Publishers are bringing dozens of authors to this year’s ninth annual American Booksellers Association Winter Institute in Seattle. To keep track of all the authors and finished books and galleys to look for at the conference, PW has compiled a comprehensive list of the adult books and galleys being given away at this year’s conference, along with the buzz about why specific authors are coming to the Institute. We’ve organized the list alphabetically by author. An asterisk (*) next to the author or illustrator’s name means that she or he will be attending.
The Garden of Burning Sand
by Corban Addison*
Quercus
May 2014; $26.99 hardcover
First printing: 100,000
Reissue of A Walk Across the Sun in paperback in April 2014
Why the buzz: “Corban’s writing reminds me of Chris Cleave and Khaled Hosseini. In each of the novels Corban writes a mystery that has at its basis a social injustice about which he feels passionate. The Garden of Burning Sand is about a young rape victim, the near insurmountable forces that protect her abuser, and the American lawyer determined to seek justice. He found his inspiration in Africa, a place he has traveled in extensively and come to admire deeply,” says director of sales, marketing publicity Eric Price.
Publicity & marketing plans: 10-city tour
Opening: “The girl walked alone on the darkened street. Lights moved around her as cars drove by, their headlights shining on the dusty roadway, but no one seemed to notice her or care that she was alone.”
The UnAmericans
by Molly Antopol*
W.W. Norton
Feb. 2014; $24.95 hardcover
Why the buzz: “Molly Antopol is a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and was a recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 award. We’re thrilled to be publishing both her debut story collection, The UnAmericans, and her forthcoming novel,” says Erin Sinesky, assistant director of marketing.
Publicity & marketing plans: 5-city author tour
Opening: “No one wants to listen to a man lament his solitary nights—myself included.”
Josey Baker Bread: Get Baking, Make Great Bread, Be Happy!
by Josey Baker
Chronicle Books
April 2014; $27.50 hardcover
A Fairy Tale
by Jonas T. Bengtsson
trans. by Charlotte Barslund
Other Press
March 2014; $16.95 paperback
Lucky Us
by Amy Bloom
Random House
Aug. 2014:$26 hardcover
First printing: 125,000
Inside Madeleine
by Paula Bomer*
Soho Press
May 2014; $16 paperback original with French flaps
Why the buzz: “The cover says it all,” according to director of marketing and publicity Paul Oliver. “Paula Bomer’s new collection is shocking and poignant, like a startling cross between Alissa Nutting’s Tampa and Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son. We honestly believe that Paula is one of the most talented writers out there and with Inside Madeleine we believe she will win the audience she deserves.”
Publicity & marketing plans: Advertising; syndication of stories and content
Opening: “I just want to breathe something that makes me feel like living.”
Ruby
by Cynthia Bond*
Hogarth
April 2014; $25 hardcover
First printing: 60,000
Why the buzz: “Ruby is an epic debut novel that sparkles with a richness and brilliance emblematic of its namesake. Bond has drawn upon her own experiences, her family’s history, and the heartbreaking tales she’s heard through the years working with homeless and at-risk youth, weaving these threads together to create a story that is truly unforgettable; the kind of story that stays with you long after you’ve read the last page. With its unflinching portrait of twisted morality and inhumanity, and the promise of the redemptive power of love, we believe Ruby heralds the arrival of an astonishing new voice,” says Crown publicity manager Dyana Messina.
Publicity & marketing plans: Author appearances and interviews out of Los Angeles; print and book club advertising; blog campaign; buzz mailings to literary magazines and MFA programs.
Opening: “Ruby Bell was a constant reminder of what could befall a woman whose shoe heels were too high.”
Lucky Dog: How Being a Veterinarian Saved My Life
by Sarah Boston
House of Anansi Press
June 2014; $14.95 paperback
First printing: 10,000
My Accidental Jihad
by Krista Bremer*
Algonquin Books
April 2014; $24.95 hardcover
First printing: 35,000
Why the buzz: “I think this is such a brilliant and engaging work of nonfiction, and one filled with tremendous heart. It’s inspired by an article that Bremer wrote for O, The Oprah Magazine in 2010, [which] was then picked up by CNN and became a viral sensation. It’s an uncommon and ultimately inspiring love story between an all-American girl and a Muslim man who was raised in poverty in Libya under Gaddafi’s tyrannical reign. Bremer engagingly examines the precarious crossroads where marriage, motherhood, cultural differences and tolerance intersect,” says director of marketing Craig Popelars.
Publicity & marketing plans: 8-city tour; 20-city radio satellite tour; prepub author appearances; print advertising.
Opening: “Back in 1994, after I stood up on a surfboard for the first time, I thought I might have discovered my purpose in life. Nothing I’d ever done compared to the exhilaration of gliding across the face of a wave.”
Painted Horses
by Malcolm Brooks*
Grove Press
Aug. 2014; $25 hardcover
First printing: 50,000
Why the buzz: “I knew I was in the grip of a writer of rare grace, power, and assurance, and I recognized immediately that he would be a major new voice, who could be for his generation what writers like Jim Harrison and Kent Haruf have been for previous ones. Most of all, it reminded me of the great Wallace Stegner, in a way it effortlessly interweaves a personal quest and a gorgeous love story with the story of place about to be completely transformed by the tide of human progress,” says editor Amy Hundley.
Publicity & marketing plans: 5-city tour
Opening: “London, even the smell of it. She had a trowel in one hand, the other cold and wet and braced against the emerging stone wall.”
