Daily Book News Friday, 16th January 2026
DAILY SUMMARY:
Major deals dominated publishing’s Thursday docket. Grand Central’s Cardinal imprint pre‑empted Min Jin Lee’s new novel while Penguin and a host of UK presses snapped up thrillers, romances and memoirs. Ingram offered publishers an AI opt‑out, FIP and NielsenIQ announced a sweeping India Book Market Report and Simon & Schuster ANZ promoted new leaders. Indie booksellers teamed up for a Top 40 bestseller list and PEN America rang alarm bells over campus censorship.
Publishing Industry News
Grand Central Publishing’s Cardinal imprint acquired Min Jin Lee’s novel American Hagwon for North American and audio rights. Due out on 29 September, the book continues Lee’s diaspora quartet, following the Koh family across decades and continents, while 4th Estate will publish British Commonwealth rights simultaneously.
Cengage and Hachette Book Group asked a U.S. court to let them join an existing copyright suit against Google and its AI product Gemini. The publishers argue that Google copied millions of books without permission to train the model and say their participation will bolster efforts to halt the alleged infringement and destroy any unauthorised copies.
Ingram Content Group wrote to client publishers acknowledging a growing trend of AI companies buying print books to scan and train language models. To reassure partners, Ingram offered an opt‑out form so publishers can exclude their books from sales to AI firms, though the distributor admitted it may not always be able to identify such buyers.
At New York Public Library a bilingual exhibition called ¡Wepa! spotlights Puerto Rican comic creators. Curators Paloma Celis Carbajal and Charles Cuykendall Carter say the show traces a century of contributions by artists ranging from pioneers like Antonio Martorell to modern stars, celebrating a rich, under‑acknowledged comics heritage.
Educational publisher Wiley created a chief AI and data services officer position and tapped Armughan Rafat to lead it. Reporting to interim chief executive Matt Kissner, Rafat will oversee the company’s data strategy and artificial‑intelligence initiatives across its global operations.
HarperNonFiction pre‑empted global rights to Open to Work by LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky and CNN commentator Aneesh Raman. The forthcoming book aims to show workers and companies how to harness artificial intelligence for equitable, productive employment.
Penguin Random House Children’s UK swooped on two gripping YA novels by Simon James Green. Described as thrillers with a fun twist, the books were acquired in a pre‑empt deal and are expected to be major launches for the children’s imprint.
Arcadia Publishing’s publisher Anne Perry bought four forthcoming novels from author Lindsay Straube. The deal will see a new Straube title released each year from 2027, expanding the press’s fiction list.
Bloomsbury imprint Head of Zeus acquired a feel‑good romance series by Jennifer Page set in a bookshop bakery. The cosy novels promise an irresistible combination of sweet treats and love stories for readers seeking escapism.
Bonnier Books UK’s LEAP imprint pre‑empted broadcaster Emma‑Louise Boynton’s book Pleasure. Described as intimate and timely, the nonfiction work explores female desire and aims to spark candid conversations about sexuality and self‑knowledge.
Pan Macmillan imprint Bluebird snapped up Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton’s book The Fear Opportunity. The memoir‑cum‑self‑help title argues that confronting fear can build strength and confidence and draws on Pendleton’s experiences on and off the track.
Christian publisher SPCK Group struck a partnership to manage sales and distribution for Baylor University Press in the UK and Europe. The agreement will expand Baylor’s academic titles into new markets while leveraging SPCK’s existing infrastructure.
The International Publishers Association opened nominations for the 2026 Prix Voltaire, which honours publishers who defend freedom to publish. Marking the prize’s 20th anniversary, the IPA encouraged submissions by February 22 and emphasised the importance of courage in the face of censorship.
Standard Chartered will support the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award and help relaunch the Bracken Prize for young authors. The partnership aims to spotlight books illuminating global trends and to encourage fresh voices, with submissions opening in spring 2026.
Canadian Manda Group, a leading sales and distribution company, announced senior personnel changes. The reshuffle signals a strategic shift as the company positions itself for growth in the evolving Canadian market.
Quill & Quire reported several rights deals, including new projects from illustrator Nancy Vo and writer Marcia Anderson. The deals underscore ongoing international interest in Canadian creators across genres.
Simon & Schuster Australia & New Zealand promoted Tash Besliev to executive publisher of children’s publishing and Cate Blake to executive publisher of adult publishing. CEO Perminder Mann praised their track records and said the appointments position the company to champion local creators and expand its list.
After being excluded from Creative Victoria’s latest funding round, Writers Victoria launched a petition to restore multi‑year support. The organisation warns that the cut threatens jobs and its survival and is seeking 10,000 signatures by April 20 to convince the state government to reconsider.
