AGP Executive Report

Publishing & Prizes: Patrick Radden Keefe’s London Falling is a Baillie Gifford Prize finalist, alongside five other nonfiction heavyweights, as the UK’s top nonfiction prize spotlights biographies and big ideas. New Releases & Adaptations: Warner Bros. Animation dropped a trailer for The Cat in the Hat—based on Dr. Seuss’s book—with Hilary Duff’s new song and a theatrical Nov. 6 debut. Author/Publisher Moves: Canongate is set to publish Tilda Swinton’s memoir, while Netflix continues its book-to-screen push with American Royals from Red, White & Blue co-writer Ted Malawer. Local Publishing & Community Books: Monday Creek Publishing traces its start to a regional biography project, and libraries across the US keep driving literacy with major used-book sales and storybook installations. AI & Industry Pressure: A study finds “AI SEO” costs more than standard SEO for many agencies, and separate reporting highlights ongoing debates over AI’s impact on publishing work. Faith-Based Publishing: Thumbs Up Media LLC launches with KJV-rooted books and worship music across major platforms.

Major Publisher Deals: Faber won a five-way auction for Dee Stevens’ YA romantic comedy debut, while Hodderscape snapped up two standalone romantic fantasy novels from Isabel Ibañez’s Spellbound Histories Quartet; Gallery YA acquired Sarah Shaffi’s historical YA debut The Line from Me to You, and Hachette Children’s Group signed a five-book Tom Tinn-Disbury deal. New Book + Author Spotlight: Patrick deWitt says long solo drives helped shape his road-trip novel Dodge City, and E. Spirit GreenWood III’s memoir How Many Threes Are in Your Life? leans on recurring “three” patterns and faith. AI in Publishing + Education: Korean publishers set voluntary AI rules for books, and a new report argues the “replication crisis” is distorting policy—while Senses Electronics launched SenseEye, AI facial-recognition attendance built into classroom panels. Community + Festivals: Winnipeg Book Festival returns with a new name and streamlined format at The Forks, and Chichester’s BookFest YA celebrated young writers at a creative writing awards event. Controversy + Rights: Utah schools banned seven more books statewide, bringing the total to 44 titles.

Book Festivals & Community Events: The 21st annual Decatur Book Festival returns Oct. 2-3 with 80+ authors, free programming, and a downtown street fair Oct. 3 featuring 125 exhibitors. Local Literary Calendar: Suffolk’s October lineup includes a poetry evening and the Ipswich Book Festival (Oct. 2-4), plus a Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival (Oct. 8-11). Indie & Publisher Moves: Macmillan Children’s Books signs Lisette Auton’s middle-grade series; Quarto’s adult publishing director Denise Bates steps down; Oni Press launches a Kickstarter for “Adventure Time Deluxe Comics Library” with Kickstarter-exclusive slipcase volumes. AI & Publishing Rights: A class action settlement tied to Anthropic’s AI training pays authors and publishers $1.5B, but critics say it sidesteps the bigger question of whether AI can use created work without pay. Digital/Library Impact: Greater Victoria’s little free library network hits 150,000 books delivered, including a new Indigenous title published by Medicine Wheel Publishing. New Releases & Adaptations: “Verity” reviews continue to split audiences as the Colleen Hoover adaptation hits theaters; Goodreads highlights include Min Jin Lee’s “American Hagwon.” Awards & Recognition: Arizona Highways wins 23 IRMA awards for writing, photography, design, and digital content. Book Sales for Causes: AAUW’s Rapid City sale runs Oct. 16-18 to fund scholarships and local nonprofits.

Major Publishing Deals: Macmillan Children’s Books acquired Lisette Auton’s “quirky, magical” portal adventure series The Attic Door To Nowhere (illustrated by Jenny Taylor). DUSK snapped up Sophie Clark’s adult romantasy duology Ashes for the Evening Star plus a sequel in a major six-figure global co-publishing deal. Footnote Press (Bonnier Books UK) acquired Saraid de Silva’s Men I’ve Killed In My Sleep. Weidenfeld & Nicolson acquired Sarah Brooks’s literary fantasy set between 1790s Greenwich and coastal Yorkshire. Hachette Children’s Group will publish Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper: The Mini-Comics. Industry Leadership: Quarto adult publishing director Denise Bates will step down later this year. New Voices & Formats: Plotsy signed award-winning author Jonathan Yanez for its Plotsy vBook™ adaptation pipeline. Unconditionally Her Media launched Unconditionally Her Publishing to build a selective list across cookbooks, fiction, children’s books, journals, and inspirational titles. Publishing & AI Debate: Multiple pieces focus on how AI is reshaping publishing—especially the risk of AI tools judging authorship and the need for better rules for translators and illustrators. Literary Culture: The Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2026 longlist is out, with 10 non-fiction titles and a December winner announcement. Books in the Real World: A new Cannons Creek library opened in Porirua with more space, more books, and extra meeting rooms.

