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Sarah Palin Could Land $7 Million Book Deal

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:40:00 EST

Alaska governor Sarah Palin could recieve up to a $7 million advance for a memoir.

After she spent the last few weeks talking to just about any camera put in front of her, it should come as no surprise that former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is moving closer to inking a book deal. Just how much could the Alaska governor make from putting pen to paper? About $7 million, according to some estimates. Sound like a lot? Not necessarily, says one literary insider.

"Bill Clinton made more than $10 million when he signed his deal in 2001 and that was the most for a former president," says the source. "Sarah brings something different to the table - there is so much curiosity surrounding her and her life. If they move fast and get this thing on shelves, then a $7 million advance could be worth it." As if there wasn't enough proof already that Palin has achieved full pop-culture phenom status, consider this: Paparazzi photos of the governor have surfaced. In the photos, which have popped up online, Palin is pictured lounging poolside (in T-shirt and shorts) doing, well, nothing.

It's true. When the paparazzi aim their long lenses at someone who's just hanging out in shorts and a t-shirt, that person is officially a celebrity. $7 million seems a bit high to us, unless she's willing to really dish the dirt. That seems most unlikely.

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BlueWater Launches Michelle Obama Comic

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:15:00 EST

Michelle Obama will be the subject of the latest chapter of Bluewater Productions' comic book series called "Female Force.". The comic will follow Michelle Obama, a Princeton- and Harvard-educated lawyer, from her youth on the South Side of Chicago to her community, civic service and private-sector career successes through the 2008 presidential campaign and election day. It is scheduled for release in April 2009.

"Mrs. Obama is a dynamic force and one of the most influential women in the world," said Bluewater Productions President Darren G. Davis. "Her potential influence on future policy decisions makes her a fascinating figure to feature."

"In creating an image of our new first lady, Michelle Obama, it was my goal to represent her class, beauty and intelligence," said artist Vinnie Tartamella. "I hope I reflected these qualities and characteristics in this historical piece. I'm truly honored to have been asked to create this."

This political comic series started with Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Sarah Palin comics. The company has also made comics featuring Barack Obama and John McCain. Earlier this year IWD Publishing created comics for John McCain and Barack Obama. (via Newsarama)

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Cornelia Funke Moves to Little, Brown

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:15:00 EST

Cornelia Funke, author of the bestselling Inkheart series, just signed a multi-book deal with Little, Brown. She was formerly with Scholastic in the U.S.

"Cornelia Funke is that rare breed of writer in the tradition of the master storytellers from the Brothers Grimm and Charles Dickens to Roald Dahl and Philip Pullman," said Megan Tingley, senior v-p and publisher at Little, Brown BFYR, in a statement. "We are honored to be the new U.S. publishing home of this magnificent talent."

Tingley and editorial director Jennifer Hunt, who will edit Funke, have acquired North American rights for a publishing program that will include middle-grade and young adult novels, as well as a picture book. Funke's first title with Little, Brown will be the novel Reckless, about two modern brothers in a magical 19th century world reminiscent of Grimm's fairy tales. Reckless is tentatively scheduled for 2010 publication and will be followed by the middle-grade novel The Knight and the Boy.

That is quote a coup for Little, Brown. Cornelia is hot, hot hot.

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Michael Crichton's Next Book May Be Canceled

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:00:00 EST

USA Today reports that Michael Crichton's next book, which was scheduled for release in spring of 2009, has been canceled because of the author's recent death.

Before Michael Crichton died last week from cancer at age 66, he had begun writing another novel. But its status remains a mystery. Until the day his death was announced, online bookseller Amazon listed an untitled Crichton novel scheduled to be released in May. "We checked with the publisher, and that book had been canceled," Amazon's Tammy Hovey says. "So it was removed from the site." Crichton's publisher, HarperCollins, won't confirm that it has been canceled. Crichton's last novel, Next (2006), imagined a legal battle over who owns cancer-fighting cells taken from a man fighting leukemia. It peaked at No. 2 at USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list.

If HarperCollins won't confirm that the book is canceled, that means that the publisher isn't sure how far along Crichton was in the manuscript and is most likely trying to see if there is a way to get it into a publishable state, perhaps with another author to help out. Stay tuned on this one.

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Anne Kornblut Writing Hillary Clinton Book

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:40:00 EST

Anne Kornblut of The Washington Post is writing a book about Hillary Clinton to be called, Rejection: Why America Isn't Ready For a Woman President. Crown will publish the book.

The book was acquired for a sum in the mid-six figures by editor Sean Desmond in a deal that was brokered by the Endeavor Talent Agency's Richard Abate.

Ms. Kornblut's is the first of what is sure to be many post-election books, a category that is so far known to include titles from Newsweek, Media Matters' Eric Boehlert, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, and Ms. Kornblut's Post colleagues Haynes Johnson and Dan Balz.

