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THE BOOK BUSINESS

Program 06-04-16-B

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*Here's a conundrum. Some say the number of Americans who read books for pleasure is at an all time low, yet the Internet's teeming with literary blogs, and just about everyone who cares about writing has a manuscript of their own stashed in a desk drawer somewhere. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the book business. Steve Berry talks about writing three books at once and Zadie Smith pays tribute to E.M. Forster. Also, the Editor-in-Chief of Publisher's Weekly gives us the recipe for a best-seller.

SEGMENT 1:

Sara Nelson is Editor-in-Chief of Publishers Weekly. She tells Anne Strainchamps what publishers can do to make a book a best-seller; why independent bookstores and word of mouth matter; and why the actual number of copies sold is a state secret. Also, best-selling author Steve Berry ("The Third Secret," "The Templar Legacy") tells Jim Fleming he works on three books at once to keep a best-seller in the pipeline. He says readers ask him about the business of writing, rather than the craft of writing, when they should be worried about the fundamentals first.

SEGMENT 2:

Kevin Smokler tells Steve Paulson that the Internet is changing the world of letters but he thinks it's progress. Smokler sees a welcome democratization of literature. He edited "Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times." Also, novelist Larry Baker followed up "Flamingo Rising" with a story called "Athens, America." He marketed it himself, starting in the mid-West, where the book is set, and ended up selling it in grocery stores. He tells the whole tale to Jim Fleming.

SEGMENT 3:

British novelist Zadie Smith tells Steve Paulson why she admires writers who don't sound just like her. Her book "On Beauty" owes a lot to E.M. Forster's "Howard's End." And among her peers, Smith says she greatly admires David Foster Wallace.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 06-04-16-B.

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Books:

• Larry Baker, Athens, America (First Coast Books; ISBN: 0975572407)
  
• Steve Berry, The Third Secret (Ballantine Books; ISBN: 0345476131)
  
• Zadie Smith, On Beauty (The Penguin Press; ISBN: 1594200637)
  
• Kevin Smokler (ed.), Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times (Basic Books; ISBN: 0465078443) www.kevinsmokler.com

Music:

• All tunes come from a single CD: Durable Americana by John Danley 2005 A Priori Records www.johndanley.com

Distribution dates:

week of 04/15/2007 - hour 2 week of 04/16/2006 - hour 1

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

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