Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of the landmark The 1619 Project, "is partnering with well-known local entrepreneurs to open a literary salon and bar in the former home of iconic Macon Hardware" at 339 Macon St. in Brooklyn, N.Y., Brownstoner reported.

Located at the corner of Macon Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard, the North Star Books + Bar will occupy the space that "had a long history as one of Bed Stuy's longest standing Black-owned businesses--and longest-standing businesses in general. The building will continue its legacy housing a business in service to the community," Brownstoner wrote, adding that Hannah-Jones said she was honored to keep it Black owned.

Her business partners are Rotimi and Ayo Akinnuoye, the team behind Bed Stuy's Bed-Vyne businesses; and DJ Johnson, owner of Baldwin & Co. bookstore and cafe in New Orleans, La.

Nikole Hannah-Jones

Hannah-Jones said that, in addition to being a bookstore, bar and cafe, the North Star Books + Bar will serve as a literary salon designed to be "a draw for great Black writers and creators from across the globe.... I'm very plugged into the writer community, I'm friends with a lot of great writers, and wanted to be able to bring those writers into our community. Whenever you have big book events in the city, they're not at Black bookstores and they're not in Black neighborhoods, so I really wanted to bring that to Bed Stuy. People should expect all of their writing heroes."

The two-story brick building has apartments on the second floor that will be used for micro-residencies, offering visiting writers a place to stay and engage in community work. In addition to author talks and performances, the space will host other community programming, including writing workshops and book clubs. "I really, really want it to be a space, especially in these times, where creative folks can come together and exchange knowledge, ideas, literature, art," she added.

Currently undergoing a gut renovation, the store's design is inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and its literary salons, with an Art Deco aesthetic, Hannah-Jones said, adding: "The space will pay tribute to Black writers of all eras and of all forms."

After searching for a potential location for some time, Hannah-Jones saw a social media post showing 339 Macon Street was for sale. She then made her case to owner Warren Hayes, noting: "Mr. Hayes was very happy to be able to sell it to someone who is in the community and cares about the community and will create a great community space. I'm very much aware of the history, and very much honored to keep the building Black owned, frankly."

Regarding the bar and cafe, she observed: "We're not going to have a huge menu. It's hard enough to make money on books, but we will have the capability to offer a full menu whenever we're ready.".

Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport, N.Y., is relying on a crowdfunding campaign to help stave off closure, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

The new and used bookstore, which has been in business in Brockport since 1972, started having financial troubles in July 2022, when a nearby lift bridge over the Erie Canal was closed for historic restoration. The closure immediately caused drops in foot traffic and sales, and delays have kept the project going well past its original end date of August 2024.

In early October, a community member and supporter of the bookstore launched the GoFundMe campaign with a goal of raising $35,000; it has raised over $31,000 since. The money raised through the campaign will go toward keeping staff employed, covering operating expenses, and running initiatives meant to boost business while the closure continues.

"We have been in survival mode for over three years," co-owner John Bonczyk told the Democrat & Chronicle. "And now we have hope. It's such a different mindset to be scared constantly to 'Hey, maybe we can keep doing this.' "

Vroman's Bookstore has sold its building for $15.5 million to GD Realty Group, an owner and operator of office and retail properties in Southern California, the Los Angeles Times reported, adding that the deal for the 55,854-square-foot site was brokered by Kidder Mathews "amid uncertainty for the future of the business." 

Vroman's owner Joel Sheldon put the store up for sale in January 2024, and closed his Hastings Ranch location in May of that year. When he announced that the 130-year-old Pasadena store was for sale, Sheldon said that as he was approaching his 80th birthday, "it was time to begin the process of retiring and finding new ownership outside the Sheldon family. Vroman's deserves new ownership with the vision, energy, and commitment necessary to take it successfully into the future.... This was not an easy decision for me, but it is in best interest of Vroman's, our employees, our customers, my family, and our community."

The bookstore is expected to remain open, the Times noted.

Christian Schumacher-Gebler, CEO of Bonnier Germany, speaking with Publishing Perspectives editor-in-chief Porter Anderson at the Frankfurt Book Fair last week.