Those who were hoping that the election was over will be disappointed at the barrage of post-election analysis books that will be hitting bookshelves soon. But political junkies will snap them up. Brace yourselves: Mike Huckabee has already been to Iowa in anticipation of the 2012 election.

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Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children Headed to the Silver Screen

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST

Salman Rushdie's classic book, Midnight's Children, is finally going to be made into a movie.

Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie's panoramic 1981 allegory of the birth of modern India, is heading for the big screen. Deepa Mehta is to direct and co-write the adaptation with the author, and the film is expected to start production in 2010, it was announced in New York yesterday.

Rushdie's novel, which has been selected twice as the best-ever Booker prize winner, is widely regarded as one of the premier literary works of the latter half of the 20th century and is required reading on most university syllabuses. Often associated with another masterpiece of magic realism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, the story begins with the birth of Saleem Sinai at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the moment India became independent. Far from a picaresque Everyman, Saleem discovers he shares special powers with every other person born in the same hour and comes to see himself as the incarnation of India, an avatar of the nation. With its bravura mix of historical events and inventive flights of fancy, the 650-page novel has long been seen as unfilmable.

Reached at home in Toronto, Mehta rejected any such concerns. "If I was doing it myself it would be rather daunting," she said. "The fact that we like and respect each other is a good foundation for collaboration."

The pair will begin writing the screen adaptation in mid-March, with Rushdie and Mehta's partner, David Hamilton, acting as co-producers. Hamilton said he had had preliminary discussions with two Hollywood studios, both of which were keen to see the fruits of the Rushdie-Mehta pairing. But, he added, the script would dictate the ultimate response.

We can't even imagine how they're going to translate the story into a screenplay. But we'll certainly be interested to see what they come up with.

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Falling in Love With the Kindle

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST

Virginia Heffernan of The New York Times finally falls in love with the Kindle ebook reader. It's not pretty. But it's great for people who travel, read a lot of books and yet don't want to carry a lot of books with them. And it's not a phone, so no one keeps calling you as you're trying to read.

In short, you get absorbed when reading on the Kindle. You lose hours to reading novels in one sitting. You sit up straighter, energized by new ideas and new universes. You nod off, periodically, infatuated or entranced or spent. And yet the slight connection to the Web still permits the (false, probably, but nonetheless reassuring) sense that if the apocalypse came while you were shut away somewhere reading, the machine would get the news from Amazon.com and find a way to let you know. Anything short of that, though, the Kindle leaves you alone.

And alone is where I want to be, for now. It's bliss. Emerge from the subway or alight from a flight, and the Kindle has no news for you. No missed calls. It's ready only to be read. It's like a good exercise machine that mysteriously incentivizes the pursuit of muscle pain while still making you feel cared for. The Kindle makes you want to read, and read hard, and read prolifically. It eventually makes me aware that, compared with reading a lush, inky book, checking e-mail is boring, workaday and lame.

Version 2.0 of the Kindle isn't coming out anytime soon, so new purchasers can be reasonably sure that Amazon.com won't pull a Steve Jobs on them and roll out a new model just after you've bought one. You can see the Kindle in all its glory at Amazon.com.

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Obama's Book Sales Soar After Presidential Win

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST

Barack Obama was elected the 44th American president last night. Today, book sales have soared for the President Elect's two books, Dreams from My Father (#10 on Amazon.com) and The Audacity of Hope (#1 on Amazon.com).

President Elect Obama probably won't be writing any more books for awhile: he's got a very busy schedule ahead of him.

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Barnes and Noble Braces for Terrible Holiday Sales

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:00:00 EST

Barnes and Noble is bracing for a terrible holiday season because of the recession.

In a memo sent to employees last week, Barnes & Noble chairman Len Riggio said with the retail environment the worst he has ever seen as a bookseller, the nation's largest bookstore chain is "bracing for a terrible holiday, and expect[s] the trend to continue well into 2009, and perhaps beyond." The release of the memo was first reported this afternoon by the Wall Street Journal.

*****

While Riggio said he still expects B&N to post a "decent profit" this year, the difficult financial environment means the retailer will need to be even more diligent with expense controls, inventory management and capital expenditures. B&N will continue to invest in its systems, but new store openings will be curtailed and discretionary spending "cut to the bone," Riggio wrote. In its second quarter report, B&N said it was reducing new store openings in 2009 to 20 to 25, down from its usual openings of 30 to 35 stores.

All retailers are issuing similar, gloomy statements about projected earnings during the holidays. Although really, books make a great gift and they are certainly cheaper than electronics.

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Jonas Brothers Meet Walter the Farting Dog

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 21:00:00 EST

Walter the Farting Dog is headed to the big screen. And the Jonas Brothers will be there with him.