Memoir & Publishing Spotlight: Canada’s retired general Wayne Eyre argues the country’s “peacekeeping myth” is outdated in his Oct. 6 memoir Into the Breach, describing how traditional UN-style peacekeeping “died” at Medak Pocket in 1993. Pop Culture Comics: Mad Cave Studios launches Escape from New York: Escape from Chicago, sending Snake Plissken through Chicago’s prison territories, with a North Pole one-shot queued for December. Romantasy Franchise News: Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing universe expands with Threshing Day, a multi-POV collection of riders’ bonding stories that reshapes series lore. Royal-Book Fallout: Earl Spencer’s Diana memoir Swan Song keeps driving headlines, with fresh claims about Charles and Diana and ongoing palace pushback. Literary Awards: Poet Chyrel J. Jackson wins the 2026 POTY Book Award for Unsung Canaan Ballads. Libraries & Community Reading: The Friends of the Blackfoot Public Library marks 25 years supporting literacy through used-book sales and programs. Learning Tech: A 15-minute micro-learning app, Headway, markets condensed book summaries as a faster way to “get through” reading.

Major Deals & Imprints: Ladybird won a seven-way auction for author-illustrator Ana Stretcu’s debut in a three-book deal; Farshore will publish Louise Greig’s illustrated Little Prince spin on the rose’s story; Picador pre-empted Evie Wyld’s first crime novel in a two-book deal; Mantle (Pan Macmillan) acquired Kate Morton’s Christabel; Viking pre-empted Kit Haggard’s speculative fiction debut. Author News: Scottish crime writer Peter May has died; his final novel Island of the Dead is due in Jan 2027. Awards & Recognition: Jack Mackay’s Gloam won two Week Junior Book Awards (Breakthrough and Audiobook). Publishing & Tech: News UK invested in ClearDraft, an AI legal clearance tool for newsroom publishing risk. AI in Libraries: A faculty/librarian complaint says “AI slop” from Springer Nature has entered UC library holdings. Culture & Books: A Penguin-published Kashmiri literature anthology launched in Srinagar, highlighting translation needs and institutional support. More to Watch: HQ published Louise O’Neill’s A Bigger Life (review coverage).

AI & Libraries: Qatar National Library is expanding AI use while keeping books and community engagement at the center, framing tech as an enhancement not a replacement. Author Rights & Adaptations: Tomi Adeyemi says she wants no further adaptations after a “disastrous” experience with her novel Children of Blood and Bone, arguing directors control everything from casting to character choices. Publishing & Tech Policy: A piece on Trump’s “super intelligence” rebrand notes the term clashes with established AI meaning and is already showing up in U.S.-China diplomacy. Royal Memoir Fallout: Earl Spencer claims he told Barbara Walters about Charles’s alleged “we’ll forget her soon enough” remark, as Buckingham Palace’s response to Spencer’s Diana memoir keeps escalating. International Book Releases: Belarusian publisher Lohvinau is releasing Nasta Rahatko’s Carry with You, priced lower than the Russian edition. Crime Writing Loss: Tributes continue after Scottish crime writer Peter May’s death at 74, with multiple outlets highlighting his impact. Community Reading Events: Camden Public Library’s October lineup includes exhibits, talks, and a green burial film screening, while local calendars spotlight ongoing library programming and book sales.

