Ziv Lewis, foreign rights and acquisitions manager of Israel's Kinneret Zmora Dvir Publishing House Ltd., explains the success of one of his house's hottest books, The History of Tomorrow by Yuval Harari.
First published: February 2015
Format: paperback
About: What the future holds for the human species
Author: Harari is a lecturer in the history department at the University of Jerusalem. His previous book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, was published in Israel in 2011 and became a global bestseller. Sapiens, which examines how and why an unexceptional primate evolved into the dominant species on the planet, was published last year in the U.S. by Harper and was selected as one of the books featured in Mark Zuckerberg's bookclub.
Acquiring editor: Shmuel Rosner
How it’s performed: The book has spent nine months on the bestseller list in Israel. Rights have also sold in the U.S. (HarperCollins); the U.K. (Harvill Secker); Canada (McClelland & Stewart); Brazil (Random House); and Germany (C.H. Beck).
Why It’s Working: Because Harari's previous book was, Rosner said, a "huge bestseller" with "a very long list of admirers," History of Tomorrow had something of a platform. Beyond the popularity of Sapiens, Rosner added, the book is "well written, thought provoking, and has the kind of grand themes that readers appreciate." It also continues a through line started with Sapiens; while that book focused on the history of human beings and how they became the dominant species, this book looks at what may be in store for human beings. "It is a book that ignites conversation and debate, and makes its readers feel smarter than they were before reading it."
Correction: An earlier version of this story credited the quote about why History of Success is working to Ziv Lewis. Shmuel Rosner, the book's acquiring editor, gave this quote.
