive produce in addition to writing the script. It is comforting when the author is deeply involved in the adaptation.

Enjoy A Banned Book This Week

Banned Books Week kicked off and people are celebrating the freedom to read all over the nation and the web. The Banned Books Week Coalition shouted out a bunch of activities being hosted by their sponsor organizations. Readers are encouraged to participate in everything from theatrical performances and bookstore parties to online advocacy. So celebrate your right to read and enjoy a banned book this week.

Thank you to After the Eclipse by Sarah Perry for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

When Sarah Perry was twelve, she saw a partial eclipse of the sun, an event she took as a sign of good fortune for her and her mother, Crystal. But two days later, Crystal was murdered in their home in rural Maine, just a few feet from Sarah’s bedroom. The killer escaped unseen; it would take the police twelve years to find him. After the Eclipse is the story of a murder, an investigation, and a trial; but more than that it is an exquisite memorial for a mother stolen from her daughter.

Black Mirror Gets A 3-Volume Book Series

Every time I hear Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven Is a Place on Earth, I think of Black Mirror. Every time I have a nightmare, I’m certain it’s thanks to some Black Mirror remnant floating in my subconscious. Fans, prepare for more nightmare fodder–the sort you can physically carry around with you. We’ll be seeing the first volume of a three-volume Black Mirror book series in May 2018. Show creator Charlie Brooker will edit the volume, which will feature stories by writers including Sylvain Neuvel (Sleeping Giants) and Claire North (The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August).

Hidden Figures Author Joins NASA to Honor African-American Mathematician

Margot Lee Shetterly, author of Hidden Figures, joined additional dignitaries to honor Katherine Johnson, a former NASA employee and one of the central figures in Shetterly’s book. The book highlighted the lives and work of the black women who stepped in as human computers, and whose calculations were integral during wartime in the U.S. 99-year-old Johnson cut the ribbon for the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The event aired live on NASA Television earlier this afternoon, but I bet you can dig up a video online.

It Becomes All-Time Highest-Grossing Horror Film

Whether you love the Stephen King story or want to throw a brick through the window of every person who’s posted a picture of Pennywise on social, the masses have been parking themselves in theater seats across the country, desperate to be scared out of their minds. In fact, so many people wanted to see the newest adaptation that ticket sales pushed past The Exorcist to make It the highest-grossing horror film of all time. The movie has earned $236.3 million. That’s a lot of circus tickets.

Thank you to Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel, from Entangled Teen, for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full.

Angie Dovage can tell there’s more to Reece Fernandez than just the tall, brooding athlete who has her classmates swooning, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. She can’t know she’ll be thrown into a battle between good and evil with Reece right in the center of it—and he’s not human.

Still, she knows something most don’t. The secrets her town holds could kill them all. But falling in love with a harbinger of death could be even more dangerous.

The Hobbit Turns 80

Look, Stephen King, we know you turned 70 today–we see you. But guess what? The Hobbit has you beat by a whole decade, so step aside for a moment. It seems contrary to wish a book a good one by dredging up its old reviews, but that’s what we’re doing I guess. It’s not so bad. C.S. Lewis called J.R.R. Tolkien’s tale a classic-in-the-making. Okay, Stephen King. You can have a slice of cake too. Here’s what your local paper and neighbors had to say about you on your birthday.

Tom Hanks To Star In And Produce A Man Called Ove

That’s right. Uncle Hanks is all in on the adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s international best-seller. The book, originally written in Swedish, is about a solitary curmudgeon whose life is changed by the young family that moves in down the block. But is Hanks too lovable to play Carl Fredricksen–er, Ove? I intend to find out. Rita Wilson (Hank’s wife) and Fredrik Wikstrom Nicastro, who produced the Swedish adaptation, are also on board to produce.

Jessica Williams Will Play A Sci-Fi Writer In Her Comedy Series

Jessica Williams, you’re so fun and hilarious, and I cannot wait to watch this show. Williams will write and star in a new Showtime comedy series where she plays an aspiring science fiction writer in Brooklyn. I wonder if she’s getting the inside scoop from N.K. Jemisin. Or if sci-fi writers will cameo on the show! If we can’t enjoy ourselves at the intersection where comedy and geekery meet, I don’t need to know you.

