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Talia Sherer and Ben Rubinstein coordinate the library marketing activities of the group’s adult publishers, which include St. Martin’s Press; Farrar, Straus & Giroux; Henry Holt; Tor/Forge; and Picador
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Addicted to Methland! 
Our friends at Bloomsbury have published another winner! This time it's Methland, Nick Reding's new book about the drug's rampage through a small town in Iowa.
It was the featured review in the NYT Book Review, but also in the LA Times, Washington Post, and Wallstreet Journal! But perhaps, most importantly, it was featured by librarian megablog Earlyword! where it's reported to have massive reserves!
It's not exactly a "feel good" book, but maybe that means our recession-fueled escapist yearnings are starting to fade! And in the end, I think that's a good thing.
We're constantly hearing from librarians that they love to be kept in the loop on all of our debut fiction! Well we've tried to make it easy for you (we know you've got pretty tough jobs). Here you'll find links to our most recent and upcoming debut fiction.
Fiction debuting between June and August.
Fiction debuting between September and October.
Fiction debuting between November and December.
A Great Newsletter That Deserves Your Readership!
Our colleagues over at Minotaur have a newsletter, The Labyrinth, that I think is worth signing up for! You can do that here.
In the most recent issue, Linda Castillo, author of Sworn to Silence, has written an exclusive letter to The Labyrinth readers. And good timing, because the publisher is giving away free copies here! Exclusive letters from the author, interviews, insider info, what more reason could anyone want for signing up for a newsletter? I'm certainly sold!
Get to know a few of our authors!
Publishers Weekly just ran an interview with Norb Vonnegut, author of Top Producer, and distant cousin of another more famous Vonnegut. Here's an excerpt.
Recent Wall Street scandals make your novel particularly timely.
I wrote Top Producer in 2007 and thought I was writing fiction. Then 2008 came along, and it all proved to be true. This isn't scientific, but if I had to handicap the percentage of bad guys in financial services—maybe 5% at the max would be my best guess. The payment mechanism that attracts really smart people to financial services also attracts the criminal element. We saw that attraction play out in 2008 when so many Ponzi schemes unraveled.
Surf here to read the full interview. What a gift writing is! Some writers learn their craft in MFA programs, others... on Wall Street? What a crazy world we live in. At least it keeps life interesting!
At Last!
They say good things come to those who are patient, and in the case of Sandra Dallas, it couldn't be more true. Even if she was a bit put-off that others haven't had to be quite so patient. In this weeks' Publishers Weekly Sandra Dallas tells her story.
The author just broke into the New York Times bestseller list for the first time -- after 50 years of writing! Dallas is now 70, and while it's been a long journey, the author is thankful to have made it.
The List-making Prayers for Sale was just published in April. Dallas's publicist was eager to come out with her age, hoping to use it as a publicity hook. However, as one might expect she was a bit ambivalent. She was worried that critics might use her age against her in the reviews of her upcoming novels.
Dallas' ended the Publishers Weekly segment adding "And there's another thing: although I'm enormously grateful that I made the bestseller list at all, I'm sorry no one can say, 'And she did it so young.'" Keep on writing, Ms. Dallas. We won't hold your age against you -- and we want a piece of anyone who does!
The full story can be read here!
And now, a message from our great friends at Picador!
Dear Readers,
This month at Picador Crime we're pleased to highlight Colin Harrison-our "Tom Wolfe of crime writers" (Entertainment Weekly). We've had the pleasure of reissuing several of Colin's novels in trade paperback over the past couple of years, and this month we're proud to publish THE FINDER, heralded by The New York Times as "a chilling, high-speed roller coaster of a ride."
We're also giving away a limited number of advance reading copies of RISK, a forthcoming paperback original (October 2009) email marketing@picadorusa.com if you are interested!
Be sure to check out the recent panel discussion with Colin at Book Expo, where he was paired with the inimitable and always provocative James Ellroy.
Thanks for the heads up Picador!
Not to shabby for us here at Macmillan; we took three of the 2009 Locus Awards!
I know I'm (Ben) going to be reading Singularity's Ring as soon as I can get my hands on it!
Locus Award winners:
First novel: Singularity's Ring by Paul Melko
Anthology: The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois
Publisher: Tor
Our favorite Bail Bond Officer, Stephanie Plum, (ok, so maybe she's the only one we know...) is starring in a new novel, Finger Lickin' Fifteen.
And now, for the first time ever, you can digitally explore the The Burg where all the shenanigans go down! However, that might be bad for skeptics like me. I'm the type to go back and re-read to make sure times/distances match up!
Curious about which Tor titles have upcoming TV/Movie tie-ins? This document will get you up-to-date!
I have to say, I think I'm most excited for the Sherlock Holmes recreation. What a great series to revitalize!
Mystery News and Deadly Pleasures just announced the 2009 Barry Award nominations. According to the news release, "The Barry Awards are named in honor of one of the most ardent and beloved ambassadors of mystery fiction, Barry Gardner, and are voted on by the readers of Deadly Pleasures and Mystery News."