"Walter the Farting Dog," the movie, will feature the Jonas Brothers, the pop music, heartthrob trio that has attracted a legion of teenage fans - most of them girls. "It's been amazing," Murray said Wednesday from his home in Fredericton, still somewhat stunned by the global phenomenon Walter has become.

Since it was first published in 2001, the book and its four sequels have sold millions of copies worldwide. Murray says the stories grew out of a brief but hilarious tale his longtime friend and co-author William Kotzwinkle once told about meeting a dog in the 1970s whose farts were so objectionable that he cleared an entire stationery store in Fredericton.

The movie will be produced by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the slightly warped duo who also created "Dumb and Dumber" and "There's Something about Mary." The screenplay will be written by Alec Sokolow ("Toy Story," "Garfield") and Joel Cohen ("No Country For Old Men," "Fargo," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?").

The young Jonas brothers - Kevin, Joe, Nick and the youngest brother, Frankie - will be making their feature film debut as a musical group that has to adopt the gassy canine when their aunt dies. Murray says he still can't believe that a story about a chronically flatulent dog could become such a media sensation.

Will young girls sit through two hours of dog fart jokes just to see the Jonas Brothers. All signs point to...Yes. So long as they don't make it in Smellavision.

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Google Pays $125 Million to Settle Copyright Lawsuit

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

Google is paying $125 million to settle the lawsuit brought against it by publishers and authors over Google's plans to digitize every book on the planet without first getting permission from the copyright holders.

The agreement, which is still subject to approval from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, will see Google paying out $125m in total, of which a minimum of $45m will go to authors and publishers whose books were digitised without their approval. Google will also pay $34.5m to establish a book rights registry, and will cover legal fees.

Authors Guild president Roy Blount Jr said the deal made "good sense". "As an author, well, we appreciate payment when people use our work," he said. "It's hard work writing a book, and even harder work getting paid for it."

The agreement follows outrage from American publishers and authors three years ago, when they learnt of agreements struck by Google with certain American universities to scan books which were still in copyright, which would then be digitised and searchable online. American authors' body the Authors Guild led the charge against the search engine, filing suit in September 2005 along with a number of authors.

Under the terms of the agreement, US readers will be able to preview up to 20% of most out-of-print books for free, with authors and rights holders of in-copyright but out of print works able to opt out of the arrangement if they choose.

For in-copyright books that are still in print, readers will be able to find the books, but will not be able to view any portion of it unless its publisher has signed up to Google's partner programme.

This is a good outcome for everyone involved. Authors get paid for their work and consumers have wider access to books.

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John Lithgow Talks Children's Books

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

John Lithgow talks to Harry Smith about his new children's book, I Got Two Dogs. This is Lithgow's eighth children's book. Robert Neubecker is the book's illustrator. Lithgow says this book skews younger than his previous children's book. He sings part of the song from the book in the clip below. Lithgow is still busy in acting and theatre as well - he is currently working with Katie Holmes on Broadway.

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Sam Ita Shares Pop-up Secrets

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:50:00 EST

Here's a video that show how paper engineer Sam Ita created part of his pop-up book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at his studio in Brooklyn, New York. The pop-up book looks amazing. (via Boing Boing)

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Doubleday Lays Off Ten Percent of Workforce

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

Doubleday Publishing has laid off 10% of its workforce.

The group, which is owned by Bertelsmann, the German media group, laid off people from its editorial, publicity, advertising, marketing and administrative staffs. "It's not a great year," said David Drake, a Doubleday spokesman. "We've had a lot of best sellers, but does that translate into the numbers that we need and that everyone is looking for? Obviously not."

Mr. Drake said the decision was not related to the delay in the delivery of the next novel by Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, the blockbuster best seller published in 2003. Back in 2004, Doubleday said the target release date for the next book was 2005, but Mr. Brown has yet to deliver a manuscript. Sales from even a single title - if it is as significant as The Da Vinci Code - can make a substantial difference to a publisher's sales.

Nevertheless, "the changes we've made are quite separate from anything to do with Dan Brown," Mr. Drake said.

And speaking of Dan Brown, we've heard rumors that The Solomon Key is nearing completion. Angels and Demons will come out as a feature film in May, 2009 -- we're thinking that would be a logical release date.

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Rupert Murdoch Furious at First Draft of Wolff's Bio

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

Rupert Murdoch is reportedly quite unhappy with the first draft of Michael Wolff's new book about him. Murdoch, perhaps unwisely, allowed Wolff access to him and his life. Now the book's revelations have Murdoch hopping mad.

Now, with about six weeks to go before publication, Mr. Murdoch has raised objections with Mr. Wolff and his publisher about portions of the book, titled The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch, that suggest that Mr. Murdoch is at times embarrassed by Fox News, which he owns, and its chief executive, Roger Ailes, and that he often shares "the general liberal apoplexy," as Mr. Wolff writes in the book, toward Fox News and its perceived conservative slant.

