One big book can go far to boost sales, and one such book came under a legal cloud this week when the Trump administration sued John Bolton over his tell-all memoir.
Catching up with PW's Andrew Albanese
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The U.S. Census Bureau reported this week that bookstore sales took an unprecedented plunge in April, tumbling 65.3% compared to April 2019. All told, April bookstore sales fell $412 million from 2019, dropping to an anemic $219 million for the month, reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.
One big book can go far to boost sales, of course, and one such book came under a legal cloud this week when the Trump administration sued former National Security Advisor John Bolton over his tell-all memoir, The Room Where it Happened.
“The book is in reviewers’ hands and in the press, and we are already hearing all kinds of bombshell reports from its pages,” Albanese says. “Nevertheless, the Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a civil suit in Washington, D.C., seeking an order that would direct Bolton to take ‘all actions within his power to stop the publication and dissemination of his book as currently drafted,’ as well as an order placing ‘a constructive trust on any profits’ realized from a book published before the government completed its review and authorized its release.”
On Wednesday, Albanese notes, the DOJ followed that suit with a filing for an emergency hearing, seeking a temporary restraining order to block the book from circulation.
“In the filing, DOJ even ordered Simon & Schuster to claw back and destroy books it has printed and shipped. Well, that’s not going to happen,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.
