The Publishing World Post #9: "The Good, The Bad, and the Poorly Chosen News"

The news I found this week seemed, more than ever, to resound with big names in the business. Last week, Ken Follett made headlines because his recently released World Wtihout End is on several best seller lists and because his upcoming trilogy The Century made was a hit in the rights market, including an American deal for $50 million. This week Oprah has immortalized Pillars of the Earth—one of my favorite books for a few reasons—and sealed his presence beyond the demand of mass market and pop fiction thrillers. I intend to supplement my Follet collection with not only the special edition of World, but a first edition of Pillars and the new Oprah book club paperback. Not that Follett needs the royalties. Doubleday signed Joe Torre for a co-authored book about his career (a memoir or an autobiography? Not much word yet) for an undisclosed amount of money. One can only assume that the “major acquisition” will be a profitable one. Following up with my article from last week, RDR Books offered to postpone publication of The Harry Potter Lexicon in light of the lawsuit brought by Rowling and Warner Bros. Since the preliminary injunction is set for Febuary 6^th, 2008, it’s likely that further stories won’t be released unless information about the evidence for or against Rowling’s case is leaked to the press. And seeing as though it’s JK Rowling we’re talking about, it’s highly likely that someone will sniff out a press-worthy rumor at the least. Also press worthy is a note that the hype about Harry Potter 8 is thus far disconnected from any official Rowling writing. If someone is writing James Pottera and the Hall of Elder’s Crossing, it’s not her. The speculation about Warner Bros’ involvement in the mysterious Australian Web site is still circulating in the broader web community. The New York Post ran a scandalous review of The Unsinkable Heather Mills that made enough waves to attract the notice of PW’s “Morning Report” yesterday. Apparently Post writer Cindy Adams found the biography’s manuscript amusing since she brushes over bits and pieces of Mills’s life with callus distain and brags about her personal involvement in publishing details about Mills’s and Paul McCartney’s 1999 wedding (The book does not tell how it was me, in a front-page N.Y. Post headline, who exclusively broke the news they were to be married in Ireland’s Castle Leslie—I even gave the menu and the setup—but I shall overlook that…”). I feel a bit sorry for Mills who seems to be the victim of her own interviews and self-assured vanity, but Adams’s article gave me a very bad taste in my mouth. I’ve heard of bad reviews, but this one barely bothers talking about the quality of the writing: she focuses on laying bare the sordid lows and materialistic highs of Mills’s life instead. Compared to the literary blog which some have said is merely inappropriate to carry the weight of the future of the book review, this article is proof that there are bigger forces to be dealt with. Newspapers—in print or online—shouldn’t be a venue for this kind of personal vendetta. And as for vendettas in the publishing world at large, none is more shocking than Judith Regan’s accusations against HarperCollins and News Corporation. Three major sources led me to the “facts” of Regan’s case: a PW article, a New York Times article, and a New-York-Times–published, 75-page .pdf file of Regan’s complaint. According to the PW article, the complaint “centers around Regan’s relationship with Bernard Kerik, former New York City police commissioner and close confidant of Rudolph Giuliani, Republican candidate for president.” Intrigued—since I had missed this connection in previous coverage of the drama—I continued to the New York Times article that detailed a greater involvement in the smear campaign, including alleged participants like Publisher’s Weekly Editor in Chief Sara Nelson. The article essentially summarizes the official complaint as best as twelve paragraphs can manage, but the real winner is the .pdf, which lists the case’s background, Regan’s personal “climb” to “[building] a Publishing and Media Juggernaut” and 124 authors whom she has published. While the case seems to be well-made—from what I can see by glancing at the more interesting subheads through out the document—it’s certainly going to be a long haul. Her demands for “no less than $100 million” from HarperCollins and NewsCorp are certainly stiff, though between the two corporations, I’m sure someone will be able to handle the bills if she wins. And with the writers’ strike continuing, Borders installing TVs in their stores, and the National Book Awards being announced tonight, it certainly isn’t a quiet week in publishing.