The Book That Wouldn't Die Goes On Sale

By Karen Holt -- Publishers Weekly, 9/13/2007 6:00:00 AM

Could it have been just 10 months ago that we first gasped at Judith Regan’s audacious plans to publish a book in which O.J. Simpson “imagines” what it would have been like to slay his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman?

If it seems longer, it’s because so much has happened. Today—two publishers, one fired editor, a court-ordered rights auction and countless hours of indignant cocktail party talk later—If I Did It is finally on store shelves. Along the way, the book has had a serious makeover. Once condemned as an exploitative outrage, it’s now packaged as an instrument for giving victims a voice. The cover has been scrubbed clean of any references to O.J. and the “If” in If I Did It is all but invisible. The salacious stuff is wedged in between commentary, including a prologue by O.J.'s ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves and an afterword by Dominick Dunne. Web retailers list “The Goldman Family” as its author.

Here’s a look back at the book’s bizarre road to publication.

Nov. 14: News Corp. announces the book’s Nov. 30 publication, promising Simpson will describe, “how he would have carried out the murders he has vehemently denied committing for over a decade.”

Nov. 17: Independent booksellers denounce the book, including one who tells PW, “It makes me sick to my stomach.” Pre-orders push the book to #24 on Amazon.

Nov. 20: With pundits including Fox’s own Bill O’Reilly and Geraldo Rivera blasting the book, News Corp. cancels the project. CEO Rupert Murdoch calls it “an ill-considered project,” and apologizes to the Goldman and Brown families.

Dec. 15: Judith Regan is fired late on a Friday afternoon.

March 14: A judge orders the rights to If I Did It to be auctioned, with the proceeds going to the Goldman family, which has an outstanding $33.5 million wrongful death judgment against Simpson.

April 13: The auction is cancelled after Lorraine Brooks Associates, which holds the book’s rights, files for Chapter 7.

July 2: A bankruptcy court awards the Goldman family rights to the book. The family’s lawyer says his client will, “hawk it to satisfy this terrible judgment.”

Aug. 3: Agent Sharlene Martin tells PW the Goldman’s have hired her to shop the book , which will include supplementary material telling their side of the story. Says Martin, “I have a passion for justice.”

Aug.15: Eric Kampmann of Beaufort Books says he will publish the book, goes on the Today show where an emotional Denise Brown accuses him of publishing “a manual on murder.”

Aug. 21: Barnes & Noble says it will sell the book online, but not in its stores.

Aug. 28: Denise Brown cancels plans to appear on Oprah Sept. 13 with the Goldmans, saying there's no point because she can't stop publication of the book.

Aug. 30: With the book among the top five sellers on barnesandnoble.com, B&N reverses its decision and orders it for the stores. A spokesperson explains that despite “widespread customer outrage and disgust” the book has turned out to be a popular item.

Sept. 13: Denise Brown changes her mind and does appear on Oprah in a taped segment before the Goldmans arrive. Oprah says she wrestled with a "moral and ethical dilemma" in deciding whether to do a show about the book.