In early October Mr. Murdoch obtained an early draft of the book, despite a tight embargo on the manuscript, and has raised objections with Doubleday, a division of Random House, about what he said were inaccuracies in the way Mr. Wolff describes relations between Mr. Murdoch and two of his top executives - Mr. Ailes and Peter Chernin, the president of News Corporation.

"I'm obviously annoyed that they're looking at an early version of the book, and a purloined one at that," Mr. Wolff said in an interview. "In essence News Corp. is holding stolen goods."

Wolff says he has all the interviews on tape and that it's all true. These guys never learn. When a Bob Woodward or Michael Wolff say they want to do a book on you, so can they have access to your life, you say "thanks, but no thanks." Because those guys always find out what you're hiding. And that's what makes their books so much fun to read.

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David Cronenberg Writing a Novel

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

Director David Cronenberg is writing a novel. Best known for his film The Fly, Videodrome and A History of Violence, Cronenberg is known for his distinctive style of moviemaking. So what will his book be about? He's not saying. But publishers have snapped it up anyway.

The moviemaker, who was attending the Rome Film Festival on Thursday, said he has written 60 pages of a novel, but besides ruling out that it would be a

horror or science fiction, offered few details on the project. "Based on the pages I have written we found publishers all over the world, which is very terrifying to me," Cronenberg told reporters. "It's at a very delicate phase right now, so I can't really talk about it. It's not like Stephen King, I don't know what it's like but you wouldn't call it a horror or science fiction novel at all. But what it is exactly, well, I don't know yet."

We'll be quite interested to see what he comes up with. One thing is for sure: it will be intense.

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Kindle 2.0 Launch Delayed

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

Publisher's Weekly reports that the much-anticipated second version of the Kindle ebook reader isn't coming out for quite awhile.

CFO Tom Szkutak said that while sales of the Kindle have exceeded expectations, it does not plan to release a new version of the e-reader until 2009 "at the earliest." He noted that Amazon has ramped up manufacturing capacity for Kindle, and the device is in stock. When the Kindle was introduced last November, the readers quickly went out of stock. Amazon said the e-book reader now accounts for more than 10% of unit sales for books that are available both in digital and print formats. Bezos said purchase of e-books is "additive" to sales of print books with Kindle e-book buyers tending to buy as many print books in addition to e-books.

So no new Kindle for Christmas. That is a major bummer.

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Jose Conseco is Sorry for Writing Tell All Book

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

After all the drama and the legal entanglements, Jose Conseco now regrets writing his bestselling tell-all book, Juiced.

"During the A&E Network's one-hour documentary, "Jose Canseco: The Last Shot," Canseco said he "regrets mentioning players [as steroid users]. I never realized this was going to blow up and hurt so many people."

During the program, the 44-year-old Canseco said he "wanted revenge" on Major League Baseball because he believed he had been forced out of the game. The book was his means of getting even, and he named names "to show I was telling the truth" about steroids in baseball, he said.

Canseco also said he wishes he could apologize to players he named in his book, like Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

"If I could meet with Mark McGwire and these players, I definitely would apologize to them," Canseco said, according to the New York Daily News. "They were my friends. I admired them. I respected them."

Now he's sorry? It's a bit late for that, we're thinking.

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Financial Crisis Spurs Book Sales

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

In the midst of the financial crisis, book sales are up, especially books about finance, investing and how the wealthy made their fortunes.

Borders Group Inc, the second largest U.S. bookseller, and Amazon, the world's largest Web retailer, both said they had seen a recent trend toward finance books, from biographies of key players to books about past financial crises.

"People are really thirsting for knowledge and trying to understand what's happening out there and how we could have gotten to this point in the economy," said Kathryn Popoff, Borders vice president for adult trade books.

"We don't see the book sales really concentrated in one or two titles, we're seeing it spread out across multiple titles, which leads me to believe that people are trying to figure out the different components of what's going on," she said.

"The Snowball," the first authorized biography of billionaire Warren Buffett -- an investment guru whose company, Berkshire Hathaway, invested a total $8 billion in Goldman Sachs and General Electric Co -- has been a bestseller since its release earlier this month.

The Snowball is currently #4 on the Amazon.com bestseller list.

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J.K. Rowling to Launch Beedle the Bard at Tea Party

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

J.K. Rowling will officially launch The Tales of Beedle the Bard at a tea party for Edinburgh school children.

The book, published on December 4, marks Rowling's farewell to the world of Harry Potter. Not originally intended for mass market publication, Rowling initially handwrote and illustrated six editions of the book as personal gifts last year, with the seventh acquired by Amazon at auction for £1.95m.

