HBG Big News This Week: February 5-9, 2018

Following is a recap of major news at Hachette Book Group for the week of February 5-9, 2018:

Bestsellers: HBG has 14 titles on the New York Times Bestseller list dated February 18, including one #1— All American-Murder by James Patterson and Alex Abramovich with Mike Harvkey (Little, Brown) at the #1 position on the Sports And Fitness (Monthly) list. HBG’s distribution clients have four titles on the list this week. HBG has 11 titles on the USA Today bestseller list, see the full list here.

Lagardère news: Lagardère reported fourth quarter and full year 2017 results yesterday, with revenue at Hachette Livre increasing 1.1% in 2017 over 2016. HBG’s Q4 revenue increased 3.6%. Read the Publishers Weekly coverage for more details.

Major acquisition: today Entertainment Weekly announced Grand Central’s acquisition of the much-anticipated second novel – Imaginary Friend – by acclaimed author, screenwriter, and director Stephen Chbosky.  Two decades in the making, Chbosky’s wildly ambitious, sweeping work of literary horror is being snapped up by publishers around the globe (including sister companies Orion in the UK and Calmann-Levy in France) and will be published in Fall 2019. Chbosky is the author of the multi-million copy bestselling debut The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  In 2012, he wrote and directed the acclaimed film version of his novel, starring Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Ezra Miller.  He also directed the 2017 film Wonder, a critical and commercial smash hit. GCP’s press release is attached.

Audie Awards: Hachette Audio has eight finalists for the Audies – the premier awards competition in the U.S. recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment – across numerous categories including Best Female Narrator, Short Stories/Collections, Science Fiction (three of the five SF finalists this year!), Thriller/Suspense, Autobiography/Memoir, History/Biography. Winners will be revealed on May 3, read the press release for more information.

IACP Cookbook Awards: Finalists were announced this week for the 2018 IACP Cookbook Awards, and Grand Central Life & Style has three nominated titles: Scraps, Wilt + Weeds: Turning Wasted Food into Plenty by Mads Refslund & Tama Matsuoka Wong (Food Matters category), Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating by Gail Simmons (General category), Unforgettable: The Bold Flavors of Paula Wolfert’s Renegade Life by Emily Kaiser Thelin (Literary Food Writing category). Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on February 25. See the full list of nominees here.

2018 Wellcome Book Prize: two Little, Brown titles have made the Wellcome Book Prize longlist – With the End In Mind by Kathryn Mannix and In Pursuit of Memory by Joseph Jebelli. The Wellcome Book Prize is an annual award, open to new works of fiction or non-fiction with a central theme that engages with some aspect of medicine, health or illness. The winner will be announced on April 30.

Media blitz: the film The 15:17 to Paris, based on Public Affair’s book by the same name, opens in theatres today, with major national appearances by the authors (Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone, who also star in the film) and director Clint Eastwood, including Today, Jimmy Kimmel Live, FOX News, ABC / The View, Comedy Central / The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, ABC / Nightline, NPR / Here and Now,  MTV /TRL, On Air with Ryan Seacrest, and more. Watch the trailer here.