HBG Big News This Week: September 28-October 2, 2020

Following is a recap of major news at Hachette Book Group for the week of September 28-October 2, 2020:

New NYT bestsellers: Debuting on this week’s NYT list are LB’s The Coast-to-Coast Murders by James Patterson & JD Barker (#3 HC Fiction +  #2 Combined P&E Fiction), Center Street’s Don’t Lie to Me and Stop Trying to Steal Our Freedom by Jeanine Pirro (#7 HC Nonfiction + #9 Combined P&E Nonfiction), and Voracious’ The Full Plate by Ayesha Curry (#7 Advice, How-to & Misc). Overall, HBG has 23 titles on the NYT list this week, and our client publishers have six books on the list.

Major release: Nicholas Sparks’s The Return (GCP) launched with major media and marketing support. Highlights include appearances on Good Morning America and Good Day New York, a feature interview with Parade, a rave review from PopSugar, and more. Still to come, coverage from AARP, Good Housekeeping, and an interview on PeopleTV. Sparks kicked off his socially distanced book tour, with big crowds of fans assembling (safely!) for events in Winter Park, FL; New Bern, NC; and Southern Pines, NC.

Be Who You Are Day: September 30 was the first annual Be Who You Are Day, celebrating LBYR’s Todd Parr and his beloved books that promote individuality, positivity, and inclusivity. There was great engagement and participation, from libraries, schools, educators, and kids across the US and internationally. Read more in this great Publishers Weekly story, and check out the charming and info-packed dedicated Be Who You Are webpage.

Christian Gauss Book Award: Leah Price’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Books (Basic Books) has won the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s Christian Gauss Book Award. Read the announcement here.

High Plains Book Award: Joe Wilkins is the winner of the 2020 High Plains Book Award for fiction for his novel Fall Back Down When I Die.  The award recognizes regional literary works which examine and reflect life on the High Plains.

October Book Picks: Barnes & Noble‘s Monthly Picks include Adrian McKinty’s The Chain (Mulholland); Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches (Redhook) was selected for Amazon’s Editor’s Top 10 Picks and the October Indie Next list.