Known to fans as the book which Albus Dumbledore left to Hermione Granger in Rowling's final Potter novel, The Tales of Beedle the Bard contains clues which helped Harry Potter in his mission to destroy Lord Voldemort. Only one of its five stories, The Tale of the Three Brothers, was recounted in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: the remaining four, The Fountain of Fair Fortune, The Warlock's Hairy Heart, The Wizard and the Hopping Pot and Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump, have not been seen before.

Rowling has waived her royalties for the book, with net proceeds from the sale to go to the charity she co-founded, The Children's High Level Group, which works with vulnerable children in eastern Europe.

We wonder if she'll change her mind about writing more in the Potterverse. Whatever she writes next, it will definitely sell.

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Starbucks Chooses The Traveler

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

The latest book that Starbucks will feature in its stores is The Traveler by Daniel and Daren Simkin.

Starbucks has made an unexpected choice for the latest title in its book program, the illustrated fable The Traveler. Written and illustrated by two brothers and first-time authors, Daniel and Daren Simkin, The Traveler will bow from FSG and Starbucks Entertainment in November; it will be in bookstores on November 25 and in over 7,000 Starbucks stores on November 28.

The book, which is a hybrid title--it's fully illustrated and follows a boy named Charlie who goes on a soul-searching mission to find a better way to spend his time--was being pitched by the publisher as an "adult fable." Drawing comparisons to The Little Prince any difficulty FSG might have had in placing the book with the right readership will now be alleviated by the Starbucks endorsement.

The Traveler scored a blurb from Gore Vidal who called it "an instant illumination." The book is available for pre-order from Amazon.com.

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Publishers Snapping Up Books About Financial Crisis

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

At the Frankfurt Book Fair publishers snapped up more books about the credit crisis.

Viking have signed the former stockbroker turned writer Seth Freedman for "an insider account of greed, corruption and excess in the City", due next April. A mix of memoir, reportage and interviews, Viking hopes it will reveal the extent to which risking millions every day can be addictive, as well as explaining the inner workings of the market from short selling to bonds swaps.

Editorial director Joel Rickett paid what he described as a "healthy five-figure sum" for the book, and has also swooped on the Wall Street Journal columnist Gregory Zuckerman's account of hedge fund supremo John Paulson's $15bn (£9bn) bet against the housing bubble. "Obviously every publisher is now scrambling for finance and business books - these are areas that have been under-served for many years," said Rickett.

Random House have also signed up the Dragon's Den entrepreneur Deborah Meaden, with a book of business advice and anecdotes due next April. "We've definitely seen a lot of financial submissions coming through," said Headline deputy managing director Kerr MacRae, speaking at the Headline stand just before the day's deluge of meetings began. "We've made a couple of offers. They didn't go our way [but] we are updating our book City Boy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile, which has done really well - he's become the talking head for the City, and is writing a whole new chapter for us." Published earlier this year, this account of life in the City from the formerly anonymous newspaper columnist Geraint Anderson now looks eerily prescient.

Unfortunately, the current recession won't be ending anytime soon according to most financial experts. But we can read about how it all went wrong.

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National Book Awards Finalists Announced

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

The National Book Award finalists were announced today. The winners will be announced on November 19, 2008. The Fiction Award Finalists are:

Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project (Riverhead)

Rachel Kushner, Telex from Cuba (Scribner)

Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country (Modern Library)

Marilynne Robinson, Home (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Salvatore Scibona, The End (Graywolf Press)

You can see the entire list here.

You can see the announcement of all the finalists by bestselling author Scott Turow in this video (he shows up at around the 1:43 mark).

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King Siblings Fighting Over Lucrative Book Deal

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:40:00 EST

The children of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King are battling in court over the rights to Coretta's personal papers. The papers are the key to getting a lucrative new book deal.

Rev. Bernice King, Martin Luther King III and Dexter King have looked more like adversaries than siblings in recent months. The surviving three King children are involved in three lawsuits. Dexter King, as the head of his father's estate, is seeking his mother's papers, which are currently in his sister's possession. Bernice King is refusing to turn over the papers, claiming her mother did not want to participate in the US $1.4-million book deal.

New York-based Penguin Group is threatening to pull the deal this week without the documents. Speaking to reporters outside of the Fulton County Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon, Dexter King said he was saddened by the family feud. "This is not in the spirit of our parents," he said. "It's not the way we were raised. It's just very disheartening." Dexter King called the legal action between him and his siblings unfortunate, but said that he was not the instigator.

The siblings do not speak, except through their lawyers. What a shame that Coretta's papers have triggered a family feud. We hope they can work it out.

