Readers Respond
Many will remember the mass market edition of To Kill A Mockingbird fondly—the one with the yarn and watch in the hollow of a tree. Come April, that edition will only be a memory. The Harper Lee estate declined to renew the license on it, so Grand Central will cease to publish it, though HarperCollins will offer a discounted version of its trade paper edition. Our readers had conflicting thoughts on the implications of this change:
“I wonder if they’ll offer the paperback rights to another publisher or just indie publish it themselves. The estate would make a lot more money that way.”—Jeff Rivera
“By and large, students must buy the books and the Harper Lee estate has just raised the price on them, a short-term decision that may, in the long term, make To Kill a Mockingbird less popular as assigned reading. If I were a teacher, I’d certainly prefer to choose less expensive, equally classic works to keep costs low for my students.”—Michael Glitz
From the Newsletters
Sign up for PW Daily and get each day’s publishing news delivered to your inbox, free.
Ian McGuire, author of The North Water (Holt), picks the 10 best adventure novels.
Happy birthday, Make Way for Ducklings! The children’s classic turns 75 this year, and publisher Viking is launching a special anniversary edition.
Our panel of indie experts answers reader questions on discoverability and how to get self-published books reviewed.
Blogs
More great moments in epigraph history, and a floor plan of Gregor Samsa’s house: these are just a couple things you may have missed if you haven’t stopped by PW’s Tumblr lately.
Is it time for a new diversity database?
Podcasts
PW senior writer Andrew Albanese discusses the upcoming Public Library Association Conference in Denver, as well as what could be the final act in the long-running lawsuit over Google’s book scanning.
The More to Come crew discuss the new Black Panther comic written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Kickstarter’s importance to small publishers, and more.
Debut author-illustrator Ruth Chan talks about her picture book, Where’s the Party? (Roaring Brook), about a cat named Georgie whose attempts to throw a party don’t go as planned.
Josi S. Kilpack, author of Forever and Forever (Shadow Mountain), talks about how she turned the legendary seven-year courtship of Henry Longfellow and Fanny Appleton into a historical romance novel.
Kaitlyn Greenidge discusses her debut novel, We Love You, Charlie Freeman (Algonquin), in which a family adopts a chimpanzee. And PW senior writer Andrew Albanese previews the upcoming PLA Conference.
PW Star Watch 2016 Is Open for Nominations
We’re looking for the next generation of publishing-industry leaders. Do you work with someone who is going to make a big impact on the business? Nominate that person for PW Star Watch, or you can nominate yourself. A panel of judges including members of PW, the Frankfurt Book Fair, and noted industry leaders will pick 50 up-and-coming stars and select five top honorees and a Superstar who will get an all-expense-paid trip to the 2016 Frankfurt Book Fair. Find out more at publishersweekly.com/starwatch.
The most-read review last week on publishersweekly.com was Modern Lovers by Emma Straub (Riverhead).
