One of the questions about Alice Schroeder’s authorized book about Warren Buffett, SNOWBALL, was always whether Buffett would participate in the promotion of the project. (Final bidders in the presumed $7 million-plus auction met with him in Omaha before the deal was sealed.) Bantam publisher Irwyn Applebaum acknowledges that no promises were made on that front. He tells the WSJ: “He gave her access to his contacts, his friends and the opportunity to get to know him better than any other writer, which is what makes the book so outstanding.” He added, “Would we love to have Warren Buffett doing […]
CIA Responds to Suskind
The CIA has felt it necessary to issue a press release in response to charges made in Ron Suskind’s THE WAY OF THE WORLD–keeping it in the news cycle. One of their denials only reasserts how wrong the Agency was on Iraq to begin with: “Suskind also alleges that the United States knew before the start of hostilities with Iraq that Saddam Hussein had no stockpiles of WMD. That, too, is both false and wrong. False because the Intelligence Community assessed that Saddam Hussein had such weapons. Wrong because it implies the Community chose to ignore information of which it […]
BN Continuing to Develop Digital Products
In yesterday’s conference call following their earnings reports, BN ceo Steve Riggio answered an analyst’s question about the chain’s plans for new technology and the marketplace: “We began selling digital magazines earlier this year on the website. We’re very encouraged by what we’re seeing there and like with all new strategic developments of any type, we will announce it on the day that we launch but we can’t really make any further comments on anything that we will be doing or might be doing, it’s just so highly strategic…. We do not believe that eBooks is the total universe of […]
Big Comp Drop at Books-A-Million
Putting Barnes & Noble’s results in context–and perhaps showing how deep the weakness in the consumer book market is running–Books-A-Million reported a same-store sales drop of 10.4 percent for their second quarter, on sales of $122.8 million. Income declined even more, with the company recording just $645,000, compared with net income of $3.1 million a year ago. CEO Sandra Cochran notes in the release: “Very challenging macro economic trends and tough comparisons to last year due to the record-breaking sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows led to disappointing comparable store sales for the quarter.”Release
Caro on His Final LBJ Book
With the centennial of Lydon Baines Johnson’s birthday approaching, author Robert Caro discusses his fourth, final and “very long” book on LBJ with the AP: “The historian says he has completed the opening section of his fourth LBJ book, filling hundreds of pages just to tell of Johnson’s brief, unhappy vice presidency under John Kennedy, concluding with Johnson being sworn in as president after Kennedy’s assassination… He is reluctant to reveal details, but says the Kennedys will be ‘more than characters; they are protagonists in this book.’ “Caro tells of the 1960 presidential election, when Johnson and John Kennedy battled […]
Molly Friedrich Interviewed
Jofie Ferrari-Adler interviews agent Molly Friedrich as the latest in his series for Poets & Writers Magazine. “I don’t think I can adequately convey the whirlwind of charm, passion, and sheer personal magnetism that Friedrich has spent the last three decades unleashing on the publishing world in service of her clients.” Some excerpts: Q: Did you like doing publicity?A: In my opinion, the two jobs that are the most exhausting in this business are the jobs of the foreign scout and the publicist. The reason is that there is never an end to the job. If you’re a scout, there […]