- 2025 Sep 24
Wrongful Death Suit Names Strand Owner
A New York judge found ‘credible evidence’ that Nancy Bass Wyden’s children harassed her personal assistant before his suicide in May 2025.
Inaugural Kenny Fries Award Winner
Cyrée Jarelle Johnson has won the inaugural Kenny Fries Disabled Writer Literary Award.
Hilary Mantel Prize Launches
Named for the British author, the Hilary Mantel Prize for Fiction will recognize emerging talent, and will accept submissions from unpublished writers living in the U.K. and Ireland until December 31.
Brooklyn’s Haven for Black Lesbians
Gladys Books & Wine opened in Bed-Stuy earlier this month, and offers a community space specifically aimed at Black lesbians.
Atlanta to Welcome New Indie Bookshop
Prelude Bookstore will open in Dunwoody late next month.
Michigan Bookshop Marks 50 Years
West Side Book Shop in Ann Arbor recently celebrated its golden anniversary.
- 2025 Sep 23
NYC Bookshop Shutters After 26 Years
Bluestockings Cooperative on the Lower East Side has closed.
Philadelphia Feels the (Brotherly) Love
Cupid’s Bookshop, which specializes in romance titles, opened in the city’s Manayunk neighborhood earlier this year.
Love on the Move in Kansas City
Smitten, a romance-centric mobile bookshop, has traveled around the city for the past year and will make its next stop in Leawood.
RIP Matt Haasch
Following the death of the Star Fruit Books founder, all orders and projects at the indie manga publisher have been placed on hold.
The End of Diamond’s Previews
Diamond Comic Distributors will discontinue its Previews catalogs, per ICv2. Before the company filed for bankruptcy in January, its previews were the most thorough listing of weekly comics releases for the direct market.
Neon Ichiban Beta Launches
Dstlry’s new digital comics hub has opened sales to beta testers, reports the Beat.
Gretchen Felker-Martin Has ‘No Regrets’
After DC Comics canceled the author’s Red Hood series over her comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Felker-Martin talked with the Comics Journal about the controversy.
‘Batman No. 1’ Tops Charts
Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez’s Caped Crusader relaunch, published earlier this month, has already sold over 500,000 copies, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Kurt Hassler Talks Shop
The latest episode of The Anime Business features a conversation with the publisher and managing director at Yen Press publisher and president of Kadokawa World Entertainment.
Talking with Bud Plant
The comics retail pioneer chatted with the Comics Journal about underground comix, fanzine publishing, and how distribution has changed over the decades.
Paramount Eyes Warner Bros. Acquisition
David Ellison, who took over Paramount just last month, is looking to unite the two Hollywood giants—which also own CBS News and CNN—under one roof, reports the New York Times.
...But an Offer Is Still Pending
The New York Post unpacks why Paramount still hasn’t submitted its buyout bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Conan the Barbarian Art Goes for $13.5M
Fantasy artist Frank Frazetta broke his own record for most expensive work of comic book or fantasy art, a genre that has traditionally struggled in the fine art market, per ArtNet.
- 2025 Sep 22
From the Associated Press
George Takei to lead Banned Books Week, urging the fight against censorship.
From Variety
'Miss Nelson Is Missing' Movie with Melissa McCarthy Set at Netflix.
From Slate
The 25 Greatest Picture Books of the Past 25 Years.
From The Conversation
Twilight at 20: how Stephenie Meyer's vampire saga changed young adult fiction forever.
From Slate
Mo Willems on How He's Forced Millions of Adults to Get Silly.
From Slate
An Interview with the Little Girl—Now All Grown Up—Who Inspired Olivia the Pig.
From Words Without Borders
World Kid Lit Month 2025: Fall Picks for All Ages.
American Library in Paris Shortlist
Rachel Kushner and Sue Prideaux are among the four shortlisted authors for this year’s American Library in Paris Book Award.
B&N to Open 30 New Stores
Barnes & Noble will open some 30 stores across the U.S. before the end of 2025.
Michigan Bookstore Will Close Its Doors
Brilliant Books will shutter its physical location in Traverse City and transition into a virtual shop.
Inaugural British Audio Awards Shortlist
Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo and Sarah Wynn-Williams’s Careless People are among the shortlisted titles across 16 categories for the inaugural Speakies Awards, presented in the U.K. by the Stage and the Bookseller.
New Bookshop Lands in Minnesota
The Enchanted Quill opened in North Branch earlier this month.
Ilse Schwepcke Prize Shortlist
Kapka Kassabova and Ursula Martin are among the four shortlisted authors for the inaugural Ilse Schwepcke Prize for Women’s Travel Writing, administered by the U.K.’s Society of Authors.
Colorado’s Newest Bookstore
The Quill & Candle Bookshop recently opened in Longmont.
