Penguin Random House's 13th annual two-day holiday transit program begins today, October 15, and will run through January 25, 2025.

The program, which is designed to support independent bookstores during and beyond the holiday season, will again feature a "no minimums" requirement for independent bookstores, which was added during the COVID pandemic. Booksellers can submit orders in whatever quantities work best for them, on their schedule, without having to build up to a minimum-retail-value threshold.

Weather and transport conditions permitting, PRH will expedite the picking and packing of orders received from indies at its Westminster, Md.; Crawfordsville, Ind.; and Reno, Nev., operations centers for its PRH-affiliated publishers' physical-format titles, and schedule transit "from our dock to the bookseller's door" to arrive in two days or less. All three centers have weekend shifts on duty to expedite Monday shipping for orders received Friday and Saturday.

The expedited-shipping program encompasses every frontlist and backlist title from the imprints of the Crown, Knopf Doubleday, Penguin Publishing Groups, Random House, Random House Children's Books, Penguin Young Readers, Penguin Random House Audio divisions, and DK Publishing as well as the many clients of Penguin Random House Publisher Services.

"Booksellers continue to tell us how critical this program is to their fourth-quarter planning, and how it helps them get books into their customers' hands at the busiest time of the year," said Jaci Updike, chief revenue officer, Penguin Random House US. "This has become one of our favorite holiday traditions."

Dungeon Books, a science-fiction and fantasy bookstore with an emphasis on tabletop role-playing games, held a grand opening celebration in Jersey City, N.J., earlier this month, Patch.com reported.

Located at 115 Brunswick St., Dungeon Books carries magazines, comic books, vinyl, cassettes, board games, and gaming dice alongside genre fiction and RPG books. The store hosts Dungeons & Dragons play groups, book clubs, and miniature painting sessions, among other community events.

Co-owners Panat Taranat and Carrie Vu opened the bookstore earlier this fall. The grand opening celebration over the weekend included a ribbon cutting, raffles, and an exhibit featuring the work of artist and illustrator David Mattingly.

Monarch Books & Gifts in Overland Park., Kan., has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help recover from a "perfect storm" of financial difficulties, including a hack of its business account that "completely wiped out" the store's cash flow. The campaign has a goal of $38,000.

In addition to the theft, the store has also faced issues due to inflation, a slower-than-normal summer, and other factors. Owner Christin Young reported that it has reached a point where "being able to pay invoices and cover the day-to-day operating expenses has become impossible."

Young noted that while the funds raised will not replace what was stolen, "it will help to overcome the shortfall from fraud and slow summer sales, bring accounts current, pay rent, and get back to serving our community."

The campaign has been running for a little over two weeks and has so far raised just over $15,500. "The support from our community has been heartwarming," said bookseller Chandler Rawson. "We, alongside our Overland Park community, are continuing to work hard to recover what was stolen from our store."

Monarch Books & Gifts celebrated its fifth anniversary this spring. Young founded the bookstore in 2019 as Green Door Book Store & Gift Shoppe before changing the name in 2022.

At the recent Booksellers Association of the U.K. & Ireland conference, Fleur Sinclair, owner of the Sevenoaks Bookshop in Kent, delivered her inaugural speech as the BA's new president. In her address, Sinclair "highlighted the importance of making diversity in the book trade a priority, emphasizing the need to encourage more people of color into bookselling. Sinclair referenced some of the findings of the BA's diversity survey, showing that only 8% of booksellers come from ethnic minorities, despite making up 18% of the population," the Bookseller reported.    

Fleur Sinclair

"I am one of a very few Black booksellers working in the U.K. today and I would love to help change that," Sinclair said. "I love spending time in other bookshops. I love following other bookshops on social media, seeing what everyone is doing, who and what everyone is showcasing. And I would dearly love to see, and meet, a more racially diverse cohort of booksellers; see more Black and brown authors promoted and appearing at events happening all over the country."

Another priority is to elevate how high street bookshops are perceived in the wider book trade. "Publishers, please use your reps as a conduit for all the crucially important consumer research we get every single day," Sinclair noted. "Sharing and collaborating together to ensure we get the right books, in the right format, at the right price, then we can all sell more, publishers and authors will sell more, and readers will be happy." 

The theme of this year's conference was encouraging booksellers to understand the story behind their business and use that narrative to their advantage, the Bookseller wrote. Addressing this, Sinclair highlighted the importance of "letting customers and potential customers know exactly who we are and why they should choose to shop with us."

