Book Beat: 2018 Hugo Awards, Keanu Reeves' Small Press, and #ShareYourRejections

Hello everyone and welcome back to Book Beat! If you’re new here, my name is Emily, and this is where we give you a round up of the latest book news!

Keanu Reeves Ventures Into Publishing

Keanu Reeves may be known for movie roles and looking sad on park benches, but he’s got a new creative project on the go. He’s partnered with visual artist Alexandra Grant to publish esoteric books as the founders and co-publishers of X Artists’ Books.

Reeves and Grant met in 2009 at a dinner party, after which they collaborated on Ode to Happiness, a book inspired by a poem Reeves had written. Later, they published another book Shadows, which was presented at galleries in Los Angeles and Paris. These acts of book creation led to the creation of X Artists’ Books, where they are publishing books with “knotty concepts that might seem unpublishable,” according to The New York Times.

Writers Get Real About Rejection

Being in creative fields is full of challenges and rejections. The hashtag #ShareYourRejection recently swept through Twitter, inspiring many artists and authors to share their “failures.” While you might think that rejection stories would get a bit depressing, many used the hashtag to share stories of persistence and remind others that failure is part of success.

before CBB, i spent 4 years on a book that racked up 60+ rejections from agents

thought my big break would come when i won a query contest that would display my query for agents alongside 9 others, but i ended up being the only winner to receive 0 requests#shareyourrejections

— TOMI (@tomi_adeyemi) August 16, 2018

I posted 4 of the rejections I got on my first novel, THE GOOSE GIRL. It went on to win awards, has had ~30 printings, and 15 years later is still in print. Not every book is for every editor! #ShareYourRejections https://t.co/dkwBnlfj7I

— Shannon Hale (@haleshannon) August 16, 2018

Confession: I'm afraid to participate in #ShareYourRejections because there's no triumph at the end of my story. Yet. But despite rejections, I'm still here. I'm still writing. Heck, I'm coming off my most productive month EVER, and that's worth celebrating.

— Ashley Hearn 🌖🌗🌘 Preorder NOT YOUR #LOVESTORY! (@AshleyHearn) August 16, 2018

Obama Recommends Your Next Summer Read

Obama’s tradition of sharing books and encouraging reading continues with some new recommendations. Yesterday, the former president shared five books that have “reaffirmed [his] faith in our ability to move forward together when we seek the truth.”

The list, which includes Tara Westover’s Educated and Hans Rosling’s Factfulness, may be a deliberate dig at Trump, according to Inc.

Asian Excellence On The Big and Small Screens

The long-awaited adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians topped the box office this weekend, taking in over $25 million in North America and becoming the most successful PG-13 rom-com in six years.

And, if that wasn’t enough rom-com goodness for you, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before launched on Netflix this weekend. While we don’t have the numbers on the adaptation of Jenny Han’s YA novel of the same name, the twitter response has been welcoming.

It's almost like POC excel at any genre we mess with and racism has cost the movie and book industry billions of dollars in missed opportunities wow https://t.co/hKdtyy3hOr

— Daniel José Older (@djolder) August 20, 2018

N. K. Jemisin Wins A Hugo Hat Trick

The winners of the 2018 Hugo Awards were announced on Sunday at the 76th World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, California. N. K. Jemisin made history by winning for the third year in a row, making for a powerful speech.

After you’ve watched her speech, read more about this year’s winners in our very own Doris V. Sutherland’s 2018 Hugo Awards coverage.