Kids Are Weird
by Jeffrey Brown
Chronicle Books
March 2014; $14.95 hardcover
Shotgun Lovesongs
by Nickolas Butler*
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press
March 2014; $25.99 hardcover
First printing: 150,000
Why the buzz: “We won this first novel in a fierce auction that included every major publisher in New York and could not be more excited about it. So are booksellers across the country. Shotgun Lovesongs charts the friendship and rivalries between longtime friends in a small Wisconsin town called Little Wing,” says Dori Weintraub, v-p of marketing and communications. An ABA Spring Indie Debuts novel
Publicity & marketing plans: Pre-publication author tour; author tour; print and online advertising; music promotion.
Opening: “We invited him to all of our weddings; he was famous.”
The Orenda
by Joseph Byoden
Knopf
May 2014; $26.95 hardcover
First printing: 50,000
Sing Sweet Nightingale
by Erica Cameron
Spencer Hill Press; dist. by Midpoint
March 2014; $9.95 paperback
First printing: 15,000
Further Out Than You Thought
by Michaela Carter
William Morrow Paperbacks/Harper
August 2014; $14.99 paperback
Anticipated first printing: 30,000
Gemini
by Carol Cassella
Simon & Schuster
March 2014; $25.99 hardcover
Anticipated first printing: 50,000
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?
by Roz Chast*
Bloomsbury
May 2014; $28 hardcover
First printing: 75,000
Why the buzz: “In her first memoir, Roz Chast brings her signature wit and art to the topic of aging parents. With four-color illustrations, family photos and documents, and handwritten text throughout, all wrapped up in a unique cover treatment with high production values, Roz’s memoir will be a must-have for her legions of fans,” says Laura Keefe, director of digital and trade marketing.
Publicity & marketing plans: Pre-pub bookseller and blogger campaign; 6-city author tour
Opening: “Two things about my childhood: 1) I was an only child 2) My parents were a lot older than other kids’ parents.”
The Passion Conversation: Understanding, Sparking, and Sustaining Word of Mouth Marketing
by Geno Church* and Robbin Phillips, Greg Cordell, John Moore
John Wiley & Sons
Available: $25 hardcover
First printing: 10,000 copies
Why the buzz: “Marketing has always been about generating Word of Mouth, no matter what business you’re in or product/service you’re selling. But without passion there’s no conversation—so there’s nothing to talk about! Geno Church and the rest of the Brains on Fire team spark that powerful emotion to share in The Passion Conversation. The book is full of stories about how to have people fall in love with your organization, cause, product, idea, service, or book. With that Passion in place, Conversation will follow,” says marketing manager Peter Knox.
Publicity & marketing plans: advance copy mailing, advertising and social campaign, online giveaways, bookstore signings, independent bookseller outreach
Opening: “This is not a business book. This is a love story. The Passion Conversation is a story about being famous for the people who love you, for the way you love them. We’re going to share some remarkable love stories.”
Byrd
by Kim Church
Dzanc
March 2014; $14.95 paperback original
The Public Library: A Photographic Essay
by Robert Dawson
Princeton Architectural Press; dist. by Chronicle
April 2014; $35 hardcover
The Enchanted
by Rene Denfeld*
Harper
March 2014; $25.99 hardcover
First printing: 40,000
Why the buzz: “Despite its weighty and unforgiving setting and its desperate characters, [this] is a transcendent novel. With lyrical prose, the story manages to be beautiful and heartwarming. And, like the lady in the novel, Rene Denfeld is a licensed Mitigation Specialist. She visits her clients on death row and investigates their lives, tracking down people with unfathomable secrets to share,” says publicity director Katherine Beitner.
Publicity & marketing plans: Appearances in San Francisco and Portland; online publicity campaign and blog tour.
Opening: “This is an enchanted place. Others don’t see it but I do.”
Wonderland
by Stacey D’Erasmo*
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
May 2014; $22 hardcover
First printing: 40,000
Why the buzz: “[This] may be Stacey D’Erasmo’s most accessible book, and one that is a blast to market. The main character, a woman indie rock star facing her forties and decisions about her future, is relatable to many readers. She also offers glimpses into a lifestyle that many readers have fantasized about. Women musicians facing decisions of whether or not to remake themselves and/or their images are in the zeitgeist, with musicians like Kim Gordon (formerly of Sonic Youth) and Kim Deal (formerly of the Pixies) . . . getting lots of media attention,” says marketing director Carla Gray.
Publicity & marketing plans: Advertising; 6-city tour to New York, Austin, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and San Francisco; Spotify playlist at http://bit.ly/1bfDgxG
Opening: “There is a man fixing a bicycle, or attempting to fix a bicycle, in the lane.”
Kicking the Sky
by Anthony DeSa
Algonquin Books
March 2014: $14.95 paperback original
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair
by Joel Dicker
Penguin
June 2014; $18 paperback original
First printing: 500,000
All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr*
Scribner
May 2014: $27 hardcover
Why the buzz: “This is one of the most gorgeous novels I have ever published, heartbreakingly humane and exquisitely observed,” says Scribner publisher and senior v-p Nan Graham. “For years, Anthony Doerr has been collecting awards for his short stories. This is his masterpiece, ten years in the making.”
Publicity & marketing plans: Print, radio, and online advertising; 5-city tour.
