HBG Big News This Week: July 16-20, 2018

Following is a recap of major news at Hachette Book Group for the week of July 16-20, 2018:

Bestsellers: HBG keeps its grip on the top of the bestseller list this week, with The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton & James Patterson (L,B) at #1 on the Hardcover Fiction list (and Combined P&E list) andCalypso by David Sedaris (L,B) at #1 on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction list. HBG’s distribution clients have two #1s—the first book in Robert Beatty’s new series, Willa of the Wood (Disney-Hyperion), debuts at #1 on the Children’s Middle Grade Hardcover list and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Marlon Bundo with Jill Twiss (Chronicle) holds onto #1 on the Children’s Picture Books list.

#1 USA Today Bestsellers: Patterson & Clinton’s The President Is Missing is #1 again this week. See the full list here.

Indie Next Picks: Sally Field’s In Pieces (GCP) and Daniel Mason’s The Winter Soldier (L,B) have been selected as an Indie Next Picks for September 2018.

RITA Award: Kelly Bowen has won the RITA Award for Between the Devil and the Duke (Forever). The RITA award celebrates excellence in the romance genre by recognizing outstanding published romance novels and novellas. For the full list of winners visit RWA’s website here.

Media blitz: Michael Isikoff and David Corn, authors of the #1 bestseller Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump (Twelve), are in high demand (again) with the media, for their insights on President Trump’s performance in Helsinki and the arrest of KGB Operative Maria Butina. New media hits include an MSNBC blitz (The Last Word, AM Joy, The Beat with Ari Melber, The Last Word, Chris Hayes, Hardball), CNN’s AC360 and Don Lemon, Fox’s Martha MacCallum, and NPR’s Morning Edition.

International Thriller Writer’s Best First Novel Award: K. J. Howe’s The Freedom Broker (Quercus) won the 2018 International Thriller Writer’s Best First Novel Award, awarded at ThrillerFest this past weekend.

Crook’s Corner Book Prize: Panorama by Steve Kistulentz (L,B) has been longlisted for the Crook’s Corner Book Prize for best debut novels set in the American South. The shortlist will be announced this fall and the $5000 prize will be presented in January 2019.

Acquisition news: Hachette Books announced the acquisition of the forthcoming Let Me Finish by former NJ Governor and Trump-Transition Chair Chris Christie.  The news was led by The Associated Press and picked up widely on ABC News, US News and World Report, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, Politico, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among many other outlets.

More acquisition news: Literary Hub exclusively announced Orbit’s acquisition of N. K. Jemisin’s short story collection, How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? (Orbit). This will be the first collection from Jemisin, author of the Hugo Award-winning The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate, as well as other acclaimed novels.