The PW Morning Report, August 4, 2008

By Dermot McEvoy -- Publishers Weekly, 8/4/2008 5:44:00 AM

Monday, August 4, 2008

A daily round-up of the latest publishing news: Solzhenitsyn Dead; Vampire Booksellers; Skylight Books Moves; Adams on Baldwin; Novel GOP Dirty Secrets; 240,000 Kindles Sold; Rushdie To Sue?; and Summer Books to the Rescue?

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Dead at 89, reports New York Times
Nobel Prize winner in Literature and arch-foe of the Soviet Union dies in Moscow. He sold over 30 million copies of his books worldwide

Vampire Booksellers Embrace Stephenie Meyer, reports New York Times
It was a blood-sucking good time as booksellers from coast-to-coast unveiled Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in Meyer’s "Twilight" vampire-romance series. UPI reports that Borders sold more than 250,000 copies of Breaking Dawn on Saturday

Skylight Books Moves to New LA Location, reports Los Angeles Times
Neighborhood bookstore is moving to another Vermont Avenue location, this one with an actual skylight

Cindy Adams on Alec Baldwin’s Divorce Book
New York Post columnist dissects Promise to Ourselves (St. Martin's; September). Only thing missing is an intro by Kim Basinger

Novel Airs GOP Dirty Secrets, sez Rush & Molloy
Party Favors by Nicole Sexton (Lyons Press) supposedly shows the decadence that has put the GOP brand in the political toilet. Come November, just flush

240,000 Kindles Sold, sez Techcrunch.com
Estimated total sales are between $86- and $96-million

Salman Rushdie Threatens U.K. Lawsuit, reports The Guardian
Rushdie is upset with John Blake for publishing On Her Majesty’s Service by Ron Evans, who portrays Rushdie as "mean, nasty, tight-fisted, arrogant and extremely unpleasant"

New Books to the Summer Rescue, says Wall Street Journal
Publishers hope new titles will give the publishing industry a much-needed boost