Opening: “At dusk they pour from the sky. They blow across the ramparts, turn cartwheels over rooftops, flutter into the ravines between the streets.”
Jack of Spies
by David Downing
Soho Crime
May 2014; $26.95 hardcover
Galley printing: 4,500
The Plover
by Brian Doyle
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press
April 2014; $24.99 hardcover
The Lost
by Sarah Beth Durst
Harlelquin MIRA
May 2014; $14.95 paperback
First printing: 25,000
Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever’s Search for the Truth about Everything
by Barbara Ehrenreich*
Twelve/Hachette
April 2014; $26 hardcover
First Printing: 50,000
Why the buzz: “[This] is one of the most important books I have ever edited. It is brave, frank, exquisitely written, and as honest as a memoir should be. To me, this memoir—Ehrenreich’s first—is the definition of a Twelve book. It is intensely personal, but tackles big ideas that will start a conversation. I think it will rattle your world,” says publisher Deb Futter.
Publicity and Marketing Plans: Print advertising; radio satellite tour; 7-city author tour to New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Austin, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Opening Sentence: “Sometime in my thirteenth year, but a little before I actually achieved that age, things began to assemble themselves into what I called ‘the situation.’ ”
A Replacement Life
by Boris Fishman
Harper
June 2014; $25.99 hardcover
Anticipated first printing: 40,000
The Orphans of Race Point
by Patry Francis
Harper Perennial
May 2014; $15.99 paperback
Anticipated first printing: 50,000
‘Til the Well Runs Dry
by Lauren Francis-Sharma*
Henry Holt
April 2014; $26 hardcover
First printing: 75,000
Why the buzz: Voice, Voice, Voice! A story that takes you places you have never been and will stay with you forever.
Publicity & marketing plans: Author appearances; advertising; reading group guide
Opening: “The cardboard box trembled. The panicked squeals from inside it grew louder as I hurried through the overgrown grass.”
The Stories of Jane Gardam—a sampler
by Jane Gardam
Europa Editions
May 2014; $17 hardcover
First printing: 35,000
An Untamed State
by Roxane Gay
Black Cat
May 2014; $16 paperback original
Live Bait
by Fabio Genovesi
Other Press
June 2014; $15.95 paperback original
Terms & Conditions
by Robert Glancy
Bloomsbury
April 2014; $26 hardcover
The Steady Running of the Hour
by Justin Go*
Simon & Schuster
April 2014; $26 hardcover
First printing: 60,000
Why the buzz: “Steady Running was the big debut at the 2012 London Book Fair, and S&S’s publication will kick off an international publishing event. At 27, Justin Go dropped out corporate America and moved to Europe to write and research this book. The result is a mesmerizing and wildly imaginative novel that combines history, romance, and adventure as it takes the reader crisscrossing through Europe and to the top of Mount Everest,” says senior publicity manager Sarah Reidy.
Publicity & marketing plans: 8-city author tour including Austin, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and Boulder; online reading group guide; blogger outreach campaign; advertising; online promotions and features
Opening: “The letter came by courier last week.”
The Late Starters Orchestra
by Ari Goldman
Algonquin Books
June 2014; $22.95 hardcover
This Is Ridiculous This Is Amazing
by Jason Good*
Chronicle Books
May 2014; $14.95 hardcover
Why the buzz: “Raising children is part magic and part madness and it’s impossible to know which one each day will bring. In his first book, comedian and family-man blogger Jason Good captures this exact experience in the most endearing and entertaining way. Written with wonder, sentimentality, and totally original comedy, this is a sweet and super-funny read every parent will enjoy,” says associate marketing director Peter Perez.
Publicity & marketing plans: Online campaign; radio satellite tour; author appearances.
Opening: “Do you have an abrasion caused by a toddler hitting you with a tambourine, harmonica, or random piece of cardboard? Have you used a baby wipe to clean yogurt off your ‘comfy pants’? Are your remote controls mysteriously greasy? If you answered ‘Yes,’ or ‘Please help me’ to any of these questions, I wrote this book for you.”
Revolution Baby
by Joanna Gruda*
trans. by Alison Anderson
Europa Editions
May 2014; $16 paperback original
First printing: 40,000
Why the buzz: “Not since The Elegance of the Hedgehog have we had a title with such wide appeal and high adult-YA crossover potential. Based on the true story of the author’s father, Revolution Baby is about how a fertile imagination can not only serve as a light in dark times but can even save your life,” says editor-in-chief Michael Reynolds.
Opening: “When I was little, I had parents. And an aunt and an uncle, too. Later, I was put in an orphanage. And there was the war, as there was for everyone.”
Little Mercies
by Heather Gudenkauf*
Harlequin MIRA
June 2014; $15.95 paperback with flaps
First printing: 130,000
Why the buzz: “Heather Gudenkauf’s first novel, The Weight of Silence, has sold over half a million copies. It spent 21 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was published in 20 countries. Heather’s subsequent novels, These Things Hidden and One Breath Away, were also New York Times bestsellers. Heather’s latest is a taut, emotional, ripped-from-the-headlines drama about a social worker and a young girl whose lives cross in the most extraordinary and unexpected ways.,” says publicity manager Emer Flounders.
Publicity & marketing plans: Advertising, including in-book ads in selected Harlequin MIRA® imprint titles; author tour; ABA White Box mailing.
Opening: “When people find out what I do for a living their first question is always about
the most horrendous case of child abuse I’ve encountered.”