- 2025 Sep 19
Oklahoma Bookshop to Shutter
Fulton Street Books & Coffee, Tulsa’s only Black-owned bookstore, announced it will close five years after opening.
FAWC Announces Writing Fellows
The Fine Arts Work Center has announced 10 new writing fellows under this year’s fellowship program.
Kamil Emerging Writers Prize Winners
Two booksellers have been selected to receive the $12,500 Susan Kamil Emerging Writers Prize, presented by Binc.
Hawaii Bookstore Bids ‘A Hui Hou’
Idea’s Music and Books in Honolulu will close its doors for good this weekend due to financial challenges.
- 2025 Sep 18
Ohio Bookshop Celebrates 50 Years
The Bookshelf, a women-owned bookstore in Madeira, is hosting free literary events for its anniversary this weekend.
Webtoon Contest Winners
Covenant Once Given and My Dear Watson are among the four winners of this year’s Webtoon Contest.
Robert Caro Wins Laureate Medal
Caro has received the Historians’ Laureate Medal, presented by New York Historical.
- 2025 Sep 17
From Delaware Public Media
Anti-book ban legislation and additional free speech protections are now law in Delaware.
From Literary Hub
How to Raise a Reader in an Age of Digital Distraction.
From Variety
The Summer I Turned Pretty Movie Set at Amazon Following Series Finale.
From the Hollywood Reporter
The Summer I Turned Pretty Creator Jenny Han Always Intended for That Endgame, Shares Movie Details.
From Slate
Essay: "I had no concept of how the world would change so significantly as I became a librarian."
From People
Lauren Sánchez Bezos Announces New Children's Book, Promotes Reading Over Tech.
From Book Riot
New Halloween Picture Books for Kids (Plus Some Backlist Favorites).
Legacy Award Finalists
Essie Chambers and Percival Everett are among the 22 finalists across five categories for this year’s Legacy Award, presented by the Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright Foundation.
Discover Prize Finalists
Rob Franklin and Stephanie Wambugu are among the six finalists for this year’s Discover Prize, presented by Barnes & Noble.
Atwood Gibson Fiction Prize Shortlist
Robert McGill and Maria Reva are among the five finalists for this year’s Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, recognizing the best novel or short story collection by a Canadian author.
Maureen Duffy Wins Pioneer Prize
The 91-year-old author won the £100,000 prize, which recognizes female British writers over 60 and was established by Bernardine Evaristo with her Women’s Prize funds.
- 2025 Sep 16
Booker Prize Teams with BookKind
The Booker Prize Foundation is partnering with BookKind, a new U.K.-based online bookstore that donates 10% of every sale to charity, to raise funds.
N.J. Shop Cancels Palestinian Book Talk
Watchung Booksellers in Montclair said it had canceled an event with Palestinian American picture book author Jenan Matari “due to concerns from our community and the safety of our staff and customers.”
Kate Medina to Receive Editorial Award
Biographers International Organization will present the publishing veteran, who spent four decades at Random House and has edited such authors as Jon Meacham and Isabel Wilkerson, with its Editorial Excellence Award.
Sci-Fi Bookshop Touches Down in Iowa
Gnoll’s Loot Table opened in Riverside last month.
B&N Expands Across Houston
Barnes & Noble has confirmed two upcoming store openings in the Houston area.
- 2025 Sep 15
From the New York Times
Robert Munsch wrote such beloved books as The Paper Bag Princess and Love You Forever by performing them to audiences of children. Now dementia is causing his tales to slip away.
From the Seattle Times
Sonia Sotomayor, on tour to promote her new picture book Just Shine!: How to Be a Better You, talks about what gives her hope.
Santa Barbara Bookstore Turns 100
Tecolete Book Shop in Montecito is the oldest bookstore in California’s Santa Barbara County.
From the New York Times
John Lithgow to Tackle Roald Dahl's Antisemitism in Broadway Giant.
Irish Bookstore Bans Stephen King Titles
Belfast Books in Northern Ireland has pulled all Stephen King books from its inventory over the author’s remarks about Charlie Kirk.
From Deadline
The Baby-Sitters Club Book Series Being Adapted as Stage Musical.
From Variety
Viva Kids Acquires Animated Film The Pout-Pout Fish for North American Distribution.
From JSTOR Daily
Augusta Baker: The Legendary Children's Librarian of Harlem.
A World of Fantasy in Pennsylvania
Sorcery and Scripts will open in North Bethlehem later this month and will serve as the town’s first all-fantasy bookshop.
New Children’s Bookshop in Illinois
Magical Forest Bookstore opened last month in Fox River Grove.
New Bookshop to Land in North Carolina
Ladybird Books will open in Charleston next month.
- 2025 Sep 12
Spotlight on Indies in Washington, D.C.
NBC4 Washington talked with PW’s own Claire Kirch about how D.C. bookstores are faring amid the federal takeover of policing.
