As a new feature in PW 's twice-yearly annoucements issues, we're introducing this on-sale calendar, listing many of the biggest hardcover titles landing between March and August. Selected according to each author's track record as well as intangibles like early buzz, it's a carefully composed snapshot of the books that are likely to draw readers in droves. For booksellers, it should help in planning displays and allocating co-op for Mother's Day, Father's Day and summer reading promotions. And for publishers and everyone else, it's an early overview of the competitive lineup. For further information about these books, please refer to our announcement listings in this issue.
Though these on-sale dates were current at press time, we expect their publication here will provoke a few rounds of musical chairs in the associate publisher's office—and that when the music stops, more than a few books will have moved. For example, it's unlikely that the latest novels from Danielle Steele, Tami Hoag, Kathy Reichs, Perri O'Shaughnessy, Christina Dodd and Catherine Coulter will all bow on June 29. It's just a question of who will blink first and choose another date.
Close readers of the announced first printings will also have to draw their own conclusions about how publishers are signaling their intentions. For example, will Miramax print anything near 125,000 copies of Erica Kennedy's buzzed-about debut novel, Bling, when Dial Press has slated the same first printing for Can You Keep a Secret?, the first hardcover by Sophie Kinsella, an established paperback bestseller? And will Ann Patchett's literary memoir of her friendship with writer Lucy Grealy, Truth and Beauty (HarperCollins), sell as many hardcovers as media maven Cokie Roberts's look at the nation's Founding Mothers?
Finally, an operational note: while each publisher has provided what it defined as the on-sale date for each title, the term is not used interchangeably at each of the major houses, or even among the imprints within a single corporation.
To see the printable versions of these calendars, click here»
March 1
Hunting Down Saddam: The Inside Story of the Search and Capture by Robin Moore (St. Martin's, $25.95). 250,000 first printing.
March 2
Ransom by Danielle Steel (Delacorte, $26.95). 850,000 first printing.
The Ideal Bride by Stephanie Laurens (Morrow, $22.95). 200,000 first printing.
The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherford (Doubleday, $27.95). 125,000 first printing.
Peninsula of Lies: A True Story of Mysterious Birth and Taboo Love by Edward Ball (S&S, $25). 100,000 first printing.
March 3
3rd Degree by James Patterson (Little, Brown, $26.95). 925,000 first printing.
March 6
Burning Down My Master's House by Jayson Blair (New Millennium Press, $24.95). 120,000 first printing.
March 8
The Sexy Years: Discover the Hormone Connection: The Secret to Fabulous Sex, Great Health, and Vitality, for Women and Men by Suzanne Somers (Crown, $25). 400,000 first printing.
Bad Business: A Spenser Novel by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, $24.95).
March 9
Songs of the Gorilla Nation by Dawn Prince-Hughes (Crown/Harmony, $24). 75,000 first printing.
Aloft by Chang Rae Lee (Riverhead, $24.95).
March 16
The Burgler on the Prowl by Lawrence Block (Morrow, $24.95). 100,000 first printing.
Booknotes: On American Character by Brian Lamb (Public Affairs, $29.95). 75,000 first printing.
March 17
Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order by Mark Crispin Miller (Norton, $21.95). 75,000 first printing.
March 22
Codex by Lev Grossman (Harcourt, $24). 75,000 first printing.
March 23
Sleeping Beauty by Phillip Margolin (HarperCollins, $25.95). 150,000 first printing
House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger (Scribner, $26). 150,000 first printing.
Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella (Dial, $21.95). 125,000 first printing.
A Spectacle of Corruption by David Liss (Random House, $24.95). 75,000 first printing.
March 29
Ten Minutes from Normal by Karen Hughes (Viking, $25.95). 250,000 first printing.
Against All Enemies: Inside the White House's War on Terror by Richard Clarke (Free Press, $27). 200,000 first printing.
March 30
Firestorm by Iris Johansen (Bantam, $24.95). 300,000 first printing.
Whisker of Evil by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown (Bantam, $24.95). 100,000 first printing.
Sharpe's Escape by Bernard Cornwell (HarperCollins, $25.95)
. 100,000 first printing.
Letters to My Daughters by Mary Matalin (S&S, $21). 150,000 first printing.
APRIL
April 1
The Sons of Camelot by Laurence Leamer (Morrow, $27.95). 150,000 first printing.
Guardian of the Horizon by Elizabeth Peters (Morrow, $24.95). 150,000 first printing.
Flashpoint by Suzanne Brockmann (Ballantine, $21.95). 125,000 first printing.
April 2
Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye by Michael Eric Dyson (Basic, $23). 75,000 first printing.
April 5
Caddy for Life by John Feinstein (Little, Brown, $25,95). 300,000 first printing.
The Outside World by Tova Mirvis (Knopf, $24). 75,000 first printing.
April 6
Night Time Is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark (S&S, $25.95). One million first printing.
Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons (HarperCollins, $24.95). 250,000 first printing.