Herbie’s Game
by Timothy Hallinan*
Soho Crime
July 2014; $26.95 hardcover
Why the buzz: “Timothy Hallinan is one of the funniest, wittiest people on our list and this laugh-out-loud series is Tim at his acidic best,” according to Paul Oliver, director of marketing and publicity. “The previous book in the series was an NPR Best Book of 2013 and the series has garnered comparisons to some very serious writers. Mystery Scene and the Associated Press both invoked the names of Chandler and Hammett.”
Publicity & marketing plans: $100,000 marketing budget, including advertising in USA Today, The New York Times, and the LA Times; 4,500 galleys
Opening: “Eighteen minutes in—just two minutes short of my limit—I was ready to write the place off.”
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman
by Eve Harris
Black Cat
April 2014; $16 paperback original
A Man Came Out of A Door in the Mountain
by Adrianne Harun*
Penguin Books
March 2014; $16 paperback original
First Printing: 50,000
Why the buzz: “Adrianne Harun weaves together folklore and elements of magical realism to create a compelling and unsettling portrait of life in a dead-end town. Set near the infamous Canadian Highway of Tears, a winding, picturesque and lonely road along which too many women, mostly Native women, have in fact disappeared, Harun asks, Where does evil come from? Can it just slip into our lives?” says associate publicist Laura Abbott.
Publicity & marketing plans: 10-city tour; extensive blogger campaign.
Opening: “In mountain towns, children play a game called Devil’s Hopscotch.”
Wolf
by Mo Hayder
Atlantic Monthly Press
April 2014; $24 hardcover
I Am Pilgrim
Terry Hayes
Emily Bestler Books/Atria Books
May 2014; $26.99 hardcover
Fourth of July Creek
by Smith Henderson*
Ecco
June 2014; $26.99 hardcover
First printing: 100,000
Why the buzz: “This is our lead title of the summer. [It] is a muscular, hugely ambitious literary debut set against the vivid backdrop of the Montana wilderness in which Pete Snow, a troubled social worker barely on the right side of the law, tries to keep a dangerously paranoid survivalist from jeopardizing his family, even as Pete’s own family disintegrates,” says publicist Michael McKenzie.
Publicity & marketing plans: 7-city tour, including Billings, Missoula, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle; advertising; online publicity.
Opening: “The cop flicked his cigarette to the dirt and gravel road in front of the house, and touched back his hat over his hairline as the social worker drove up in a dusty Toyota Corolla.”
The Commandment of Lubizec: A Novel of the Holocaust and Operation Reinhard
by Patrick Hicks*
Steerforth Press
March 2014; $15 paperback original
First printing: 25,000
Why the buzz: “This is an unforgettable work of historical fiction, and unexpected approach to conveying the monstrousness and human heartache of the Holocaust for a new generation of readers. It comes with a raft of advance endorsements. Tim O’Brien calls it, ‘a vividly detailed, terrifying, convincing, and completely spellbinding story,” says publisher Chip Fleischer.
Publicity & marketing plans: Printed 1,000 ARCs; September White Box mailing; 15-state author tour, plus England and Ireland.
Opening: “The records show that some 710,000 souls died at the small concentration camp know as Lubizec.”
Blood: The Stuff of Life
by Lawrence Hill
House of Anansi Press
Available; $15.95 paperback
Flying Shoes
by Lisa Howorth*
Bloomsbury
June 2014; $26 hardcover
First printing: 60,000
Why the buzz: “Lisa Howorth is the co-owner of the legendary Square Books in Oxford, Miss. (named by PW as the #1 Bookstore in America in 2013). Flying Shoes is her first novel, and although this is a work of fiction, the murder is based on the case of Lisa’s stepbrother, who was killed in 1966. It’s a luminous story of a particular time and place in the American South, full of wit and dark humor,” says Laura Keefe, director of digital and trade marketing.
Publicity & marketing plans: 8-10-city author tour; advertising; reading group guide
Opening: “Mary Byrd Thornton knew that breaking things was not a good, adult response to getting sudden, scary news about a terrible thing in the past, a thing buried with the dead and kicked to the curb of consciousness; but that was what she’d done anyway.”
Natchez Burning
by Greg Iles*
William Morrow
April 2014; $27.99 hardcover
First printing: 400,000
Why the buzz: “This is a project that all of us at William Morrow and the extended HarperCollins family are extremely proud to be a part of. Bestselling author Greg Iles returns after a five-year hiatus with an epic novel that spans 40 years and unflinchingly captures the political unrest of a nation dangling between a chaotic past and an unpredictable future,” says publicity director Danielle Bartlett.
Publicity & marketing plans: National radio, print, and online advertising; TV and radio satellite tours; author appearances in the South; pre-pub online buzz campaign; author branding campaign; consumer sweepstakes; early galley giveaways to consumers.
Opening: “Albert Norris sang a few bars of Howlin’ Wolf’s Natchez Burnin to cover the sounds of the couple making love in the back of his shop.”
This Is Pollock
by Catherine Ingram; illustrated by Peter Arkle
Laurence King; dist. by Chronicle
April 2014; $15.95 hardcover
The Empathy Exams—Will be at Wi9, but not as a featured author
by Leslie Jamison*
Graywolf Press
April 2014; $15 paperback
First printing: 25,000
Why the buzz: “[This] is the Pulphead of 2014. Every single piece in this collection is a dazzling knock-out. With comparisons to Joan Didion and Susan Sontag, and resounding praise from Eleanor Catton, Mary Karr, Charles D’Ambrosio, Nick Flynn, and Maggie Nelson, among others, and pieces that have appeared in Harper’s, the Paris Review, the Oxford American, and Tin House, we truly have a classic nonfiction book on our hands,” says marketing director Michael Taeckens.
