TODAY'S NEWS

Glenn Beck Signs Multi-Book Deal with Simon & Schuster
By Lynn Andriani
Simon & Schuster is partnering with radio and TV personality and Christmas Sweater author Glenn Beck on a global, multi-book, multi-imprint co-publishing agreement. A number of S&S imprints will be involved in the program, which will encompass adult fiction and nonfiction, children’s picture books and fiction, YA literature, and e-book and audiobook originals. S&S companies in the U.K., Canada and Australia will publish Beck’s books in their respective markets.

The first projects under the partnership will be an original audio, America’s March to Socialism, read by Beck (May), and Glenn Beck’s Common Sense, Beck’s take on Thomas Paine’s classic, which will be published first as an e-book and then as a trade paperback in June. In September, Threshold Editions will release the nonfiction hardcover Arguing with Idiots. Common Sense and Arguing with Idiots will also be available as audiobooks. Read on »

Amazon Press Conference Set Amid Rumors of Bigger Screen Kindle
By Rachel Deahl
A New York Times story today on "Big-Screen e-Readers" has people abuzz about whether Amazon might be prepping to unveil a new version of the Kindle, with a bigger screen, designed specifically for newspaper and magazine content. According to the Times, Amazon may beat companies like News Corp. to the punch in this arena--News Corp. is reportedly working on a digital newspaper reader due out by the end of the year--with a device the paper said is "tailored for displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks." Read on »

'Wanting' Kicks Off New NAIBA Program
By Judith Rosen
The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association is launching NAIBA Notables, which singles out a book a month, with Tasmanian novelist and screenwriter Richard Flanagan’s Wanting (Atlantic Monthly Press, May 12) about an Aboriginal girl, explorer Sir John Franklin and novelist Charles Dickens.

However, there’s nothing wanting in their selection, which was the unanimous decision of the board, and fits the program’s purpose to highlight the quality of the books available at independent bookstores. “In a marketplace where books are sold everywhere,” stated NAIBA executive director Eileen Dengler in announcing Wanting as the first Notable, “a little support each month on a very worthy title will remind publishers and consumers where the best books are sold.” NAIBA bookstores will feature Notables in their stores and on their Web sites. Read on »

Rizzoli Bookstore Adds French, Spanish Titles
By Rachel Deahl
Rizzoli Bookstore, known for selling art, photography and fashion titles, as well as Italian language books, is expanding its international offerings, adding French, Spanish, and German language books to its inventory. The added international library, available this spring at the 57th Street store, is part of a push to draw more European customers; Rizzoli's Italian-language books remain among the store's most popular titles. Read on »

The Edgars Celebrate 63 Years
By Peter Cannon
In Edgar Allan Poe’s bicentennial year, the Mystery Writers of America paid more than usual tribute to the mystery genre’s founder at their annual dinner, held the night of April 30 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan. Two special Raven awards went to the Edgar Allan Poe Society and to the Poe House, both in Baltimore, Md. Dr. Harry Lee Poe’s Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories (Metro Books) won in the best critical/biographical category. Read on »

Blogs

MORE STORIES

Pannell Awards Announced
The 2009 WNBA Pannell Awards have been announced. In the children's specialty category, the winner is Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop in LaVerne, Calif. In the general bookstore category, the winner is Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, with honorable mention going to That Bookstore in Blytheville, in Blytheville, Ark. The awards go to two bookstores that excel in contributing to their communities in ways that bring books and young people together. Read on »

Web Exclusive Reviews
This week on the Web: copy editing with CMS Q&A guru Carol Fisher Saller, grilling with Emeril Lagasse, Ursula K. Le Guin tackles the importance of fantasty, Vera Ramone King chronicles life with Dee Dee, Mike Robbins champions authenticity, big-brained futurist Ray Kurzweil pens a self-help, and James Patterson's aviary heroine returns. Plus: Nancy Balbirer suffers the indignities of the acting life so you don't have to. Read on »

The Monday Interview: Rupert Isaacson
An interview with Rupert Isaacson, whose The Horse Boy: A Father’s Quest to Heal His Son was published last month by Little, Brown.

PW: Your book in a sense is about the love between a father and his son. How has the writing of the book, the trip to Mongolia with Rowan and the overall experience affected the relationship between you and Rowan?

RI: Well, we have shared a great adventure. Rowan has shown me that the darkest of moments can be gateways to the most sublime of experiences. He also—and a lot of autistic people seem to exhibit this—seems to be almost completely without ego. So being with Rowan is kind of like being in the presence of someone enlightened. I find that when I’m working with the other kids at the New Trails Center (the equestrian and autism therapy place we’ve started in central Texas), they are like that too. It’s hard to explain—but it’s like you get a break from your own ego for a while, and that is a huge gift. I love my son, what can I say? Read on »

The PW Morning Report
The Mechanics of Google Books; Marilyn French Dead at 79; Big Screen E-Readers and Newspapers; A Better Book Deal; Indie Bookstore Crawl; E-Books Bound for Texas. Read on »

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: James Carville; Elisabeth Hasselbeck; Requiem for a Paper Bag
Today both Good Morning America and The View hosted Democratic strategist James Carville, whose new book is 40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation (S&S, 978-1416569893, $24; Tantor Media CD, $29.99). Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

PAMA Salutes Dwight Garner
Last Thursday, PAMA (The Publishers Advertising and Marketing Association) board members attended a lunch at the Random House private cafeteria. Dwight Garner, book critic at the New York Times, spoke about his upcoming book, the November-slated Read Me: A Century of Classic American Book Advertisements (Ecco), and gave a slide show of book ads from the past century. Pictured back row (l. to r.) are: Roberta Reissman (USA Today); Liz Hanslik (Penguin Group); Lauren Adler (Penguin Young Readers Group); Christine Duplessis (Atria Books); Megan Fitzpatrick (Hachette Audio); Lori Sommerville (WKP Spier); Christian Toth (Verso Advertising); Garner; David Nudo (PAMA board President); Laura Sonnenfeld (The New York Times); front row: Gretchen Swartley (HarperCollins); Melissa Lord (Random House Publishing Group); and Stephanie Kloss (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group).
Submit your pictures here

JOB OF THE DAY

PW VIRTUAL EDITION

To access the latest issue of Publishers Weekly no matter where you are, be sure to take a look at PW's Virtual Edition -- available online anytime. If you're not already a subscriber, take a look at a sample issue here.