In an executive talk with Publishing Perspectives editor-in-chief Porter Anderson Friday morning, Bonnier Germany CEO Christian Schumacher-Gebler spoke at length about the rise in the export of English-language titles to Germany. He said he understands that U.K. publishers face "price pressure," "quality problems," and other issues in their market, and therefore try to "ship as much as they can" to Europe. He described it as "arrogant and ignorant," saying it could "destroy" European publishing.

Using a writer like Sally Rooney as an example, Schumacher-Gebler explained that when she publishes a new book, German, French, and other European publishers will create a "high-quality hardcover edition" in their respective languages. And while there will be a "very nice hardcover" produced in the U.K., too, they will ship in parallel a "crappy paperback edition" that sells for around €10 (about $11.60). Those cheap paperbacks "destroy our window for different formats" and can "destroy markets." Noting that royalties are based on sales price, Schumacher-Gebler added that the situation was also bad for authors.

Nevertheless, Schumacher-Gebler continued, there is a "super easy" way to solve the problem, at least in theory: European publishers having the English-language rights in their own territories. While U.K. publishers, and the agents who "do big deals," might balk at the idea, the current situation is not tenable, he asserted.

Asked whether any progress was being made on that front, Schumacher-Gebler said some European publishers are "working heavily" on the issue, while he suspects that some may not be allowed. Once European publishers belong to "international groups," he elaborated, they may not be able to push for things like English-language rights. At the same time, he said, "all German publishers" want to do these English-language editions. Some push for it harder and others "a little less."

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During a meeting of the International Association of Museum Publishers, W.W. Norton client services director Elizabeth Gaffin offered the international audience an assessment of the U.S. trade market. While there was an expansion of the market during Covid, most of the industry is now experiencing "contraction," she said.

Broadly speaking, publishers in the U.S. feel "uneasy." The political environment is "unsettling," and the militarization of certain cities has reduced traffic to cultural institutions, bookstores, and more. For those not in the investor class, "life feels more expensive" than ever. Discovery channels, meanwhile, have consolidated into a few channels "driven by algorithm."

Amazon commands a "massive share" of the U.S. market and for most publishers constitutes at least 50% of their total sales. However, the sales contraction in the U.S. over the past year has been "most evident with Amazon." Their buying, Gaffin said, is no longer "on steroids," they are more readily giving the buy button to "third parties," and their discounts are "not as deep."

Museum stores have become a "mixed bag." Many have reduced their footprint for books, opting for gift items instead, and many museum stores are managed by a third-party company called EventNetwork that is more focused on margin. 

Libraries are not the "reliable book buyers they used to be," Gaffin reported, as many budgets have shrunk. Despite that, and although there has been a "move toward e-books," it is still possible to reach the library market, with "professional review coverage" and "excellent metadata" being key.

"One heartening development" in the U.S. is the recent boom in new independent bookstores, and while indies make up only about 10% of the market, Gaffin noted, they "punch above their weight."

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Véronique Cardi

"French people are still very interested in holding a physical book and going to the bookshop," said Véronique Cardi, CEO of Hachette Livres' Éditions JC Lattès and Éditions du Masque during an executive talk Thursday morning.

In conversation with Porter Anderson, Cardi discussed the adoption of e-books and audiobooks in France, which has been much slower than in the U.S., U.K., and Germany. In France the "physical object is still very strong," though French publishers still aim to do simultaneous releases in print, digital, and audiobook in most cases.

Thanks to France's fixed book prices, the country has a "very strong" network of booksellers, with about 3,500 bookshops across the country and some 700 in Paris alone. Physical bookshops, she said, are where new voices are "still discovered."

A "new challenge" in the French market, Cardi added, is readers' preference for choosing English-language titles over French translations. Among younger people especially, it is "more trendy" to have the original version. For major international titles, it's become extremely important to have the French version available on the same date. It "wouldn't be possible now," she said, to let too much time pass.

She also pointed to a concerning trend that has emerged despite all of that, of boys ages 16-19 spending on average less than 10 minutes reading per day but five hours on screens.