Publicity & marketing plans: Extensive galley mailing; galley giveaway at ALA; 8-city author tour, including an event at Politics & Prose with Kay Redfield Jamieson (her aunt)
Opening: “My job title is medical actor, which means I play sick.”
The Queen of Tearling
by Erika Johansen
Harper
July 2014; $26.99 hardcover
First printing: 150,000
Not for Nothing
by Stephen Graham Jones
Dzanc
March 2014; $15.95 paperback original
The Book of You
by Claire Kendal
Harper
April 2014; $25.99 hardcover
First printing: 100,000
The Last Illusion
by Porochista Khakpour
Bloomsbury
May 2014; $26 hardcover
Euphoria
by Lily King*
Atlantic Monthly
June 2014; $25 hardcover
First printing: 50,000
Why the buzz: “King delivers what we believe is her breakout novel, known for her ability to explore the domestic lives of her characters she now delivers a novel loosely inspired by the journals of Margaret Mead. Set in 1930s Papua New Guinea, Euphoria is the story of three young anthropologists caught in a love triangle that threatens their bonds, their careers, and, ultimately, their lives.
Publicity & marketing plans: 8-city tour
Opening: “As they were leaving the Mumbanyo someone threw something at them. It bobbed a few yards from the stern of the canoe.”
Blood Will Out: The True Story of a Murder, a Mystery, and a Masquerade
by Walter Kirn*
Livewright
March 2014; $25.95 hardcover
Why the buzz: We were mesmerized by the compulsive and page-turning Walter Kirn style, which called to mind Patricia Highsmith’s classic The Talented Mr. Ripley, as the similarities between the real life con artist “Clark Rockefeller” and the pathological fictional figure Tom Ripley were uncanny. This was a perfect combination of subject matter and author.
Publicity & marketing plans: First serial in The New Yorker; featured on CBS’s 48 Hours; 10-city tour; print and online advertising
Opening: “It felt like a noble gesture at the time, and I was in the mood for an adventure.”
Shakespeare Insult Generator: Mix & Match More than 150,000 Insults in the Bard’s Own Words
by Barry Kraft
Chronicle Books
March 2014; $12.95 hardcover
The Good Girl
by Mary Kubica*
Harlequin MIRA
July 2014; $24.95 hardcover
First printing: 35,000
Why the buzz: “The Good Girl is a blockbuster breakout literary suspense debut in the vein of Gillian Flynn and Tana French. With a fresh commercial voice and intelligent storytelling, Mary Kubica is poised to join the ranks of today’s top thriller writers,” says publicity manager Emer Flounders.
Publicity & marketing plans: Advertising, including in-book ads in selected Harlequin MIRA® imprint titles; author tour; ABA White Box mailing.
Opening: “I’m sitting at the breakfast nook sipping from a mug of cocoa when the phone rings.”
The Home Place
by Carrie La Seur
William Morrow/Harper
July 2014; $25.99 hardcover
First printing: 100,000
Twisted Sisters
by Jen Lancaster*
NAL
Feb. 2014; $25.95 hardcover
Why the buzz: “With the 2006 publication of her first book, Bitter Is the New Black, Jen Lancaster quickly established herself as a witty memoirist with a keen eye and a salty tongue, ‘that friend who always says what you’re thinking—just 1,000 times funnier’ (People). Over the course of seven subsequent widely-acclaimed memoirs, including Such a Pretty Fat (2008) and last year’s The Tao of Martha, Lancaster went from cult favorite to a mainstay on the New York Times bestseller list. The publications of If You Were Here (2011) and Here I Go Again (2012) proved Lancaster was also a sharp, insightful comic novelist,” says publicist Jessica Butler.
Publicity & marketing plans: 10-city author tour
Opening: “Do I know you?”
Dangerous Odds: My Secret Life Inside an Illegal Billion Dollar Sports Betting Operation
by Marisa Lankester*
Cappuccino Books; dist. by Midpoint
May 2014; $27.95 hardcover
First printing: 25,000
Why the buzz: This is a fast-paced true crime memoir that reads like a suspense thriller.
Publicity & marketing plans: Author appearances, including BEA; IndieBound White Box; advertising
Opening: “When I looked back later, I realized that the soldier pointing his gun at my head terrified me less than his confiscating my passport.”
A Circle of Wives
by Alice LaPlante
Atlantic Monthly Press
March 2014; $25 hardcover
Sh*t Rough Drafts: Pop Culture’s Favorite Books, Movies, and TV Shows
by Paul Laudiero
Chronicle Books
April 2014; $12.95 paperback
The Sea Garden
by Deborah Lawrenson
Harper
June 2014; $26.99 hardcover
First printing: 40,000
Love & Misadventure
by Lang Leav
Andrews McMeel
Available; $16.99 paperback
California
by Edan Lepucki*
Little, Brown
July 2014; $26 hardcover
First printing: 25,000
Why the buzz: “When I first read California, I fell instantly in love with Cal and Frida and the incredibly realistic post-apocalyptic world they inhabit. I knew that I had to work on this book. Edan so brilliantly exposes the way our society is tearing at the seams and paints a timeless portrait of the daily struggles of a young marriage,” says editor Allie Sommer.