Thank you to Rakuten Kobo Inc. for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Calling all listeners—audiobooks are now available from Kobo. Find all your eBooks and audiobooks together in the FREE Kobo App for iOS and Android. Save with a subscription for the best deal on audiobooks—your first 30 days are FREE.

The Art of Fielding Author Sued Over Copyright Infringement

Charles Green, a former college baseball player, is suing best-selling The Art of Fielding author Chad Harbach. Green alleges that Harbach copied many elements of his manuscript, Bucky’s 9th, including “the specific climax and denouement.” According to Green, the screenplay, which was later reworked into a novel, was shared widely among publishing and entertainment professionals, which is when he believes Harbach had the opportunity to pounce. Only time and an expensive lawsuit will tell.

Clinton’s Memoir Sees Highest Nonfiction Opening In 5 Years

Hillary Clinton’s memoir What Happened sold 300,000 copies, and the book’s hardcover sales made it the highest opening for a nonfiction release in five years. Divisive as the book may seem, based on the rating incident where Amazon had to bulk remove polarizing (mostly negative) reviews from reviewers who were not verified purchasers, readers are buying up those copies. Sales exceeded first week numbers for her 2014 book Hard Choices.

Racist Trolls Will Never Stop Whining About Black Hermione

Racist trolls lost their lids when illustrator Anoosha Syed posted a depiction of Hermione Granger as a black girl. Syed pointed out that the books never stated Hermione or Harry’s race (Harry was depicted with a darker skin tone, and trolls took offense to that as well), and that she can draw WTF she wants. Syed drew the characters as she imagined them. She was shocked by the backlash, but the artistic community and people who heard about the attacks showed up to support her online.

Thank you to The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr for sponsoring today’s newsletter.

Robyn Carr has crafted a beautifully woven story about the complexities of family dynamics and the value of strong female relationships.

For the Hempsteads summers were idyllic at the family house on Lake Waseka. The lake was a magical place, a haven where they were happy and carefree. Until the summer that changed everything.

After an accidental drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up. But one woman is determined to draw her family together again, and the only way that can happen is to return to the lake and face the truth.

Neil Gaiman Gives Good Omens #BTS

We got a first look at David Tennant and Michael Sheen in the upcoming adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens, thanks to Gaiman’s Twitter activity. And he didn’t stop with the one photo. Today, Gaiman continued to tweet everything from an adorable, curious squirrel on set and atmosphere dressed in Victorian garb, ratcheting up the anticipation for this production. I both can’t help but look, but also want to see it through fresh eyes that first airing.

Google Now Shows What Ebooks Are Available In Your Local Library

Google added a new Search feature that shows if your local library has the ebook you’re looking for in stock. This is great news for people like me whose reading life heavily relies on ebook library loans. Apps like Libby have made it easier to search for ebooks, but we all use Google so much in our daily lives, it can’t hurt to have one more convenient way to look up availability, especially if you’re on your desktop.

Honey & Wax Announce First Winner Of Annual Book-Collecting Prize

Brooklyn’s Honey & Wax Booksellers have announced the winner of their first annual book-collecting prize. The winnings go to twenty-nine-year-old Jessica Kahan, an Ohio librarian who has collected about three hundred popular American romance novels of the 1920s and 1930s. H&W’s Heather O’Donnell and Rebecca Romney initiated the prize hoping to “encourage young women who are actively collecting books to own and share that part of their lives, and to think strategically about the future of their collections.” Kahan will receive a thousand dollars, and five honorable mentions will each receive two hundred dollars.

Sponsored by Finding Grace, the chilling new drama from Warren Adler that gets to the heart of brainwashing and its power to corrupt and control.

When their twenty-three-year-old daughter Grace goes missing, divorcees Harry and Paulie are forced to leave behind their newly constructed lives to track her down on a sunny farm in California. Seemingly unharmed, the two soon learn that she is actually in the clutches of a notorious cult. Under the spell of mind control, she denies Harry and Paulie as her family, leaving them to search for answers in the most desperate of places. Harry and Paulie race to bring Grace back home – but will she ever be able to return? How do you help someone who doesn’t know they’re lost?