Making Sparks Fly

Also debuting on our fiction list is The Guardian, the latest work from bestseller list veteran Nicholas Sparks, whose five previous novels have racked up an impressive 258-week total on PW's charts in their hardcover and paperback editions. On the book's April 8 pub date, Sparks launched a three-week tour with what Warner Books deputy publicity director Jennifer Romanello terms "an amazing signing" at the Waldenbooks in New Bern, N.C.—"over the course of 11 hours, he signed 1,850 copies of The Guardian and several hundred copies of his backlist." In addition to the pages-long list of other signings (plus regional newspaper, radio and TV interviews), Sparks has appeared on Fox's Good Day, New York and CBS's The Early Show, and lunched with Borders store managers at the company's Ann Arbor headquarters. Warner Books reports 700,000 copies in print.

With reporting by Dick Donahue