Behind the Besetsellers
Daisy Maryles -- 8/7/00
Seeing Red | Seeing Browne--Twice | Not so Deadly
Confidentially Speaking
Seeing Red
Talk about an "overnight success." In October 1997, The Red Tent, a debut novel by Anita Diamant, was published in hardcover by St. Martin's; a trade paperback was released a year later by Picador USA, with a first printing of 10,000 copies. Nearly two years later, the Picador in-print total is 400,000+ after 13 printings--and thereby hangs a tale. The Red Tent--which is based on the biblical character of Dinah--was not widely reviewed, and it has never been nationally advertised. But when Picador senior editor Diane Higgins sent the paperback to nearly 1,500 Reform rabbis, the response was tremendous. The clergy recommended it to their congregations; readers told their friends. A second push by Picador--a nationwide mailing of the book to women ministers and independent reading group leaders--was responsible for the book's adoption by countless reading groups. The publisher created a reading group guide and made it available through its Web site. Diamant was a tireless promoter, whose speaking engagement audiences swelled from three people ("my best friend from junior high, her mother and me") to crowds of up to 900. This "Little Novel That Could"saga hasn't gone unnoticed: features have appeared on iuniverse.com, in the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, USA Today--and PW (Book News, Jan. 17).
Seeing Browne--TwiceDutton's latest bestseller is Life on the Other Side: A Psychic's Tour of the Afterlife by Sylvia Browne with Lindsay Harrison, which marks its second week on PW's nonfiction list (copies in print: 289,000). The author's last national bestseller, The Other Side and Back: A Psychic's Guide to Our World and Beyond, was published last August; it enjoyed a seven-week run on our charts, two in the top spot. The Signet mass market, which was released last month with "all-new, updated material," debuts on our list today; it has 550,000 copies in print after three printings. Check out www.sylvia.org for more about the well-known psychic, whose 16-city lecture tour has stops scheduled until December. Media promotion has included The Montel Williams Show, QVC and The Edge with Paula Zahn, plus chats on Microsoft and B&N.
Not so DeadlyMystery maven Kathy Reichs debuts on our fiction list today with her third novel, Deadly Decisions, which was introduced by Scribner in March with a special magazine editors' luncheon. (The pub date was July 25; copies in print total 150,000.) The author's six-city tour includes Montreal and Charlotte, N. C., both places where her lead character, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, works. Deadly Decisions was recommended summer reading on Today ("the new Patricia Cornwell") and has garnered glowing reviews in USA Today ("the lab lady most likely to dethrone Patricia Cornwell"), People, the New York Times Book Review and U. S. Weekly. Reichs is an iVillage.com pick of the month, and an Entertainment Weekly feature is in the works.
Confidentially SpeakingWhat's cooking? You'd better check carefully, cautions chef Anthony Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential, which was published by Bloomsbury USA on May 22. The wickedly funny memoir, which has 133,000 copies in print after five trips to press, is hovering just below PW's top 15; this coming Sunday will mark its eighth week on the New York Times list. According to publicity director Sandee Yuen, Dan Halpern at Ecco Press has acquired paperback rights "following an irresistible preemptive bid." The publicity kicked off with a Newsweek feature and an All Things Considered interview; subsequent interviews have run in the Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, the Boston Globe, etc. Other highlights include a Today appearance, a People interview, CNN, and, added Yuen, "an astonishing number of reviews." Given the SRO crowds on Bourdain's six-city tour, Bloomsbury has added three West Coast stops, starting today. Film rights have been optioned by New Line--dinner and a movie, anyone?
With reporting by Dick Donahue.
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