Simon & Schuster Inc.

Shortly after noon, on Saturday, June 2, Valerie Plame stood at the front of the stage in a cavernous auditorium at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and read her “To do” list from the past ten days: Pick up the dry cleaning … Buy her kids stuff from Target for summer camp … Sue the C.I.A.

“All done,” said Ms. Plame.

She was interrupted by applause.

It was lunchtime at the annual BookExpo America, and a large crowd of booksellers, publishers, and publicists had paid $50 each to eat chicken-ala-something and listen to a panel of authors talk about their new books.

Alan Alda had kicked things off. Paul Krugman was on deck. Russell Simmons was closing. Now the podium belonged to Ms. Plame.

She was wearing a blue blazer over a white top. She explained that she and her husband Joseph Wilson had recently relocated from Washington D.C. to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ever since the move, she had been spending a lot of time unpacking books. “We had 12,000 pounds of household goods,” said Ms. Plame. “And six thousand of them were books.”

Ms. Plame recently finished writing a book of her own, entitled Fair Game, which Simon & Schuster plans to publish in October of 2007
(and for which they reportedly paid $2 million).

“It’s a memoir of my career with the CIA,” said Ms. Plame. “I was proud to serve my country. I was loyal. I loved my career. It was exciting. And I got to do something I thought was meaningful.”

All of which famously came to an end in the summer of 2003 when her name and professional occupation—which turned out to be classified information--was leaked to the media. Just exactly how that leak took place has since become fodder for investigations criminal and otherwise, as well as tens of thousands of news stories, endless talk show punditry, and the eventual felony conviction of vice-presidential advisor I. Lewis Libby.

Ms. Plame told the audience that she had enjoyed the process of writing Fair Game.

“For the first time I got to go through the events that have happened to me and my husband at 120 miles per hour, and actually think about them and absorb it,” said Ms. Plame. “I found that whole part of the process a catharsis in many ways.”

To date, however, the process of publishing the book has been fraught with difficulties.

To wit: This past Thursday, Ms. Plame filed a lawsuit in federal court against the C.I.A, which is blocking the publication of her memoir, on the grounds that some of the information contained therein is classified.

Like all C.I.A. employees, Ms. Plame had previously signed an agreement requiring her to submit any future writing about her career to the agency for review before publication. According to Ms. Plame, she and Simon & Schuster had been working unsuccessfully for months with the C.I.A. in the hopes of reaching an agreement. When that failed, according to Ms. Plame, she had decided to sue the C.I.A. for violating her right to free speech.

“I am not seeking carte blanche to reveal all the details of my government service,” Ms. Plame told the audience at the BEA. “Not at all. I understand my obligation and responsibilities about preserving and protecting classified information. Absolutely. But I am entitled to write about my story.”

She alleged to the audience that the C.I.A.’s actions were politically motivated. “I can tell you, this has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with political interference,” she said.

“This is why this suit matters so much to me and everyone in this room,” added Ms. Plame. “Because just as you have to be vigilant to protect our national security--something I believe in passionately--we have to be vigilant to protect our freedom of speech and first amendment rights.”

There was more applause. Followed by cheesecake for dessert.

Before returning to her seat, Ms. Plame acknowledged that the bulk of her writings throughout her career had been “very very dry.” Composing Fair Game, she said, had been different.

“I enjoyed writing it,” said Ms. Plame. “I hope you enjoy reading it.”

Let’s be blunt, as befits our author.    read more »

When Pervez Musharaff refused today at a White House news conference to answer the question of what threat was made against his government after 9/11, by the United States, he cited his contract to his publisher, Simon & Schuster, saying he couldn't talk till the 25th, when his book is published. The White House press corps was embarrassed; it was a naked admission of the sort of deal that so much of our discourse is bound by. And humiliating, to see a head of state so bound. Even more pathetic, Musharaff's disclosures were already alll over television, thanks to Simon & Schuster's rollout. On 60 Minutes this Sunday of course; CBS and S&S share the same corporate parent. Synergy. Someone should have clued the Pakistani Prez.