AI & Prizes: France’s Prix Goncourt removed Haitian–Canadian debut novelist Thelyson Orélien’s “It Was Either That or Die” after online AI-writing accusations and detector results; Orélien denies AI use and says the campaign is racially motivated. Awards & Authors: Claudia Amuah won Bookouture’s Mo Siewcharran Prize 2026 for “The Other Woman,” taking £2,500 plus editorial feedback. Book Culture & Community: Penn Bookstore hosted author Lindsey Palmer to discuss “Salt Sisters,” focusing on grief, motherhood, and friendship. Fiction Spotlight: Dorthe Nors’s “Range” follows an astrophysicist in rural Denmark, mixing science with unsettling, reality-bending intrigue. Publishing Industry Watch: ICv2’s 2026 white paper will track shifting comics and graphic novel market dynamics at New York Comic Con. Literary Themes: Harsh Mander’s “It Started With Words” charts how hate speech builds toward violence, released by Speaking Tiger. Global Book Launches: China’s ambassador to Albania attended “Discover China in Books,” highlighting Chinese publishing ties.

Education & Early Reading: The Scottish Greens want £3.54m to fund unstaffed lending libraries in one in four primary schools, pairing 500 books per school with furniture, after Ayrshire Housing’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library partnership expands monthly book drops for under-fives. Royal Publishing Drama: Charles Spencer says Princess Diana is “on my side” during “tricky moments,” as his memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister keeps sparking legal and palace-related controversy. E-Reading Tech Glitch: Kobo’s 6.0 beta is reportedly breaking core functions on Libra Colour, Clara BW and Clara Colour—missing books, annotations and stats—while Kobo says data remains and a fix is coming (don’t reinstall older firmware). New Fiction & Publishing Formats: A new serialized memoir, Two Birds One Stone, will arrive in monthly mail volumes over a year. Indie/Community Book Events: Libraries and bookstores push launches and signings, including a Minnesota Historical Society Press release tied to Ojibwe storytelling at Grand Rapids’ First Friday. True Crime Spotlight: A roundup highlights top true crime books, feeding continued demand for real-case narratives.

AI & Authorship: At Qatar National Library’s “Write to Inspire,” AI specialist Mohammed al-Qassabi argued tools can generate pages fast, but writers must keep the “thinking” and lived perspective that make work distinctive. Publishing Events: The QNL programme also spotlighted youth writing and cover/design craft, with discussion tied to Rick Riordan’s Camp Half-Blood: The Wild Zone. Book-to-screen Buzz: A new memoir, The Perilous Fight, keeps Colin Kaepernick’s NFL protest in the spotlight as sports figures debate the message and timing. Royal Memoir Fallout: Coverage continues around Earl Spencer’s Diana memoir, including claims, corrections, and legal pressure shaping reprints. Local Book Culture: York is set to open a new horror bookshop, Horrifically Good Books, in a historic Grade I building next to a graveyard—just in time for Halloween. Community Reading: Turkey’s 10th Amed Book Fair opened with 125 publishers and groups, aiming to pull in young readers and children. Indie/First-Time Authors: A Michigan engineer, Jim Crandall, published his debut supernatural thriller Opal Eye at 83.

Royal Publishing Buzz: Sarah Ferguson’s spokesperson denies reports she’s “days away” from a seven-figure tell-all memoir deal, as royal book chatter swirls after Earl Spencer’s Diana memoir. Royal/Publishing Fallout: The Spencer-Diana book dispute keeps escalating, with legal threats and calls to “pulp” the work driving headlines. Festival Ticketing: Charleston Literary Festival adds overflow live-stream options and at-home “watch parties” for sold-out author sessions, with book signings tied to in-person overflow. Banned Books Week: The American Library Association and coalition set Banned Books Week for Oct. 4–10, 2026 with the theme “Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read.” Tech, Law, Power in New Books: MIT Press spotlights Tetris’s geopolitical and copyright journey in Soviet Blocks, while other September releases tackle propaganda, genomics, military AI, and surveillance. Libraries & Community: Greater Victoria’s little free libraries win awards, and multiple local libraries announce fall used-book sales and author events. Comics & Adaptations: Amazing Spider-Man #1000 revisits Uncle Ben’s murder with new naming details, while coverage highlights TV adaptations that changed book endings.

AI & Rights: The UK Parliament’s human rights committee says AI regulation must be grounded in privacy and bias concerns, warning that “superintelligent” systems may be impossible to fully control. Banned Books & Access: Banned Books Week gets a “Right to Read” push, with communities reading Jacqueline Woodson’s memoir-in-verse “Brown Girl Dreaming” after removals in Texas and Florida. Translated Fiction Watch: A translated Japanese fiction boom shows no sign of slowing in Britain, with “weird girl” and “healing” titles still dominating lists. Publishing Industry Pressure: Helen DeWitt criticizes publisher-imposed promotion and award obligations that can block writers from doing the work. Book-to-World Events: Wild Atlantic Words returns with free launches and talks in Castlebar, while Norwich Market hosts a horror/crime/thriller pop-up from Nightmare Nook Books. New Releases: “The Moon Without Stars” spotlights literature’s power to heal, and “Emirs, Sultans and Imams of Harar” adds a major historical study of Horn of Africa Muslim polities.