Publicity & marketing plans: Online advertising; pre-pub giveaway on Goodreads; cover reveal on Tumblr.
Opening: “On the map, their destination had been a stretch of green, as if they would be living on a golf course.”
Ma, I’m Gettin’ Meself a New Mammy
by Martha Long*
March 2014; $23.95 hardcover
Seven Stories
paperback release of
Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes (Jan.)
Why the buzz: This will be Long’s first trip to America. She is sure to charm the crowd with her playful, bubbly personality, her colloquial Irish dialect, and her great appreciation for her fans and for book lovers. Her books are memoirs like none other, raw, emotional, honest, and detailed.
Publicity & marketing plans: Radio interviews and blog tour; finished book giveaway at PLA and BEA
Opening: “I sat starin at me hands sittin in me lap, thinkin about nothin. The Maria rocked along the road, movin over the bumps bouncin us against each other, our heads rockin wit it, gently noddin left te right.”
Faces in the Crowd
by Valeria Luiselli
Coffee House
May 2014; $15.95 paperback original
First printing: 10,000
And There Was Light: The Extraordinary Memoir of a Blind Hero of the French Resistance in World War II
by Jacques Lusseyran
New World Library
March 2014; $15.95 paperback
First printing: 15,000
Bird Box
by Josh Malerman
Ecco/Harper
May 2014; $25.99 hardcover
First printing: 50,000
A la Mère de Famille: Recipes from the Beloved Parisian Confectioner
by Julien Merceron
Chronicle Books
March 2014; $35 hardcover
Seven Wonders
by Ben Mezrich*
Running Press
August 2014; $26 hardcover
First printing: 100,000; movie rights to 20th Century Fox for a summer action film to start shooting shortly
Why the buzz: “Best-selling author Ben Mezrich is most well-known for his riveting nonfiction—Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House. Seven Wonders is his first fiction in more than a decade, and it’s worth the wait. His new novel is a fast-paced, globe-trotting thriller that’s rife with historic secrets, conspiracies, intrigue, and plenty of adventure,” says marketing coordinator Geri DiTella.
Publicity & marketing plans: Print advertising; author appearances; blog tour to mystery and thriller sites; blogger outreach.
Opening: “Three a.m. It was five days into a fierce New England heat wave, the scattered trees lining Mass Ave. bowed and weeping, desolate sidewalks glistening, tar black asphalt leaking wisps of steam into the thick, humid air. Fifty feet below, in a reverse-pressure, vacuum-sealed Level Four computer lab—two stairwells and one elevator ride beneath the famed, 825-foot-long Infinite Corridor that bisected the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts—Jeremy Grady’s world had just turned upside down.”
Under the Hawthorn Tree
by Ai Mi
House of Anansi Press
Available; $14.95 paperback
Praying Drunk
by Kyle Minor*
Sarabande Books, dist. Consortium
Feb. 2014; $15.95 paperback original
First printing: 10,000
Why the buzz: “The minute we tore into this manuscript, we realized it was exactly the book we’d been dying to read. We’re always looking for fiction that push boundaries, and Praying Drunk is completely riveting in it’s content and form,” says Kristen Radtke, director of marketing and development.
Publicity & marketing plans: Advertising; 15-city tour; IndieBound Advance Access program.
Opening: “We begin with the trouble, but where does the trouble begin? My uncle takes a pistol and blows his brains out.”
The Dismal Science
by Peter Mountford*
Tin House Books
Feb. 2014; $15.95 paperback original
First printing: 10,000
Why the buzz: Although the central drama is political (international aid to Bolivia is a major plot element, and Paul Wolfowitz is an active character in early chapters), the book is ultimately a meditation on the fragile nature of identity: the terrifying speed with which a person’s sense of self can be annihilated.
Publicity & marketing plans: 7-city tour; national radio campaign; 600 galleys
Opening: “The annual meetings had become a kind of rowdy reunion, bearing, increasingly, the muffled bonhomie of a great funeral.”
This Is the Water
by Yannick Murphy
Harper Perennial
July 2014; $14.99 paperback
First printing: 50,000
The Wives of Los Alamos
by TaraShea Nesbit
Bloomsbury
Feb. 2014; $25 hardcover
The Crane Wife
by Patrick Ness*
Penguin Press
Available; $26.95 hardcover
Why the buzz: “Patrick Ness is an award-winning YA author, and this is his first adult title,” notes publicity manager Samantha Choy Park. “John Green, author of The Fault In Our Stars, has called Patrick Ness ‘an insanely beautiful writer.’ ”
Publicity & marketing plans: 7-city tour
Opening: “What actually woke him was the unearthly sound itself—a mournful shatter of frozen midnight falling to earth to pierce his heart and lodge there forever, never to move, never to melt—but he, being who he was, assumed it was his bladder.”
How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky
by Lydia Netzer
St. Martin’s Press
July 2014; $25.99 hardcover
The Devil’s Snake Curve: A Fan’s Notes from Left Field
by Josh Ostergaard
Coffee House
April 2014; $15.95 paperback original
First printing: 7,500
All I Have in This World
by Michael Parker
Algonquin Books
March 2014; $24.95 hardcover
The Bees
by Laline Paull
Ecco/Harper
May 2014; $25.99 hardcover
First printing: 100,000
The Amazing Thing About the Way It Goes
by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee*
Andrews McMeel Publishing
March 2014; $12.99 paperback original.