New Publishing Mantra: Plagiarize or Perish  read more »

Hi Choire:

My name is Friday and on behalf of Simon & Schuster I'm currently helping spread the word about Lauren Weisberger's latest work, Everyone Worth Knowing. Weisberger is best-known for her earlier work, The Devil Wears Prada. I think your site's target audience would really appreciate this book. Would you be interested in receiving a free copy of a Weisberger's book in exchange for a piece on your site? Maybe several copies for a contest?

You may want to write a review about the book, hold a book contest, write a small blurb and feature it somewhere on your site, or something along those line (if you come up with another idea, please let me know.) In return for your kindness and help, I will happily send you a copy.

You can find out more about this book or purchase it at the SimonSays [Simon & Schuster] website: http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?sid=33&pid=510946

For assets that you can use to beef up your features or reviews, please go to: http://www.soulkool.net/gr/weisberger/ If you're interested, please get back to me and we can work out whatever is necessary.  read more »

I look forward to hearing from you.

Warmest Regards, Friday

What a terrible thing it is to have one's cynicism validated. From this Sunday's Style section piece on Lauren "Devil Wears Prada" Weisberger:

"It's a fairy tale come true, ain't it?" said David Rosenthal, the publisher of Simon & Schuster, which published her second book last month. "And she's got great legs. What more can you ask for?"

 read more »

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were successful in the movies, but not really great—one of the authent  read more »

This week, Everyone Worth Knowing, the second novel by Lauren Weisberger—she of best-selling T  read more »

This week, Everyone Worth Knowing, the second novel by Lauren Weisberger—she of best-selling The D  read more »

On July 15, the daily Publisher's Lunch e-mail offered a startling piece of nonfiction sales news: "Another recent big release, Bob Woodward's THE SECRET MAN, is reported to have moved 17,900 copies in its opening week on sale, following an announced first printing of 850,000 copies and a laydown of somewhat less than that."

The relatively uninspiring number raised a few eyebrows in publishing circles. The 850,000 hardcover print run for Woodward's memoir about Deep Throat had suggested a certain confidence on the part of Simon & Schuster--conjuring images of a mad rush on bookstores as for a Clinton memoir or Harry Potter installment. Woodward's history should have given reason for optimism: At least 12 previous Woodward books have made the New York Times bestseller list in hardcover; the least successful of them spent 11 weeks on the chart, as reported by the Times Book Review.

Make that 13 Woodward books--days after the Publishers Lunch item, The Secret Man debuted at No. 4 on the Times bestseller list, just ahead of Bernard Goldberg's 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America. It was No. 6 on the Publishers Weekly nonfiction list (one spot behind Goldberg).

According to Michael Cader, who edits Publishers Lunch, the 17,900 figure represented Nielsen BookScan's sales through the weekend prior to July 15. So what happened? Did the book suddenly take off, prompted by the Karl Rove-Matt Cooper media kerfuffle over anonymous sources or nudged along by Woodward's own heavy promotional media rotation?

Simon & Schuster would not answer any questions about the book's sales figures (the publisher, David Rosenthal, would only write, in an e-mailed statement, "The Secret Man is a special and important book to Simon & Schuster and the author. And we're thrilled with its success"). According to more recent BookScan figures, The Secret Man had sold 37,000 copies since its release, as of July 17.

The publishing industry hates BookScan--sales numbers are treated as trade secrets not to be discussed in polite company, and BookScan is often criticized for under-representing a book's sales by as much as 25 to 35 percent. But the most generous interpretation would still leave 16 or more unsold copies of The Secret Man for every copy that's been purchased.

So is the book flopping or not? Simon & Schuster provided a list of other bestseller charts that The Secret Man had landed on, including the Los Angeles Times (No. 7), Washington Post (No. 2) and USA Today (No. 31).

Those results suggest that whatever a book's ambitions may be, 37,000 copies sold (or 35 percent more than that) is enough to catapult a title into the upper reaches of multiple lists.

According to Publishers Weekly executive editor Daisy Maryles, who is involved in compiling the magazine's bestseller rankings, getting onto a list is often easier in the summer than it is in the fall, when competition can be much stiffer.

"It's sort of scary," said Ms. Maryles, "when you think of the population of the U.S., how little you have to sell in one week to make a top 10 or top 15 list."  read more »

--Sheelah Kolhatkar

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Simon & Schuster Inc.  read more »