Because why not, we spent a minute assessing current trends in book publishing by looking at the past couple of days' worth of deals on Publisher's Marketplace. Here were some themes we identified: Editors are still acquiring those "my year when I did a thing" books. Editors will acquire a book by anyone who has ever been on a T.V. show. And, some people are going to work on the design, copyediting, and printing of a book about "tasty and nutritious non-alcoholic drinks for all the hip moms to be." There is going to be an actual printed book about that. With pages.

  • "Celebrity mixologist and journalist Natalie Bovis-Nelsen's (TheLiquidMuse.com) debut PREGGATINIS, a guide to tasty and nutritious non-alcoholic drinks for all the hip moms-to-be who want to keep having fun, to Mary Norris at Skirt, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal."
  • "Cultural anthropologist and author of MUCH DEPENDS ON DINNER, Margaret Visser's THANKS, looking at the simple habit of saying "thank you" and the notion of gratitude as a key to understanding many of the basic assumptions, preferences and needs underlying western culture, to Rebecca Saletan at Harcourt."
  • "Tattoo artist and LA Ink star Kat Von D's high voltage book about the world of tattooing, to Elizabeth Sullivan at Collins Design, by Rebecca Oliver at Endeavor (world)" (Ooh, high voltage!)
  • "Journalist and author Lawrence Scanlan's MY YEAR OF LIVING GENEROUSLY: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Philanthropy, an account of the twelve months he'll spend volunteering for twelve different charitable organizations, relating his own transformative experiences and telling stories that illuminate the historical, political and philosophical facets of philanthropy, to Scott Steedman at Douglas & McIntyre."


Actually probably the Kat Von D book will be good.