New Voices, Publishers Tell Us
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the New Voices, New Rooms conference in Atlanta, Georgia, a vibrant gathering where publishers showcased their new and upcoming titles to booksellers. The event also featured panels on a range of topics, from the impact of AI to strategies for social media marketing and navigating the challenges of book bans.
One of my favorite parts of attending these conferences is chatting with publishing reps about the books they're most excited about. Here's what they shared.
Penguin Random House
While bestselling author, Melissa de la Cruz isn’t a new voice on the scene by any means, this book certainly is.
“Raven, Atticus, and Dorian have dreamed of attending Sibylline for as long as they can remember. But when the magical ivy league rejects them, the friends’ plans of a future together studying the arcane begin crashing down.
Until they decide to steal an education.
Getting jobs on campus, they sneak into lectures and swipe forbidden texts, dodging the administration’s watchful eye. In the quiet of night, in the thrill of secrecy, their magic awakens. And so do long-buried attractions that turn their friendship into something more.
But like magic, love can create, and it can destroy. As unrequited feelings and resentment threaten to fracture their bond, the trio discovers an insidious magic that has sunk its claws into Sibylline, killing students and corroding the very bones of the university. Now the three intruders may be the key to saving the institution from wreckage . . . if they don’t wreck one another first.”
Sibylline will publish on February 3, 2026, but you can pre-order it now.
I was absolutely enthralled by this cover image.
“Cursed Daughters is a brilliant cocktail of modernity and superstition, vibrant humor and hard-won wisdom, romantic love and familial obligation. With its unforgettable cast of characters, it asks us what it means to be given a second chance and how to live both wisely and well with what we’ve been given.
When Ebun gives birth to her daughter, Eniiyi, on the day they bury her cousin Monife, there is no denying the startling resemblance between the child and the dead woman. So begins the belief, fostered and fanned by the entire family, that Eniiyi is the actual reincarnation of Monife, fated to follow in her footsteps in all ways, including that tragic end.
There is also the matter of the family curse: “No man will call your house his home. And if they try, they will not have peace...” which has been handed down from generation to generation, breaking hearts and causing three generations of abandoned Falodun women to live under the same roof.
When Eniiyi falls in love with the handsome boy she saves from drowning, she can no longer run from her family’s history. As several women in her family have done before, she ill-advisedly seeks answers in older, darker spiritual corners of Lagos, demanding solutions. Is she destined to live out the habitual story of love and heartbreak? Or can she break the pattern once and for all, not only avoiding the spiral that led Monife to her lonely death, but liberating herself from all the family secrets and unspoken traumas that have dogged her steps since before she could remember?”
Cursed Daughters will be available on November 5, 2025 and is available for pre-order.
Simon & Schuster
While the rep was telling me about this book, she drew in a larger crowd (of people bumping and trying to shove me out of the way to get to this book) because she was so animated and passionate about this incredible story.
“One young woman’s relentless quest to become the first Cherokee astronaut will irrevocably alter the fates of the people she loves most in this tour de force of a debut about ambition, belonging, and family.
My mother took my sister and me, and she drove through the night to a place she felt a claim to, a place on earth she thought we might be safe. I stopped asking questions. I picked little glass pieces from my sister’s hair. I watched the moon.
Steph Harper is on the run. When she was five, her mother fled an abusive husband—with Steph and her younger sister in tow—to Cherokee Nation, where she hoped they might finally belong. In response, Steph sets her sights as far away from Oklahoma as she can get, vowing that she will let nothing get in the way of pursuing the rigorous physical and academic training she knows she will need to be accepted by NASA, and ultimately, to go to the moon.
Spanning three decades and several continents, To the Moon and Back encompasses Steph’s turbulent journey, along with the multifaceted and intertwined lives of the three women closest to her: her sister Kayla, an artist who goes on to become an Indigenous social media influencer, and whose determination to appear good takes her life to unexpected places; Steph’s college girlfriend Della Owens, who strives to reclaim her identity as an adult after being removed from her Cherokee family through a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act; and Hannah, Steph and Kayla’s mother, who has held up her family’s tribal history as a beacon of inspiration to her children, all the while keeping her own past a secret.
