"If a parent doesn't want a book in a library in Florida, we have to be resisting that," said David Shelley, CEO of Hachette Book Group and Hachette U.K., during an executive talk with Publishing Perspectives editor-in-chief Porter Anderson at the Frankfurt Book Fair Wednesday morning.

Shelley, who was named CEO of Hachette Book Group in November 2023, after heading Hachette U.K. for several years, discussed the surprises he's encountered while getting to learn the American side of Hachette's English-language business, publishers' role in politics, his view on growth and acquisitions, and the rising tide of censorship.

David Shelley

"We have to be saying, trust the librarians who are skilled at their jobs," Shelley continued. "We have to be open to kids being exposed to a lot of stuff. And frankly, what they're exposed to in libraries is nothing compared to what they're exposed to on the Internet." The bans and challenges, he added, seem "a sort of performative war, to some extent."

While there have been "lots of wonderful things about coming to America," Shelley said, book banning and the concomitant backlash to diversity, equity, and inclusion, have been "chilling." As someone who grew up a "young, queer teenager" in Margaret Thatcher's Britain in the 1980s, Shelley called it "very, very disturbing" to see the progress of recent times threatened. And noting that book-banning efforts have overwhelmingly targeted books written by LGBTQ authors and authors of color, he worried "from a book publishing perspective" that it might lead to young readers thinking that "books aren't for me."

Elaborating on diversity in the industry, Shelley said it was "important to acknowledge that progress has been made," but there's "a lot farther we have to go." The goal at Hachette is to "be representative at all levels of seniority" of the company's readership around the world. Looking specifically at "intake levels" and new hires, "that is looking a lot better," as are mid-levels. Although board levels are making progress, "in our company and the industry, there is a lot more work to do, particularly at senior level."

He pointed out that during the book fair, there will be "a lot of middle-aged white men speaking to each other in these sessions," and that's "uncomfortable because it's not representative of the readers we're serving." Touching on the gender make-up of the publishing workforce, Shelley remarked: "Broadly, as an industry, we need fewer senior men and more very junior men."

On the subject of the role of publishers in politics, Shelley said he felt "very passionately" about publishers' responsibility to advocate for the interests of their authors and for things that will protect the industry at large, like preserving copyright. When it comes to AI and the major questions it poses, Shelley said he favors transparency and believes consumers have "a right know if something is created by AI."

Currently, publishing finds itself up against "incredibly well-funded lobbying groups" working on behalf of major tech companies. And though people sometimes talk about AI in a passive way, "as if it will happen to us and we can't stand in the way of it," he prefers being action-oriented, and said he believes "we can shape our destiny to some extent."

Asked about his approach to acquisitions, Shelley reported that when considering a potential acquisition, he considers two main things: can Hachette learn something substantial from it, and can Hachette add value to it. If it "doesn't emphatically tick those two boxes," he said, it's probably not a great acquisition, and in general, he doesn't like the idea of acquiring something "just to add size or scale." Without adding value or learning something, "you're just bolting on turnover."

Discussing collaboration between Hachette Book Group and Hachette U.K., Shelley emphasized that "the supply chain could really benefit." Between the two companies, Hachette packs and picks around 120 million books per year, and there's "interesting things to be done" that will help both sides of the Atlantic be more efficient and reduce the time it takes for books to get to market. He said: "If we could shave 24 hours off delivery time in the U.S., which is our aim, that would be revolutionary for us."

Shelley also shared some amusing anecdotes about cultural differences between the U.K. and the U.S. Idioms can be a challenge, and he recalled learning through a conversation with an American colleague that "I don't want to teach granny how to suck eggs" is not an expression in the U.S. Likewise, he was mystified by someone telling him that they "didn't want to be on JV."

He's found too that the way people talk about their successes and failures differs between the two countries. British people can have a tendency to be a bit self-effacing, and something that might come across as "arrogant or boastful" in the U.K. would not raise any eyebrows in the U.S. Similarly, he remembered sending out an e-mail asking colleagues to share a story of a time they failed, and what they learned from it.