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The New Inkheart Trailer is Here

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

Cornelia Funke's bestselling book Inkheart is now a feature film starring Helen Mirren and Brendan Frasier which will be released in January, 2009. The trailer is now out, and it looks quite good. Take a look:

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Anti-Obama Author Arrested in Kenya, Deported

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

American journalist and author Jerome Corsi, who wrote a bestselling book critical of Barack Obama, was arrested by Kenyan police while on his way to a book signing. He was immediately deported.

Jerome Corsi arrived in the country last week to promote The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, an error-riddled book that recently became a bestseller in the US. It falsely claims that Obama, who is revered in Kenya, was raised as a Muslim, and smears the prime minister, Raila Odinga, the country's most popular politician.

Corsi had said that he also planned to deliver a $1,000 (£570) cheque from a conservative website owner to George Obama, the presidential candidate's half-brother who lives in the Kenyan capital's Huruma slum. But by widely publicising his itinerary, Corsi, whether intentionally or not, attracted government attention. Immigration police detained him at a luxury hotel which was due to host the book launch yesterday.

Ministry officials, denying the book had anything to do with the arrest, said Corsi had failed to obtain a temporary work permit. He was later taken to Jomo Kenyatta international airport, where he was expected to catch a flight to Europe.

You may remember Corsi as the co-author of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, a book which helped derail John Kerry's quest for the presidency. Corsi claimed that he was invited to Nairobi by missionaries concerned about the rise of Islam. We're thinking he should cross Kenya off the itinerary for his next book tour.

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Salman Rushdie Would Do it All Over Again

Wed, 8 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

Writing the The Satanic Verses nearly got Salman Rushdie killed: a fatwa was issued calling for his death, on the grounds that his book insulted Islam. He was forced into hiding in England for years, But Sir Salman says he's still not sorry for writing it.

The 61-year-old novelist said he had always tried to ask big questions about the role of the individual in history and society. "The question I'm always asking myself is: are we masters or victims? Do we make history or does history make us? Do we shape the world or are we just shaped by it?" Rushdie said in an interview published Wednesday.

He said the question of whether individuals acted with free will or were passive victims of events "is, I think, a great question and one that I have always tried to ask" in novels like "The Satanic Verses." "In that sense I wouldn't not have wanted to be the writer that asked it," he said.

The interview ran in The Times newspaper to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the novel's publication. "The Satanic Verses," Rushdie's fourth novel, referred to a legend about Muhammad being tricked by agents of the devil. It enraged some Muslims, was banned in India, burned by demonstrators in England and brought a death sentence for blasphemy from Iran's then-leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Good for him. We're glad he has never bowed down to extremist forces that want to censor his work.

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Jon Provost Discusses Life as Lassie Star

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 22:14:00 EST

Jon Provost has written a book about his life during and after the classic television series Lassie. Jon Provost played Timmy Martin on the show fifty years ago.

The book is called Timmy's in the Well: The Jon Provost Story. EW's PopWatch Blog asks, "Is 'Timmy's in the Well' the best celeb autobiography title ever?" They think it is and it is definitely a very clever title.

CBS's Harry Smith talked to Jon Provost. You can see the clip of the interview below. Provost said to get the job he had to spend three days living with Lassie. Lassie gave him "two paws up" and he got the job. Provost says they made over 250 half-hour episodes in the show's seven-year run. Jon Provost also has an official website here.

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Tina Fey Writing Humor Book

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

Tina Fey is writing a humor book.

According to two publishing officials with knowledge of the negotiations, Little, Brown and Company will release a book of humorous essays by the 38-year-old Fey. Her many writing credits include "30 Rock" and the "Saturday Night Live" sketch comedy series, as well as the feature film "Mean Girls."

Tina Fey won an Emmy for 30 Rock and has helped boost Saturday Night Live's ratings by 46% with her impersonation of Governor Sarah Palin. We're thinking her book will be a bestseller.

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Buzz Aldrin Writing His Memoirs

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is writing his memoirs.

Magnificent Desolation: The Long Road Home from the Moon will be published next year by Harmony Books, in time for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing.

"From the pinnacle of Apollo, my greatest challenge became the human one - overcoming alcoholism and living beyond depression - a challenge that required more courage and determination than going to the moon," Aldrin, 78, said in a statement issued Thursday by Harmony.

"I was 39 years of age, had achieved my grandest goal, and should have been on top of the world, but there were no roadmaps, and few signposts if any along the way that could lead me out of the quagmire into which I had tumbled. For 10 years, I floundered."

Aldrin wrote another book about his experiences in 1976. Aldrin has always been a bit press-shy, although in recent years, he has opened up, talking to Larry King Live about strange lights -- a possible UFO -- that he saw during the Apollo 11 mission. We wonder if he'll talk more about that in the new book.

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J.K. Rowling Best Paid Author in the World

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is now the best paid author in the world earning 3 million pounds a week. The BBC says this works out to five pounds each second. She's come a long way financially. When she started writing Harry Potter she was a struggling single mother. You can read a feature about J.K. Rowling's life here.

