DAILY SUMMARY:
A bumper day in publishing saw Sarah J. Maas continue to dominate headlines as two new ACOTAR books sent Bloomsbury's profit expectations soaring, while Dark Horse Comics parted ways with its founder after 40 years. Navigator Books launched from a former PRH executive, Steerforth became a Pushkin imprint, and the Authors Guild opened its anti-AI certification programme to all US authors. Meanwhile, the death of Portuguese literary giant António Lobo Antunes at 83 reminded the trade that some losses cannot be measured in market data.
Publishing Industry News
The announcement of the next two novels in Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses series, scheduled for October 2026 and January 2027, has led Bloomsbury to raise its profit projections for the fiscal year ending February 2027.
Mike Richardson, who founded the indie comics publisher in 1986 and led it for 40 years, has been dismissed. The departure comes as Dark Horse faces uncertainty following its acquisition by Embracer Group, with both companies recently dealing with financial difficulties.
Industry veteran Brendan Cahill has launched a new Philadelphia-based publisher focused on history, biography, memoir, and historical fiction. The company plans to publish three titles this year starting in July, expanding to six in 2027.
Two years after its acquisition by the London-based publisher, New Hampshire's Steerforth Press is officially transitioning into an imprint of Pushkin's US arm.
The Authors Guild's certification programme, which launched in beta for members in 2025 and certifies titles as written by humans rather than AI, is now open to any author whose books are published in the United States.
For the period ended January 31, 2026, Wiley's revenue rose 1.5% to $410 million, while operating income jumped 21% to $62.7 million. Sales of professional books were the one weak spot in an otherwise strong quarter.
The legendary video game developer has expanded his self-publishing venture into a full publishing programme that will acquire across numerous genres. The UK's Midas Group will handle submissions.
Burbank spent more than four decades at Bantam Books, helping to shape the mind-body-spirit category and later working on titles such as The Body Keeps the Score. She died on January 9.
The Box Hill author and Pillion director discuss adapting Mars-Jones's 2020 queer novel into a film described as a star-studded domestic comedy.
With its 100-year anniversary approaching, the International Federation of Library Associations is asking librarians to use their imaginations when contemplating the future of librarianship through a new writing competition.
Nova Scotia's provincial budget includes dramatic funding cuts that are expected to significantly affect publishers and writers in the region.
The sixth book in the series is scheduled for release on October 27, 2026, and the seventh on January 12, 2027. The author made the announcement on the Call Her Daddy podcast.
The Portuguese author of dozens of books that grappled with his nation's legacy of dictatorship and colonialism has died. His career was studded with literary awards.
World Book Day titles have dominated the UK book chart, with themed releases sweeping the bestseller lists.
The BBC reports on Maas's announcement of two new novels in her blockbuster A Court of Thorns and Roses series, which has driven a major boost to publisher Bloomsbury's finances.
Amazon experienced a significant outage that prevented customers from purchasing e-books and downloading purchased titles to their Kindle devices.
Academic & Scholarly Publishing
A guest post on The Scholarly Kitchen explores how AI-driven search may reduce serendipity in research. As information retrieval becomes frictionless, the piece considers what happens to the unplanned discoveries that drive scientific breakthroughs.
Audiobook News
The Guardian reviews the audiobook of Kaliane Bradley's genre-bending debut, narrated by Katie Leung, in which a Victorian Arctic explorer is catapulted into the modern world. The review highlights it as audiobook of the week.
Notable Book News & Book Reviews
Brenda Wineapple reviews Chosen Land by Matthew Avery Sutton, which argues that despite the intentions of certain founders, the First Amendment guaranteed that the United States would be a godly country.
The star of the Outlander television series, who wrote five books during its 12-year run, discusses the upcoming finale and his favourite reads.
NYT columnist Sarah Lyall surveys the month's best new thriller novels.
The playwright and André Gregory deliver a sumptuous set of interlinked monologues about life, death and betrayal, described as purgatory done right.
Reading recommendations from critics and editors at The New York Times for the week.
Charles Glass reviews Days of Love and Rage by Anand Gopal, which creates a portrait of revolution and civil war in Syria.
The Book Review podcast is interviewing Andy Weir about Project Hail Mary and its much-anticipated movie adaptation.
Jennifer Szalai reviews Reproductive Wrongs by classicist Sarah Ruden, which traces efforts to exert political control over family planning back 2,000 years.
Rebecca Makkai reviews Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's new novel Lake Effect, a story of four adult siblings reconvening to rehash their privileged but fraught adolescence.
Zoë Schlanger reviews a new book by journalist Beth Gardiner arguing that oil companies are ramping up plastics production as a safeguard against declining revenue.
Ken Kalfus reviews Ivana Sajko's novel Every Time We Say Goodbye, which explores personal and political crises in lengthy, lyrical sentences.
For artist Bethany Collins, Herman Melville's novel is rife with centuries-old political anxieties that still resonate today.
The Guardian's book of the day reviews Grindrod's exploration of queer life in suburban Britain.
A tender portrait of a woman with a learning disability is reviewed in the Guardian's fiction section.
Catherine Shoard argues in the Guardian that contemporary children's literature and film frequently outshines adult offerings in quality and ambition.
Claire Lynch has become the first debut novelist to win the £30,000 Nero Gold Prize for her novel A Family Matter.
Sixteen titles have been longlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction.
The BBC reports on the debut novelist who has won a major book prize for a work inspired by the experience of growing up with lesbian mothers.
The Irish Independent reviews a gothic horror novel set on a remote Irish island.
The Irish Independent reviews a novel exploring themes of love, longing, and personal discovery.
A review in the Irish Independent examines a book exploring evolving ideas about motherhood in contemporary culture.
Author Evie Woods discusses her work and the lack of books encouraging people to pursue creative lives.
The Irish Independent reviews an accomplished short story collection praised for its consistent quality.
RTÉ publishes an extract from Carmel Harrington's new novel about two little girls found alone at Pearse Station in Dublin after their mother vanishes without trace.
NPR explores Katie da Cunha Lewin's new book examining the hidden worlds of authors' writing spaces and how they shape the books we love.
Irish author David Brennan's novel Spit has been shortlisted for the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize.
