TODAY'S NEWS

BookExpo America Cancels Plans for Tuesday Exhibit Hours
By Jim Milliot
BookExpo America officials have decided to limit the number of days the exhibit floor will be opened to Wednesday and Thursday when the annual convention convenes in New York City next spring. Originally, BEA had planned to open the floor from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, following a day of educational panels. That idea met with resistance from some exhibitors, however, who felt it put too much pressure to complete the show set-up for only two hours of exhibit time. With the new schedule, publishers will have all of Tuesday (and Tuesday night if necessary) to finish setting up their booths. Exhibit hours will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. Read on »

Results Rise at Simon & Schuster
By Jim Milliot
Simon & Schuster turned in its best quarter of the year in the period ended September 30, with sales increasing 2.4%, to $230.4 million, and operating income ahead 13.6%, to $26.6 million. The improvement in earnings was the result of the higher sales partially offset by higher write-offs of advances for author royalties. CEO Carolyn Reidy said sales began to pick up in mid-quarter as the chains started to increase orders, but she was disappointed that the fall has seen little momentum. “The marketplace is not as robust as we would like,” Reidy said. “I thought we’d see more of a lift from the strong lists [from all publishers] than we have.” Read on »

The Lone Star State of Books
By Dick Donahue
For two days last weekend, “The Live Music Capital of the World” could have been mistaken for “The Live Book Capital of the World,” as Austin hosted the Texas Book Festival in its 14th year. Founded in 1996 by Laura Bush, the festival, said literary director Clay Smith, “celebrates authors and their contributions to the culture of literacy, ideas and imagination.” The celebratory atmosphere was palpable; as debut novelist Victor Lodato commented, “the energy here was terrific: a festival that actually felt festive.” Festive indeed, as some 220 authors from the adult and children’s publishing sectors (up from last year’s 190) engaged in panel discussions, held one-on-one conversations with festival moderators, autographed books in sprawling signing tents, offered cooking and crafts demonstrations and entertained throngs of youngsters with lively readings and musical presentations. Read on »

Friedman Leaves Hampton Roads
By Jim Milliot
Robert Friedman, a fixture in the New Age publishing community and the cofounder and president of Hampton Roads Publishing, is leaving the company. Friedman has discovered and/or worked with numerous bestselling authors, including Mary Summer Rain, Lynn Grabhorn, Linda Goodman, Richard Back and Neale Donald Walsch, whose When Everything Changes, Change Everything was released by Hampton earlier this year. Randy Davila, CEO and majority owner of Hampton Roads, will assume the duties of president. “Bob’s work in this industry has been legendary,” said Davila in a statement. “He has an uncanny ability to spot future trends in the New Age genre. He will be a tough man to follow.” Read on »

With Yankees Win, Triumph Books Goes to Press
By Claire Kirch
The New York Yankees celebrated their 7-3 win Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Phillies in game six of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, and by Thursday morning, Triumph Books, the Chicago-based imprint of Random House renowned for churning out full-color sports books on short notice, already had gone to press with two books about the team and its victory.

The Best, a 128-page, four-color pictorial commemorative book celebrating the Yankees’ victory, was produced Thursday in a 63,000-copy first print run. After the covers dry, copies will be hand-delivered by multiple messenger services on Saturday morning to stores in the New York City area that placed their orders last week. The books will be shipped out to the rest of the country on Monday. Read on »

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Tomorrow Is National Bookstore Day
More than 140 independent bookstores around the country have signed up to participate in National Bookstore Day, a PW-sponsored initiative to get customers into bookstores tomorrow. Booksellers are planning promotions, discounts, author signings, raffles and contests to celebrate the day. For a complete list of participating stores, click here. It's not too late to participate; booksellers can visit www.publishersweekly.com/bookstoreday to download free bookmarks and store signs.

Monday's Reviews Today: Peter Carey's Latest and Things You Always Wanted to Ask About Taxidermy But Were Afraid to Ask
In today’s sneak peak at two reviews from Monday’s PW, there’s a star for Peter Carey’s Parrot & Olivier in America, a “picaresque” and “Dickensian” novel that has the author channeling the voice of a fictionalized version of Tocqueville. And in nonfiction, another star, for Melissa Milgrom’s Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy, an “absorbing blend of bright-eyed reportage and hands-on participation.” Taxidermists don’t merely “stuff animals,” you know. Read on »

The PW Morning Report: Friday, November 6, 2009
Book and publishing news from across the Web: Publishing as Economic Bright Spot; A Self-Pub How-To; PW’s Top Ten Controversy; A New Indie Press Blog; ‘Going Rouge’. Read on »

AUTHORS ON THE AIR

Authors on the Air: Precious; Mike Lupica; Jeff Corwin
Movies opening today include Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (in limited release). Directed by Lee Daniels and starring Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd and Lenny Kravitz, it’s based on the novel Push by Sapphire (Vintage movie tie-in edition, 978-0307474841, $13; RH Audio abridged CD, $15). Read on »

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Scholastic Opens Stock Market
To commemorate the publication of the sixth book in The 39 Clues series, In Too Deep, series authors Gordon Korman, Jude Watson, Peter Lerangis and Patrick Carman (pictured here) joined Scholastic president and CEO Dick Robinson, and president of trade Ellie Berger on November 2 as Robinson and Berger presided over the NASDAQ stock market opening bell. Submit your pictures here »