Exploration!

I too found the publisher’s marketplace very overwhelming! The website was busy, and I wasn’t quite sure where to begin or how to navigate it. There were a lot of different sections included on the “welcome” page, some included the lunch news, deal of the day, book news, etc. At first, when I browsed through the deals, a lot of different genres/topics came up, some included young adult fiction, non-fiction memoirs, international fiction, etc. These genres looked interesting, though I wanted to make my search categories more specific to see if I recognized anything listed. I didn't, but hey it was worth a try! I narrowed it to children young adult fiction in the United States during February 2020. Seeing that there have only been six days in 2020, only six results showed up. The books showed more variety than I thought they would be. One is about being the child of immigrant parents, another is about a transgender boy who doesn’t want to become a prince, and the others are mainly fantasy or short stories. I feel like book blurbs either tend to not do the book enough justice or it has the complete opposite effect and oversells them. I think it was really cool to have the ability to look at these books and see what was going to come out soon. I felt like I had a hidden tool no one else has access to! I see the worth of buying the subscription because of the amount of access it gives one.

As I was searching through the publisher’s market, I couldn’t help but look through the section titled “books in the news”. In all honesty, I was looking to see if our class favorite (American Dirt) made the cut. In the publisher’s lunch bookateria, American Dirt showed up in not one, not two, but THREE times!!! I can’t say I’m not shocked considering it is listed as being number one on the New York Times bestseller list. American Dirt was listed on Amazon's best book list, Indie Next February 2020 book list (which is the top new releases highlighted by the American Booksellers Association), and Library Reads January 2020 book list (which shares recommendations for newly published books libraries love/recommend). This book just can’t seem to leave us! I am surprised the book is still doing well considering all the backlash and honestly how wrong it is (in my opinion). I recently saw a video given by Jeanine Cummins, where she tried to justify her book. In the interview, she spoke about how she went to Mexico and wrote several drafts before and never published it because she didn’t deem it as being good enough. I feel like saying she’s been to Mexico doesn’t give her the right nor perspective to write about it. It’ll be interesting to see how this American Dirt saga continues!

(Also as a side note, I am trying to up my title game, however, it is a process. Before the semester ends, I guarantee you I will have a catchy title!)