Influencer Authors, Library eBooks, and a Ramona Quimby Walking Tour: This Week in Book News

Happy Friday, writers! We hope everyone has had a wonderful week. We’ve been busy here at KWL preparing for a couple of upcoming events!

First, the KWL team will be hosting a Q&A session at Word on the Street tomorrow, Saturday September 25^th at 4pm EST! You can learn more about the event here:

Second, we have a live Q&A with Author Revolution’s Carissa Andrews on Wednesday, September 29^th at 12pm EST. Leanr more about Carissa and our Q&A here:

KWL Live Q&A with Carissa Andrews

Before we take a look at the news this week, we wanted to take a moment to share our condolences to the family and friends of author Shoshana Gabriel, who passed away this month.  A romance anthology featuring Shoshana’s work is donating preorder proceeds to the families of the deceased.

Shoshanna Gabriel, Self-Publishing Entrepreneur and New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Passed Away on Sept. 11, 2021

POST FALLS, Idaho, Sept. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Shoshanna, writing as Shoshanna Gabriel and as Shoshanna Evers, published 45 romance novels, novellas and audiobooks and has been listed on Amazon as one of the “Most Popular Authors in Romance,” as well as on the Contemporary Romance and Erotica “Most Popular Authors” lists.

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Members of the US Senate and House of Representatives are questioning the Big Five on their ebook library practices.

Wyden, Eshoo Question Big Five Publishers Over Their Library E-book Practices

In a potentially significant development, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo (D-California) this week presented a wide-ranging set of questions to the Big Five publishers regarding their practices in the library e-book market.

Zando has announced new imprints from Lena Waithe and Gillian Flynn.

Publisher Zando Announces Imprints From Lena Waithe and ‘Gone Girl’ Author Gillian Flynn

Zando, the independent publisher with a stated mission to collaborate with influential creators, authors, platforms, and institutions to acquire and publish titles under their own imprints, has named Lena Waithe and Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn as its first founding publishing partners.

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The National Book Foundation has revealed their 5 under 35 honourees.

Announcing the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 honorees.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced its 5 Under 35 honorees: five fiction writers under the age of 35 “whose debut work promises to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape.”

Speaking of the National Book Foundation, they are moving their awards ceremony online again this year.

In-Person National Book Awards Called Off

The National Book Foundation will not hold its planned limited in-person National Book Awards ceremony on November 17, opting instead for a virtual ceremony as new variants of the coronavirus continue to spread. Really Useful Media, which produced the virtual 2020 National Book Awards ceremony, will once again partner with the Foundation on the event, which will be broadcast on the Foundation’s website, YouTube, and Facebook.

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Are Influencer/Authors the newest trend in publishing?

Inside the rise of influencer publishing

“We live in a world where everyone is a brand,” said Laura McNeill, a literary agent at Gleam Titles, which was set up by Abigail Bergstrom in 2016 as the literary arm of the influencer management and marketing compan y Gleam.

So many studies look at who book buyers and reader are, but who are the folks that aren’t reading books?

Who doesn’t read books in America?

Roughly a quarter of American adults (23%) say they haven’t read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 25-Feb. 8, 2021. Who are these non-book readers?

If you’re a Beverly Cleary fan (and who isn’t), and are planning a trip to Portland, here’s a walking tour to see the city through Ramona Quimby’s eyes.

Ramona Quimby’s Portland: A self-guided walking tour through sites in Beverly Cleary’s books

PORTLAND – A pack of kids on scooters race along the tree-lined streets like it’s 1955. A boy whizzes by on a bike – wait, was that Henry Huggins? The sidewalks are sprinkled liberally with chalk art, rope swings and Little Free Libraries.

A feel-good story: A 16 year old Canadian teen had written a children’s book on Crohn’s disease to help other kids with the illness and to raise money for research.

Burnaby teen pens book on personal journey with Crohn’s to help other kids with the chronic illness | CBC News

Keyaan Vegdani, a 16-year-old from Burnaby, B.C., has written about his diagnosis and personal experiences with Crohn’s disease in hopes of helping other children living with the chronic illness in Canada. In My Crohn’s Bucket, which Vegdani also illustrated, he breaks down what the disease is and what it’s like to have it.

Netflix has acquired the streaming rights to all of Roald Dahl’s works.

Netflix acquires works of Roald Dahl as it escalates streaming wars

Netflix has acquired the works of Roald Dahl, the author of children’s classics including the BFG, Fantastic Mr Fox and the Witches, in the streaming company’s biggest content deal to date.

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Now onto my favourite pieces of the week, starting with this essay by Phoebe Robinson who is releasing her latest book and launching an imprint this month.

Phoebe Robinson on ghosting, refusing failure – and shaking up the publishing industry

Dear reader, yes, I look fabulous in these photos, but please know that I wrote this essay while pantless and seated on my couch, rocking a push-up bra (for who? I’m by myself ) and listening to Omarion’s “Ice Box” because there’s never a wrong time to live the way I was living in 2006.

This C.S. Lewis review of The Hobbit is one of the best things I have read this week:

Announcing the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 honorees.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced its 5 Under 35 honorees: five fiction writers under the age of 35 “whose debut work promises to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape.”

And lastly, I loved this piece on female founded book clubs.

Not Your Mom’s Book Club: The Women Revolutionizing the Biz

When it comes to industries that love disruption, book publishing is low on the list. The written word is one of the oldest forms of communication-the earliest “books” date back to the 3rd millennium BCE and were written on papyrus and clay tablets-and while we don’t use clay anymore, a book, more or less, looks like it did thousands of years ago.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Staff Pick

Laura, Author Engagement Specialist

“This was a quick, compulsive read. It tells the story of Molly Clarke, a mother gone missing, and her daughter who is desperate to find her. It kept me guessing throughout and was full of twists. The perfect thriller to start off your October with!”