HBG Big News This Week: November 26-30, 2018

Following is a recap of major news at Hachette Book Group for the week of November 26-30, 2018:

Bestseller highlights: New to the New York Times bestseller list this week and charting high is James Patterson’s Target: Alex Cross (LB) at #2 on both the Print Hardcover Fiction, and Combined Print & Ebook Fiction lists. HBG has 17 books on New York Times list this week. Our distribution clients have two #1s—the latest in Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, The Meltdown (Amulet), stays at the #1 slot on the Children’s Series list and Construction Site on Christmas Night by Sherri Duskey Rinker (Chronicle) tops the Children’s Picture Books list. HBG also has 15 books on the USA Today list.

Major release: N.K. Jemisin’s highly anticipated first short story collection, How Long Till Black Futures Month? (Orbit), was published this week. New York magazine has just published a fantastic in-depth profile of the author, and a full-page review will appear in this Sunday’s New York Times. Jemisin is being called “The most celebrated science fiction and fantasy writer of her generation,” and the book hailed as “marvelous and wide-ranging.” Tweets from prominent authors such as Margaret Atwood, Hank Green, John Scalzi, and Chuck Wendig are adding to the buzz, along with wide blog, podcast and social media coverage.

Media blitz: Trump’s Enemies: How the Deep State Is Undermining the Presidency (Center Street) launched this week with a blockbuster national media campaign. Authors Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, Fox’s News’ Hannity, Tucker Carlson/Final Exam, Fox & Friends, Fox Nation, Lou Dobbs, The Story with Martha MacCallum; MSNBC’s The Beat w/Ari Melber, Andrea Mitchell Reports, Hardball w/Chris Matthews, and Alex Witt; CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time and New Day; plus more than 60 radio interviews and many popular podcasts.

Acquisition news: Little, Brown announced the acquisition of The Making of a Justice: Reflections on My First 94, a memoir by Justice John Paul Stevens, one of the most prominent jurists of our time. The New York Times ran an exclusive interview with Justice Stevens about his forthcoming book. LB acquired world rights and will publish on May 14, 2019.

Movie buzz: Dear Evan Hansen has been optioned by Universal with Stephen Chbosky (Wonder, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) in talks to direct the film. The news was announced in a Deadline exclusive, and is an exciting development for LBYR’s Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel and GCP’s Dear Evan Hansen: Through the Window.