BTW News Briefs

Here’s what’s happening this week in the book industry:

Leading book review magazine Kirkus Reviews announced the winners of the sixth annual Kirkus Prize at a ceremony at the Austin Public Library on October 24; each winner received a cash prize of $50,000. Chosen from the 1,264 titles that received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews over the past year, the winners are, for fiction, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday); for nonfiction, How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones (Simon & Schuster); and for young readers’ literature, New Kid, written and illustrated by Jerry Craft, color by Jim Callahan (HarperCollins).

Publishers Weekly has named the publication’s “Best Books of 2019.” The top 10 works chosen by PW editors “together offer a kaleidoscopic take on what it means to be alive right now.” The list of 10 was followed by editors’ picks for the 100 best adult titles and 50 for children and teens published this year. 

Amazon’s stock fell this quarter due to lower earnings, higher shipping costs, and a forecast of modest holiday sales, according to the BBC. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos attributed increased costs to the company’s push to offer one-day shipping to Prime members.

The 2019 Panorama Picks, which highlight the recent fiction, nonfiction, and young adult titles library patrons were waiting to read in nine different regions across the United States, were released by the Panorama Project. The lists “are intended to help libraries and booksellers work together more effectively to better serve active readers in their communities, while helping publishers and authors identify regional marketing opportunities.”

Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group has launched a new audiobook line, Rowman & Littlefield Audio. The new line has plans to publish 35 audio titles in 2019 and 50 audio titles in 2020, and will cover subjects including history, self-help, business, and pop culture.

Owner of Louisville, Kentucky, indie bookstore Nanny Goat Books Sarah Gardiner has launched Nanny Goat Press and plans to publish the first round of books next year, WFPL reported. The small press aims to tell the stories of people from marginalized groups.

The New York Times Book Review just launched a new digital-only feature where each week, three to four reviews will be accompanied by an excerpt from that book’s opening chapter. She Was Like That by Kate Walbert (Scribner) was the first of this new feature, with more reviews to come beginning in November.

The American Library Association (ALA) recently delivered a written report to the House Judiciary Committee that states that unfair behavior by Amazon and several major publishers is “doing concrete harm to libraries.”

Kathryn Court, president and publisher of Penguin Books, is retiring at the end of the year after 42 years at the company.

Jordan Hanley has joined Tom Doherty Associates as marketing manager for the Nightfire imprint. 

Sheila O’Shea will join Farrar, Straus & Giroux as senior vice president and director of marketing and publicity, starting November 18. 

Joanna Pinsker has joined Atria Publishing Group as deputy director of publicity. 

Hits and Misses by former SNL writer Simon Rich (Little, Brown) has won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. The Prize is sponsored by the Greater Columbus Arts Council and The Columbus Foundation.

Angela Chadwick and Andrew McMillan have won the 2019 Polari Prizes, which celebrate work that explores the LGBT experience. XX by Chadwick won the £1,000 (about $1,300) Polari First Book Prize for best debut, and Playtime by McMillan won the inaugural £2,000 (about $2,600) Polari Prize for best book of the year.

In London last week, the Crime Writers Association (CWA) announced the winners in nine categories for the 2019 Dagger Awards. M.W. Craven’s The Puppet Show won the Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year, and Chris Hammer’s Scrublands won the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for best crime novel by a first-time author.

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