The Body of David Hayes by Ridley Pearson (Hyperion, $23.95). 150,000 first printing.
Seven Things That Steal Your Joy by Joyce Meyer (Warner Faith, $21.99). 150,000 first printing.
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (Atria, $25). 125,000 first printing.
Manners; Style; Occasions by Kate Spade (S&S, $20 each). Each, 100,000 first printing.
April 7
Fanatics and Fools by Arianna Huffington (Miramax, $23.95). 150,000 first printing.
If I Knew It Was Going to Be This Much Fun, I Would Have Become a Grandparent First by Willard Scott (Hyperion, $22.95). 100,000 copy first printing.
No Woman No Cry by Rita Marley (Hyperion, $22.95). 75,000 first printing.
April 12
Farewell Jackie by Ed Klein (Viking, $23.95). 150,000 first printing.
April 13
Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas and Micah Sparks (Warner, $22). 800,000 first printing.
The South Beach Diet Cookbook by Arthur Agatson, M.D. (Rodale, $25.95). 750,000 first printing.
Loud and Clear by Anna Quindlen (Random House, $24.95). 200,000 first printing.
Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts (Morrow, $22.95). 150,000 first printing.
Good Grief by Lolly Winston (Warner, $18). 100,000 first printing.
Play Baseball the Ripken Way by Cal Ripken (Random House, $25.95). 75,000 first printing.
Reckless Abandon by Stuart Woods (Putnam, $25.95).
Blue Blood by Edward Conlon (Riverhead, $26.95).
How to Get Rich: Lessons from The Apprentice and Other Big Deals by Donald J. Trump with Meredith McIver (Random House, $21.95). 300,000 first printing.
April 14
The Confusion by Neal Stephenson (Morrow, $27.95). 250,000 first printing.
Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes (Miramax, $23.95). 100,000 first printing.
Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero by Leigh Montville (Doubleday, $24.95). 75,000 first printing.
April 20
Why Courage Matters by John McCain (Random House, $16.95). 125,000 first printing.
The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg (Random House, $24.95). 100,000 first printing.
April 26
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (Penguin Press, $35). 300,000 first printing.
The Priestly Sins by Andrew W. Greeley (Forge, $24.95). 150,000 first printing.
April 27
A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin (Bantam Spectra, $28). 200,000 first printing.
Just One Look by Harlan Coben (Dutton, $25.95). 215,000 first printing.
Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker (Random House, $24.95). 100,000 first printing.
MAY
May 3
The Narrows by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, $25.95). 500,00 first printing.
Therapy by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine, $26.95). 350,000 first printing.
May 4
Folly and Glory: Final Volume of the Berrybender Narratives, A Novel by Larry McMurtry (S&S, $25). 250,000 first printing.
Memorial Day by Vince Flynn (Atria, $25.95). 250,000 first printing.
How Israel Lost by Richard Ben Cramer (S&S, $24). 100,000 first printing.
Growing Up Healthy by Joan Lunden (Atria, $26). 125,000 first printing.
Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboy Who Raided Asia in Search of the American Dream by Ben Mezrich (Morrow, $24.95). 100,000 first printing.
The Paid Companion by Amanda Quick/ Jayne Ann Krentz (Putnam, $24.95).
May 5
The Summer I Dared by Barbara Delinsky (Scribner, $24.95). 350,000 first printing.
May 10
Big Russ and Me: Father and Son, Lessons of Life by Tim Russert (Miramax, $22.95). 350,000 first printing.
Liars and Thieves by Stephen Coonts (St. Martin's, $25.95). 300,000 first printing.
Eventide by Kent Haruf (Knopf, $24.95). 250,000 first printing.
Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier by Alexandra Fuller (Penguin Press, $24.95). 100,000 first printing.
May 11
Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett (HarperCollins, $23.95). 150,000 first printing.
Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House by Sally Bedell-Smith (Random House, $29.95). 100,000 first printing.
Hidden Prey by John Sandford (Putnam, $26.95).
May 12
Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack: A Boyhood Year During World War II by Charles Osgood (Hyperion, $21.95). 125,000 first printing.
May 17
A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett (Little, Brown, $26,95). 650,000 first printing.
May 18
Republican Noise Machine by David Brock (Crown, $25.95). 150,000 first printing.
Cash by the editors of Rolling Stone (Crown, $29.95). 100,000 first printing.
The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey by Muhammad Ali and Hana Ali (S&S, $21). 250,000 first printing.
May 22
True North by Jim Harrison (Grove, $24). 85,000 first printing.
May 25
The Taking by Dean Koontz (Bantam, $27). 525,000 first printing.
On Paradise Drive: How We Choose to Live in a Rosier Future by David Brooks (S&S, $25). 125,000 first printing.
Bobby Flay's Boy Gets Grill by Bobby Flay with Julia Moskin (Scribner, $30). 125,000 first printing.
Battle Ready by Tom Clancy with Gen. Tony Zinni (Putnam, $28.95).
Double Play by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, $24.95).
