Daily Book News Wednesday, 21st January 2026
DAILY SUMMARY:
From a reader‑powered prize and shifting bestseller rankings to a flurry of rights deals, the book trade spent the day counting votes and percentages. Meanwhile, librarians and ministers are digitising and surveying, poets and historians collect big prizes, and TikTok’s microdramas threaten to steal readers’ eyes.
Publishing Industry News
Publishing Perspectives reports that a new prize will let readers vote on manuscripts; the winner receives £50,000 and a book deal with Hachette UK. The prize encourages submissions from unagented writers and aims to make readers tastemakers.
Publishers Weekly’s annual ranking shows the Big Five publishers still dominate but their grip on hardcover bestsellers has fallen to 83%, with trade paperbacks gaining ground. Penguin Random House captured 38% of hardcover slots, highlighting shifting consumer formats.
PW’s roundup lists a string of religion titles sold: Broadleaf Books bought Jasmine Romero’s “What the Archbishop Knew,” WaterBrook signed a four‑book deal with Annie Downs, Behrman House acquired a Jewish history book with a preface by Chelsea Clinton, NavPress bought Bethny Ricks’s “Unwritten,” and First Second commissioned a five‑book “Bible Comics” series.
Publishers Weekly remembers Don Weise, who championed LGBTQ+ voices at Alyson Books and later founded Magnus Books and Querelle Press. Colleagues credit him with expanding queer literature and publishing seminal works by authors like Paul Monette and Dorothy Allison.
The Bookseller notes that independent UK bookshops are “desperately seeking new ways to keep the lights on” after a rise in business rates. With margins squeezed, owners are experimenting with alternative income streams and community support schemes to stay afloat.
Books+Publishing reports that Creative Workplaces has launched a national survey on pay, safety and harassment in the arts. Chair Kate Jenkins and arts minister Tony Burke say the data will fill a crucial evidence gap and help improve conditions across Australia’s creative sector, with results due in June 2026.
Books+Publishing reveals that Allen & Unwin has acquired world rights to a nonfiction adaptation of the TV documentary “The First Inventors.” The book—by Larissa Behrendt with Billy Griffiths and Sean Ulm—will highlight Indigenous innovations and is slated for a June 2026 release.
Books+Publishing notes that Lindy Jones has retired from Sydney’s Abbey’s Bookshop after more than 25 years. She leaves a legacy of passionate service and deep knowledge that endeared her to customers and colleagues alike.
Self‑Publishing & Independent Publishing News
Self‑Publishing Advice highlights TikTok’s new microdrama service Pinedrama and the growing trend of ambient reading videos. The piece warns that slick video promotions could eclipse indie voices and urges authors to develop sustainable video strategies instead of chasing viral trends.
Academic & Scholarly Publishing
In The Scholarly Kitchen, Emerald Publishing CEO Vicky Williams discusses how the company has expanded its STRIDE gender‑equity initiative into a company‑wide mission for diversity, equity and inclusion. She touts anonymised hiring, transparent pay bands and employee resource groups, which helped earn the publisher recognition as a top employer for gender equality.
Notable Book News & Book Reviews
Publishers Weekly announces the National Book Critics Circle’s 2025 finalists across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, criticism and biography. Special awards go to critic Elizabeth Taylor, translator Rhoda Feng and historian Frances FitzGerald; winners will be named on 26 March.
Quill & Quire celebrates Canadian poet Karen Solie, who has won the £25,000 T. S. Eliot Prize for her collection “Wellwater.” Judges praised her ability to balance beauty and darkness and noted she is only the second Canadian to win the UK’s top poetry award.
Quill & Quire reports that author and historian Mark Bourrie has received the $5,000 Pierre Berton Award for making Canadian history both rigorous and engaging. His books on John A. Macdonald and the Great Lakes were singled out for bringing complex subjects to general readers.
The Guardian’s review of “Cameo” calls Rob Doyle’s novel a playful autofiction that satirises a one‑hit‑wonder novelist craving literary fame in the culture‑war era. The critic enjoys its cartoonish send‑up of creative ambition and finds the voice charmingly mischievous.
BBC News reports that the Gibson Library in Saffron Walden has secured a £139,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant to digitise its rare collections. Librarian Martyn Everett says the project will preserve fragile volumes and make the archive accessible online to a global audience.
In The Washington Post, Chuck Klosterman’s essay collection “Football” is praised for grappling with the contradictions of American football. The critic notes that Klosterman muses on gambling, injuries and race while predicting the game’s eventual decline—balancing fan enthusiasm with moral ambivalence.
NPR’s Fresh Air interview reveals how poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths’s memoir “The Flower Bearers” was shaped by tragedy: her wedding to Salman Rushdie coincided with a friend’s death, and Rushdie was stabbed months later. She discusses processing grief and refusing to let pain dictate her life.
Lit Hub’s daily roundup celebrates Harold Gray’s birthday with a list of the decade’s best book covers and spotlights new titles by Julian Barnes, Jeanette Winterson and Jennette McCurdy. It also links to essays on writing craft, crosswords and the history of Black Sparrow Press—ideal inspiration for procrastinating readers.
Frontlist reports that the Pragati Vichar Literature Festival 2026 showcased Indrani Mukerjea’s productions “Chitrangada – Ek Sashakt Naari” and “Nayika Bhoomika,” which fuse Rabindranath Tagore’s texts with dance‑theatre. Coverage by IANS and Punjab Kesari highlights the festival’s ambition to blend literature with performance and expand India’s literary stage.