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LOLCat Book Out Later This Month

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 21:00:00 EST

The LOLcats meme which combines adorable cat pictures with bad kitty grammar is moving to book form. The book called I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun will hit stores on October 7th. LOLcats are pretty easy to find online at the icanhascheezburger.com website and elsewhere so it is unclear whether the internet sensation will translate into print book sales. t It may generate sales if people decide to gift the book for the holidays. The daily calendar format would probably work much better for the lolcats.

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Financial Crisis Spawns Slew of Financial Books

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Publisher's Weekly reports that the current financial crisis has already spawned a slew of books.

Though the situation on Wall Street continues to unfold, there's already quite a crowded field of book proposals and sales stemming from the crisis--though oddly enough, several high-profile sales thus far have all ended up at Penguin imprints. Earlier this week, Roger Lowenstein sold a book called Six Days that Shook the World to Ann Godoff at Penguin Press, and yesterday Sorkin's colleague Joe Nocera sold world rights to a proposal co-written with Vanity Fair's Bethany McLean, co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room, to Adrian Zackheim at Penguin's Portfolio imprint; agent Liz Darhansoff's asking price during the auction for Nocera's and McLean's chronicle of the crisis was said to be more than $1 million.

As McCormick points out, there is room for a lot of different takes on the story; an apt comparison might be the number of books spawned by September 11, many of which glutted the marketplace around the one-year anniversary of the attacks. But some publishers aren't bidding on Wall Street-related projects at the moment, thinking it's too early and preferring to wait and see how the story plays out. "We were worreid about how many subjects can be published on this subject in a successful way," said one publisher who said he was 'inundated" by Wall Street proposals last week.

This story is a moving target. Until we see what kind of bailout is passed by Congress -- if a bailout bill is passed at all -- it's hard to predict what the true fallout will be. Of course, there will be lots of books placing blame for the current crisis. That's are always fun to read.

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Madeline's New Adventures in Rome

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Madeleine is about to have her first new adventure in fifty years. John Bemelmans Marciano, the grandson of the author of the original Madeline books, is carrying on the family tradition with the new book, Madeline and the Cats of Rome (Viking).

Since 1939, generations have cherished the old house in Paris covered in vines and the 12 little girls in two straight lines, including the smallest one with a can-do streak and a penchant for calamity. But why tamper with a character so endearing? "I had always thought, 'Boy, it's never going to go away,' but classics do fade," said the 38-year-old Marciano, who lives in Brooklyn and spent years studying the drawing technique of his grandfather, Ludwig Bemelmans, for his "Madeline and the Cats of Rome."

Marciano, who's touring to promote the recent release, is far from a newbie children's writer, with three books on other subjects to his credit. In fact, he's not even a newbie "Madeline" purveyor. While sifting through Ludwig's personal papers for his acclaimed tribute book about his grandfather's life and work, Marciano discovered unfinished text and pencil drawings that led him to illustrate and complete the story for "Madeline in America" in 1999. He also turned Madeline into a good-etiquette advocate in "Madeline Says Merci" and created a rhyming board book featuring the spunky French redhead in "Madeline Loves Animals."

But "Madeline and the Cats of Rome" is the first full-length story book using the character. In it, Marciano sends teacher Ms. Clavel and the girls on vacation. Once in Rome, there's petty crime, a curly haired antagonist turned do-gooder and a creaky old house full of cats.

Some reviews have been good and some have been brutal. Publisher's Weekly was really negative saying "Awkward syntax and forced rhymes abound. The joy and brio of the original books go missing." But Madeline fans aren't listening to the critics. The book is available at Amazon.com and bookstores everywhere.

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Patrick Ness Wins Guardian's Children's Book Prize

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST

The Guardian's Children's Fiction Prize was awarded to Patrick Ness, author of The Knife of Never Letting Go, about a world where thoughts are audible.

Chair of judges and Guardian children's books editor Julia Eccleshare said the panel of judges, made up of children's authors Mary Hoffman, Mal Peet and last year's winner Jenny Valentine, were blown away by the "breathtaking quality" of Ness's writing. "It's challenging but not bleak - an excitingly different book," she added.

The Knife of Never Letting Go traces the journey of 12-year-old Todd Hewitt after he is forced to flee the stifling male-only environs of Prentisstown, where the thoughts of each inhabitant, man and beast, are a never-ending swell of Noise. With only his singularly chatty dog Manchee ("Need a poo, Todd") and the mysteriously silent Viola for company, Todd fights to survive and to learn the dark secrets behind Prentisstown's facade.

Ness said he was "genuinely astonished" to win. "I think it was a super-strong shortlist. Before I Die is a huge hit, Frank is a great writer, and I'm reading Siobhan Dowd now, it's really great and I kind of thought she would win."

