About EarlyWord

Welcome to EarlyWord. Thanks for joining us. Below is a quick tour of the site.

Every day, we post stories about books you need to know:

Each Friday, we post our Titles to Know and Recommend, to alert you to the titles you need to know the following week; the ones that will grab headlines, new titles by repeat popular authors and a “Watch List” of books that may take off through word of mouth.

Throughout the week, we issue holds alerts on titles that are building unexpectedly long wait lists, readers advisories on titles with popular appeal, plus information on media attention on books.

On Thursdays and/or Fridays, we look at the best seller lists, highlighting debuts and breakout authors.

We also alert you to books being adapted as movies, TV series, and, increasingly, as Broadway plays and musicals.

You can sign up for our RSS feed, follow us on Twitter, or, if you don’t need daily alerts, you can also sign up for our weekly newsletter, delivered every Monday.

In addition to book news, EarlyWord offers many other features:

GalleyChat — Once a month, librarians join us to talk about the hottest galleys. Young Adult GalleyChat is the third Tuesday of the month. Adult GalleyChat is the first Tuesday. Information on how to join each is here.

AuthorChats — We also hold frequent chats with authors. Sign up for EarlyReads@EarlyWord to receive galleys of forthcoming books from debut authors and be invited to a live chat with the author. For childrens and YA titles, sign up for the Penguin Young Readers program.

The links on the right serve as a librarians toolbox:

Season Previews — The most anticipated upcoming books, as chosen by various consumer publications.

Best Books, Downloadable Spreadsheets — We’ve been tracking annual best books picks since 2009, compiling them into downloadable spreadsheets, to make ordering easier (handy for spending end-of-the year budgets, or creating wish lists for the new year). 

Publisher Contacts — links to publisher services created for librarians and to library marketing staff.

Coming Soon — picks of the month from sources aimed at consumers.

Awards — links to the major book awards.

Consumer Media, Book Coverage — links to the reviews your customers read

Best Seller Lists — current national and specialty lists

Movies & TV Shows Based on Books — Trailers  — It’s your professional duty to watch these!

Movies & TV Shows Based on Books, with tie-ins —Tie-ins to upcoming movies, a list of upcoming movie s and those in development as well as those released since 2011.

Publisher Catalogs — browse the new season’s catalogs to see what’s coming and what publishers are excited about. You can download the current catalogs, from the links on the lower right (under “Download Publishers Catalogs). If you cannot find the imprint you are looking for, check Publishers Catalogs — Imprint Locator

Nora Rawlinson, Co-Founder and Editor

Nora Rawlinson was editor of Library Journal and editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly for 12 years. Before that, she was head of Materials Selection for Baltimore County Public Library, a system renowned for its innovations under the legendary and often controversial director, Charles Robinson. Baltimore County was the first major public library to centralize selection. It was also known for buying for popular demand. Nora wrote a piece explaining this then-radical collection development philosophy, called “Give ‘Em What They Want,” which is still assigned reading in many Library Schools. At Library Journal, she introduced many new columns, which are still part of the magazine – PrePub Alert, the Collection Development series, Classic Returns, and Readers Shelf. She was hired in 2005 by Time Warner Book Group (later Hachette Book Group) to set up library marketing for their imprints. EarlyWord is an outgrowth of her belief that the more libraries understand about publishing, the better they can be as selectors and readers advisors.

Nora speaks often at publishing and library conferences.

To contact Nora, click here.

Chris Kahn, Ad Sales Director

Chris Kahn joined EarlyWord in May ’09, after being the Director of West Coast Sales for Publishers Weekly.

For advertising information, please email Chris.