TODAY'S NEWS

AAP Hot Topics: Borders' Concept Store, Amazon's Kindle
by Jim Milliot
Representatives from two of publishers' three largest accounts offered some insights into where their businesses are headed at Wednesday's Association of American Publishers annual meeting. Borders Group CEO George Jones talked about the progress the chain is making in re-inventing itself, while Amazon senior v-p for worldwide digital media Steve Kessel discussed the e-tailer's digital efforts, focusing on the Kindle.

Jones said Borders' two-week old concept store has greatly exceeded expectations. He noted that while the company has reduced the number of titles in the store by about 20% from a typical superstore, unit sales have increased, something he attributed in part to displaying more books face out. The next new concept store is set to open in Las Vegas later this month and the majority of the 14 outlets scheduled to be opened this year will occur over the summer. Read on »

Love & Consequences: Not the First Example of a Hoaxter- Author
By Lynn Andriani
PW has learned that Riverhead editor Sarah McGrath, who acquired Margaret Seltzer’s Love & Consequences for Scribner but brought it with her to Riverhead, was involved in another book, in 2006, that was cancelled because of fabrications and plagiarism. The book, How to Wear Black: Adventures on Fashion's Front-line, was purportedly a memoir of Emily Davies's four years as a fashion writer for London's Times, and according to Publishers Lunch, it lifted the lid on "a surreal, luxurious and terrifying world of lavish gifts, fashionably skeletal obsessives and couture warfare." According to Lunch, Sarah McGrath bought the book for Scribner; the announcement was posted in mid-December 2005.

In March 2006 Galley Cat reported that the deal, "rumored to be up to $900,000 for U.S. rights alone," was struck down after a story in Women's Wear Daily outlined Davies's fabrications and plagiarism. Scribner cancelled Davies's contract and the NY Daily News quoted Scribner's Suzanne Balaban as saying "we've dropped" Davies's book.

Ex-Sterling Editor Starts Press
By Judith Rosen
Faced with a heavy publishing workload and the demands of raising twin teenage daughters, former Sterling executive editor Julie Trelstad decided that, rather than quit book publishing entirely, she would start a press for other busy moms.

Trelstad, who had acquired Sarah Susaka's bestselling The Not So Big House when she was with Taunton, used the equity from her own not so big home in White Plains, N.Y., to finance Plain White Press. The name, a variation of that of the town where she lives, speaks to another of her reasons for founding a press—to work close to home and skip the commute to New York City. Read on »

David Tyree Closes Book Deal
By Dermot McEvoy
New York Giants wide receiver David Tyree has become the first Giant to sign a book deal after his team upset the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Tyree struck the deal with the Strang Book Group for an undisclosed amount and the book is scheduled to publish on September 2, 2008.

"It is important to me," said Tyree, "for people to understand who I am, where I came from, and how God has moved in my life." Read on »

The PW Morning Report: A daily round-up of the latest publishing news
By Dermot McEvoy
Lots More on Bogus Books; First Lady Is Hot for Books; Sue, Judith, Sue; Irish Book Awards Shortlist; and Finns Can Kiss-and-Tell Read on »

Blogs

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: Anne Rice; Danielle Steel; Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington
Today, Good Morning America hosted Anne Rice, whose new book Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (Knopf, $24.95; RH Audio unabridged CD, $34.95) is a sequel to 2005's Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. PW gave it a starred review: "Rice undertakes a delicate balance: if it is possible to create a character that is simultaneously fully human and fully divine, as ancient Christian creeds assert, then Rice succeeds." Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Scholastic On the Campaign Trail
Valirie Morgan (c.) was following the story in Texas earlier this week when John McCain won the Republican nomination. Morgan, pictured here with some younger McCain supporters, is covering the election as a member of The Scholastic Kids Press Corps, posting stories to Scholastic News Online.

JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION

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