The 13th Annual Barry Awards presentation will take place at Bouchercon in Indianapolis, Indiana in October.
Best Novel (Published in the U.S. in 2008)
The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason
Envy the Night by Michael Koryta
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
Best Thriller
The Finder by Colin Harrison
Best Paperback Original
Severance Package by Duane Swierczynski
Congratulations to the nominees!
First librarians at BEA can't get enough of Eugenia Kim, and now it's Publishers Weekly! Read what she has to say in their interview!
PW: The last hundred years of Korean history—including those covered in your book—seem tragic in light of the 500-year “morning calm” of the Joseon dynasty. How do you account for this?
EK: Korea is an amazing nation, homogeneous and very strong in its own identity, wedged as it is between China and Japan. There is a constancy in the culture—when your genealogy goes back that far, your identity is inescapable. Also, for 20 years after the Korean War, the military dictator President Park Chung-hee brought about unprecedented industrialization through the tyranny of economic development.
Visit PW for the full interview.
Jordan Summers, a fantastic Tor author, was featured on the Zombie Lit & Urban Fantasy panel at BEA. She had some great insight into this quickly shifting genre. I invited her to the site to give us a quick recap and answer a few questions! Here's what she had to say.
Ben: I’ve heard Red labeled as both Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. How do you define and distinguish those two genres, and which do you think is the most accurate for Red?
Jordan: I consider Urban Fantasy to be any contemporary fantasy set in the real/modern world. Paranormal romances can be set in any time period as long as the focus is on the paranormal romance. I believe RED is part of a new romance sub-genre called Urban Fantasy Romance. These books tend to be more gritty and have stronger plots, while keeping the romance in focus. Typical romances are divided 50/50 (fifty percent plot and fifty percent romantic relationship), while Urban Fantasy romances may be closer to 70/30.
Ben: Sparked perhaps by Harry Potter & Twilight, we’ve seen more adult/teen crossover appeal than ever! Why do you think these genres are able to cross that divide? Do (should?) most UF/PR titles cross that divide?
Jordan: I think there are two reasons these types of books have crossover appeal. One, the authors didn’t dumb down the stories for young adults and two, they are both writing about universal themes (ie outsiders, extraordinary hidden in the ordinary, twists on Cinderella (Harry Potter) and Romeo and Juliet (Twilight). I believe many Urban Fantasies could/should have crossover appeal, but Paranormal Romances would have to be vetted for their levels of sensuality.
Ben: What about the Steampunk sub-genre. It wasn’t discussed at DoD, but do you have any thoughts on it?
Jordan: Steampunk, like Urban Fantasy, has been around for a long time. William Gibson comes to mind. Like the paranormal genre, Steampunk rises and falls in cycles. I think since it’s been a while that Steampunk is due for a resurgence, although I don’t see it making the impact that Urban Fantasy has on the industry.
Ben: It seems like there’re a lot more “strong female protagonists” in UF/PR. Is that so, and if so, why did it take UF/PR to enable that trend? To me that almost seems to say “Women can only be strong (at least in a mass-appeal sort of way) if they have fangs/telekinesis?”
Jordan: I don’t think the strong female protagonist started in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, but they have built upon the trend. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Anita Blake aside, if you look back at science fiction movies in the mid to late seventies, you had some pretty strong female characters--Ripley from Alien and Princess Lea come to mind. They were ordinary women who were put into extraordinary circumstances and they rose to the challenge. Right now Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance characters seem to be split between normal everyday people and people with hidden powers. You don’t have to be one of the ‘creatures’ to survive in Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance. Ingenuity is just as important, if not more so, than ninja magic skills.
Summer days call for hot reads! And St. Martin's Press is oh so delighted to oblige! Be sure to advise your patrons: they'll need a little something extra to cool down from these titles!
For more information about our children’s publishers, please visit:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers
Feiwel and Friends
First Second
Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Kingfisher
Priddy Books
Roaring Brook Press
Square Fish
For more information about our distributed publishers, please visit:
Bloomsbury
The College Board
Consumer Reports
Drawn & Quarterly
Enchanted Lion Books
Graywolf Press
Papercutz
Rodale
Virgin Books
Walker & Company
For more information about our books for courses, please visit:
Academic Marketing |
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Find our publishers’ Fall 2009 catalogs here.
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Library Marketing's new assistant, Ben, brings along with him two adorable kittens, brothers Jackson and Baxter. Check out those laser beam eyes! |
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Move over Dewey Readmore!
NYX, the beautifully cuddly and blind cat adopted by the Collection Development team at the Chesterfield County Public Library (VA) almost killed me with her cuteness. |
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Looking for star authors like Emily Giffin, C.J. Box, and Brigitte Gabriel to speak at your library? Macmillan Speakers, our new speaker's bureau, is here to handle all of your high-profile author event needs. |
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