We’ve written about backlist titles hitting the NYT E-Book and Combined Best Seller lists as a result of sudden discounts by retailers.

The NYT explores the impact of  such “flash sales” in a story that appeared yesterday. Sourcebooks was a recent beneficiary. Their 1994 title, The Oracle Glass, by Judith Merkle Riley, hit the list last week after being featured simultaneously as a Kindle Daily Deal and a Nook Daily Find.

While some of these books quickly return to their former level of sales, for others, it has helped readers discover authors raising the sales of all their titles.

Don’t discount old-fashioned marketing, however. It can still renew sales of print backlist titles. See, for instance, City of Women, by David R. Gillham (Penguin/Putnam/Einhorn), now on the trade paperback list.

Janet Maslin declares Lauren Beukes’s The Shining Girls, (Hachette/Mulholland), “a strong contender for the role of this summer’s universal beach read,” in Tuesday’s NYT, narrowly avoiding the cliche of  “this summer’s Gone Girl.”

On the Salon site Laura Miller, has no such compunction, counting it as one of seven titles worthy of that mantle, occupying the “sweet spot where literary quality mingles freely with crackerjack storytelling.” She notes that Beukes has brought together two favorite fictional themes, time travel and serial killers into “a soulful puzzle novel with an evocative final twist.”

Beukes’s earlier books have ben have been “closer to hard-core science fiction” says Maslin (Zoo City won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2011), but this one is a “pure thriller …an expert hair-raiser.”

Readers will have to wait a bit, however. The book isn’t due to be published until June 4. Librarians can get a jump on it by requesting e-galleys through Edelweiss and NetGalley.

A debut novel set in Nazi Germany, City of Women, by David R. Gillham (Penguin /Putnam /Einhorn) was published in August.

After it was released in trade paperback and was chosen as a Book of the Month by COSTCO’s book buyer, the author went on a 17-city tour, which is just winding down.

It makes its first appearance on the NYT best seller list, at #15 on the 6/2 trade paperback list.

It was part of our Penguin First Flights program; read the online interview and listen to a podcast interview with the author here.

The strategy of introducing a new author in less-expensive trade paperback, rather than hardcover, has paid off  for the Maggie Hope series about a British code breaker in WW II. The third novel, His Majesty’s Hope, (RH/Bantam; BOT Audio) hits the NYT best seller list at #18 (tied with #17) this week.

The author, Susan Elia MacNeal was nominated for an Edgar for Best First Novel by an American, with the first in the series, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary. The second,  Princess Elizabeth’s Spy was selected by Oprah.com as one of  seven “Compulsively Readable Mysteries (for the Crazy-Smart Reader).”

We’ve been following some of the changes to best seller lists brought about by e-books; backlist titles making their debuts as a result of Amazon discounts, titles appearing before print publication, and erotic fiction making inroads.

A new twist arrives this week; Until I Break, an erotic fiction title by Michelle Leighton debuts on the 6/2 NYT E-Book Only list at #13. That should be cause for celebration for any author, but in this case, Leighton has already withdrawn the book from publication.

Eyes Wide Open, an erotic romance by Raine Miller, debuts on the USA Today Best Seller list at #6, on the 6/2 NYT E-Book Only list at #2 and at #3 on the NYT Combined Print & E-Book list.

It’s the third in a series, which was originally self-published, with rights later acquired by S&S’s Atria imprint. Currently only available in e-book, the paperback edition will be released in August.

Several libraries own print copies of the first two titles in the series, but in Spanish, published by Santillana.

We’ve seen Amazon discounts affect best seller lists before, but never this dramatically. The number one title on the 6/2 NYT Nonfiction E-Book Only best seller list (also #7 on the Combined list) is The Eighty-Dollar Champion, by Elizabeth Letts (Random House). Published in hardcover August, 2011, it was on that list for 2 weeks, hitting a high of #10. After it was released in e-book last year, it appeared on list for 4 weeks.

The sales jump is likely due to Amazon, which recently discounted the e-book edition to $1.99.

The NYT Magazine profiles author Jeannette Walls this week. Her 2005 memoir, The Glass Castle, an “instant classic … has sold 4.2 million copies and been translated into 31 languages.” Her second, a novel based on the story of her grandmother’s hard-scrabble life in the West, Half Broke Horses, was also a best-seller, even if it did not achieve quite the level of an instant classic.

Her third book, a novel, The Silver Star,(S&S/Scribner; S&S Audio; Thorndike Large Print) deals with a theme familiar from her previous books, children growing up with parents who are, at best, neglectful. It’s a subject she knows well, having overcome a childhood that the NYT says would “have flattened others.”  As she says in the interview, “One of the blessings of my childhood was being a fighter and a scrapper.” Appropriately, the title of the profile is “How Jeannette Walls Spins Good Stories Out of Bad Memories.”

The Silver Star is an IndieNext Pick for June. The author is scheduled to appear on CBS This Morning on June 11, the book’s release date.

