The Millions’ seasonal previews have become anticipated, admired, and extremely useful events in the book world. Sophia Stewart, an editor at The Millions and Publishers Weekly, was kind enough to answer some of my questions about how it gets made.
The Millions has been doing comprehensive previews for a while. How did you come to be a part of it?
It really is amazing that The Millions has been publishing its Most Anticipated book previews for 20 years—the first one had something like 15 titles, most of which were by big-name authors. Since then, the lists have evolved to be more thorough and to spotlight emerging authors or small press books that might not enjoy the same marketing muscle as the big names at big houses. I joined The Millions as deputy editor in early 2022, and within a few months became the editor of the site, at which point I took over the Most Anticipated previews. I published my first preview at the start of 2023.
I have some sense of what it takes to pull something like this together. What is the first step as you assemble a new preview?
All throughout the year I’m constantly on the lookout for books to include in the preview, and I encounter titles of interest in all kinds of ways: in publishers’ catalogs, on social media, in pitches from publicists, from friends over coffee. Whenever I hear about a book that sparks some excitement, or even just curiosity, I add it to the giant Google sheet where the Most Anticipated lists come together. So when the time comes to sit down and start properly assembling a preview, I’ve already got a giant list of titles that I’ve been accumulating for months. At that point, it’s probably pretty unwieldy, so typically the first step is just whittling it down.
Who else is involved in researching releases, selecting titles, and writing the descriptions?
The Millions is a one-person editorial operation, so I’m ultimately responsible for all the research and title selection. That said, I’m always asking my colleagues at Publishers Weekly—which owns The Millions, and where I’m also a news editor—to flag any notable titles that I’ve missed, and it’s those colleagues who are generous enough to help me write the blurbs for the list as well. Once I’ve finalized the list, I send it to a few of my colleagues with an invitation to blurb any books they’re particularly excited about, and they very kindly donate their time to do so. Shout out to Dani Fishman, Nathalie op de Beeck, Claire Kirch, and John Maher! A few Millions contributors—including the brilliant Jonathan Frey and Zachary Issenberg—have also generously volunteered to help blurb for past previews. I am infinitely grateful for their help, as this list quite literally could not happen without them. I guess this is also to say that I’m always looking for volunteer blurbers!
Do you have a target for the number of included books? And for genre or other kind of classification?
Last year, I changed the preview schedule from biannual to quarterly, which of course changed the target number of titles. The biannual previews were a bit unwieldy since they were so massive—in the ballpark of 200 titles—plus I found that they tended to miss out on great books that fell toward the end of their six-month window, since a lot of them hadn’t been announced yet. Since going quarterly, I’ve played around with finding the perfect number, and I’m honestly still tinkering, but I tend to land somewhere between 90 and 100 titles—around 30 per month. I’m definitely mindful about presses and genres as the list comes together in that I’m always aiming to prioritize indies, small presses, university presses—which often means actively seeking out those catalogs—and to get an even mix of nonfiction and fiction.
What is your favorite part of the process? Least?
My favorite part of the process is discovery! There’s no better feeling than stumbling on an upcoming book that gives you something to look forward to, and then going and sharing it with the world. It’s also incredibly gratifying to hear from authors how much a shoutout in these previews means to them. These days, book publicity is something of a crapshoot—there’s no telling what moves the needle, what gets you noticed—but I think just knowing someone is excited about your book and wants to tell other folks about it, is really validating for an author. The least fun part of the process is actually producing the lists in the CMS, which is very tedious and time consuming. Luckily the intrepid Dani Fishman helps me out in that area!
For people who just see the final product, what would surprise them about making the list?
Probably how many books land on the list because I’ve organically stumbled upon them—on socials, in conversation, in the PW book room. A book never gets on the list because a publicist tells me it’s gonna be the book of the season. I have to be genuinely intrigued by it for some reason or another, whether that be what the book’s about, who wrote it, who acquired it, what have you. I also don’t really see these lists as authoritative or definitive. I know I don’t always get them right, I kick myself all the time over books that I’ve missed. I also kick myself when a book I’m anticipating turns out to be a dud—but that’s why these previews aren’t “best of” lists, they’re intended as “this book looks really cool and I think it’s worth checking out” lists.
Do you get feedback from the wider book world (authors, readers, etc) about inclusions/exclusions?
I love seeing authors and editors celebrating the inclusion of their books in the preview on social media—it brings me so much joy. And of course seeing “A Millions Most Anticipated Book” printed on or in a book is still thrilling to me. It’s gratifying to know that a Millions shoutout is such a point of pride for so many authors, editors, and publishers. So far, I’ve yet to get any feedback about books that didn’t make the cut, which makes me hopeful that I’m being appropriately thorough and thoughtful with the research and curation.
If you have more (infinite?) time, attention, or resources, what would you do that you cannot currently do?
Oh man—there is so much I would do. I would assign specific books to the critics I know would review them brilliantly. Give columns to the writers I admire most. Host virtual and in-person programming—author talks, panel discussions, writing workshops. Collaborate with other publications and literary organizations. Hire a team. Put out a quarterly print edition. Pay contributors the competitive rates they deserve. The possibilities are endless, and thrilling, and I think about them a lot. Until then, I’m doing the best I can with what I have.