Trailblazers

We’re shining a light on six innovative independent publishers that have tweaked traditional industry formulas to recenter authors, pursue underserved niches, and attend to aspects of the publishing process that can go overlooked by larger companies. Bloomsbury US has appointed Hachette Book Group veteran Jaime Leifer to head up its adult trade division. This year’s Abu Dhabi International Book Fair has been postponed indefinitely due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, reports Ahram Online. Meanwhile, a cargo vessel carrying new titles from comics publisher Fantagraphics was struck by an Iranian missile around the Strait of Hormuz, likely delaying publication, according to ICv2. Two Oklahoma bills aiming to remove “obscene” books from school libraries have progressed in the state legislature, per the Oklahoman. Jack Kerouac’s original typescript scroll of On The Road has sold for a record-breaking $12 million at auction, reports Fine Books & Collections. Jane Friedman reflects on the reliability of human-authored certifications, like the program recently expanded by the Author’s Guild, amid the rapid evolution of AI writing. The New York Times’ Alexis Soloski unpacks how the uniquely “bingeable” novels of Colleen Hoover have become hot commodities in Hollywood. And at Defector, author Sabrina Imbler calls out the shortcomings of Grammarly in light of recent controversy over the AI writing tool.