“Positioned to be the big literary read of the summer,” according to Wall Street Journal, Philipp Meyer’s second novel, The Son, (Harper/Ecco; HarperAudio; HarperLuxe), which arrives next week, is currently at #41 and rising on Amazon’s sales rankings.

The author’s first book, American Rust, received an enviable level of attention when it was published in 2009. It was on Newsweek’s list of “Best. Books. Ever,” named one of five best novels of the year by the Washington Post, and a New York Times Notable Book. In addition, the New Yorker hailed the author as one of the 20 best writers under 40. If that wasn’t enough, Patricia Cornwell gave it the ultimate product placement; it appears at the crime scene in her novel, Scarpetta.

In the Washington Post. Ron Charles says those accolades were not premature.

What a pleasure it is now to see Meyer confirm all that initial enthusiasm with a second book that’s even more ambitious, even more deeply rooted in our troublesome economic and cultural history. With its vast scope — stretching from pre-Civil War cowboys to post-9/11 immigrants — The Son makes a viable claim to be a Great American Novel of the sort John Dos Passos and Frank Norris once produced.

Booksellers have made it the #1 IndieNext Pick for June.

Two Big Names return next week with titles destined for best seller lists; Clive Cussler with  Zero Hour (Penguin/Putnam), as well as Dean Koontz with the new Odd Thomas novel, Deeply Odd (RH/Bantam). Followups to previous successful debuts include Beatriz Williams next after Overseas and Beth Hoffman’s after  Saving Cee Cee HoneyCutt.

These and more titles arriving next week, are listed with ordering information on our downloadable spreadsheet, New Title Radar, Week of 5.27.13.

Although it is being mentioned in the publicity for the sixth Odd Thomas novel, Odd Thomas, the movie, starring Anton Yelchin and Willem Dafoe, is still in limbo. The release has been held up as the producers sue over marketing costs.

The film is finished; Koontz himself raves about it on his site, while being vague on release date. A trailer appeared online recently, so there may still be hope:

Follow-ups

Beatriz Williams, who made a splash with the the time-traveling romance Overseas, publishes her second novel,  A Hundred Summers, (Penguin/Putnam) set in Seaview, Rhode Island, in 1938, with a cover that screams “beach read.”

Beth Hoffman follows up her 2010 debut, Saving Cee Cee HoneyCutt, with a new novel that is an IndieNext pick for June — “Looking for Me [Penguin/Dorman] grabs the reader from the first paragraph as Hoffman weaves a magical tale of the love of family and nature, the loss of innocence, and the hope that in the future all will be revealed. Set in rural Kentucky and Charleston, South Carolina, this is the story of the gifted and determined Teddi Overman, a furniture restorer, and her missing brother. Teddi’s courage and belief both in herself and in her vanished brother, Josh, inspire all who come in contact with her. Enter the world of the Overmans and emerge with a new perspective on hope and love!” —Lynne LeBlanc, The Fountainhead Bookstore, Hendersonville, NC

Several Y.A. titles arrive next week with advance buzz about their new takes on the subjects of gay identity, bullying and coming-of-age (with a female protagonist called one of the “most memorable since Holden Caufield”). In picture books, a Sesame Street favorite gets renewed life and Amelia Bedelia experiences a significant first.

All the titles highlighted here, plus many more arriving next week, are listed with ordering information, on our downloadable spreadsheet, Kids New Title Radar, Week of May 27.

Picture Books

Sing, Joe Raposo, Tom Lichtenheld, (Macmillan/Henry Holt, CD included)

EarlyWord Kids Correspondent, Lisa Von Drasek writes:

If I had to put my money on one spring title this would be it. Raposo’s song, originally written for Sesame Street, strikes a chord in memory but is as timely now as when it debuted 40 years ago. The lyrics build confidence by urging kids to be themselves — trying, failing, then doing it anyway — and are put to a hypnotically cheerful tune. No wonder it’s been beloved ever since its debut in 1971.

Tom Lichtenheld’s pictures do more than illustrate, they illuminate. He tells a story without words of a bird without song. The reader finds herself as an accompanist, singing the song as though it were a soundtrack to the ‘real’ story in pictures. What could have been a saccharine greeting card of a picture book is anything but. This edition contains the original bilingual, Spanish and English lyrics as well as a CD. Not a false note.

WARNING: If songs tend to stick in your head, do NOT press the play button below.

—

Amelia Bedelia’s First Library Card, (HarperCollins/Greenwillow)

What took her so long? Amelia Bedelia gets her first library card in the sixth title of this new series by Herman Parish, nephew of the character’s originator, Peggy Parish, in which he portrays the literal-minded Amelia Bedelia as an energetic child experiencing important firsts.

