TODAY'S NEWS

Harper Sales Up, Earnings Even
by Jim Milliot
Total sales at HarperCollins rose 3.8% in the third quarter ended March 31, to $302 million, while operating income held even at $29 million. HC CEO Jane Friedman said that after a few difficult quarters due to tough comparisons, the children’s division had a strong period with sales up 50% and profits jumping by nearly 500%. Among the titles that sold well in the quarter were Fancy Nancy, Bonjour Butterfly by Jane O’Connor, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Read All About It by Laura and Jenna Bush, which Friedman predicted will sell well through the year. The U.K. and Canada also made solid contributions. Read on »

Media Coalition Files Suit Against Indiana Registration Law
Indiana booksellers will get their day in court. After the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression announced in March it would lobby against a new Indiana law requiring booksellers to register with the state if they sell "sexually explicit" material, the organization has joined with other members of the Media Coalition, in challenging the statute.

The law goes into effect July 1, 2008, and calls for any retailer who doesn't register with the state, but sells "adult" deemed content, to pay a $250 fine. (Content will be judged by the Secretary of State, to whom retailers will have to submit a detailed list of their inventory.) The Media Coalition is asking the court to declare the law unconstitutional on the grounds that it threatens First Amendment rights.

Media Coalition executive director David Horowitz said the law is in direct violation of the First Amendment. "This new law would force business owners to decide either to limit their inventory or be on a state list of ‘adult stores’ and pay a fee," he said.

Merkh Out at Guideposts
By Lynn Garrett
Jonathan Merkh, v-p/publisher of Guideposts Books, has left the company. Merkh, formerly publisher of the Nelson Books imprint at Thomas Nelson, joined Guideposts last May as part of the organization’s strategy to expand its retail book operation.

According to an official statement made jointly by Merkh and Richard V. Hopple, Guideposts president and CEO, Merkh resigned "after much discussion and due consideration." In the statement Hopple said, “We are grateful for Jonathan’s energy and many contributions during his time at the helm of Guideposts Books.” When he joined Guideposts—which has been primarily a direct mail company--Merkh described his role as “fully [leveraging] our resources to support the retail initiatives,” expanding the organization’s reach into stores. No word yet on how he will be replaced.

AAP, Borders, Las Comadres Launch National Latino Book Club
By Lynn Andriani
AAP, Borders and the Latina organization Las Comadres have teamed up to create a Latino book club that will meet at select Borders stores in eight states. The club will select and read an English-language book by a Latina or Latino author each month, beginning in June.

Las Comadres Para Las Americas is an eight-year-old nationwide grassroots group of Latinas that started in Austin, Tex., and is now in 60 U.S. cities with 10,000 members. The book club grew out of a series of successful monthly teleconferences hosted by the Las Comadres network, with each teleconference featuring an author. The first live event was held at the Borders’ Columbus Circle location in New York last year and the selection was Broken Paradise by Cecilia Samartin (Washington Square Press). Starting next month, live events will take place at Borders stores in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas and Utah, each one run by two Comadres members. Read on »

Sales Down, Earnings Up at Bertelsmann
In a brief update on its 2008 first quarter performance, Bertelsmann provided no hint of the future of Random House chairman Peter Olson. The media giant reported that total revenue in the period fell 3.9%, to 4.21 billion euros, due to currency fluctuations and a decline in sales of the North America Direct Group, which is up for sale. Excluding currency changes, revenue was off 1.7%. Operating earnings before interest rose to 217 million euros from 198 million euros.

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AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: The Woman Who Can't Forget; We've Always Had Paris; Helluva Town
Today, Good Morning America talked with Jill Price, author of The Woman Who Can't Forget: The Extraordinary Story of Living with the Most Remarkable Memory Known to Science--A Memoir (Free Press, $26; Recorded Books CD, $29.99). Tomorrow she returns to the show, plus appears on 20/20. Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Party By Doctorow
E.L. Doctorow (l.) hosted a recent publication party for Paula Uruburu (r.), whose book, American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the "It" Girl and the Crime of the Century, bowed from Riverhead this month.
Photo credit: Hillary Park Submit your pictures here »

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