Blushing Books Trouble, Sally Rooney Translations, and the Return of the Scholastic Book Fair: This Week in Book News

Happy Friday, writers! We hope everyone has had a wonderful week and enjoyed some delicious Thanksgiving treats last weekend.

There have been some great articles published this week as well as a bit of publishing news; let’s dive in!

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Melinda French Gates has launched a nonfiction imprint.

Melinda French Gates Launches Women-Focused Book Imprint

Philanthropist Melinda French Gates is branching out into a new field: books. announced that Gates, in partnership with Flatiron Books, part of Macmillan Publishers, is launching Moment of Lift Books, “an imprint dedicated exclusively to nonfiction about social issues faced by women and girls.”

Publisher Blushing Books has come under fire for royalty and copyright issues.

An Erotica Pioneer Goes From Hero to Villain for Dozens of Authors

In the constantly evolving romance landscape, Blushing Books has long occupied a specific niche: spanking erotica. Now some of its most successful writers just want their books back. Anne Wills was a mother of four who doted on her children, was an active volunteer with a youth swim team, loved animals and was known to those around her as a generous, nurturing, motherly figure in her small town in rural Virginia.

StoryOrigin has added a new beta reader feedback feature! (Tune into the next episode of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast to learn more about StoryOrigin).

How to find beta readers and collect feedback

A beta copy is an early version of your book that you give out to readers with the expectation that they will give you feedback on the plot, setting, characters, etc. Since the feedback from beta readers can usually result in large revisions to your book, these copies are usually given out before being professionally edited, though every author’s process is different.

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Author Gary Paulsen passed away last week at 82.

Obituary: Gary Paulsen

Award-winning and prolific author Gary Paulsen, best known for his novels and nonfiction for young people about self-reliance and the transformative, awesome power of the wilderness, died suddenly on October 13 in New Mexico. He was 82. Paulsen was born May 17, 1939 in Minneapolis to Oscar and Eunice Paulsen.

Sally Rooney has turned down an Israeli translation of her latest novel on political grounds.

Sally Rooney turns down an Israeli translation on political grounds

Sally Rooney has turned down an offer from the Israeli publisher that translated her two previous novels into Hebrew, due to her stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Irish author’s second novel Normal People was translated into 46 languages, and it was expected that Beautiful World, Where Are You would reach a similar number.

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The finalists for the Governor General Literary Awards have been announced.

Ivan Coyote, David A. Robertson & Julie Flett among finalists for $25K Governor General’s Literary Awards | CBC Books

Ivan Coyote, David A. Robertson and Julie Flett are among the finalists for the 2021 Governor General’s Literary Awards. The prizes, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, are awarded in seven English-language categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young people’s literature – text, young people’s literature – illustration, drama and translation.

Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s son comes out as bisexual in the latest issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El.

Superman’s son comes out as bisexual | CBC News

Out, out and away! – for Superman on National Coming Out Day. Jon Kent, the son of original Superman Clark Kent and journalist Lois Lane, turns out to be bisexual in DC Comics’ latest iteration of the superhero’s adventures.

Huge news for comic book fans: Saga is coming back this January!

‘Saga’ is finally coming back from hiatus with new issue in January

Brian K. Vaughan announced at New York Comic Con that his popular space opera comic with Fiona Staples will return soon for the second half of its run. The day that comic fans have awaited for more than two years has arrived. At his New York Comic Con panel on Saturday, writer Brian K.

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While orbiting Earth in the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield did what anyone would do in those circumstances: he wrote a book.

He Stayed Grounded by Writing a Thriller Set in Outer Space

Chris Hadfield went viral as an astronaut singing David Bowie in orbit. Now he has written a Cold War thriller packed with cosmic action. Chris Hadfield in 2012. “A spaceship is like a pandemic to its wildest extremes,” he said.

Akwaeke Emezi is trying their hand at romance, with thei first romance novel set to come next spring.

Akwaeke Emezi is writing a romance novel – see the first look

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty will be out May 24, 2022. After taking home a host of literary awards (like the PEN/Hemingway shortlist and the National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honors) and landing on the New York Times bestseller list (for The Death of Vivek Oji ), Akwaeke Emezi is turning to romance novels.

Keke Palmer and Jasmine Guillory have collaborated on a short story collection.

Keke Palmer and Jasmine Guillory collaborated on a story collection – get a first look

Southern Belle Insults is coming to Amazon Original Stories in November. It’s the collab we didn’t know we needed. Keke Palmer, who has been wrapping production on Jordan Peele’s highly anticipated horror film Nope, found time in her busy schedule to write her very own Amazon Original Stories collection.

Supernatural’s Misha Collins has released a book of poetry.

‘Supernatural’ star Misha Collins is ‘actually kind of proud’ of his poetry book

Some Things I Still Can’t Tell You features poems written throughout the past 20 years. For decades now, the actor has turned to poetry to process things going on in his life. “For a while I was just writing it for myself,” Collins tells EW.

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A lot of authors don’t read their bad reviews for a variety of reasons.

Goodbye To Goodreads

I still remember a one-star review my first novel got on Goodreads. It simply said, “The problem with this book is that it’s bad.” At least I think that’s what it said. I haven’t looked at it since I saw it, slammed my laptop shut, and yelped out a laugh.

Book Riot has created a list of the most influential Sci-Fi books of all time – I would love to know if the Sci-Fi fans among us agree!

The Most Influential Sci-Fi Books Of All Time

Swords & Spaceships Newsletter Sign up to Swords & Spaceships to receive news and recommendations from the world of science fiction and fantasy. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. By signing up you agree to our terms of use Dhalgren author Samuel R.

As someone who has also been chasing the high of the Scholastic Book Fair since middle school, this essay on its return after the pandemic was an interesting read.

Notebook: The Book Fair Returns! (Part One)

by Ann Kjellberg, editor When I set out to celebrate our return to in-person classrooms with a post on school book fairs, I had no idea the level of feeling inspired by this fleeting experience among those with a live memory of elementary school.

If you’re a little nosey like I am, this feature on the houses of famous authors is right up your alley.

Famous Writers’ Houses: A Taxonomy

Do you remember the game MASH? If not, it was a weirdly entertaining pen-and-paper fortune-telling game-huge in middle school-in which you and your friends gave yourself various options that were then selected by, essentially, random (the number of letters in your name, the number of dashes or swirls your friend could make on the paper before you said stop; any human-powered number-generation system would work).

I am a huge Babysitter’s Club fan and I will never not share an essay on this magnificent series.

The Legacy of The Baby-Sitters Club

It was the era of Waldenbooks, Crown Books, Bookland, and the early start of Borders. It was the era of You Can’t Do That On Television and Clarissa explaining it all. Grunge bands ruled the airwaves, the OJ Simpson car chase was the biggest thing live news had ever seen, and the first web browser went online.

Finally, I loved this editorial on the importance of taking children’s literature seriously.

The Guardian view on children’s books: take them seriously | Editorial

ood children’s literature is a serious business. Not serious as in boring or “improving”, but serious in attention and ambition, serious about beauty and wonder, about engaging the brain but also the heart, about sadness and difficulty, but also about silliness and joy.

Have a great weekend!