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The International Publishers Association confirmed the elections of Gvantsa Jobava (Intelekti Publishing, Georgia) as president-elect and Giovanni Hoepli (Hoepli Publishing House, Italy) v.p.-elect during IPA's General Assembly. 

Outgoing IPA president Karine Pansa said, "Publishing is so important for our societies, for our economies, and for our cultures. What an honor it has been to represent this wonderful industry. Gvantsa Jobava is going to be a great president for IPA and I can't wait to see how she will drive the IPA forward."

Jobava commented: "I would like to thank Karine Pansa, president of IPA, for her professionalism, collegiality, and friendship. As IPA's new president, I will be asking our members: What more can we do to safeguard our courageous colleagues and authors, whose freedom is limited in many parts of the world and whose lives are in danger? What more can we do to see that copyright is respected by the technology giants and enforced by our legislators? Our obligation to society is great. I look forward to working with all IPA's members to fulfil it."

In other election results, IPA will welcome one new full member, three new provisional members, and one new associate member effective January 1, 2025: They are:

Full membership
Guatemala: Asociación Gremial de Editores de Guatemala (AGEG)

Provisional membership
Croatia: Association of Publishers and Booksellers of the Croatian Chamber of the Economy
Dominican Republic: Asociación de Industrias Editoriales de la Republica Dominicana (ADIERD)
Poland: Polish Chamber of Books (PIK)

Associate membership
Latin America: Asociación de Editoriales Universitarias de América Latina y el Caribe (EULAC)

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The European and International Booksellers Federation has published the 2023 edition of its International Bookselling Markets Report, summarizing current trends shaping the bookselling sector across the globe. You can view the report here. The findings are based on direct input from 24 national booksellers associations, EIBF associate members, and partners in 21 countries -–Robert Gray

Thomas Rockwell, "who grew up as a character in the illustrations that his father, Norman Rockwell, created for the Saturday Evening Post and later became a successful author of children's books, including How to Eat Fried Worms, a gross-out novel devoured by millions of grade-school students," died September 27, the New York Times reported. He was 91.

Rockwell appeared in several of his father's works: as a mischievous boy sitting at his sister's dressing table and reading her diary; flexing his not-very-big muscles in a mirror, a dog at his side; and as a high school graduate, in cap and gown, clutching a rolled-up diploma. One of his favorite memories was posing for a painting that depicted him rummaging through his grandfather's overcoat pocket.

Norman Rockwell wanted his children to become artists, even though he sometimes said otherwise. "He'd say he wanted us to go into business so that we could support him in his old age while he sat outside on the porch," Thomas Rockwell told Education Update in 2003. "But the truth is that my father couldn't understand why anybody would want to be anything else but an artist."

In his 20s, Rockwell owned a used-book store and harbored hopes of making a living as a writer when his father asked him to help write his autobiography, My Adventures as an Illustrator, which was published in 1960.

Two books followed, both written for children and adolescents: Rackety-Bang and Other Verses, a book of poetry, and Squawwwk!, a fantastical novel about a bird that hatches from a schoolbook and grows "as big as Yankee Stadium."

Although those books had only modest sales, that would soon change. In the early 1970s, Rockwell met with an editor in Manhattan about a manuscript he had sent her. "She hadn't liked the manuscript at all," he said in the book How Writers Write (1992), a collection of author interviews by Pamela Lloyd. "She picked out one page and thought that was good and suggested I write something less fanciful, maybe more realistic."

On the drive home, "I was really feeling terrible that my manuscript had been rejected. I felt as if I had been eating worms," he said, then recalled an old children's tune--"Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I think I'll go eat worms"--and an idea popped up. "Then came the difficult part: Why is somebody going to eat worms? And even before I got home, I thought: 'Well, make it a bet.' "

How to Eat Fried Worms (1973) tells the story of two elementary-school boys, Billy and Alan. Billy is new in school and just wants to fit in. Alan is a bully. The boys make a bet: If Billy eats 15 worms in 15 days, Alan will give him $50; if Billy doesn't, he will give Alan $50.

Children, especially reluctant-to-read boys, loved the book. More than three million copies have been sold, and it was adapted into a film in 2006.

