Simon & Schuster reports that the number of its titles facing bans and challenges has grown by 46% due to the recent surge in censorship activity around the U.S. In response, S&S is offering bookstores favorable sales terms and discounts on books that have faced bans and challenges from both its own imprints and from distributed clients. In addition, it is offering stores a “Read banned books!” merchandizing kit that will include in-store banned book displays, as well as affiliated collateral for social media promotions.
Titles being discounted range from books such as Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, published by Oni Press, to S&S classics like Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, and children’s and YA books, such as Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, and And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.
The campaign will launch at the end of June and run until the end of August, in advance of Banned Book Week, which takes place September 18-24. For more information, follow the link here.
