Bob Woodward

Would you be surprised to hear that a surging tide of books about politics is about to engulf us?

Later this month we’ll get a chance to peruse War and Decision, by Douglas Feith (HarperCollins, March 25). Mr. Feith, a neocon promoter of the Iraq War, was famously identified by Gen. Tommy Franks as “the dumbest fucking guy on the planet.” It’s unlikely that Mr.  read more »

Bob Woodward, in his quiet, modest way, was mad as a wet hen on NBC’s Meet the Press the other Sun  read more »

Bob Woodward, in his quiet, modest way, was mad as a wet hen on NBC’s Meet the Press the other  read more »

The etiquette and morality of leaking is not always easy to understand, especially for citizens outs  read more »

If there were any justice in the movies, we still wouldn’t have to make the case for Louis Mal  read more »

If there were any justice in the movies, we still wouldn’t have to make the case for Louis Malle a  read more »

No Guts, No Glory   To the Editor:    read more »

Stirring the Pot

To the Editor:  read more »

The movie Good Night, and Good Luck has been playing to what appears to be mostly empty movie houses  read more »

The movie Good Night, and Good Luck has been playing to what appears to be mostly empty movie houses  read more »

“I don’t think I’ve kept in touch with Bob over the years,” said Washington Post executive e  read more »

“I don’t think I’ve kept in touch with Bob over the years,” said Washington  read more »

Christmas parties prepare to tear Manhattan's offices up! Our yearly round-up of where and when to crash. New York's art world went to Miami last week and all they came back with was an empty bank account and maybe some strange rash. Our correspondent reports. Could there be more action at the corner of Spring and Crosby? Now, Kelly Ripa cashes in! Bob Woodward: He's rich, baby! Hey hey! TV! ABC takes CBS's marching orders.  read more »

Early on in Plan of Attack, Bob Woodward’s surprisingly useful if analytically inane account o  read more »

In today's New York Times, Edward Wyatt delivers a journo-publishing scoop: It seems that Bob Woodward's Deep Throat memoir, The Secret Man, is not selling anywhere near as well as its publisher hoped--though it has made a decent showing on bestseller lists. Like Woodward fighting for three decades to keep W. Mark Felt's identity secret, Wyatt carefully preserves the anonymity of his sources. Nowhere does he mention that the news of the lagging sales was first broken in Publishers Lunch on July 15. Nor does he mention that someone else had noted on July 28 the confusing relationship between the book's lower-than-expected sales and its bestseller status. Look for a credit line around 2036.  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

The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat,  read more »

The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat, by Bob Woodward. Simon & Schuster.  read more »

Before W.  read more »

There’s one thing—and one thing alone—that Shakespeare couldn’t do.  read more »

Plan of Attack , by Bob Woodward. Simon and Schuster, 468 pages, $28.Welcome back, Mr. Woodward.  read more »

Here are three possible stocking-stuffers and, who knows, mind-stuffers as well-books for the season  read more »

Bush at War, by Bob Woodward.  read more »

Bush at War, by Bob Woodward. Simon & Schuster, 376 pages, $28.  read more »

Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom , by Bob Woodward. Simon & Schuster, 270 pages, $25.  read more »

My wife went to a yoga class in Dutchess County the other day and came back with an idea.  read more »