NorCal Bookstore’s Future in Flux
Copperfield’s Bookstore may have to move out of its flagship Sebastopol location due to the building—where the store has resided for more than 44 years—being put up for sale.
Michelle Adams Wins MAAH Stone Award
The Containment won this year’s MAAH Stone Book Award, presented by the Museum of African American History and the Stone Foundation.
Boa Short Fiction Prize Winner
Baird Harper has won this year’s Boa Short Fiction Prize, presented by Boa Editions.
- 2025 Sep 11
New Bookshop to Land in Connecticut
Teddy’s Best Reads will open in Oxford this October.
New America Announces 2026 Fellows
Jake Bittle and Grace M. Cho are among the 10 Class of 2026 New America fellows.
Minnesota Bookstore Concept Snags Prize
BookMother, a proposed bookstore-café, won a $100,000 award in this year’s Hatch Bloomington business pitch competition.
Romance Comes for Pennsylvania
The Seventh Shelf, a new romance bookstore, has opened in Hanover.
- 2025 Sep 10
From the New York Times
Texas Professor Fired After Accusations of Teaching "Gender Ideology."
From Wave
Students in Louisville, Ky., are checking out library books at record rates after their public school district instituted a cellphone ban.
From NPR
Happy 75th birthday to Henry Huggins, Ramona Quimby's big-kid neighbor.
From the New York Times
50 Great Board Books for Babies.
From NPR
New teen thriller Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley finds drama in hidden identities.
From NPR
In Meg Medina's new novel, a 13-year-old girl becomes a sea ghost.
Ed Park Wins Deborah Pease Prize
The author of An Oral History of Atlantis and Same Bed Different Dreams is the recipient of this year’s Deborah Pease Prize, presented by A Public Space.
Ohio Bookstore Relocates
Cozy Book Nook is relocating to downtown Dayton after outgrowing its previous storefront in Moraine.
Missouri Bookstore to Close
The owner of Pagination Bookshop in Springfield has listed the property for sale and plans to close the business once a sale is complete.
Massachusetts Pop-Up Gets Warm Welcome
The grand opening of Once Upon a Bookstore in Fall River, slated for Friday, has sold out.
- 2025 Sep 09
IPG’s New Direct Market Terms
Responding to turbulence in the distribution world as the Diamond bankruptcy proceedings continue, Independent Publishers Group has signed a handful of independent comics publishers and announced new direct market terms.
Diamond Strikes Back
The bankrupt distributor has filed countersuits against the comics publishers whose products it holds on consignment, weeks after a judge ruled that Diamond could not liquidate its inventory, in hopes of still selling off the goods, Bleeding Cool reports.
Warner Bros. Takes AI Firm to Court
The conglomerate, whose subsidiaries include DC Comics, Cartoon Network, and more, is suing the image and video generator Midjourney for using Warner Bros imagery to train its AI model, per CNET.
Censoring Manga
Anime News Network considers how “soft censorship” from publishers is affecting manga in the U.S.
The Rise of ‘Weekly Shōnen Jump’
The New Yorker looks at how the Japanese magazine, home to such series as Naruto and One Piece, became a manga powerhouse.
Why Anime Is Everywhere
The New York Times explores how Japanese animation took over American pop culture.
NYCC Show Floor Preview
The Beat takes a peek at the show floor map for New York Comic Con 2025—and is surprised to find that the DC booth appears to be returning for the first time in 13 years.
Superman Sequel Moves Ahead
The sequel to James Gunn’s Superman, titled Man of Tomorrow, is set to fly into theaters in July 2027, reports Variety.
Comic-Con Africa Returns
The AP reports from Johannesburg, where tens of thousands of South African comics fans and cosplayers celebrated the sixth edition of Comic-Con Africa.
Rick and Morty Say Goodbye
The Rick and Morty comic book series at Oni Press will conclude in December, per Bleeding Cool.
Marvel x Star Wars Comic Hits the Web
The 2015 Marvel Comics series following Luke, Leia, and Han Solo in the aftermath of the first Star Wars film is now available on Webtoon, per Collider.
Dick Tracy Gets a Second Life
Clover Press has launched a BackerKit campaign to reprint Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy in new deluxe editions, collecting every comic strip from 1941 to 1944 in four volumes.
British Academy Book Prize Shortlist
William Dalrymple and Sophie Harman are among the six shortlisted authors for this year’s £25,000 British Academy Book Prize.
Pop-Up to Land in Arkansas
The People’s Bookstore, dedicated to BIPOC authors, will debut this weekend in North Little Rock.
PEN Presents x Intl’l Booker Winners
English PEN and the Booker Prize Foundation have announced the six inaugural winners of this year’s PEN Presents x International Booker Prize, which celebrates the art of translation.
