Cosby, who has drawn fire of late for his criticisms of the African-American community—he's cited poor parenting, juvenile delinquency and an underappreciation of education as over-arching problems—has written a number of bestsellers, including Fatherhood and Time Flies. Nonetheless, he has never worked with a Christian publisher, like Nelson.

David Dunham, senior v-p/group publisher of the general-interest/lifestyle, business and culture specialty publishing units at Nelson, told PW in an e-mail from the London Book Fair: "I approached his manager David Brokaw almost three years ago after I read about what he was doing in the African-American community, teaching and preaching personal responsibility."

Though Cosby initially declined, Dunham persisted, and the comedian finally agreed to discuss a potential project. "We spoke for about 45 minutes, Bill got jazzed, we met a month or so later and then signed the deal."

When asked why Cosby chose to go with Nelson, David Brokaw, his publicist, told PW it was the best choice, given the "mission and purpose" of the book. "He wants to get the information out about an epidemic and get something done about it." Brokaw added that Dunham was "the only one who called" and that Nelson has "the ethic and values," as a Christian imprint, to publish the book.

According to catalogue copy, Come On, People! offers "a powerful message for families and communities as they lay out their visions for strengthening America... [addressing] the crises of people who are stuck because of feelings of low self-esteem, abandonment, anger, fearfulness, sadness and feelings of being used, undefended and unprotected." The aim of the book is "to help empower people to make the daunting transition from victims to victors."

Effective immediately, BBC Audiobooks America will offer the newly acquired Audio Partners Publishing Corp. properties to the trade via Perseus Distribution.

Audio Partners Publishing Corporation, formed in 1987 by husband-and-wife team Grady Hesters and Linda Olsen, has long been known for its formidable line of British spoken-word productions, many of which had been licensed from BBC Audiobooks America. Hesters commented in a statement: "It seems fitting and natural to place our valued title list with BBC Audiobooks America as it launches its major new trade audiobook program."

Hesters noted that he and Olsen will now focus on the other division of their company, Audio Partners Inc., which encompasses the Audio Editions audiobook direct-mail, catalogue and Internet sales.

After an April 11 item about the store's financial difficulties ran in the Chicago gay/lesbian newspaper Windy City Times, Bubon and Christophersen posted a note on their MySpace page saying, "The rumors are true," and that they were in fact experiencing financial problems that had already forced them to cut Christophersen's salary by 80% and decrease store hours. Posting a blog entry titled "How You Can Help Insure the Future of Feminist Bookselling in Chicago," they asked customers to shop at the store, tell friends about it and "show their love" by putting Women & Children in their top MySpace "friends" area.

The response to the posting was immediate, and overwhelmingly positive. Not only were sales Friday and throughout the weekend the highest Bubon and Christophersen had seen since Christmas, but 30 new members paid $25 each to join the store's club, which entitles them to a 10% discount and a subscription to Books to Watch Out For, the store's international subscription-based book review e-newsletter.

Other nonprofit groups have contacted the store in the past few days, offering to host fundraisers. And the store's Internet sales have "gone through the roof," said Bubon, to the extent that one employee has been assigned just to fill Internet orders.

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