Ripple Effects

The book business has not been immune to rising costs from the war with Iran, with publishers reporting that disruptions across the global supply chain are squeezing finances and, in some cases, forcing them to delay new titles. Penguin Random House has completed the integration of comics publisher Boom! Studios, which it acquired in July 2024, into its Random House Worlds group. Manga publisher TokyoPop has launched an imprint focused on comics, books, and educational materials for young readers. Bob Woodward’s longtime publisher Simon & Schuster will release a memoir by the venerated reporter this fall. And Scholastic’s newest book fair for K-6 students is highlighting an all-nonfiction assortment of STEAM titles and hands-on activities. In other news, Scribner will reissue Don DeLillo’s Amazons, a smutty hockey novel originally written under a pen name, the New York Times reports. USA Today editor and YA author Josh Rivera unpacks how consolidation and overworked editorial teams have made it harder to get a book deal, while NPR’s Planet Money takes listeners into the “hidden world” of the book business. Hachette Book Group’s decision to cancel Mia Ballard’s Shy Girl over the apparent use of AI has rattled publishers in the U.K., where Hachette already released the novel last fall, reports the Bookseller. Author and former FSG editor Paul Elie underscores the importance of nonfiction publishing at a time when facts are up for debate, for the New Republic. And pioneering bookseller Jewell Stoddard has died at 92.