May 27
It's Not Easy Bein' Me by Rodney Dangerfield (Harper Entertainment, $25.95). 100,000 first printing.
May 31
Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times by Bill Moyers (New Press, $24.95). 100,000 first printing.
JUNE
June 1
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (Little, Brown, $24.95). 450,000 first printing.
Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline (HarperCollins, $25.95). 300,000 first printing.
A Loving Scoundrel by Johanna Lindsey (Atria, $25). 200,000 first printing.
Camp by Michael Eisner (Warner, $20). 150,000 first printing.
June 7
A Good Year by Peter Mayle (Knopf, $24). 175,000 first printing.
Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding (Viking, $24.95). 150,000 first printing.
June 8
In the Moon of Red Ponies by James Lee Burke (S&S, $24.95). 175,000 first printing.
The Queen of the South by Arturo Perez-Reverte (Putnam, $25.95).
June 11
Grant Comes East by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen (St. Martin's/Thomas Dunne, $24.95). 200,000 first printing.
June 12
Star Wars: The Cestus Deception by Steven Barnes (Ballantine, $25,95). 125,000 first printing.
June 15
The Color of Death by Elizabeth Lowell (Morrow, $24.95). 200,000 first printing.
June 16
The Excellent 11: Qualities Shared by Children Who Love to Learn by Ron Clark (Hyperion, $19.95). 250,000 first printing.
Bling by Erica Kennedy (Miramax, $24.95). 125,000 first printing.
Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism by P.J. O'Rourke (Atlantic Monthly, $23). 100,000 first printing.
June 21
Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant
Presidency by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (Norton, $19.95). 100,000 first printing.
June 22
Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin's, $26.95). One million first printing.
June 28
Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson (Little, Brown, $24.95). 1,350,000 first printing.
The Coma by Alex Garland (Riverhead, $19.95)
June 29
Second Chance by Danielle Steel (Delacorte, $20). 900,000 first printing.
Kill the Messenger by Tami Hoag (Bantam, $27). 350,000 first printing.
Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs (Scribner, $25). 275,000 first printing.
Unlucky in Law by Perri O'Shaughnessy (Delacorte, $25). 125,000 first printing.
Four Souls by Louise Erdrich (HarperCollins, $22.95). 100,000 first printing.
Some Enchanted Evening by Christina Dodd (Morrow, $21.95). 100,000 first printing.
Blowout by Catherine Coulter (Putnam, $25.95).
JULY
July 5
Little Scarlet by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown, $24.95). 150,000 first printing.
July 6
Celebrity Detox by Rosie O'Donnell. (Warner, $24). 350,000 first printing.
Celia: My Life by Celia Cruz with Ana Christina Reymundo (HarperCollins/Rayo, $24.95). English edition, 50,000 first printing; Spanish edition, 100,000 first printing.
July 7
All Fishermen Are Liars: True Tales from the Dry Dock Bar by Linda Greenlaw (Hyperion, $22.95). 200,000 first printing.
Gotham Diaries by Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony (Hyperion, $23.95). 100,000 first printing.
July 12
Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and The Birth of the FBI, 1933—34 by Brian Burrough (Penguin Press, $27.95). 125,000 first printing.
Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani (Random House, $24.95). 125,000 first printing.
July 13
Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf, $24.95). 300,000 first printing.
Garden of Beasts: A Novel of Berlin 1939 by Jeffery Deaver (S&S, $24.95). 300,000 first printing.
Prophecy by Sylvia Browne with Lindsay Harrison (Dutton, $23.95). 125,000 first printing.
Drive Me Crazy by Eric Jerome Dickey (Dutton, $23.95). 120,000 first printing.
He-Motions by T.D. Jakes (Putnam, $19.95).
July 20
Forgotten Man by Robert Crais (Doubleday, $24.95). 150,000 first printing.
Afterburn by Zane (Atria, $24.95). 125,00 first printing.
Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman (Doubleday, $24.95). 75,000 first printing.
July 27
Day of the Dead by J.A. Jance (Morrow, $23.95). 200,000 first printing.
AUGUST
August 3
Atkins Diabetes Revolution by Robert C. Atkins (Morrow, $25.95). 500,000 first printing.
Jackpot by Fern Michaels (Atria, $25). 250,000 first printing.
Great Pretender by E. Lynn Harris (Doubleday, $19.95). 250,000 first printing.
Divine Evil by Nora Roberts (Bantam, $22). 250,000 first printing.
August 10
Visions in Death by J.D.Robb/ Nora Roberts (Putnam, $21.95).
August 15
Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney's, Humor Category: 1998—2003, edited by Dave Eggers et al. (Knopf, $16). 100,000 first printing.
August 17
White Hot by Sandra Brown (S&S, $25.95). 500,000 first printing
Body Double by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine, $24.95). 200,000 first printing.
August 23
Namath by Mark Kriegel (Viking, $27.95). 150,000 first printing.
August 24
Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah by Stephen King (Scribner, $30). 700,000 first printing.
August 27
Lost City by Clive Cussler (Putnam, $26.95).