Young Adult

Wild Awake, Hilary T. Smith, (HarperCollins/Tegen Books)

Arriving with buzz from YA GalleyChat, this debut is also a top ten Summer ’13 Kids’ Indie Next pick. Featuring 17-year-old Kiri Byrd, called “one of the most memorable characters in young adult literature since Holden Caulfield.” As Kiri begins to realize that her sister’s recent death was not accidental, her own mental health deteriorates. Horn Book says, “Most fascinating in this stirring coming-of-age novel are the blurred lines between perception and reality, genius and madness, peace and turmoil. Debut author Smith embraces the complexities of grief, family dynamics, creativity, mental illness, and love.”

Openly Straight, Bill Konigsberg, (Scholastic; Scholastic Audio)

As the title suggests, this novel from the author of the Lambda Literary Award for Young Adult fiction, Out Of The Pocket (Dutton, 2008) takes a new approach to gay issues. Teen Rafe is tired of being the gay poster child in his school, so when he transfers to a new one, he decides to take on a new persona. Horn Book notes, “For a thought-provoking, creative, twenty-first-century take on the coming-out story, look no further.” Readers on GalleyChat called it, “Truthful, sweet, heartbreaking, funny,” with “broad appeal, like Will Grayson, Will Grayson.”

Twerp, Mark Goldblatt, (RH BYR; Listening Library)

On the top ten Summer ’13 Kids’ Indie Next list, this YA debut by an adult authors gets a strong recommendation, “In 1960s New York, sixth-grader Julian ‘Twerp’ Twerski has just returned to school after a weeklong suspension, when his English teacher offers him a deal. If he writes a journal about the incident that got him suspended, Julian can get out of writing a report on Shakespeare. At the beginning of the book it’s unclear why Julian and his friends were suspended, but more details come to light as the journal entries progress. The book’s greatest strength is that it calls attention to the important issues of friendship, peer pressure, and bullying without preaching or talking down to the reader. Julian is a flawed character, but he’s someone you can’t help but root for.” —Caitlin Ayer, Books Inc., San Francisco, CA

During this week’s YA GalleyChat, our EarlyWord Kids Correspondent, Lisa Von Drasek raved about Elizabeth Wein’s forthcoming Rose Under Fire, (Disney/Hyperion, 9/10/13) a companion novel to last year’s Code Name Verity.

We’ve just learned that it is now available on NetGalley — perfect timing for Memorial Day reading. Click here to link directly.

Both books are about a little-know subject, the women who ferried planes in WW II. On Memorial Day, I will be reading Rose Under Fire in honor one of the first of those pilots who was killed, my aunt, Mabel Rawlinson. I never knew her, but, having grown up with her legend, I feel sure she would have loved these books.

She would have also loved that they’re published by Disney/Hyperion; Disney studios designed Fifinella, who became the mascot for the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots.

Images of Michael Douglas as  Liberace in the HBO film, Behind the Candelabra, seem to be everywhere; at the Cannes Film Festival where it premiered yesterday, on magazine covers and in reviews (even in BusinessWeek). American audiences will get their first look at the movie on HBO on May 26.

Yesterday, Terry Gross interviewed the director, Steven Soderbergh on NPR’s Fresh Air. He says he had long wanted to do a movie about Liberace, but it wasn’t until a friend recommended the 1988 book Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace, by the pianist’s lover, Scott Thorson (played by Matt Damon) that he was able to go forward. “When I read that book, it sort of solved all my problems. It gave me a specific time period to deal with; there was the arc of the relationship between the two of them to give me a structure. And that’s when things really started to move.”

Tantor Media re-released the out-of-print title recently, with a new afterword by Thorson, as part of the launch of their new book imprint.  Tantor has also released an audio version, narrated by Peter Berkrot (sample here, about the media circus around Liberace’s death of AIDs). An interview with Thorson is featured on Tantor’s web site. He says he hasn’t seen the movie and will see it as everyone else does when it debuts this Sunday on HBO.

Currently at #19 on Amazon sales rankings and rising is an anthology of essays by nurses, I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse, published by the small press, In Fact Books, which also publishes the quarterly magazine, Creative Nonfiction.

It is reviewed in the NYT today by Jane Gross who admits that, as the daughter of a nurse, she is “hardly a disinterested reviewer,” which is a good thing, giving her the ability to connect readers with the stories.

Many libraries own this anthology in modest quantities; Booklist reviewed it, saying, “It’s easy to love these empathetic people, and their beautifully written stories.”

Claire Danes, who began her career with the realistic portrayal of a teenager in the TV series, My So-Called Life, will soon appear on the big screen as the mother of a teenage girl, in As Cool As I Am, based on a coming-of-age novel by Pete Fromm. Published in 2004, Kirkus said it explores “the sexual evolution of a cynical teenage girl who has the spunk and wit to survive two flaky parents and the urges of unbridled adolescence. ”

The trailer was just released (via Deadline). The movie begins a limited run on June 7.

Tie-in:
As Cool As I Am, Pete Fromm
On Sale Date: June 4, 2013
9781250045577, 1250045576
Paperback / softback / Trade paperback (US)
$16.00 US / $18.50 Can