Asked about AI, Cardi expressed doubt in its editorial and creative uses and related an anecdote about experimenting with a new AI tool. She asked it several questions about a particular novel and found that it got basic facts wrong about the narrator. She did seem bullish, however, on AI's marketing applications. --Alex Mutter

Baek Sehee, the bestselling South Korean author "whose frank conversations about therapy and mental health helped her become a cultural phenomenon in her home country and beyond," died October 16, the New York Times reported. She was 35. Baek was best known for her memoir, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki, "a deeply personal account of her struggles with depression and anxiety. (Tteokbokki is a popular Korean dish of rice cakes in a spicy sauce.)." 

Baek Sehee

Published in 2018, the book includes conversations that she had with her therapist, which she recorded, and essays that explored topics like sexism and self-doubt. I Want to Die "was embraced by a broad audience that was drawn to its frank discussion of mental health, especially in South Korea, where stigma and family shame around mental illness persist," the Times noted. 

In a prologue, Baek wrote, "I realized that opening the dark part in my heart was a very natural thing, just like showing the bright part of it." The book was published in 25 countries and has sold more than a million copies worldwide. In 2019 she published a sequel, I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki, which explored her struggles with self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

Baek told PEN Transmissions in 2023 that the inspiration for the book came from someone who had commented on her blog, saying they were experiencing similar emotions, and felt relieved to know someone else was going through the same thing. "When they said it was like a light was shining into the darkness of their life, I was so surprised," she recalled. "All I'd done was be honest in public, but here was someone comforted by that."

Anton Hur, who translated Baek's book into English, posted on Bluesky: "The Korean organ donation authority reports that Sehee saved five lives through her donation of her heart, lungs, liver, and both kidneys.... But her readers will know she touched yet millions of lives more with her writing. My thoughts are with her family."

In a statement, her sister, Baek Dahee, said that Baek Sehee "loved writing, connecting with others through writing and nurturing hope in other people."

Posted by the Ripped Bodice Bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y.: "Fall in love again and again. Bookseller Fernanda created our gothic romance inspired window for our Brooklyn location."

"How's it going running the bookstore?" Moonstruck Market, Melbourne, Fla., answered the question with an Instagram reel: "Plot twist: all our volunteers are figments of my imagination.... Thanks to our cameraperson @prideful_things_shop!"

Theresa DeLucci has joined Saga Press as director of marketing and publicity. She has more than 15 years of marketing experience in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and has worked at Grand Central and Tor, where she helped launch the horror imprint Nightfire. She also has covered film, TV, and books for Den of Geek, Wired.com, and Tor.com/Reactor as a professional journalist and author.

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Andrea Pura has joined Union Square & Co. as assistant manager, publicity. She was formerly a publicist for One World and earlier was a speaking agent at the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau, a marketing associate at Crown, and a literary events producer at Symphony Space.

Range of Motion by Brian Trapp (Acre Books).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Deborah Roberts, author of Sisters Loved and Treasured: Stories of Unbreakable Bonds (Hyperion Avenue, $26.99, 9781368115810).

CBS Mornings: Malala Yousafzai, author of Finding My Way: A Memoir (Atria, $30, 9781668054277). She will also appear on Today and Fresh Air.

The View: John Grisham, author of The Widow (Doubleday, $32, 9780385548984).

Kelly Clarkson Show: Liz Parker, author of Witches of Honeysuckle House: A Novel (Alcove Press, $29.99, 9798892422901), 

Sherri Shepherd Show: Angela Kinsey and Josh Snyder, authors of You Can Make This!: More Than 100 Family Favorite Recipes (Gallery Books, $33, 9781668069684).

A trailer has been released for Ellroy vs. L.A., the latest documentary from director Francesco Zippel (Friedkin Uncut). Focusing on author James Ellroy (The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential), the doc "features an exclusive interview and archival material to examine Ellroy's personal and professional relationship with the city," the Film Stage reported.