Why the buzz: AMP is excited to bring more of New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s trademark wit and wry humor in a new collection of amusing essays.
Publicity & marketing plans: Author tour
Opening: “As I lay bleeding in the dirt, I was thinking about the mistakes I had made in my life that had brought me to this moment.”
The Unlikely Settler
by Lipika Pelham*
Other Press
March 2014; $24.95 hardcover
First printing: 15,000
Why the buzz: “We’re excited because Pelham offers a fresh outsider’s perspective on the
conflict of the Middle East, told through her own experiences as a Bengali journalist married to a Jewish peace-seeker trying to raise a family in Jerusalem,” says marketing manager Helen Richard.
Publicity & marketing plans: Print advertising; author appearances; reading group guide online
Opening: “During our fifth year in Jerusalem, I was faced with a dilemma: where to
give birth to our third child.”
How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky
by Lydia Netzer
St. Martin’s Press
July 2014; $25.99 hardcover
The Devil’s Snake Curve: A Fan’s Notes from Left Field
by Josh Ostergaard
Coffee House
April 2014; $15.95 paperback original
First printing: 7,500
All I Have in This World
by Michael Parker
Algonquin Books
March 2014; $24.95 hardcover
The Bees
by Laline Paull
Ecco/Harper
May 2014; $25.99 hardcover
First printing: 100,000
A Year After Henry
by Cathie Pelletier
Sourcebooks Landmark
August 2014; $14.99 hardcover
Done: A Cook’s Guide to Knowing When Food is Perfectly Cooked
by James Peterson
Chronicle Books
April 2014; $27.50 hardcover
Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932
by Francine Prose
Harper
April 2014; $26.99 hardcover
Anticipated first printing: 50,000
Are Men Obsolete?: The Munk Debate on Gender
by Hanna Rosin and Maureen Dowd (pro) and Caitlin Moran and Camille Paglia (Con)
House of Anansi Press
April 2014; $14.95 paperback
Last Night at the Blue Angel
by Rebecca Rotert
William Morrow
July 2014; $25.99 hardcover
Anticipated first printing: 100,000
The Transcriptionist
by Amy Rowland
Algonquin Books
May 2014; $24.95 hardcover
The Spinning Heart
by Donal Ryan
Steerforth Press
Feb. 2014; $15 paperback original
First printing: 20,000
The Book of Fate
by Parinoush Saniee
House of Anansi Press
Available; $16.95 paperback
The Kept
by James Scott*
Harper
January 2014; $25.99
First printing: 75,000
Why the buzz: “This] is a dark, though warm, novel, told in gossamer prose, with an unusual emotional delicacy that is matched by an utterly propulsive and surprising plot. The ground begins shifting beneath our feet almost as soon as Elspeth Howell returns home, in 1897, bound by her sins like an insect in a web, to find her isolated house filled with murder—and it never relents. We all fell in love with Caleb Howell, a twelve-year old boy with a gun as big as he is, and questions as big as the world. We knew we had something special on our hands from the very beginning,” says editor Barry Harbaugh.
Publicity and marketing plans: Radio and print advertising; author appearances in New England; online publicity campaign and blog tour.
Opening: “Elspeth Howell was a sinner.”
Notes from Underground
by Roger Scruton
Beaufort; dist. by Midpoint
Mar. 2014; $24.95 hardcover
First printing: 15,000
I’ll Be Right There
by Kyung-sook Shin
Other Press
June 2014; $15.95 paperback original
First printing: 30,000
Between Wrecks: Stories
by George Singleton*
Dzanc Books
May 2014; $15.95 paperback original
Why the buzz: “I first became aware of George’s writing back when I was with MacAdam/Cage publishing. Before I came aboard (earlier this year), Dzanc had published Stray Decorum by Singleton, which was a 2013 SIBA Book Award finalist, and I was looking at the chance to edit George’s next collection. I was not disappointed one bit, and I don’t think readers will be either. The stories are funny and sad and well-crafted and just everything you look for in fiction,” says senior editor Guy Intoci.
I Loved You More
by Tom Spanbauer*
Hawthorne Books
April 2014; $19.95 paperback original
First printing; 10,000
Why the buzz: “[This is] Spanbauer’s first novel in eight years. He is beloved in the LGBT community. And this is his most accessible novel yet with huge crossover market to gay and straight alike,” says publisher Rhonda Hughes, who compares it to Jeffrey Eugenides’s The Marriage Plot and Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom.
Publicity & marketing plans: 5-city book tour; gift baskets from Chuck Palahniuk to 50 indie stores; Skype visits to book clubs.
Opening: “Got to go pal were the last words on the page of the last letter I wrote Hank Christian.”
Wonderkid
by Wesley Stace* (formerly known as singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding)
Overlook Press
March 2014; $26.95
Why the buzz: “Finally, a sex, drugs and rock n’ roll book for Dan Zanes fans! Wonderkid also happens to be one of the best books about fathers and sons since Turgenev,” says writer Gary Shteyngart.
Publicity & marketing plans: Advertising; 8-city tour
Opening: “Blake Lear knew all the guitar chords he’d ever know by the age of twelve.”
