Crown has set a 1.5 million-copy first printing for George W. Bush’s memoir Decision Points, due out on November 9. There will also be an enhanced e-book edition featuring video highlights of Bush’s presidency, photographs not included in the hardcover book and personal correspondence.AP
New Releases/Forthcoming
Marcus Aligns with Open Road; Twilight Illustrated Guide for April, 2011; and More
Former president of Scholastic’s children’s book publishing and consultant Barbara Marcus has been working with Open Road as an adviser for children’s publishing and is in Frankfurt with the Open Road team. She “will help spearhead” their entrance into the children’s market as well as advise on international business development and general strategic issues. Her first acquisition is ebook editions of The Boxcar Children, the classic series that comprises 123 titles. The first 19 will be available for this Christmas; the balance of the line will come to market during 2011. Marcus says in the announcement, “I believe that Open […]
Shaffer’s Publisher Clarifies Government’s Role In Changing New Book
Publisher of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer’s just-released OPERATION DARK HEART Thomas Dunne Books has addressed the reports that began with the Department of Defense asking for changes in the book and have led recently to rumors of a Pentagon-sponsored burning of the first printing. “The true facts are that the government bought the first printing in its entirety and we destroyed and recycled those copies at their request,” Dunne writes. The changes made to the manuscript “were made at the request of the author,” Dunne says, after meeting with government officials to hear their concerns. He adds, “The Department of […]
New Books: Summers, and More 39 Clues
When Lawrence Summers leaves his position as director of the National Economic Council and returns to Cambridge at the beginning of next year, he is expected to start work right away on the first of two books he owes Farrar, Straus. Summers made a deal with Farrar in 2007 for books on education and economics. Originally planning to begin with the education book (following his controversial tenure as president of Harvard), the publisher tells us that he will now write about economics first. Scholastic announced a new version of their 39 Clues franchise, The 39 Clues; Cahills vs. Vespers. The […]
Books In the News: NYT Breaks Woodward, Questions for Betancourt
The NYT “obtained” an embargoed copy of Bob Woodward’s OBAMA’S WARS in advance of next week’s release–and serialization in the Washington Post. The Times leads with the theme that some of President Obama’s national security team has doubted his Afghanistan strategy and “spent much of the last 20 months quarreling with one another over policy, personalities and turf.” The Post followed with their own story, emphasizing even more explicitly than the Times that Obama wanted “to hand it off and get out of Afghanistan” rather than triple troop levels, “repeatedly pressing his top military advisers for an exit plan that […]
Two Off the Beaten Path Stories: Myhrvold Delays, Ali Experiments
Former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold’s lavish self-published six-volume cookbook MODERNIST CUISINE, listing for $625, has been eagerly anticipated by some foodies. In a blog posting earlier this week, Myhrvold explained to customers and fans that publication has been delayed and they will miss this Christmas, now looking for a publication date of March 14. It turns out book publishing is more complicated than it looks. The fundamental work of “proofreading and correction 2,400 pages…has been taking longer than we expected to complete.” They have also had to work out the kinks in shipping 40 pounds worth of book without damage: […]