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| Judith Curr | |
Judith Curr is president and publisher of the HarperOne Group, which includes HarperOne, Amistad, HarperCollins Español, and HarperVia. Curr launched HarperVia in 2019 to create greater opportunities for international titles, often publishing works in translation. The Nomad Editions line launches in November with three titles: A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon, translated by Anton Hur; Almond by Won-pyung Sohn, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee; and The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi, translated by Emily Balistrieri. Three more Nomad Editions will follow in March 2026.
The Nomad logo uses the image of a comet. What makes the idea of the nomad and this symbol the right ones to represent this line?
The idea of the nomad came from HarperVia: a book that can take you anywhere. The Nomad Editions are books you can take anywhere. Thinking about the logo, the idea was maybe we'd put little backpack straps on the M or little skates. But then I was watching a movie about Madame Clicquot. And the last scene is when she's finally got the Champagne correct, and she stamps the top of the cork with a comet. That's when I knew: the O can be a comet because comets, when you think about it, are the nomads of the sky. And now we've just seen that new one that they found, the oldest comet ever to exist. That, to me, is a sign that we're on to something with the comet and the nomad, because now, between heaven and earth, our books can go anywhere.
The Nomad Editions are inspired by Japanese pocket novels, in both portability and aesthetics, and the look of them is really strong--eye-catching, fresh, and deeply appealing. How did the Nomad line evolve?
We publish a lot of books in translation, and now Japanese novels have become the thing, and all of a sudden, there's tons of competition for them. After wondering "What are we going to do?" I thought: we'll publish in the Japanese format! It all happened very fast. Something like six months later, and here we have them. It's amazing how an idea can be manifested! We decided we would just reformat the original artwork because they are designed to be second or maybe third formats. That way, we would know which ones people are responding to and whether there's energy behind it.
With the original A Magical Girl Retires, I wanted to have a belly band on it so that you could have different things underneath. But there was some sales feedback that said readers didn't really want that. So the original edition had a paper-over-board cover and a full jacket--very traditional, and it sold very nicely. The Nomad Edition will add the bellyband, which is also a place to put our mission statement about what a nomad is. Each book will have a hidden design on the paper cover that's like a little Easter egg. Really lovely to show on TikTok.
The Nomad style feels like a great way to introduce new voices to readers who might not otherwise find them. What kind of reader might be surprised to fall in love with works in translation like these?
One of the things that I noticed about special packaging and smaller trim sizes, when you look in the stores, they're usually out-of-copyright works. And they're usually classic ghost stories and things like that. But it's rare to see contemporary stories in smaller formats. HarperVia has a wide range of books in translation, so it's a new idea; it's kind of experimental. The format is attractive, and it allows you to tell different sorts of stories. And because we're actually shipping them to all the English-language markets simultaneously, that allows us to consider the audience: for instance, Canada and Australia may love one title more than South Africa and England would. It allows you to have a wide range of offerings, but not expect everybody to want the same ones.
The publishing industry has always been fairly volatile, but lately, the shifts have felt more dramatic. One of those shifts is the decline of paperback sales, which is interesting given that costs keep rising for new hardback titles. Will Nomad Editions swim against the tide on this issue?
I think so. They will be $16.99, $17.99, or $18.99, depending on page count. And that allows us to make them high-quality paperbacks. The covers are very good quality cardboard, they're substantial. The paper is lovely, and they're super easy to read. One of the problems with mass market paperbacks is that they have become illegible because everyone's trying to save money on ink and paper. So then they defeat their purpose. If you make them too cheap, you get forced into economizing and they lose their attraction and usability, the very things that makes them special.
Obviously, I want to buy all three! But if I had to choose, which should I start with?
The Magical Girl Retires is really fantastic. It's very short, it's got drawings. Basically, it's about a girl who is considering suicide, but a magical girl appears, and says: you can't commit suicide. You have to save the world. So she starts on this adventure and meets other girls and ultimately their magic is within them. So it's not superhero magic. Everybody's a magical girl. And then Almond is about a young boy finding his own place in the world--how you survive in the world and make it your own when you don't feel like you belong there, like it's not made for you. And The Tatami Galaxy is really wonderful--it goes back and retells the same story with different endings. It's also an anime. People were saying all the readers are into manga, in that space in the store. And this book says, I can't get them out of there, so I'm just going to go in and join them.
From their trim size to the styling and even the encouragement toward screen-free reading, these editions feel particularly suited to the new adult, Gen-Z reader. Was this intentional?
I always like to fish in a blue pond, so I thought, let's go where no one really is paying much attention. There's all of the deluxe editions, which are great, but they're a different thing because they've firmly established themselves and your expectation is for them to be a particular kind of fiction. They do show that readers are looking for beautifully produced books. Nomads feel very touchable. People have spent billions of dollars working out the technology for the iPhone, and we've all become used to always having something in our hands. So now you can put down your phone and pick up a Nomad.
I can see how this format can be a response to the outpouring of love for indie booksellers. I'm assuming there will be some fantastic displays?
Yes, and it has grown organically. It's fascinating to see how everybody has embraced it. Who knew everybody was looking for something new in this way?
Well, I guess Judith Curr did.
It's true. --Sara Beth West