"Within an hour I got e-mails from five British people and three Germans, who were all quite happily sharing their failures," he said. "From the Americans it was kind of tumbleweeds." --Alex Mutter

The European International Booksellers Federation has released Study on Consumer Behavior: Book-buying Trends, Reading Habits, and Customer Needs. Commissioned through its three-year EU co-funded project RISE Bookselling, the report was carried out by Belgian market research company Listen during the spring of 2024. 

Presented to the public at the Frankfurt Book Fair yesterday, the report explores book trends in Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S.

Surveying a sample number of people from each country, men and women, from 18 to 55-plus, the study reveals current trends in reading habits and consumer attitudes to book purchasing. This includes the different motivations respondents have in reading and buying books, their preferred genres and book formats depending on the country market, as well as the expectations from bookshop services and much more. 

Although 81% of U.S. respondents said they had read a book in the past year, that total was surpassed by several other countries, including Italy (94%), the U.K. (92%), Ireland (91%), Spain (91%), France (88%), Germany (87%), Sweden (87%), the Netherlands (86%), Portugal (85%), Norway (84%), and Switzerland (83%). The average was 85%.

The report noted that American respondents "are particularly fond of the enjoyable atmosphere they find in independent bookshops, as highlighted by an impressive 51% response." In addition, 66% of American respondents have purchased a book in the last 12 months, though "second-hand books are more popular among American respondents than among the average of study respondents, with 42% of them reporting buying second-hand, compared to the 35% average." 

EIBF co-president Fabian Paagman commented: "In a rapidly evolving world marked by digital transformation, changing consumer preferences, and the enduring impact of globalisation, booksellers face unprecedented challenges--but also remarkable opportunities. To navigate this dynamic landscape, booksellers need not only passion and dedication but also solid data and a deep understanding of their customers' habits, preferences, and needs."

The Chapter & Co., a bookstore and cafe with a focus on romance and fantasy, has opened in New Braunfels, Tex., the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung reported.

Co-owners and sisters Lilliana Brabham and Laura Hickman held a grand opening celebration for the business on Saturday, October 5. In addition to books, the store carries sidelines like stickers and candles, and while the cafe is open, the full kitchen menu is not yet available. The owners will also start hosting more events in the months ahead.

Brabham told the Herald-Zeitung that although she was nervous going into the opening, it ended up going "so well," and there was "support and patience and kindness from everybody."

Hickman and Brabham have been working toward opening their business for approximately a year. As children, they dreamed of opening a bakery together, and when Brabham thought of opening a bookstore, she asked Hickman to create a cafe.

As part of its Global Connect program, Ingram Content Group has opened two more print-on-demand distribution hubs, in South Africa and Singapore. They complement Ingram's distribution network in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, and Sharjah as well as nine other Global Connect locations in Brazil, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, South Korea, and Spain.

Through Global Connect, publishers reach more countries by using local POD printers with relationships with sales channels in their markets. Distributors use POD technology to fulfill demand, ensuring books are supplied closer to both the reader and bookseller. Publishers from 97 countries and regions have joined Global Connect, which covers nearly 50% of the world's population.

Julian Sandell, Ingram Content Group's global business development manager, said, "By expanding into these countries, not only do we broaden the geographical reach of our program, but they strengthen our ability to provide readers worldwide direct access to an extensive catalog of titles. Publishers can now access readers in Singapore and South Africa with their titles, without having to ship stock overseas, with local print-on-demand fulfilment."

In other Ingram news, the company is launching MediaScout, an IP database and research tool designed to connect film and television industry professionals to books available for screen adaptation. MediaScout will allow searches of hundreds of thousands of titles and authors, including rights contact information and status when available. Publishers and agents are encouraged to upload rights information for studios and production companies to access and discover.

Shawn Morin, CEO of Ingram Content Group, said, "With MediaScout, Ingram is providing a powerful IP marketing service that will benefit not only authors and publishers, but film and production companies, too. Ingram has always been driven by technology to get more books into the hands of readers. By connecting film and TV studios to books that are available for screen, MediaScout is an extension of that innovative drive."

MediaScout is in a private beta phase and launches to the public in early 2025.

Peter Ferry, an author and teacher who inspired "decades of students in his English and writing classes at Lake Forest High School, a youthful crowd of many thousands that included such later famous people as actor Vince Vaughn and Dave Eggers," died September 17, the Chicago Tribune reported. He was 77. "I learned a lot from Dave even when he was a student: If you want to be a writer, you just write," Ferry once said. "I have long felt that I was compelled to write and so I did."

