We have a new weekend column on BookTrib! The Weekly Round Up will cover all the news in the publishing world! Each Saturday and Sunday, look for us to keep you abreast of what you need to know about your favorite writers, literary events, openings and book signings. This week, we kick off our new column with news about Oprah’s latest book, a new Studio 54 picture book and the startling statistics about WHO is really getting published (it may surprise you and it may not). We hope you will come back each week and catch up on all news.

‘O, That’s Good’: Oprah Winfrey Dishes with ABC on her New Book and the Scandal That’s Rocking Hollywood

Not only is she launching her own line of healthy comfort foods, O, That’s Good, Oprah Winfrey also got a new book, The Wisdom of Sundays: Life-changing Insights from Super Soul Conversations was originally released in September, but Winfrey, moved by the #MeToo movement on social media has re-upped promotion because of its worthwhile message

This week, Winfrey told ABC News, “My intention with the book is to offer on every page an opportunity to find a way to be closer to yourself, closer to the heart that you believe, closer to the name you refer to God as being, closer to bigger, closer to a better life… because I believe that there are all kinds of avenues, different paths leading to the same goal and the highest goal is the truest expression of yourself as a human being.”

The book features stories by influential writers, media moguls, speakers and pop-culture icons like Ariana Huffington, Shonda Rhimes, Deepak Choprah and many more.  While the stories may be as diverse as the experiences of her contributors, there is one common thread throughout that will truly inspire readers and that is finding a spiritual center.

“You have to be the designer of your life, if you’re not willing to do that then you don’t deserve the best life,” says Winfrey.  “If you’re not willing to give yourself the time to spiritually feed and nourish your own soul then you don’t deserve to live a purposeful soulful meaningful existence because it takes work. It takes support.”

Winfrey also gave her thoughts on the Weinstein scandal, telling ABC, “It has opened the door… because… it’s Hollywood and all of these women that people have admired forever so if it can happen to them it means it can happen to a secretary in Omaha, it can happen to a teacher in Virginia, it can happen to people who are just working in a factory in Nebraska.” Read what else Oprah shares about her book and her #MeToo experience here.

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Michael Jackson, Woody Allen and Andy Warhol Featured in New Photobook, Street a New Picture Book with Favorite Photos from around NYC and Studio 54 in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Photographer Carrie Boretz, has been a fixture of the scenes New York scene for more than 40 years, snapping the high-life and the low-life of the city.  For her new book, Street, Boretz compiled favorite images from the 70s, ’80s and ’90s. From the parties with Andy Warhol and hanging out with Michael Jackson and Liza Minnelli at Studio 54 to covering fan reactions of the murder of John Lennon in 1980, Boretz has always seen it all! She recently gave an exclusive interview about her 40 yeas as a photographer and what she has to say will make you feel like you were there with her for every photoshoot. Read more about Boretz’s book an NYC adventures here.

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The Late Playwright Sam Shepard’s Last Book to be Released in December

Before his death in July, playwright Sam Shepard finished a novel about a man suffering a debilitating illness. Shepard, himself, was coping with the devastating effects of Lou Gehrig’s disease as he penned this novel, first by hand until he could no longer do so and, finally, dictating the rest into a recording device. Singer Patti Smith helped him to edit the drafts with Shepard putting the final edits to the finished manuscript the week he died; he was 73.

Shepard, who appeared in more than 60 films and wrote more than 55 plays, according to The New York Times, will have his final novel, Spy of the First Person posthumously released in December.  Read more about Shepard’s moving last work here.

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Indianapolis Public Library’s New Center for Black Literature and Culture to House Volumes by Tavis Smiley, Maya Angelou with Opening Hosted by TV News Host, Roland Martin

Today, the Indianapolis Public Library will be opening a brand new center. The Center for Black Literature and Culture at Central Library (CBLC) is a  3,800-square-foot space will offer both exhibitions and programming focus on a rich heritage of writing and literacy and will be open to the public during regular library hours. Approximately 10,000 works will feature authors who span the African American diaspora like Tavis Smiley, Maya Angelou, and Congresswoman Julia Carson, the first African-American and the first woman to represent Indianapolis. The CBLC plans for 30,000 more volumes to be added for a total of 40,000 in holdings.

“We want this to be a place that is both windows and mirrors… for windows — people that are not of African descent — it is for them to learn about that rich heritage and culture. Then for people who are of African descent, they can see themselves reflected in a lot of different powerful and positive ways,” says Nichelle Hayes, Special Collections Librarian for CBLC.

The grand opening is noon today at 3 p.m. and will be hosted by journalist, political commentator and host of TV One’s News One Now morning news program, Roland Martin. Read more about the CBLC and find out how you can attend to Grand Opening here.

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Study Finds Publishing is Still a Male-Dominated Industry and Intersectionality is Virtually Non-Existent

 

VIDA, the organization that celebrates and networks female authors, released its annual report this week and there is no surprise that while women are making strides in the publishing world, it is still a boys game. Writers, critics, publishers and PR teams still point to a publishing industry that is male dominated. Some organizations fared worse than others in the US and across the Atlantic. The London Review of Books had the most disparities in who they published and saw fewer books featured by female authors. The New York Review of books fared about the same.

These statistics didn’t jive, especially in the UK where 50 percent of women identified as avid readers compared to only 26 percent of men.  However there are pockets oF hope  For example, the San Francisco based quarterly McSweeney’s was evenly split with 50 percent of their contributors being women and 50 percent being men.  Still, even with this progress, there is still much work to do. On intersectionality, across the board the numbers were poor. Most literary journals have few contributors of color or from the LGBTQ community. Read more about the VIDA count our this week here.

Check out tomorrow’s installment of The Weekly Round Up!