A corporate writer at a cable company in the US until he was made redundant and used the payoff to set up as a novelist in the UK, Ness has previously written a novel, The Crash of Hennington, and a short story collection, Topics About Which I Know Nothing, both for adults. He turned to children's fiction after he had the idea of a world where information overload is inescapable, and knew it was a book for teenagers.

Talk about your happy endings -- from being downsized to winning the Guardian's Childrens' Book Prize. Now he has an entirely different future ahead of him.

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Brisingr Sells 550,000 Copies in First Day of Release

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST

Brisingr, the third book in the bestselling Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini sold 550,000 copies in its first day of release.

It was the highest opening ever for a Random House children's book, but far below the 8.3 million copies in the United States alone for the launch of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," and the 1.3 million for Stephenie Meyer's "Breaking Dawn," released at midnight on Aug. 2.

There is one more book in the series. We've got our copy and will start reading it this week. Brisinger is available at a nice discount from Amazon.com.

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Harlequin Launches Nonfiction Imprint

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Harlequin has launched its new nonfiction imprint with the release of Love Matters: Remarkable Stories That Touch the Heart and Nourish the Soul by nighttime radio host Delilah. It is the first book in the new imprint.

Michelle Blankenship, who recently joined Harlequin as publicity manager for the imprint, said lots of media has been lined up for the Sept. 30 launch, including an Oct. 1 Today Show appearance. Delilah will also be talking about the book, which features stories from her listeners, on her show. The second nonfiction title, Safe Passage: The True Story of Two Sisters Who Saved Jews from the Nazis, will be released as a trade paperback in November. The title was originally released by Morrow in the 1950s, and has a new foreword by Jewish scholar Ann Sebba who will help promote the title.

The new imprint will publish books in several categories, including memoirs and self help. Bestselling romance author Debbie Macomber is contributing a cookbook for the 2009 line up.

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J.K. Rowling Wins 2008 Edinburgh Award

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST

J.K. Rowling was honored in Edinburgh, the place where she wrote Harry Potter. She's the city's favorite author.

Judges said Friday that Rowling was the unanimous choice to receive the 2008 Edinburgh Award, in recognition of her contributions to Scotland's capital. Rowling said she was honoured.

"Edinburgh is very much home for me and is the place where Harry evolved over seven books and many, many hours of writing in its cafes," Rowling said. "So much has happened to me both professionally and personally since I moved here nearly 15 years ago, that to receive this recognition is particularly meaningful and special."

Scottish author Ian Rankin won last year.

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Scholastic Pulls Plug on Bratz Dolls Books

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST

Scholastic has decided to pull the plug on the Bratz dolls books, because of complaints from parents that the dolls are too sexy for young children and promote an inappropriate message. An anti-Bratz dolls campaign sent over 5,000 complaining emails to Scholastic.

The largest distributor of children's books to Canadian schools has decided to yank all Bratz books from its roster after parents and psychologists complained that the controversial dolls promoted "precocious sexuality."

Scholastic Inc. distributes its products through school-based book fairs and clubs, selling books to students and teachers at discounted prices. But after a persuasive North American campaign spearheaded by the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the company has relented and pulled books and products featuring the popular Bratz dolls.

The company confirmed yesterday that its fall product line for schools no longer includes the Bratz brand -- a switch from last year, when Scholastic said the books appealed to "reluctant readers" and its job was to "offer materials that appeal to children where they are, not where we would like them to be."

The Bratz book line is a spinoff of MGA Entertainment Inc.'s top-selling fashion dolls, which have gained notoriety for their skimpy wardrobe of miniskirts, high-heel boots and feather boas. A New Yorker article about the powerhouse of marketing behind the brand described the appearance of the dolls as being akin to "kept girls," "pole dancers on their way to work at a gentlemen's club," and, most critically, wearing "the sly, dozy expression of a party girl after one too many mojitos."

We haven't run across the Bratz books, but we are certainly familiar with the dolls and other products. Many parents hate the dolls with a passion, so it's not surprising that this happened.

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Serena Williams Inks Deal With Grand Central Publishing

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Number one ranked tennis star Serena Williams has signed a deal with Grand Central Publishing to publish her memoirs in 2009. She's only 26.

"Serena Williams is one of the world's most remarkable athletes," Grand Central editor Karen Kosztolnyik said Tuesday in a statement. "We've watched her rise to No. 1 despite physical and emotional setbacks, and her hard work and determination have inspired legions of fans young and old. Serena will give her memoir a strong motivational slant."

Rumors say that the bidding between several major publishers went to at least $1.3 million. Serena has won nine Grand Slam titles and, with sister Venus Williams, won a gold medal in women's doubles at the recent Olympics in Beijing.

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