In Steph’s certainty that only her ambition can save her, she will stretch her bonds with each of these women to the point of breaking, at once betraying their love and generosity, and forcing them to reconsider their own deepest desires in her shadow. Told through an intricately woven tapestry of narrative, To the Moon and Back is an astounding and expansive novel of mothers and daughters, love and sacrifice, alienation and heartbreak, terror and wonder. At its core, it is the story of the extraordinary lengths to which one woman will go to find space for herself.”
Y’all know I love an multi-generational cultural story. To the Moon and Back will be available on September 2, 2025.
Lanternfish Press
I mean, how are you not drawn to this title? The title itself is such an attention grab! The rep told me this was a sci-fi romance and I was all in.
“In a distant future, a little girl named Anny makes toy mice out of scraps and dust. Anny has never seen a real mouse, just as she's never seen the planet her family came from many generations ago. All she knows is her home, Tsedt: an isolated village of human colonists' descendants and their friendly helper robots.
But then one day the Amau arrive in Tsedt: plastic people with luminous eyes, intent on taking young humans to the distant city of Harbor to be educated. It's not long before Anny is flown away to a place unlike any she's seen before.”
The Girl Who Made a Mouse from her Grandfather’s Whiskers will be available March 17, 2026.
“Orrie and Emma's family has been cursed for centuries, and as the siblings approach adulthood, the curse is starting to rear its head once again. Their father, Aggie, returns from war a stranger. His arrival shatters the fragile semblance of normality the family has cultivated in his absence. One by one, sordid secrets claw their way to the surface, exposing the rot underneath.
It's not long before the deaths begin-and the voices in the walls grow louder.
This contemporary retelling of Aeschylus's Oresteia, set in the American heartland, takes an unflinching look at how foreign war scars the intimate landscape of home-not just in the days of ancient Greek tragedy but in every time and place.”
Harvest of Furies will be available October 14, 2025.
Hachette
The rep started this conversation by telling me he normally prefers Sci-Fi and fantasy titles, so I knew this was going to be a unique story.
“Educated meets The Queen's Gambit in this extraordinary memoir by International Master and Chess.com co-founder Danny Rensch, who describes his upbringing in an abusive cult - and how chess ended up saving his life
Born into the Church of Immortal Consciousness, Danny Rensch spent his childhood navigating the isolated confines of a cult. Despite psychological manipulation, physical abuse, and neglect, he persevered. An international chess master and world-class commentator, Rensch's remarkable journey led him to being the face of Chess.com, one of the largest online gaming platforms in the world.
With unflinching honesty, Rensch recounts his life, starting from the moment he discovered chess in the summer of 1995, all the way up to being at the center of the most explosive cheating scandal in chess history.
He chronicles the traumas of being "special" in a cult that forced separation from his mother. Mentored by an alcoholic, Russian chess master, he found solace alongside suffering in his obsession for an ancient game, and chess became his only escape. Rensch rose through the chess ranks until a medical emergency nearly took him out of the game forever. And it almost did, until Chess.com came along.
Deeply heartfelt, keenly reflective, and haunting, Dark Squares is the never-before-told story of Danny Rensch's resilience, survival, and his enduring love for the game that saved him.”
Dark Squares will publish on September 16, 2025.
“An "atmospheric and evocative" (Rachel Gillig) romantasy about a threatened Siren who forges a bond with a brooding, self-righteous king in order to flee the king who raised her. Perfect for fans of One Dark Window and For the Wolf.
The monster is always slain...
Imogen Nel is in hiding. Hiding from a cruel kingdom that believes Sirens are monstrous, blood-hungry creatures. Hiding from a king and his captain who viciously hunt her kind. Hiding from her own alluring abilities. By keeping herself from the sea, Imogen's bloodlust is dulled, and her black wings remain concealed beneath her skin.