Nom Nom Paleo
by Michelle Tam and Henry Fong
Andrews McMeel
Available; $35 hardcover
Birding With Yeats: A Mother’s Memoir
by Lynn Thomson
House of Anansi Press
May 2014; $15.95 paperback
First printing: 10,000
Secrecy
by Rupert Thomson*
Other Press
April 2014; $16.95 hardcover
First printing: 35,000
Why the buzz: “We are excited because this novel had been widely acclaimed in England,
and we’re excited to bring it to an American audience. A perfect mix of suspense, art history, the Medici family, and a love story not read before,” says marketing manager Helen Richard.
Publicity & marketing plans: 4-city author tour; retail promotional allowance; print and online advertising; reading group guide
Opening: “He came on a November day, a cold wind blowing, the fields soaked with
rain.”
The Forgotten Seamstress
by Liz Trenow
Sourcebooks Landmark
May 2014; $14.99 hardcover
The Cold Song
by Linn Ullmann
Other Press
April 2014; $15.95 paperback original
First printing: 25,000
Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience
by Shaun Usher
Chronicle Books
May 2014; $40 hardcover
Archetype
M.D. Waters*
Dutton
Feb. 2014; $26.95 hardcover
First printing: 50,000
Why the buzz: “Archetype is the largest and buzziest debut Dutton has launched in at least five years. We’ve received incredible early reader responses to this novel from sales reps, editors and marketers within Penguin, as well as from reviewers and booksellers. When we asked booksellers to provide early quotes, we received a dozen rave reviews in just a few weeks, from independent stores across the country,” says senior publicist Liza Cassity.
Publicity & marketing plans: Author appearances; riser displays; postcards for a free advance copy of the sequel.
Opening: “My mind wakes, but the words essential to describe the stirring of my consciousness escape me.”
Point of Direction
by Rachel Weaver*
Ig Publishing, dist. Consortium
May 2014; $16.95 paperback original
First printing: 10,000
Publicity & marketing plans: 10-15 city tour
Why the buzz: This book was chosen as an Indies Introduce Debut Pick for Spring 2014.
Opening: “When hazy outside light spills in through the heavy wooden door of the bar, we all turn.”
The Noble Hustle
by Colson Whitehead*
Doubleday
May 2014; $24.95 hardcover
First printing: 50,000
Why the buzz: “Madly in love with this—on the surface it’s a book about playing poker, but it’s shot through with threads of memoir. I can’t think of anyone smarter or funnier than Colson Whitehead,” says Ruth Liebmann, v-p, director of account marketing.
Publicity & marketing plans: Author tour; print and Facebook advertising; giveaway memorabilia from Colson’s poker team
Opening: “I have a good poker face because I am half-dead inside.”
The Beekeeper’s Ball
by Susan Wiggs
Harlequin MIRA
May 2014; $24.95 hardcover
First printing: 95,000
Care and Management of lies
by Jacqueline Winspear
Harper
July 2014; $26.99 hardcover
Anticipated first printing: 100,000
Small Blessings
by Martha Woodroof*
St. Martins’ Press
Aug. 2014; $25.99 hardcover
First printing: 50,000
Why the buzz: “[This] is a remarkably delightful first novel about a small-town college professor, a charismatic bookshop girl, and the 10-year old son he never knew he had. For readers of Anna Quindlen and Helen Simonson, this book is funny, heartwarming and poignant, with a charmingly imperfect cast of cinema-ready characters. The author, who writes for NPR.org, is writing a monthly series on that site in which she reports on the process of publishing her book,” says Dori Weintraub, v-p of marketing and communications.
Publicity & marketing plans: Print and online advertising.
Opening: “There she was, as welcome in this insular community as fresh air in a multiplex, a woman who, rumor had it, risked being happy.”
Hold Fast to Dreams
by Beth Zasloff and Joshua Steckel*
The New Press
March 2014; $25.95 hardcover
Why the buzz: Joshua Steckel’s journey with these students from their senior year to their entrance to higher education institutions is an unprecedented narrative work that sheds light on the nuanced and complicated set of challenges that many urban students face, even after they have achieved the goal of making it to college.
Publicity & marketing plans: Author appearances; extensive academic marketing
Opening: “We wrote this book to document the struggles and triumphs of students like those Josh has worked with during his eight years as a college counselor in the New York City public schools: young people whose stories are too often left out of the national conversation about college or reduced to grim statistics.”
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
by Gabrielle Zevin*
Algonquin Books
April 2014; $24.95 hardcover
First printing: 75,000
Why the buzz: “The prepublication excitement surrounding [this book] has been electric. The galley features four pages of rave reviews from booksellers from around the country and a letter of endorsement from Books & Books owner Mitchell Kaplan,” says director of marketing Craig Popelars. “Foreign rights have now sold in 21 countries. In the spirit of The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Society and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, this enchanting and surprising novel about bookstore owner A. J. Fikry is bound to steal the hearts of millions of readers and become a book club favorite for years to come.
Publicity & marketing plans: 20-city tour; poster; pre-pub campaign with extensive galley distribution; print and online advertising; double newsletter co-op available; social media, including online profile of the novel’s fictional bookstore.
Opening: “On the ferry from Hyannis to Alice Island, Amelia Loman paints her nails yellow and, while waiting for them to dry, skims her predecessor’s notes. ‘Island Books, approximately $350,000.00 per annum in sales, the better portion of that in the summer months to folks on holiday,’ Harvey Rhodes reports. ‘Six hundred square feet of selling space. No full-time employees other than owner.’ ”
