Martha Stewart Books Face Questions
by Jim Milliot and Steven Zeitchik -- Publishers Weekly, 3/22/2004
As Martha Stewart awaits sentencing for her insider-trading conviction, her future involvement with book publishing is uncertain.
Stewart, according to disclosures made by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in its year-end filing with the SEC, has a backlist of 45 titles bearing her name. Thirteen books that she has authored herself are published by Crown imprint Clarkson N. Potter, while 32 written by other authors but bearing the Stewart name are distributed by direct-mail firm Oxmoor House.
But according to the filing, the deal with CP is nearly up, with just one title left on the contract, and Clarkson Potter has been vague about whether it intends to sign new titles. CP released a statement two weeks ago saying, "Martha Stewart is one of the longstanding authors of our Clarkson Potter imprint. Our support for the backlist publishing program for her books remains the same today as 18 months ago, and our publishing plans and commitments with our author and with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia continue without pause."
It also remains unclear whether the one book remaining is Stewart's much-discussed memoir. CP acknowledged that a memoir, signed up in 2001 and tentatively titled Martha: Tried and True was under contract, but said it had not scheduled the book.
In the same SEC filing, Omnimedia revealed that the company's book sales decreased by $3.3 million in 2003.