When a neighboring king comes to visit, Imogen can no longer hide. He knows precisely what she is, and he believes she can save their kingdoms from an even greater monster. But Imogen's power threatens to violently reveal itself, and the two form a blood bond that protects them both. They flee together, traversing waters teeming with the undead. As the lines between duty to their people and desire for each other begin to blur, Imogen worries her ancestral powers may not be enough to kill what hunts her--the only way to defeat a monster may be to become one herself.”
In the Veins of the Drowning came out on July 15, so it’s available now!
Poisoned Pen Press
The rep told me this book felt like a warm hug, a cozy fantasy with recipes in the back.
“She doesn't need to have magic in order to be magic...
In the heart of Adenashire, where elvish enchantments and dwarven delights rule, human baker Arleta Starstone works twice as hard at perfecting her unique blend of baking with apothecary herbs. So, when her orc neighbor (and biggest fan) secretly enters her creations into the prestigious Langheim Baking Battle, Arleta faces a dilemma. Being magicless, her participation in the competition could draw more scowls than smiles. And if Arleta wants to prove her talent and establish her culinary reputation, she'll need more than just her pastry craft to sweeten the odds.
Though Arleta may not yet believe in herself, she makes her way to Langheim--with the help of a very attractive woodland elf--and competes. While on a journey of mouthwatering pastries, self-discovery, heartwarming friendships, and potential romance, Arleta will have to decide whether winning the Baking Battle is the true prize after all. But win or lose, her adventure is only beginning...”
A Fellowship of Bakers and Magic published in April of this year and is currently available for sale.
“A modern-day dark academia fantasy with a twist, perfect for fans of Babel and A Deadly Education.
Warren University has stood amongst the ivy elite for centuries, built on the bones--and forbidden magic--of its most prized BIPOC students...hiding the rot of a secret society that will do anything to keep their own powers burning bright. No matter who they must sacrifice along the way.
Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an ivy league school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumors and dark secrets. But as she settles into her Freshman year, something about the ornate buildings and shadowy paths feels strangely...familiar. And, with every passing day, that sense of déjà vu grows increasingly sinister.
Despite all logic, despite all reason, despite all the rules of reality, Ellory knows one thing to be true: she has been here before. And if she can't convince brooding legacy student Hudson Graves to help her remember a past that seems determined to slip through her fingers as if by some insidious magic...this time, she may lose herself for good.”
An Arcane Inheritance publishes on December 30, 2025.
“Powerless meets Reign in this new historical romantasy from the New York Times bestselling authors of Night of the Witch.
Samson Calthorpe's curse has isolated him from everyone he has ever cared about. So, when the opportunity arises to break the curse, he grabs it. All he has to do for his freedom is risk his life and become a royal spy, using every bit of the skills and resolve he's picked up on the streets of London to infiltrate the court of the Scottish Queen and uncover a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.
For years, Alyth Graham has been protecting Mary Queen of Scots from threats both physical and magical, including the Queen's own husband, Lord Darnley. Alyth is more than meets the eye though, the child of a fae prince and a human mother, she is among the most powerful protectors in Scotland: guardians sworn to defend against the Red Caps, a bloodthirsty fae clan . . . that Lord Darnley is in league with to overtake Scotland.
As Alyth and Samson circle each other in the volatile and glamorous Scottish court, both seek to uncover threats to their own countries. They have one unifying link: their shared hatred and suspicion of Lord Darnley…and their undeniable pull towards each other. Using secret codes, hidden messages, and a little bit of magic, Alyth and Samson unravel a plot centuries in the making. Lord Darnley is only a pawn, and in this game, the queen takes all.”
The Crimson Throne will be available on October 7, 205.
This event was a great event, full of amazing vendors and I’m so glad I got to attend! Happy reading!