TODAY'S NEWS

Hachette USA Has Good Start
First quarter revenue at Hachette Livre rose 0.5%, to 413.3 million euros ($636 million), with results hurt by the weak dollar. Excluding currency fluctuations, sales were ahead 2.4%. Hachette parent company Lagardere said Hachette Book Group USA had another strong quarter, led by sales of James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series as well as sales of Stephenie Meyer titles. In the U.K., there was “robust growth” in adult and children’s fiction, although sales were down in France. Lagardere said the outlook for the entire publishing division in 2008 is “good.”

Hachette Book Group USA Redesigns Web Site
By Lynn Andriani
Hachette Book Group USA has unveiled a newly redesigned site, www.HachetteBookGroupUSA.com. The site spotlights books and authors while continuing to provide booksellers and other partners with trade services information.

Every book and author published by HBG has its own page on the new site, and book detail pages include basic title data along with articles, interviews, links and a “lightbox” video player (new videos will be added to the site continuously, starting with a handful at the initial release). HBG’s OpenBook™ program will be available for some titles, allowing visitors to preview pages and read first chapters; visitors can then place the widget on their blogs and social networking sites. HBG will soon be rolling out thousands of book-browsing widgets on the site. Read on »

Viking Wins Self-Published Stroke Memoir
by Matthew Thornton
Viking president Clare Ferraro has just won world rights to Jill Bolte Taylor’s My Stroke of Insight: A Brian Scientist’s Personal Journey in an auction conducted by Ellen Stiefler of Stiefler Law Group, and Viking is rushing the previously self-published book into print this month to capitalize on the author’s rapidly rising profile.

Taylor, recently named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine. In the book, which she published in 2006 through lulu.com, Taylor shares the insight she gained from experiencing and recovering from a massive stroke—and studying it as it happened. At 37, a blood vessel exploded in Taylor’s brain. As her mind deteriorated, she lost the ability to walk, talk, read, write or recall any of her life, but aided by her understanding of how the brain works (and an amazing mother) she was able to fight her way to complete recovery. Read on »

Mosley Revives Socrates at Basic
By Matthew Thornton
Walter Mosley, who recently left Little, Brown for a three-book deal at Riverhead, has now inked a separate deal with Lara Heimert at Basic Civitas for The Right Mistake: The Further Philosophical Reflections of Socrates Fortlow. The book, which is the third in the Socrates Fortlow series after Walkin' the Dog and Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, brings back the streetwise philosopher Mosley hasn't written about in almost 10 years.

The acquisition also represents Basic's efforts to expand the list of its African-American imprint, which historically has published mostly nonfiction, beyond its current parameters, says publicist Michele Jacob. Gloria Loomis sold North American rights, and pub date is this fall, which makes it Mosley's next published work of fiction, as the first book in the Riverhead deal isn't due until spring 2009.

SharedBook Enters Christian Book Market with Customizable Devotional
By Lynn Andriani
SharedBook announced its latest customizable book last week, aimed at the religion market. The book, Your Daily Inspiring Word, includes 365 daily Christian devotionals, and draws content from the public domain. It can be personalized with a first and last name on the cover; a first name in each of the daily prayers; and a photo, with caption, on the back cover.

Paul McManus, author of The 7 Great Prayers, created the book, which includes scripture and devotions from Morning and Evening: Daily Readings by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a classic text that is in the public domain. Your Daily Inspiring Word is hardcover and pocket-sized, available in three color choices. It costs $19.95, which includes domestic shipping. Read on »

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Publishers Weekly Call for Reviewers
Publishers Weekly, the international news magazine of book publishing and bookselling, is looking for freelance book reviewers. Details on what we're looking for are after the jump. Read on »

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: More Barbara; Whale Music, Unwrapped; The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments
Barbara Walters sure is a spry at 78! Today, she's on Good Morning America (returning tomorrow and Friday), Imus in the Morning, Morning Edition, The O'Reilly Factor and an ABC special, "Audition: Barbara Walters' Journey." Tomorrow she’s on The Diane Rehm Show promoting Audition: A Memoir (Knopf, $29.95; RH Audio abridged CD, $29.95) Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Chabon Hits B&N
Author Michael Chabon (r.) with Ecco publicity director Michael McKenzie at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, where Chabon read from the just-released paperback of The Yiddish Policemen's Union (Harper Perennial) to a packed house. Submit your pictures here »

JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION

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