Twenty Years of Discovering New Writers

I stopped in Barnes&Noble to do one of my favorite activities, browsing books this weekend. Before leaving the store, I have to also look through the hundreds of different magazines lining the racks. In all of the years that I have been shopping at B&W, I have never had a chance to review their Discover Great New Writers program.

There was a nice booklet in the store explaining how B&W seeks out the best new writing talents by asking a select  group of booksellers to handpick exciting titles by even more exciting new writers. This particular booklet said the program is in its 20th year. The centerfold listed just a few of the writes selected over they years, and oh what a list.

Alice Sebold, Patricia Cornwell, Cormac McCarthy, Ian McEwan, and Anita Shreve are just a few of the names included on the list. For this year's list of new writers, B&W had the following among others reviewed in the booklet:

• The Blind Contessa's New Machine: A Novel by Carey Wallace
• Stiltsville by Susanna Danil
• Hamlet's BlackBerry by William Powers
• Every Man in this Village is a Liar by Megan K. Stack
• Mentor: A Memoir by Tom Grimes

Although none of the books were business related, it helps to read new writers for a new perspective and it is great just to read for fun sometimes. Check the program booklet out the next time you are in Barnes and Noble.