Rockwell's mother, Mary (Barstow) Rockwell, was a teacher and aspiring poet who shared her work with her husband but never published. Rockwell credited his mother, who had a large collection of children's books, with inspiring him to become a writer.

After graduating from Bard College in 1956 with a degree in English, he wrote for a horticulture magazine and sold used books before beginning work on his father's autobiography. He married Gail Sudler, an artist who illustrated many of his books, in 1955. They were married until her death in 2010.

Rockwell went on to publish more than a dozen other children's books, including The Neon Motorcycle, How to Fight a Girl, and How to Get Fabulously Rich. He also directed the Norman Rockwell Family Agency, which licenses his father's works. 

How to Eat Fried Worms was rejected by more than 20 editors. Children's book editor Richard Jackson, who passed on the book when he was at Bradbury Press, told School Library Journal: "I knew kids would love it. But I couldn't bear to read about those worms over and over again."

Rockwell agreed. "When I finished the book, I said to myself, 'If a publisher takes it, then I'll eat a worm,' " he said in an interview. "But I just never found the time."

Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis, Minn., hosted the launch of Body Phobia (Broadleaf Books) by Dianna (Dex) E. Anderson. Anderson was in conversation with author Chris Stedman. Pictured: Anderson (l.) with their editor, Lisa Kloskin.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year." The old holiday saying got a new, spooky makeover courtesy of the sidewalk chalkboard in front of Phoenix Books, Rutland, Vt., which noted: "Stop by Phoenix Books Rutland today for this beautiful sign done by our bookseller, Melanie, and grab your next spooky read!"

At Sourcebooks:

Lia Ferrone has joined the company as assistant publicity and marketing manager, Sourcebooks Fire.

Anna Hanstrom has joined the company as marketing and publicity associate.

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In the Simon and Schuster and Saga Press marketing departments:

Danielle Prielipp is promoted to senior marketing director.

Tyanni Niles is promoted to senior marketing manager.

Emily Farebrother is promoted to associate manager of marketing.

Savannah Breckenridge is promoted to associate manager of marketing.

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At Scribner:

Colleen Nuccio has been promoted to associate director of marketing.

Lauren Dooley has been promoted to senior marketing manager.

Mark Galarrita has been promoted to publishing and marketing manager.

Sunday's issue of Hut's Place, the weekly newsletter by Hut Landon, bookseller and former executive director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (now part of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance), features books by Bob Woodward, Stanley Tucci, and Michael Connelly. Woodward's War "reports on wars being waged in Ukraine and the Middle East... and on the American Presidency." Tucci chronicles a year of meals in What I Ate in One Year. And "master of police procedurals" Connelly "adds new life to a seasoned series partnership."

A Hudson Valley Reckoning: Discovering the Forgotten History of Slaveholding in My Dutch American Family by Debra Bruno publishes October 15th from Three Hills, an imprint of Cornell University Press.

Today:
Good Morning America: Alex Guarnaschelli, author of Italian American Forever: Classic Recipes for Everything You Want to Eat (Clarkson Potter, $35, 9780593578001).

Today Show: Stanley Tucci, author of What I Ate in One Year (and related thoughts) (Gallery Books, $35, 9781668055687). He will also appear tomorrow on Live with Kelly and Mark and the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Also on Today: Kate McKinnon, author of The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 9780316554732). She will also appear tomorrow on the Kelly Clarkson Show.

Also on Today: Mellody Hobson, author of Priceless Facts about Money (Candlewick, $19.99, 9781536224719).

Also on Today: Pamela Anderson, author of I Love You: Recipes from the Heart (Voracious, $35, 9780316573481).

Live with Kelly and Mark: My Nguyen, author of Healthy, My Way: Real Food, Real Flavor, Real Good (Rodale, $32.50, 9780593580189).

The View: Chris Wallace, author of Countdown 1960: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the 312 Days that Changed America's Politics Forever (Dutton, $35, 9780593852194).

Kelly Clarkson Show: Trevor Noah, author of Into the Uncut Grass (One World, $26, 9780593729960). He will also appear tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

NPR's Here & Now: Yotem Ottolenghi, author of Ottolenghi Comfort: A Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, $37.99, 9780399581779).

Fresh Air: Mosab Abu Toha, author of Forest of Noise: Poems (Knopf, $22, 9780593803974).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Zach Pozniak and Jerry Pozniak, authors of The Laundry Book: The Definitive Guide to Caring for Your Clothes and Linens (Rock Point, $22.99, 9781577154495).

