Rising Stars

With publishing’s busiest season fast approaching, we’re spotlighting 10 fall fiction debuts that stand out from the pack. In its new strategic plan, the American Library Association is renewing its focus on activism, fundraising, and building local connections amid a flurry of political threats to libraries. President Donald Trump’s copyright lawsuit against Simon & Schuster and Bob Woodward has been dismissed, and sales of books about Jeffrey Epstein are exploding as Trump attempts to redirect attention from the sex trafficking case, reports CNN. After nearly 20 years, Goodreads is rebranding for the BookTok era, per Fast Company. Newsletter platform and authors’ hub Substack has been valued at a staggering $1.1 billion and raised $100 million in its latest funding round, according to the New York Times. After breaking with its main sponsor over its ties to the Israeli military, Canada’s $100,000 Giller Prize is asking the government for a lifeline, reports the Globe and Mail. Advance tickets for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, out next summer, are already selling out, per Variety. And Vox unpacks the subversive history of the beach read.