Did you hear the one about the bestselling blonde? Surprise: it's no joke. It's Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes, which was published by Miramax on April 7 and is up to 147,500 copies in print after six trips back to press. The flurry of activity, noted publicity director Hilary Bass, began in early January, when Entertainment Weekly put Sykes alongside David Sedaris in its preview issue, highlighting her book as the women's fiction title to watch this spring and calling it chic-lit instead of chick lit. That was followed, said Bass, with an excerpt in Vogue's annual spring fashion issue—"the one that resembles the yellow pages and everyone keeps around for months, referencing it for fashion ideas." These two early hits were followed by a barrage of magazine features (Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Gotham, New York, etc.), many of which declared Bergdorf Blondes the ideal remedy for those in Sex and the City withdrawal. Independents were equally enthusiastic, Bass added, citing several stores that "were all happily willing to jump in and book an event with the (then) little-known writer." Still to come are appearances on Today and CNN.
—With reporting by Dick Donahue