Tamron Hall: Katrina "Trina" Taylor, author of Da Baddest (Simon & Schuster, $27.99, 9781668008768).

Also on Tamron Hall: Law Roach, author of How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence from the World's Only Image Architect (Abrams Image, $28, 9781419768217).

Jennifer Hudson Show: Alice Paul Tapper, author of Use Your Voice (Penguin Workshop, $18.99, 9780593752142).

Jimmy Kimmel Live: Nancy Pelosi, author of The Art of Power: My Story as America's First Woman Speaker of the House (Simon & Schuster, $30, 9781668048047).

A film version of Colleen Hoover's novel Reminders of Him is in the works at Universal Pictures, with plans to release the movie in theaters on February 13, 2026, ahead of Valentine's Day, Deadline reported.

Hoover, whose bestseller It Ends With Us was adapted into a hit movie, is writing the screenplay with Lauren Levine. The novel, published in 2022, has sold more than 6.5 million copies globally and has been translated into 45 languages. Casting has yet to be announced.

"I am thrilled to be working with Universal to bring Kenna Rowan's world to life," Hoover said. "I hear from many readers who tell me they found something of themselves in her story of living with and through tragedy and doing the often messy and imperfect work of healing and turning the page to a fresh chapter in life. I am excited as Reminders of Him holds a special place in my heart too. I feel confident Universal is the right partner to do this story justice."

The shortlist has been released for the £50,000 (about $65,325) 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize, honoring "the best of nonfiction." The winner will be announced November 19.

The shortlist:
The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke (British)
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan (Australian)
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen (American)
A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Vietnamese-American)
Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux (British)
Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World by David Van Reybrouck, translated by David Colmer and David McKay

American consumers have been a subject of public scorn, political courtship, market analysis, and journalistic investigation. As a faceless demographic, their habits have seemed to mystify, and even disgust, those who study their preferences, their predictability, their pathology. But in American Bulk: Essays on Excess, Emily Mester takes a more compassionate route through the labyrinth of brand-name overabundance and the pantheon of casual dining chains.

Throughout these 10 inquisitive and deeply observed pieces, Mester is frank about the privilege that raised her. Her parents and her grandparents built significant wealth through dedication and hard work, raising a banner of money over her that distorted her sense of need. "I feared being broke the way you fear death in a video game." Like her father, she received an elite East Coast education, but having descended from a long line of humble Midwesterners, she quickly noticed a striking difference about the "windblown, affable... ease" of old money. "My classmates and I had almost exactly the same things, but there, with my nose pressed up against the glass, I saw that they had something else": pedigree.

Still, the burning question of American Bulk is not necessarily concerned with striving for status. In a trilogy of essays about her grandmother's home in Storm Lake, Iowa, Mester ruminates poignantly on the animosity between her lavish spender of a father and his frugal and hoarding mother, who battle like the lost souls in Dante's circle of hell dedicated to the greedy: "They think that they clash because they're opposites. But the impulses that drive them are exactly the same." Nonetheless, a product of her upbringing like many Americans, Mester's gaze through the glass seems preoccupied with neither extravagance nor miserliness, but the very impulse itself to consume. "It wasn't the things that I loved so much as the transaction, the beep of the buttons, the receipt paper smooth between my thumb and forefinger."

From this vantage, American Bulk presents an affable and humble study of the senses that consumption can satisfy ("I would've lived there if I could, inside the getting....") and the ones it can't ("When you ask for ease, comfort, and stability and receive it in enormous quantities, you are then left to wonder whether you even wanted it in the first place. Then you must find new things to want.") In a late-stage capitalism heaving with choice, Mester assumes the role of a millennial Virgil with both style and grace. --Dave Wheeler, senior editor, Shelf Awareness

Shelf Talker: With 10 essays, Emily Mester forges a compassionate route through brand-name overabundance to better understand the impulse to consume.

The bestselling self-published books last week as compiled by IndieReader.com:

1. The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
2. Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
3. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
4. Club 22 by Tate James
5. Sentinel by Jennifer L. Armentrout
6. Promise Me Not by Meagan Brandy
7. Does It Hurt? by H.D. Carlton
8. The Ritual by Shantel Tessier
9. Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
10. Truly Madly Deeply by L.J. Shen

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]