Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Jewish Publishing Goes Beyond Basics
In Jewish publishing, there will always be a market for basics like the Bible and associated commentary, but Jewish books are also beginning to reflect a renewed interest in Jewish studies from those outside the Jewish community. Additionally, new writers are trying to make sense of the rise in anti-Semitism.
Schocken Books, a division of Penguin Random House that specializes in Jewish literary works, often focuses on evergreen topics. For instance, Robert Alter's The Hebrew Bible: A New Translation With Commentary is among Schocken’s bestsellers. In light of the increasing number of anti-Semitic acts in the U.S. and abroad, however, Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt's Antisemitism: Here and Now (2019) has over 27,000 copies in print, according to the publisher.
"We’re about to go back for a fourth printing,” says Altie Karper, editorial director at Schocken. “We’d had high expectations for the book, but constantly unfolding current events have certainly given it a boost."
But most ripped-from-the-headlines books on anti-Semitism haven't yet been released. "What’s more indicative of trends, I think, is in the submissions I’ve been getting," says Karper. "A lot of them are indeed on the subject of the recent rise in anti-Semitism. And, interestingly enough, I’ve also seen an uptick in Holocaust memoirs and histories, with authors saying that the rise in contemporary anti-Semitism has been their motivating factor.”
In January, Schocken is publishing To the Edge of Sorrow, a novel by Aharon Appelfeld that follows Jewish escapees from a Ukrainian ghetto during World War II who hide in a nearby forest and rescue others from trains headed toward concentration camps. Coming in April, Filled with Fire and Light: Portraits and Legends from the Bible, Talmud, and Hasidic World by Elie Wiesel collects the late Nobel laureate's lectures on personalities from Jewish history.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/religion/article/80623-jewish-publishing-goes-beyond-basics.html
Schocken Books, a division of Penguin Random House that specializes in Jewish literary works, often focuses on evergreen topics. For instance, Robert Alter's The Hebrew Bible: A New Translation With Commentary is among Schocken’s bestsellers. In light of the increasing number of anti-Semitic acts in the U.S. and abroad, however, Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt's Antisemitism: Here and Now (2019) has over 27,000 copies in print, according to the publisher.
"We’re about to go back for a fourth printing,” says Altie Karper, editorial director at Schocken. “We’d had high expectations for the book, but constantly unfolding current events have certainly given it a boost."
But most ripped-from-the-headlines books on anti-Semitism haven't yet been released. "What’s more indicative of trends, I think, is in the submissions I’ve been getting," says Karper. "A lot of them are indeed on the subject of the recent rise in anti-Semitism. And, interestingly enough, I’ve also seen an uptick in Holocaust memoirs and histories, with authors saying that the rise in contemporary anti-Semitism has been their motivating factor.”
In January, Schocken is publishing To the Edge of Sorrow, a novel by Aharon Appelfeld that follows Jewish escapees from a Ukrainian ghetto during World War II who hide in a nearby forest and rescue others from trains headed toward concentration camps. Coming in April, Filled with Fire and Light: Portraits and Legends from the Bible, Talmud, and Hasidic World by Elie Wiesel collects the late Nobel laureate's lectures on personalities from Jewish history.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/religion/article/80623-jewish-publishing-goes-beyond-basics.html
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