The other political memoir attracting attention this week is Meghan McCain’s just-released Dirty Sexy Politics. Stories focus on her GMA appearance rather than the text of the book itself, where she was queried about her comments on Sarah Palin, whom she apparently calls The Time Bomb. George Stephanopoulos said “you write that she brought, quote, ‘drama, stress, panic and loads of uncertainty.'” He also paraphrased: “You said there are a lot of things you like about Sarah Palin, but you also point out that she snubbed your mom’s efforts to reach out to the Palins, that she wasn’t much of […]
New Releases/Forthcoming
Film Partner Will Help Promote Sparks’ New Novel, Well in Advance of Any Movie Version
The WSJ reports on a promotional twist for Nicholas Spark’s September release SAFE HAVEN. Film rights licensee Relatively Media will promote the book, even though they won’t have a film version ready until late next year at the earliest. Plans include ads in US and Entertainment Weekly as well as “creating a social community” around the work and working with publisher Grand Central on a joint Facebook page for the new novel. (Relativity’s Facebook community for their successful DEAR JOHN movie adaptation has over 2 million enrolled fans.) It’s in Relativity’s interest to nurture interest in the work, though the […]
20 Books for Fall
NY Magazine also lists their 20 “most anticipated” fall books: 1. Our Tragic Universe, by Scarlett Thomas2. Zero History, by William Gibson3. The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women, by James Ellroy4. Ape House, by Sara Gruen5. C, by Tom McCarthy6. Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl, by Donald Sturrock7. Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, by Danielle Evans8. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, trans. Lydia Davis9. Untitled on the Obama Administration, by Bob Woodward10. By Nightfall, by Michael Cunningham11. Nemesis, by Philip Roth12. Great House, by Nicole Krauss13. Mourning Diary, by Roland Barthes14. How to Read the […]
USA Today Rails Against Rhonde Byrne’s “Crackpot Theories”
Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books is counting on solid sales for Rhonda Byrne’s THE POWER as noted yesterday, but with today’s release media skepticism about the book’s message is rising. USA Today takes an unusually aggressive position for the paper, with Deirde Donahue deriding Byrne’s “crackpot theories about finance.” Calling the book “a novel solution to our money woes,” the basic message, as Byrne writes, is that “it’s the attractive force of love that moves all the money in the world, and whoever is giving love by feeling good is a magnet for money.” Donahue cites “creepy element[s]” that include […]
Hoping for Some Sales Power
The Secret author Rhonda Byrne’s new book THE POWER may be more important for Simon & Schsuter than the so-called “besieged book world,” but with 924,000 pre-orders for this Tuesday’s release strong sales would certainly be welcomed by retailers. As the WSJ reports, Atria has delayed the ebook release, supposedly for some “fine tuning.” Unfortunately Byrne will not be doing television interviews in support of the book–so Atria has prepared a campaign of TV ad spots instead. The article also mentions what may be August’s most-anticipated release, the laydown of Suzanne Collins’ MOCKINGJAY on the 24th.WSJ Crain’s offers a sweeping-if-not-particularly-specific […]
Book Trends
USA Today has already run two interesting pieces this week. Today they highlight the just-releasing August Indie Next pick THE TOWER, THE ZOO, AND THE TORTOISE by Julia Stuart from Doubleday as “earning comparisons to the surprise 2008 best seller The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.” R.J. Julia Booksellers buyer Karen Corvello says “It’s a front-runner for my most beloved book of the fall. The only difficulty I had was deciding which character I loved the best.” Other booksellers call it “whimsical,” “charming” and “gentle.”USAT Yesterday the paper offered a long feature on the non-stop rise of inspirational […]