TODAY'S NEWS

August Bookstore Sales Rise
For one of the few times this year, August gains in bookstore sales outpaced increases posted by the entire retail segment. According to preliminary estimates from the Census Bureau, bookstore sales rose 5.4% in August, helped no doubt by solid sales in college bookstores. Sales for all of retail were flat. For the first eight months of the year, bookstore sales were up 2.4%, to $11.24 billion, while the entire retail segment had a 2.8% increase.

Frankfurt Deals Report: The British Leading the Charge
By Rachel Deahl & Liz Thomson
It's the British who are grabbing the spotlight at Frankfurt right now. Although the rights tent has yet to buzz about the book of the fair, two major deals are currently underway for novels by U.K. authors. The first buzz-worthy deal is for a book called Heresy by S.J. Parriss that is currently on auction in the U.K. with two high six figures offers on the table. Rep'd by Curtis Brown, the novel, which is set in the late 1500's in England and is the first in a planned series, follows a "renegade monk" who stumbles on a series of murders at the University of Oxford while working undercover there (in the Queen's service) to foil Catholic assassination schemes being hatched against the monarch. Parriss is a pseudonym for Stephanie Merritt, who's written two novels published by Faber as well as the memoir The Devil Within. Read on »

Adiga Wins Booker
By Rachel Deahl
Aravind Adiga has won the 2008 Man Booker prize for his debut novel, White Tiger. U.S. publisher Fress Press just released the trade paper yesterday and is making plans for going back to press. Read on »

Impelsys Has New Service; CCC Adds to Rightslink
By Craig Morgan Teicher and Jim Milliot
Impelsys has launched a new service, iPublish Central, and the Copyright Clearance Center has signed two new publishers to Rightslink. Read on »

Harris to Develop New Series with SMP
by Matthew Thornton
Bestselling author E. Lynn Harris has signed with St. Martin's to develop a new series aimed at a gay audience. Read on »

Blogs

MORE STORIES

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: The Waiter Rant; Tony Curtis; Cherie Blair
Today on Oprah, award-winning blogger Steve Dublanica (aka The Waiter) serves up The Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter (Ecco, $24.95; Brilliance Audio unabridged CD, $36.95), which PW called an “enjoyable if utterly unromantic personal expose on the inner workings of the New York City-area restaurants that have employed him since 1999.” Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Business Bash
When Markets Collide (McGraw-Hill) author Mohamed El-Erian won the 2008 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award. El-Erian (center) poses with Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times (left), and Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs (right). 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.