How Pantheon’s Lexy Bloom Brought Hanan al-Shaykh’s New Novel to American Readers
July 10, 2018
THE OCCASIONAL VIRGIN is a frank and fearless novel from acclaimed writer Hanan al-Shaykh, published today by Pantheon. The book’s storyline follows the tumultuous lives and sometimes shocking choices of two women, successful in their careers but unlucky in love.
In this Three Questions for an Editor interview, Lexy Bloom, Senior Editor/Senior Culinary Editor, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, Anchor, offers insights into her editorial work with the author, the process of transforming what was originally a short story into THE OCCASIONAL VIRGIN, and the ways in which this book will resonate with American readers. Read on.
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Ballantine’s Susanna Porter on the Making of LOVE AND RUIN, Starring Hemingway and Gellhorn
May 2, 2018
In LOVE AND RUIN, Paula McLain, the bestselling author of The Paris Wife, returns to the subject of Ernest Hemingway in a novel about his passionate, stormy marriage to Martha Gellhorn—a fiercely independent, ambitious young woman who would become one of the greatest war correspondents of the twentieth century.
In this “Three Questions for an Editor” interview, Ballantine Vice President & Executive Editor Susanna Porter pulls back the curtain and offers a look at the editing of this absorbing historical novel, the process of working with the author, and how LOVE AND RUIN may resonate with today’s readers.
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Hogarth’s Alexis Washam on How Jo Nesbø Transformed MACBETH
April 12, 2018
The newest novel in the Hogarth Shakespeare Series is Jo Nesbø’s MACBETH, published on April 10. Set in the 1970s in a run-down, rainy industrial town, this gripping transformative take on one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays centers around a police force struggling to shed an incessant drug problem. Creating an engrossing story of love and guilt, political ambition, and greed for more, Nesbø explores the darkest corners of human nature, and the aspirations of the criminal mind.
In this “Three Questions for an Editor” interview, Alexis Washam, Executive Editor, Crown Publishers and Hogarth, offers insights into the Hogarth Shakespeare Series, the process of working with Nesbø on this project, and how readers may embrace the remarkable novel that was created. Read on.
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Viking’s Wendy Wolf on the Wisdom of Steven Pinker and ENLIGHTENMENT NOW
February 26, 2018
Steven Pinker’s ENLIGHTENMENT NOW: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress, acclaimed New York Times bestseller (debuting at #2) from Viking, is “the book of the moment” everyone is talking about, including avid reader Bill Gates: “The world is getting better, even if it doesn’t always feel that way. I’m glad we have brilliant thinkers like Steven Pinker to help us see the big picture. ENLIGHTENMENT NOW is not only the best book Pinker’s ever written. It’s my new favorite book of all time.”


TELL ME MORE: Random House’s Andy Ward on Kelly Corrigan’s New Book
January 8, 2018
In her new Random House book, TELL ME MORE: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say, New York Times bestselling author Kelly Corrigan swings between meditations on life with a preoccupied husband and two mercurial teenage daughters to profound observations on love and loss. Kelly’s editor, Andy Ward, Vice President, Editor in Chief, Random House, was closely involved with the creation of this collection of stories and shares insights into his impressions of Kelly’s voice on the page, their editor/author working relationship, and who will find her new stories most beneficial in this Three Questions for an Editor interview.


(c) Danielle Siess[/caption] Three main keys, I’d say: humor, intelligence, and honesty. (Okay, and a fourth: a rare, instinctive sense of what is interesting in any given scene or moment. Good observers tell good stories.) Kelly knows how to draw a compelling scene, but it’s her honesty – her vulnerability and openness as a narrator, her willingness to portray her life as, at times, something of a mess – that resonates for me. Kelly doesn’t pretend to hold the secret to a happy life. She doesn’t pretend her family is perfect. She doesn’t gloss over her mistakes (see: “It’s Like This”) or her less-becoming impulses (“I Was Wrong”). That kind of honesty keeps the reader from feeling defensive, and maybe encourages them to engage in some introspection of their own. How would you describe the editorial process involved in putting TELL ME MORE together with the author – in terms of shaping the narrative and organizing the flow of the chapters? [caption id="attachment_9125" align="alignleft" width="225"]


Go Inside YA Author Marie Lu’s World with Putnam Young Readers’ Jennifer Besser
September 14, 2017
Jennifer Besser, President & Publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, has been the editor of seven books by #1 bestselling author Marie Lu, including her newest, WARCROSS, published this week to much enthusiasm, buzz and acclaim.

Riverhead’s Sarah McGrath on Gabriel Tallent’s Remarkable Debut and a Girl Named Turtle
August 29, 2017
In this Three Questions for an Editor interview with Sarah McGrath, Vice President, Editor in Chief, Riverhead Books, she shares insights into gifted debut author Gabriel Tallent and his exceptional debut novel, MY ABSOLUTE DARLING, which goes on sale from Riverhead today.

S&G’s Julie Grau on Author Janelle Brown and Her New Summer Page-Turner
July 11, 2017
In our Three Questions for an Editor feature, Julie Grau, Senior Vice President, Publisher, Spiegel & Grau, opens a window into the editorial relationship between her and author Janelle Brown, with a focus on WATCH ME DISAPPEAR. Published July 11, this “spider’s web of a novel” draws readers in from page one. The disappearance of a

Crown Senior Editor Kevin Doughten on the Making of SHATTERED: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign
May 10, 2017
Moving blow-by-blow from the campaign’s difficult birth through the bewildering terror of election night, Crown’s #1 New York Times bestseller SHATTERED by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes tells an unforgettable story both political and personal, that will change the way readers understand just what happened to America on November 8, 2016.

Berkley’s Cindy Hwang on Editing Karen White’s New Kind of Romance
April 10, 2017
This Three Question for an Editor series interview features Cindy Hwang, Vice President, Editorial Director, Berkley, who takes us inside her work with New York Times bestselling author Karen White, with a focus on Karen’s latest novel, THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT, which Berkley is publishing on Tuesday, April 11. Cindy began


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