Authors Buy Their Way Onto Best-Seller Lists

Authors Buy Their Way Onto Best-Seller Lists - WSJ.com: " . . . For the marketing of "Networking is Dead," co-author Melissa G. Wilson, a writer and consultant, says she hired ResultSource in part because she wanted to understand the experience firsthand before deciding whether she could recommend it to her publishing clients. When asked how the process worked, Ms. Wilson said, "I write a check to Kevin, he buys the books and he ships them." Ms. Wilson said ResultSource shipped the titles to the people to whom she had presold the books. She added that she doesn't know how ResultSource did that so that the books were counted by best-seller lists. "It's a secret sauce," she said. She said she was able to presell 3,000 copies—a big chunk of the first-week hardcover sales of 4,500—in part by telling companies that had hired her to speak that she would prefer to provide them with books in lieu of part of her speaking fee. Ms. Wilson said she is satisfied with ResultSource's work. The publisher, BenBella Books, said "Networking is Dead" has sold about 8,800 copies to date, including paperbacks and e-books. . . ."

Book: Solutions elusive for New Orleans schools
USA TODAY
Her new book, Hope Against Hope, traces the effort mainly through the eyes of three main characters: a seasoned charter school principal, a young teacher and, most prominently, Geraldlynn Stewart, a New Orleans girl who was 9 at the time of the storm.

'Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall,' by Will Ellsworth-Jones
New York Times
The journalist Will Ellsworth-Jones's new book, “Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall,” examines the conundrums behind Banksy and the growing Banksy brand, the paradoxes involved in an outsider trying to hold onto his street cred while becoming an art world ...

The co-author of 'Hubris' on torture, secrets–and what we still don't know
MSNBC
NBC News National Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff co-authored the best-selling book Hubris with David Corn, an MSNBC contributor and the Washington Bureau Chief of Mother Jones. Their book is the basis for the new MSNBC documentary, ...

MSNBC

Book Discussion on [The Way of the Bootstrapper] - C-SPAN Video Library: "Former Rep. Flake talked about his book, The Way of the Bootstrapper: Nine Action Steps for Achieving Your Dreams, published by HarperSanFranciso. The former congressman is senior pastor of the Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens, the largest church in New York state. His book is about “bootstrapping,” his motivational system of taking personal responsibility in order to create a successful life. The system consists of a process, a mindset, and a value system. The book also includes Rep. Flake’s personal story." (watch the video at the link above)

Book Discussion on [Smuggler Nation] - C-SPAN Video Library: "Professor Peter Andreas talked about his book, Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America, in which he reveals the long history of smuggling in the U.S., which, prior to the Revolutionary War, was driven by a desire to grow domestic industries and bypass import taxes to the British. Today, the U.S. is the leading market in the world for illicitly traded goods, while at the same time being one of the leading voices for reform. Professor Andreas spoke at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island."

Author, screenwriter Delia Ephron to speak in Bridgewater
The Star-Ledger - NJ.com
She has written novels and books of humor, including "How to Eat Like a Child," and her articles have appeared in The New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, More, and The Huffington Post. Ephron also collaborated with her famed sister Nora ...

Who has the best book covers – the UK or the US?
The Guardian (blog)
Why, the annual Judging Books By Their Covers competition held at themillions.com, which pits US book covers against their UK versions to see which will emerge as Top Nation At Least As Far As Book Cover Art Goes. May We Be Forgiven by AM Homes:...

The Guardian (blog)

Book Review: Murder in the Rue Dumas: A Verlaque and Bonnet Mystery by ...
Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog)
Penguin has released in paperback Murder in the Rue Dumas, the second in a series of detective novels by author M. L. Longworth featuring the Chief Magistrate of Aix-en-Provence, Judge Antoine Verlaque. The first novel, Death at the Chateau Bremont, ...

Keith O'Brien's 6 favorite books
The Week Magazine
But you don't need to be to love Halberstam's book about the 1964 World Series, which pitted the regal Yanks against a rising Cardinals team that seemed to represent baseball's future. The book changed my life. I read it and wanted to be not Bob Gibson...

The Week Magazine

Thinking Beyond the Creationists and the Darwinists
New York Times
The directions to the rural North Texas home of Jim Marrs, an author and conspiracy researcher, certainly sound like something from an old episode of “The X-Files”: “Go north about seven miles, and watch for a sign on a green metal gate at the top of a ...

Book thefts cost Austin libraries $1.1M in 5 years
San Francisco Chronicle
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Austin Public Library system loaned out $1.1 million worth of books and other items in the past five years that have not been returned, a newspaper and TV station found. A review by the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV ...

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