Not Tom Wolfe's eagerly awaited next novel, but an audio that could expand the niche
Janklow &Nesbit Associates agent Eric Simonoff was in his local bookstore, Book Court in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, recently when a man rushed in demanding "the new Tom Wolfe."
The request was music to Simonoff's ears, since he and BDD Audio Publishing president and publisher Jenny Frost had developed the Wolfe work in question: an audio-only production of Wolfe's Ambush at Fort Bragg, a novella about a murder of a gay soldier at Fort Bragg that was serialized in December issues of Rolling Stone magazine and is an outtake from Wolfe's in-progress followup to his 1987 blockbuster, The Bonfire of the Vanities.
Although Ambush will be published in hardcover in many international markets, including Brazil, France and Spain, in this country the work currently exists only on audio, with BDD Audio calling it "the first publication of a major twentieth century author's work on audio without supporting print publication."
"It's partly a challenge, partly an innovation," Frost said about the project, begun about 18 months ago at the suggestion of Simonoff (who handles audio rights for Wolfe's primary agent, Lynn Nesbit). Frost is hoping that Wolfe's fans, eager for any new Wolfe work, will rush out to buy it, which means that Ambush will "reach a lot of people who normally don't listen to audio." The project so far certainly has attracted plenty of publicity, including Associated Press and New York Times articles and a prominent USA Today review (PW's starred review appeared Aug. 4). "If it helps enhance the exposure of audio, that could be good news for us all," said Anne-Lise Spitzer, director of promotion, publicity and advertising for Random House Audio.
Frost wouldn't comment on the advance for this special audio-only deal, noting that "it was less about money than marketing support." Indeed, the first issue of 80,000 copies of Ambush is being backed by a $150,000 advertising and marketing budget, a record for Frost and considered by others in the audio industry to be the highest promo budget ever and about five times the typical one. Much of the budget has been spent on ads in newspapers (one of which drew that Brooklyn fan) and on National Public Radio. There has also been a series of mailings for sell-in and publicity purposes. A key early target of the mailings was a much-larger-than-typical list of bookstore players and buyers, who were given a package that included a miniature American flag, a toy soldier and, most importantly, a prepub copy of the audio. Frost noted that it is often difficult for booksellers to handsell audio since they have to break the shrinkwrap on the package to listen to a tape -- which makes the package then unfit for sale.
One mailing target, Linda L wenthal, v-p of QPB and One Spirit Book Clubs, said, "I really enjoyed it, and I don't usually listen to audio." She particularly praised the audio debut of Oscar nominee Edward Norton, who took on all the character voices. QPB and BOMC, both of which picked Ambush as alternate selections, will feature the audio in their book catalogues rather than in their separate music/audio catalogues, a first for the company. Because of this placement, Ambush could have a chance to sell larger numbers than the clubs' typical audio sales, said L wenthal.
The unusual nature of this audio is also bringing it breakout attention at bookstores. Frost told PW that Walden and B. Dalton are displaying it in three-copy counter display at cash registers. She said that Borders plans to highlight the audio, with a Q&A interview with Wolfe, in the October issue of its recently revamped Original Voices literary magazine, which will also bring the audio up-front store placement. Barnes &Noble is featuring the counter display in the audio section.
But such ballyhoo didn't impress all independent booksellers. Book Court, for example, d sn't even sell audios and would have had to order it for that eager patron (it didn't). Ken Abramson, buyer for Madison, Conn.'s R.J. Julia Booksellers, told PW, "I don't see why they didn't bring this out as a book. That's our main market." And BDD's first printing of 80,000 is certainly ambitious; Spitzer told PW that the Random House abridged audio of Bonfire sold about 13% of hardcover sales, which would mean a sale of around 45,000 copies. Asked to comment on the size of BDD's first run, Spitzer noted that it was probably larger to account for the fact that the work is only available on audio. Spitzer also said that "booksellers should realize the potential of this opportunity. They can definitely make money on audio sales -- while it may not be book numbers, there's less discounting."
FSG publicity director Jeff Seroy told PW that the house has not ruled out publishing Ambush in book form someday, possibly as part of a short works collection that Wolfe and his FSG editor, publisher Roger Straus, could develop in the future. But the focus right now is on a hoped-for summer delivery of the manuscript of Wolfe's eagerly awaited next novel, which on last year's FSG Frankfurt rights list was called Chocolate City and was announced for this coming fall. Then, the novel was described as being about Charlie Croker, a Trump-like, Atlanta-based real-estate tycoon saddled with debt and a restive young wife who gets involved with a black football star accused of sexually assaulting a young white woman. Now the novel is more likely set for next spring, Seroy said, and may not retain that title.
Given that Wolfe is trying to finish the book, it's unlikely he will do much promotion for the audio (and in fact, he could not be reached for comment). Frost noted that it's too soon to report any Ambush sales data, since the audio only went on sale last week -- and the UPS strike caused some laydown delays. She hopes for a longer, if slower, selling season through Christmas, a stretch that will be boosted by Borders featuring the audio in Original Voices in October and, a month earlier, a Rolling Stone promotion that could include excerpts from a new interview with Wolfe on the magazine's Web site. A free copy of the audio will be given away each day to a visitor of the site for a month.
Whatever happens, Frost told PW that she'd like to develop more audio-only works. She also has another prize in the offing: BDD Audio holds audio rights to Wolfe's next novel, as part of the reported $2 million deal that BDD and FSG made for that work.
