Judy Gitenstein Editorial Services

08/07/2024

An interesting pronouncement: 100 best books of the 21st century. It's only 2024.

Twenty books covered each day this week.

As voted on by 503 book lovers — with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review.

12/06/2024

New York City plans to cut $58.3 million from the Public Library budget. If this happens, libraries will close another day of the week (it's already closed on Sundays now) and branches being renovated will continue to look like the one on my corner. The Muhlenberg Branch was supposed to reopen last December and this is what it looks like. The work has stopped completely, as it has at other branches. Come on, Mayor Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Council. NYPL The New York Public Library is our lifeline.

05/03/2024

An interesting new publishing venture.

Authors Equity is tiny but has big industry names behind it. Its founders hope their profit-sharing approach and experience will entice authors.

15/10/2023

I'm sad to see that Eve Bunting died. What a wonderful writer and good person.

Award-winning, versatile, and prolific children's author Eve Bunting died on October 1 in Santa Cruz, Calif. She was 94.

10/09/2023

I'm sad that Anchor Books is being phased out. I didn't know this but it's the oldest trade paperback publisher in the U.S. I remember when Doubleday bought Dell in 1976. I was at Dell then. I remember when it became Bantam Doubleday Dell in 1986 when it was sold to Bertelsmann. I was at Bantam then. When it became part of Knopf Doubleday I was already freelance. At once point Doubleday owned the Mets and so it's appropriate to say about all this moving around, "Who's on first?"

From the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group site
"ANCHOR BOOKS
Founded in 1953 Anchor Books is the oldest trade paperback publisher in America. The goal was to make inexpensive editions of modern classics widely available to college students and the adult public. Today, Anchor’s list boasts award-winning history, science, women’s studies, sociology, and quality fiction. Authors published by Anchor Books include Chinua Achebe, Ian McEwan, Alexander McCall Smith, Julia Glass, Karen Armstrong, Anne Rice, Jon Krakauer, Chuck Palahniuk, Mary Gordon, Dan Brown, and Margaret Atwood."

12/03/2023

I don't miss much about working on staff but I still feel nostalgia for Bologna.

The 60th Bologna Children’s Book Fair kicked off today, drawing an estimated 1,400 exhibitors hailing from 90 countries and regions of the world; although the fair had returned in-person in 2022, publishers seem even more delighted to be back this year as Covid anxiety continues to fade.

15/11/2022

The top five are all kid-friendly, as is #125. Check out the rest.

You might not expect to find “Candide” and “Captain Underpants” on the same list, but here we are.

09/11/2022

To my Los Angeles friends: this new bookstore looks great.

North Figueroa Bookshop is opening today at 6040 North Figueroa St., in the heart of the historic Highland Park neighborhood of Northeast Los

06/11/2022

I read Seth Godin's blog every morning. Today he mentioned 18 Pine St., a book series he packaged and I published thirty years ago this month. Written by Walter Dean Myers, it was a series in response to Sweet Valley High, which we also published, making a nicely balanced list at Bantam Books. "The long road" indeed.

What can we build for 2050? Thirty years ago this month, I created 18 Pine Street, a series of young adult novels with bestselling author Walter Dean Myers. He was a brilliant creator and a delight…

27/05/2022

Did she do it? https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/us/novelist-nancy-brophy-murder-husband.html?te=1&nl=the-morning&emc=edit_nn_20220526

Nancy Brophy, a 71-year-old romance novelist, was accused in the shooting death of her husband. She said prosecutors had sketched a flawed plotline.

08/01/2022

Eager to see what people come up with . . . while holding onto my beloved childhood editions with the E. H. Shepard illustrations.

New stories using the original Winnie-the-Pooh character are now permitted, though Disney still holds rights to works that came after 1926.

05/10/2021

I think this is a smart move. Time will tell.

""Research shows that fines are not effective in ensuring book returns—New Yorkers are quite reliable and responsible, clearly respecting our collections and the need for them to be available for others to borrow."

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=3439

The New York Public Library has eliminated all late fines going forward and cleared all prior late fines and replacement fees, effective October 5.

30/09/2021

A refreshingly straightforward and realistic article. I'm going to send it to my clients who are in a hurry to publish. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/87442-ten-things-nobody-tells-you-about-the-publishing-industry.html

An author shares a few hard-earned tips.

29/09/2021

Paula Danziger's Amber Brown books are going to to be a TV series!

From today's Shelf Awareness: "Sarah Drew (Grey's Anatomy) and Carsyn Rose (The Rookie) will star in Amber Brown, an Apple TV+ comedy series based on the books by Paula Danziger. Deadline reported that the series, which co-stars Darin Brooks (Blue Mountain State) and Liliana Inouye, is written and directed by Bonnie Hunt (Life with Bonnie), who also serves as executive producer and showrunner. Filming on the series, produced by Boat Rocker, is underway in Salt Lake City."

https://www.shelf-awareness.com/booktrade.html

Welcome to the Web site for Shelf Awareness: Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade, the free e-mail newsletter dedicated to helping the people in stores, ...

07/08/2021

Happening now. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=3360

A group of TikTok users have launched BookTalk, a virtual book conference to be held August 6-8 spotlighting marginalized voices in young adult literature and book publishing.

29/07/2021

A nice stamp for those occasional times I need to mail a letter.

Acclaimed author Ursula K. Le Guin is being celebrated with a new Forever stamp, the 33rd in the U.S. Postal Service's Literary Arts series.

02/07/2021

Who wants to go? (Who's got a car?)

In a feature headlined "10 Charming New England Bookstores Worth Planning a Trip Around," Tiny Trips noted that "the compulsion

01/07/2021

TikTok. Books. This article has some interesting bits of information. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/columns-and-blogs/soapbox/article/86762-chelsea-apple-makes-a-case-for-booktok-authenticity.html

A publicist says authenticity is the secret to being a success on BookTok.

04/06/2021

The flagship Harry Potter store just opened, three blocks from where I live. I'm adding it as a stop on my neighborhood walks that include The High Line and Eataly. I think that covers all bases. https://www.harrypotterstore.com/

Experience the Wizarding World like never before at 935 Broadway

20/04/2021

I've always felt that When Hi**er Stole Pink Rabbit, published in paperback at Dell Yearling, one of my first negotiations, is one of the best books on the Holocaust for young readers and I pray it will be a good movie. Monica Mayper, do you remember this title?

When Hi**er Stole Pink Rabbit, a film adaptation of Judith Kerr's novel based on her childhood memories, will open May 21 in the U.S. Directed