HBG Big News This Week: October 12-October 16, 2020

Following is a recap of major news at Hachette Book Group for the week of October 12-October 16, 2020:

#1 Bestsellers: Elin Hilderbrand’s Troubles in Paradise (LB) debuts this week at #1 on the Combined P&E Fiction and #2 Print HC Fiction bestseller lists. David Baldacci’s Walk the Wire debuts at #1 on the PB Trade Fiction bestsellers list. Remaining at #1 are GCP’s The Return by Nicholas Sparks (Print HC Fiction), LBYR’s The Office: A Day at Dunder Mifflin Elementary  by Robb Pearlman (Picture Books), and Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi’s (Young Adult HC).

New NYT bestsellers: Debuting on this week’s NYT list is JIMMY’s Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson & Kwame Alexander at #7 on the Middle Grade HC bestsellers list. Overall, HBG has 20 titles on the NYT list this week, and our client publishers have eight books on the list.

PW Star Watch Award: Congratulations to Orbit Editor Nivia Evans on winning the 2020 Publishers Weekly Star Watch Award! PW’s Star Watch recognizes rising stars in the publishing industry and the winner is chosen from hundreds of nominees. In the words of Jim Milliot, Editorial Director of PW: “Nivia Evans is a model PW Star Watch Superstar, bringing a fresh voice and vision to the world of science fiction and fantasy.” Read the announcement here.

Baillie Gifford Prize: Basic Books’ The Idea of the Brain by Matthew Cobb made the shortlist for the UK’s Baillie Gifford Prize for nonfiction, a £50,000 award.