The synopsis: "A dark journey into the mind of noir master James Ellroy. Through an exclusive interview and archival materials, the documentary intertwines his personal and artistic story with his unique vision of Los Angeles: the city where he was born, source of his traumas and an endless reservoir of events, crimes, and characters that became the foundation of his literary masterpieces. Ellroy's rhythmic, jazz-inflected narration alternates with the sounds of the legendary Italian band Calibro 35."

Zippel said Ellroy vs. L.A. "is the result of a personal desire: to get to the heart of the troubled relationship between James Ellroy and the city that created him and forever marked him. When I decided to make this documentary, I knew that interviews alone would not suffice. I wanted to create an imaginary conversation between Ellroy and Los Angeles, a dialogue in which the city responds, retorts, sometimes contradicts, sometimes amplifies the writer's words. I searched for the voice of L.A. in films, in archival material, in images that carry the specter of an era. I wanted this film to be a journey into the unbreakable bond that exists between the writer and his city, which in their constant pursuit of one another end up blurring into one another."

Winners have been named for the 2025 Lambda Literary Awards, which celebrate "outstanding contributions to LGBTQ+ literature." Prizes were presented in 26 categories in an online ceremony hosted by Jozie Clapp on October 4. See those winners and the winners of eight special prizes here.

Betty Fussell refers to her 13th book, How to Cook a Coyote: The Joy of Old Age, as a "coming-of-death story." The Shakespeare scholar, food historian, and memoirist was born in 1927. Though "Tick tock" is a refrain as she senses time running out, her sardonic autobiographical essays burst with memories of food, friendship, sexual passion, and globe-trotting adventures.

Fussell (My Kitchen Wars; Eat, Live, Love, Die) is mostly blind and since 2012 has lived in a Montecito, Calif., retirement home, Casa Dorinda--coincidentally, the alma mater of Julia Child, whose mantle she took up by reinstituting a "Breakfast Club" of five elderly intellectuals. Each 7:30 a.m. breakfast is sacred when shared with friends, whose sometimes absurd dialogue she re-creates for readers' delight.

The book's 40 miniature essays are self-deprecating ("There is no protection from time. Witness my body") and often employ a playful, inviting direct address to the reader. Fussell gives a rundown of her failing bodily systems and remarks on ironies ("The more slowly I move, the more time speeds up"), yet never gives way to self-pity. "Food is a daily joy when you're old," she declares, and hunger a sign of "being alive and knowing it."

The coyote of the title is both literal and metaphorical here: he's the proverbial trickster, and a symbol of death in general. Later, the author likens him to the Big Bad Wolf, a devourer coming for her memory and her very life: "what sharp teeth they are." He replies, "Mm, yes. The better to eat it all up, my dear." But the coyote is also a real animal, one she tried shooting with her son in Montana--only to wind up in an emergency room on Thanksgiving when she tore a ligament in her ankle. She even gives recipes for a coyote pie with a cornmeal crust, as well as the "Smiley Coyote" cocktail a friend invented for her.

While she awaits a final encounter with that wily coyote, Fussell has vibrant memories to sustain her. "The people in my life are the essential condiments and spices," she observes. Many of the pieces are elegies for departed friends and family members, reminiscences of past love affairs, and accounts of memorial services. She also recounts doing competitive seniors' ballroom dancing and attending the 69th reunion of her high school class.

These tongue-in-cheek essays remembering sensual joys are perfect for fans of Diana Athill, Ruth Reichl, and Abigail Thomas. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader, and blogger at Bookish Beck

Shelf Talker: Ninety-eight-year-old Betty Fussell reflects on the enduring pleasures and challenges of old age in 40 succinct essays about food, friendship, and cherished memories.

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

1. An Entrepreneur's Guide to Freedom: Seven Steps to Living Beyond Limits by Mark Rampolla
2. The Upside of Down: A Survivor's Guide to Turning Setbacks Into Success by John D. Ulsh
3. Fourth Wing (Wing and Claw Collection) by Rebecca Yarros
4. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
5. Lights Out by Navessa Allen
6. Beyond the Blue Horizon by A.L. Jackson
7. Caught Up by Navessa Allen
8. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
9. Love Pucked by Emily Silver
10. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

[Many thanks to IndieReader.com!]