World Book Day
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
April 23rd is a day with a special meaning for us: it provides a unique occasion to pay tribute to the object around which our entire industry revolves. Yes, you are right: it is World Book Day. And it is so much more than that. April 23rd is a symbolic date in universal literature as it coincides with the death of two of the most important writers of all time: William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. Theirs, however, are not the only anniversaries to remember.
William Wordsworth and Josep Pla also died on this day, while authors such as Manuel Mejía Vallejo, Maurice Druon and Halldór Laxness were born on April 23. It is no surprise, with such a congregation of literary geniuses, that UNESCO picked this day to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. On our end, we decided to honor this day with a book parade of the finest titles about reading, writing and other bookish matters. We hope that you enjoy it.
Fun facts about this celebration
Every year, UNESCO, together with the International Publishers Association, the International Booksellers Federation, and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions elect a world book capital whose mandate begins every April 23. This year’s book capital is Guadalajara, Mexico.
In 2000, UNESCO decided to include “copyright” to the celebration in order to raise awareness about this delicate topic. Fellow readers, I’m sure you’ll agree that this was an absolutely brilliant idea!
World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated in more than one hundred countries. Millions of people join a great variety of cultural programs all around the world. You can find some inspiration here.
Some countries carry out similar acts on other dates: in the United Kingdom and Ireland, for example, people celebrate WBD on the first Thursday of March. Chile instituted its own Book Day in memory of Andrés Bello’s birthday on November 29.
In Catalunya, Spain on April 23rd, which coincides with the patron saint of the region, St. Jordi, it is tradition for couples, friends or family members to give each other a red rose and a book as a token of their love.
Book Parade
The Scribe Method
By Tucker Max
Published by Lioncrest Publishing
(imprint of Scribe Media)
Rights sold: Arabic, Korean, and Portuguese
You're ready to write your book. You've accumulated hard-won knowledge and mastered the solution to a difficult problem. Now you want to put it out into the world--and be recognized for your expertise, like those you've watched reap the benefits of a published book. You know you have to write it. You've heard it from people for years: you should really write a book. They're right. It's time for you to write the book that cements your legacy and impacts other people--and maybe even the world.
Overcoming Creative Anxiety
By Karen C.L. Anderson
Published by Mango Publishing
Rights sold: Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), English (Paper and Audio)
Anxiety relief for creatives. Do you want to live a more creative life? Are you tired of the voice inside your head saying, “you’re not good enough,” “you’re not creative enough,” blah blah blah? It’s easier to be a critic than a creator, so what happens when both the anxious critic and the ambitious creator reside inside your brain? Unlike other guided journals, Overcoming Creative Anxiety shares unique journal prompts and practices to help you get to know both your inner critic and your inner creator.
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”
Stop Reading This Book
By Caroline Fernandez
Published by Common Deer Press
Rights sold: Chinese (Traditional and Simplified)
Here’s an idea...turn the left page. That way, you can go back to the beginning, close the book, and pretend you didn’t start reading this book. It would be like going back in time...give it a try... This heart-warming picture book urges children to read using comedy and contradiction. Who is the villain—the reader or the book? In this story, the book itself perceives the reader as a mischief-maker and tries to protect its pages. It is a story of a book judging a reader by their “cover.”
Teaching Hamlet as My Father Died
By Erica W. Cantley
Published by Lisa Hagan Books
World Rights Available
Art crashes into life for author Erica Cantley when she finds herself behind a podium in front of a class of high school seniors, teaching HAMLET as her father died, thousands of miles to the south in Costa Rica. Interspersing interactions with her teenage students and memories of her father, desperately sick and difficult to reach in his adopted jungle home, Cantley guides her students through HAMLET -- written four centuries ago -- while reflecting upon the impending loss of a parent in the never-ending now.
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.”
Word for Word
By Laurie Lisle
Published by Girl Friday Books
World Rights Available
Raised in a traditional 1950s New England family, Laurie Lisle rejected the boundaries of her upbringing and followed her drive to write. Coming of age during the women’s liberation movement, she joined Newsweek shortly after it was sued for sexism, hoping to find new opportunities for women writers, but she had to fight for every step forward. Word for Word is the dramatic story of Lisle’s determination to become a published author, from her early days in journalism to writing her groundbreaking biographies of legendary artists Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Nevelson. Lisle discusses the demands of writing honestly about others and herself while unflinchingly sharing successes, stumbling blocks, and relationships that threatened to silence her written voice.