The Australian Publishers Association released Judges Insights: A guide for publishers entering ABIA 2026, drawing on judges’ comments to help entrants craft stronger submissions. The guide stresses editorial care, meeting criteria and backing claims with evidence and metrics.
At the New Delhi World Book Fair the Federation of Indian Publishers and NielsenIQ BookData unveiled plans for the third edition of the India Book Market Report. Due for release in late 2026, the study will analyse India’s publishing landscape across print, digital and audiobook formats and assess the sector’s economic contribution.
The surge of AI‑generated news articles, blogs and even books has led readers and publishers to embrace AI detection tools. Good e‑Reader reports that services such as Originality.AI are being used to verify authorship and maintain trust as generative text becomes ubiquitous.
Self-Publishing & Independent Publishing News
LitHub announced a collaboration between the American Booksellers Association and the Independent Publishers Caucus to publish weekly “Independent Press Top 40” lists. Using sales data from independent bookstores, the lists will showcase the top fiction and nonfiction titles from indie presses and celebrate voices often overlooked by mainstream rankings.
Good e‑Reader warns that AI‑generated articles and books are flooding the market, leading both readers and publishers to rely on AI detection tools. Such services help verify that a human actually wrote a piece and aim to preserve trust as synthetic text becomes harder to spot.
Academic & Scholarly Publishing
In a guest post for The Scholarly Kitchen, Ginny Herbert argues that open scholarship could generate enormous value, but only if publishers and funders rethink how they capture that value. She uses the Value Creation–Value Capture framework to explain why research sharing remains limited and calls for new models to incentivise openness.
Times Higher Education reports that universities are working with speaker bureaus to help academics reach broader audiences. LSE professor Michael Muthukrishna says researchers must venture beyond their echo chambers, arguing that confident public speaking can translate scholarship into policy change and social impact.
A new PEN America report finds that more than half of U.S. college students now study in states with laws restricting what can be taught. The organisation says such “educational gag orders” are proliferating, creating a web of political control that threatens academic freedom and the integrity of higher education.
Notable Book News & Book Reviews
Canadian poet Anne‑Marie Turza received the inaugural Writers’ Trust Board Fellowship worth $50,000. The award recognises creative excellence and will allow her to focus on new work without financial pressure.
Literary magazine The Moth opened entries for its 2026 Caterpillar Poetry Prize, inviting adults to write poems for children aged 7–11. The competition aims to encourage poems that delight young readers, with the winner receiving a cash prize.
The Dylan Thomas Prize named writer Irenosen Okojie as chair of its 2026 jury, joined by Joe Dunthorne, Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Prajwal Parajuly and Eley Williams. The prestigious award honours the best English‑language work by a writer under 40.
Reading charity Coram Beanstalk teamed up with the Society of Authors to recruit volunteers during the UK’s National Year of Reading. Their campaign aims to get 1,000 children reading for pleasure and underscores the role of community support in literacy.
Batsford elevated Rebecca Armstrong to commissioning editor, tasking her with building a narrative non‑fiction list. The promotion recognises her success in previous roles and sets the stage for a broader publishing programme.
Ireland’s Strokestown Poetry Festival opened entries for its 2026 competition, offering a €2,000 prize and inviting poets worldwide to submit by 6 February. Winners will read their work at the historic Strokestown House during the festival weekend.
In a Guardian interview, novelist George Saunders discussed his new novel Vigil, in which an oil tycoon is visited by spirits. Saunders said ghost stories can convey truth better than realism and used the book to explore mortality, the climate crisis and the spectre of Trumpism.
The Guardian praised Aimee Donnellan’s Off the Scales for its investigative deep dive into the discovery, marketing and cultural frenzy surrounding the weight‑loss drug Ozempic. The reviewer noted that the book balances science, history and social commentary to illuminate a global phenomenon.
The Guardian’s audiobook of the week revisited Helen Macdonald’s memoir H Is for Hawk. The reviewer highlighted Macdonald’s warmth and humour as she recounts training a goshawk while grieving her father’s death, calling the performance deeply moving and unexpectedly funny.
Michael S. Roth reviewed Lee Bollinger’s University: A Reckoning, arguing that universities must reassert their role in democracy. The former Columbia president calls on higher education to stand up to authoritarian pressures and champion free inquiry.
Reporting from the UK, Books+Publishing said the Nero Book Awards honoured a range of writers and genres, celebrating exceptional craft and storytelling. The winners demonstrate the breadth of contemporary literature recognised by the newly revived prize.