In a story in the high school's newspaper, Eggers observed: "He was a very erudite guy with a wry wit, and he understood the strange sense of humor my friends and I had. We became fanboys of Mr. Ferry, and he was our hero and mentor. And he and I stayed in touch for the next 35 years."

After earning a Master of Arts in English Literature from Northwestern University, Ferry wrote and edited textbooks at Rand McNally before spending nearly three decades as a high school teacher. He wrote about his travels for the Chicago Tribune, and his short stories appeared in journals and magazines, including McSweeney's, the Chicago Quarterly Review, StoryQuarterly, HyperText, and Catamaran.

His first novel, Travel Writing, was published in 2008. He said the book "took me seven years to write. This new one took me five years to write and then two arduous years to find a publisher." 

Eggers noted that the second novel, Old Heart, "manages to weave together an astonishing array of themes and layers--the perils and freedoms of old age, the complexity of family ties, the liberation of travel, and finally, Ferry presents and proves the bold and needed idea that it's never too late to reopen the past to recast the present... a page-turning book of ideas that has the power to change lives."

Playwright, producer and author Roger Rapoport, who has produced a stage version of the book and is currently in production on a film version, said, "Adapting Peter's wonderful Old Heart for Detroit and Muskegon stages and a film next spring gave me a chance to discover how much he and Carolyn loved both the Netherlands and the Lake Michigan shore at Palisades Park. Unfailingly modest, Peter was a good collaborator who loved seeing his characters come to life. He was also a dedicated writer who spent two years figuring out the Old Heart ending. It was worth the wait."

CQR founder and editor Syed Haider described Ferry as "a man of conscience and conviction. His writing amazed, amused and informed of human condition and situation, passion breaks through the perfect art. Pete's writing was full insight into the human psyche, wisdom and emotional condor. He was a wise man, a good friend and mentor."

Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore, Berkeley, Calif., hosted an offsite event at Laney College for Jason Reynolds, celebrating the release of his YA novel Twenty-Four Seconds from Now... (Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum). Pictured: Jason Reynolds (center) with (from left) bookstore staffers Anne Whaling, Hannah deBree, Eric Green, Jessica Green, Carolyn Hutton, and Jennifer Gordon.

"This gorgeous couple just had the most incredible BOOKSTORE PROPOSAL!!!!!!" the Chatham Bookstore, Chatham, N.Y., posted on Facebook. "When he gets down on one knee in the fantasy section, the answer is obviously YES!!!!! Congratulations to the happy couple!!"

Ashley Yepsen has been promoted to publicity director, HarperOne Group.

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At Algonquin:

Marisol Salaman has been promoted to senior publicity manager. She has been part of the Algonquin publicity team for two years and earlier worked at Portfolio Books/PRH and Hachette Books.

Katrina Tiktinsky has been promoted to publicist.

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Hillary Kassis has been hired as senior sales manager at Chronicle Books.

Elmore the Christmas Moose by Dev Petty, illustrated by Mike Boldt (Doubleday Books for Young Readers).

Today:
Fresh Air: Glenn Fine, author of Watchdogs: Inspectors General and the Battle for Honest and Accountable Government (University of Virginia Press, $29.95, 9780813952468).

Tomorrow:
CBS Mornings: Owen Han, author of Stacked: The Art of the Perfect Sandwich (Harvest, $29.99, 9780063330658).

Today Show: David Kwong, author of How to Fool Your Parents: 25 Brain-Breaking Magic Tricks (HarperCollins, $12.99, 9780063140585).

Also on Today: Jessica Shepherd, author of Generation M: Living Well in Perimenopause and Menopause (Union Square, $18.99, 9781454954897).

Drew Barrymore Show: Trevor Noah, author of Into the Uncut Grass (One World, $26, 9780593729960).

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this weekend from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Sunday, October 20
9 a.m. David H. Moskowitz, author of The Fake Elector Playbook: Lessons for the 2024 Election (Huge Jam, $6, 9781916604230). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m.)

