Monday News: NBCC finalists, Nielsen sells to NBD, Harlequin billionaire “bookazine,” and T-Rex engagement photos

JanetPublishing NewsBook Awards / bookazine / dinosaurs / engagement photos / Harlequin / National Book Critics Circle / Nielsen2 Comments

Finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Awards – The NBCC Awards will be presented on March 16th, and include the categories of fiction, nonfiction, autobiography, criticism, biography, and poetry. Finalists are chosen by the NBCC Board (24 members), and in addition to the standard categories, special awards include the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, which Margaret Atwood will receive, and the John Leonard Prize for first book, which goes to Yaa Gyasi for Homegoing.

Ann Patchett’s “Commonwealth,” a novel inspired by her own family, and Michael Chabon’s “Moonglow,” a novel based on the life of his grandfather, are among the finalists for this year’s National Book Critics Circle fiction prize. The fiction finalists, announced Tuesday morning, also include “LaRose,” the latest novel about the Ojibwa people of North Dakota by Louise Erdrich, and “Swing Time,” by British novelist Zadie Smith. – Washington Post

Nielsen’s US book services acquired by NPD – Although Nielsen wasn’t officially up for sale, it has been purchased by NPD, which will handle all of Nielsen’s U.S. services. For the nine other countries in which Nielsen operates, including any new non-US markets, there will be no change of ownership or operations.  What may be most interesting about this sale is that NPD is not a book-centric company, perhaps signaling again the shift in how the book industry is positioned vis-a-vis other consumer media and entertainment venues.

US-based BookScan, Pubtrack Digital, PubTrack Higher Education, PubTrack Christian, Books & Consumers, PubEasy and PubNet have all been acquired by NPD, and will become part of a new entity, NPD Book. The news will raise publisher concern about access to global book sales data at a time when the industry remains in transition. . . .

NPD tracks and anticipates industry trends and consumer behaviour in over 20 industries, including clothing, beauty, consumer electronics, diamonds, e-commerce, entertainment, food, mobile, office supplies and video games. – The Bookseller

Harlequin is launching a Billionaire Romance-themed Bookazine – I don’t yet have a link for this, as it was announced in email, but you can check out the Christmas-themed bookazine here. Harlequin describes this format as combining the features of a book and a magazine. So is this similar to a fanzine? Because it’s not like the traditional magazine format is growing by leaps and bounds. I always appreciate Harlequin’s willingness to innovate, but I’m not sure about this combo of recipes, romance quizzes, short fiction, and other magazine-ish features. Is it cheapening the brand (and I ask this as a longtime Harlequin fan who was very sad when they sold to HC)? Anyway, here are the details I have:

Launch date: February 3, 2017

Format: A perfect-bound magazine-sized soft back book. 96-pages, 4-color.

Price: $12.99 U.S. / $15.99 CAN.

Locations: Can be found at check out pockets at major mass merchandisers, grocery and pharmacy stores through the U.S. and Canada for two weeks, followed by magazine section placement for 2-3 months.

Publisher: TIME INC. – Harlequin

2 People Dressed Up in T-Rex Costumes For the Most Ridiculously Awesome Engagement Shoot – Need a break from the Trumpocalypse? It really is pretty cute.

Photographers Greg Basel and Maria Adams devised the hilarious concept because they wanted to spread the idea that “love isn’t extinct.” When we reached out to the creative geniuses via email, Greg told us why these photos are exactly what America needs right now. “The message we want to send across is that no matter who you are there is love surrounding you,” he told us. “We are surrounded with so much negative news we wanted to share with the world some funny news that would put smiles on people’s faces as well.” – Popsugar

Janet

isn't sure if she's an average Romance reader, or even an average reader, but a reader she is, enjoying everything from literary fiction to philosophy to history to poetry. Historical Romance was her first love within the genre, but she's fickle and easily seduced by the promise of a good read. She approaches every book with the same hope: that she will be filled from the inside out with something awesome that she didnʼt know, didnʼt think about, or didnʼt feel until that moment. And she's always looking for the next mind-blowing read, so feel free to share any suggestions!

→ Janet