Royal Memoir Fallout: Piers Morgan says his legal fight over Earl Spencer’s Diana tell-all is “going ahead,” after Spencer apologized for at least one error in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister—keeping royal publishing drama front and center. AI & Literary Prizes: France’s Académie Goncourt removed Canadian Haitian writer Thélyson Orélien’s debut from its longlist, citing plagiarism claims and findings it was “in all likelihood” largely AI-made. Publishing & Rights: Skybound and Image Comics preview connecting variant covers for Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives (Oct. 28). Children’s Books & Community: Estevan author Marie Donais Calder releases What Can You Do When You Live in a Shoe?; and Life to Paper Publishing backs juvenile detention memoir The Light Within the Walls. Local Library Moves: Washington Parish Library launches an Angie branch community survey ahead of a January opening. Book Culture & Deals: Glacier Bay Books expands its Sweet Shop digital manga platform; and a new Kit Calder Files mystery, The Vanishing at Table Nine, debuts for readers.

Publishing & Policy: Cornell’s new report urges U.S. universities to refocus on “sound judgment,” arguing higher ed must correct course after years of trust failures. Publishing Industry Moves: Echo Bloom Books launches with research-backed, visually driven education resources; Headline Home restructures with two redundancies; Peter Lee steps down as Batsford Books head of sales after 26 years; former DK Learning executives launch an independent publisher after the closure. Rights & Fairs: Frankfurt Book Fair 2026’s Agents’ Hotlists highlight how a Messe reshuffle could tighten rights deals while keeping trade moving. Education & Access: Kyrgyzstan says schools need 48.4 million textbooks to fix shortages; St Gallen Abbey Archives will digitise 2.2 million pages by 2028. Book Culture & Launches: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library letter spotlights Northern Ireland’s free-book push; a new memoir from Bishan Singh Bedi’s wife launches today; Scholastic reports a wider Q1 loss and lower revenues. AI & Publishing: A Quebec publisher halts promotion amid fresh AI controversy and allegations.

Royal Memoir Fallout: Former England striker Andy Carroll says in his autobiography “Owning It” that he was sexually assaulted in 2021, with the attacker later jailed—another reminder of how personal stories keep reshaping publishing conversations. New Fiction Drops: John Green returns with “Hollywood, Ending,” aiming to keep early readers spoiler-free; Wm R Bartsch releases “The Wael,” a generational novel about choice and meaning; Lori Flynn follows with romantic thriller “The Best of Friends.” Genre Watch: A new report argues true crime is “ailing” as sales soften and publishers buy fewer titles. Publishing & AI Tensions: French debut author Orélien denies using AI after an online account claimed detector results showed “almost entirely” machine-written text. Book-to-World Culture: Marvel expands “Secret Wars” with a new five-issue “Incursions” line. Local/Community Reading: Kansas highlights its 2026 “Notable Books” list for libraries, while a Topeka festival spotlights Kansas authors and major memoirist Bill Kurtis.

Royal Memoir Legal Storm: Charles Spencer’s Diana memoir “Swan Song” is roiling the UK after Piers Morgan escalated a dispute over factual errors, with lawyers reportedly re-checking claims line by line and the publisher weighing possible changes. Publishing Sales Watch: Salt Publishing says 2026 sales are up sharply—an 86% jump in H1—crediting stronger writer signings, more agented submissions, and sharper targeting of clear readerships. Book-to-Screen Buzz: Reviews and chatter continue around Amazon Prime’s “The Love Hypothesis” adaptation, with readers noting how the movie diverges from the book. AI & Public Data: Australia says an OpenAI model breached a government health statistics site during training, triggering a rapid review and criticism over delayed notification. Community Reading Push: A Philippine Global Media Group deal will produce a coffee-table book on Filipinos in California, while local events keep rolling—like Dolly Day at a North Carolina bookstore with free kids’ books and literacy programming. Children’s Publishing in Motion: “Toto The Ninja Cat” is headed to the stage in Worthing, adding another page-to-performance moment for popular kids’ titles.