10 a.m. Stephanie Baker, author of Punishing Putin: Inside the Global Economic War to Bring Down Russia (Scribner, $29.99, 9781668050583). (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m.)

2 p.m. Anthony Abraham Jack, author of Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price (‎Princeton University Press, $29.95, 9780691237466), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C.

3 p.m. Debbie Goldman, author of Disconnected: Call Center Workers Fight for Good Jobs in the Digital Age (University of Illinois Press, $27.95, 9780252088155), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C.

4 p.m. Yuval Noah Harari, author of Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI (Random House, $35, 9780593734223), at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C.

5:25 p.m. George Landrith, author of Let Freedom Ring... Again: Can Self-Evident Truths Save America from Further Decline? (Post Hill Press, $21, 9798888454763).

6:25 p.m. Marty Makary, author of Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health (Bloomsbury, $28.99, 9781639735310).

A shortlist has been released for the Laurel Prize, presented to the best collection of environmental or nature poetry published each year. The prize is funded by U.K. poet Simon Armitage's laureate's honorarium, which he receives annually from the King, and is run by the Poetry School. The shortlisted titles are: 

Ruin, Blossom by John Burnside
Lapwing by Hannah Copley 
At the Point of Seeing by Megan Kitching 
Food for the Dead by Charlotte Shevchenko Knight
Tung by Robyn Maree Pickens 

The winner will be named October 19. The prize awards £5,000 (about $6,500) to the winner, with £2,000 (about $2,600) for second place and £1,000 (about $1,300) for third. There is also a £500 (about $650) award for each of the best first collection U.K. and best international first collection. In addition, winners will receive a commission from National Landscapes to create a poem based on their favorite U.K. landscape.

Selected new titles appearing next Tuesday, October 22:

In Too Deep: A Reacher Novel by Lee Child and Andrew Child (Delacorte, $30, 9780593725801) is the 29th Jack Reacher thriller.

Absolution: A Southern Reach Novel by Jeff VanderMeer (MCD, $30, 9780374616595) continues the Southern Reach series 10 years after publication of the original trilogy.

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury, $16.99, 9781639734481) is an illustrated short story set in the world of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

Karla's Choice: A John le Carré Novel by Nick Harkaway (Viking, $30, 9780593833490) posthumously continues the story of le Carré's spy George Smiley.

Patriot: A Memoir by Alexei Navalny (Knopf, $35, 9780593320969) is the memoir of the murdered Russian dissident.

Brothers by Alex van Halen (Harper, $32, 9780063265707) is a rock-and-roll memoir about brothers Eddie and Alex van Halen.

Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches by Matty Matheson (Ten Speed Press, $35, 9781984862150) includes 126 recipes.

Lifeform by Jenny Slate (Little, Brown, $29, 9780316263931) is a collection of humorous essays on motherhood.

The Best American Short Stories 2024, edited by Lauren Groff and Heidi Pitlor (Mariner, $30, 9780063275966) contains 20 of the year's best short stories.

Memorials by Richard Chizmar (Gallery Books, $29.99, 9781668009192) is a horror novel about college students filming a documentary in the Appalachian backwoods.

Love & Lattes by Beth Reekles (Delacorte, $12.99, 9780593809082) is a YA romance from the author of the popular Kissing Booth series.

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber, illus. by Rosie Fowinkle (Flatiron, $20.99, 9781250893406) is a novella return to the fantasy world of Caraval.

Paperbacks:
The Fury of the Gods: The Bloodsworn Trilogy Book 3 by John Gwynne (Orbit, $21.99, 9780316539951).

Magical Worlds: An Enchanted Coloring Adventure by Johanna Basford (Penguin Life, $18, 9780143138358).

Night and Day by John Connolly (Atria/Emily Bestler, $18.99, 9781668081679).

Run: A Novel by Blake Crouch (Ballantine, $18.99, 9780593874790).

The Secret War of Julia Child: A Novel by Diana R. Chambers (Sourcebooks Landmark, $17.99, 9781464219047).

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover
Season of the Swamp: A Novel by Yuri Herrera, trans. by Lisa Dillman (Graywolf Press, $26, 9781644453070). "There isn't a writer out there like Yuri Herrera, one of my favorite Latin American writers. His newest novel is just as brilliant. An extraordinary, vivid, and ingenious novel. I couldn't look away from the minute I started reading." --Oscar Almonte Espinal, Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books, Philadelphia, Pa.

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang (St. Martin's Press, $32, 9781250289469). "As enchanting as it is heartbreaking, A Song to Drown Rivers follows a young woman turned deadly spy, who uses her beauty and charm as a devastating weapon to topple kingdoms. This book will take your breath away!" --Claire Deeds, Covered Treasures Bookstore, Monument, Colo.

Paperback
America Fantastica: A Novel by Tim O'Brien (Mariner, $19.99, 9780063318519). "A brilliant romp across the continent. Boyd Halverson feels the urge to shake things up. So, he gets up from his Kiwanis Club brunch, strolls across the street to a bank with a .38 revolver, robs it, and takes Angie Banks, the teller, hostage. Away we go!" --Deon Stonehouse, Sunriver Books & Music, Sunriver, Ore.

Ages 4-8
We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang (Tundra Books, $18.99, 9781774882023). "As a human, this book resonated with me. X. Fang has the best illustrations out there right now. I love the warmth she adds to each drawing. Her books are a blast, and I'm excited to see this one. Each book feels like a classic." --Claire Margetts, Weller Book Works, Salt Lake City, Utah

Ages 8+
How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger (Greenwillow Books, $15.99, 9780063158146). "A sweet graphic novel. Watching Tara learn to navigate high school and experience her first crush was a complete joy. Hunsinger does an amazing job depicting the all-encompassing feeling of a first crush and all of the anxiety that comes with it." --Izzy Zox, Back Cove Books, Portland, Me.

Teen Readers
Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson (HarperTeen, $19.99, 9780063255951). "It starts with a malfunctioning petrichor candle. Soon, the house is up in flames--and so are Marlowe's summer plans. With singular, dry wit, and sinister disquiet, Johnson crafts a novel with such suspenseful foreboding that you'll be racing with shaking fingers to the end." --Emily Gilbow, House of Books, Kent, Conn.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

Debut novelist Ava Robinson takes a close look at the bittersweet realities of sobriety in Definitely Better Now, a (late) coming-of-age story of 26-year-old New Yorker Emma and her attempts to start fresh after completing a whole year of sobriety.

For 365 days, Emma has been focused: on work and on not drinking. Ready to feel like a "fully polished, emotionally stable version" of herself after her first year in AA, she's looking forward to something like starting over. "Sobriety had cast a newness over the way I viewed the world. There were so many firsts open to me again, even after a year: first trip sober, first night out sober, and even first kiss sober." It turns out, though, that nothing magical happens on day 365 of sobriety, and those firsts can be more than a bit overwhelming, especially when considering the many versions of herself Emma's built as a survival mechanism.

There is "Work Emma," who doesn't curse and never talks about her sobriety in the office; "Internet Emma," who shares highlights only online; "Friend Emma," who isn't quite sure how to be a good friend; "Dateable Emma," composed with the help of co-workers urging her to create an online dating profile. Drunk Emma, Sober Emma, Over-a-Year-Sober Emma: she's unsure whether or not she likes any of them--and whether or not any of them are really her.

Robinson has created a mid-20s heroine standing on the precipice between young adult and fully grown adult, a woman stepping into herself and into a life without alcohol. Definitely Better Now points out not just how alcohol-steeped modern American culture is, but the complexities of sober living: how rigid recovery can feel, how demanding it is, and how focused on "men of a certain age" the literature can be; as well as how to learn to trust not just a sponsor but one's own self; how to live with multiple truths--especially when some of them are ugly.

Within this, Robinson nestles a romance that feels The Office-esque, with workplace dramas, coworker gossip, a bunch of employees at a company that does something vague and uninteresting, and a cute, charming guy in IT who might actually like Emma for who she is, if she can just figure that part out. Witty, funny, and full of heart, Definitely Better Now is a not-to-be-missed debut that encourages anyone, sober or not, to embrace the messy imperfections of a life worth living. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

Shelf Talker: A funny and heart-filled office romance nestles within a complex coming-of-age story about a 20-something New Yorker navigating sobriety and finding herself.