Bookd digest || BOOKS BY THE NUMBERS

BOOKS BY THE NUMBERS

Copy of Poe’s first book sells for $662K in NYC

NEW YORK — A rare copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s first book has sold for $662,500, smashing the previous record price for American literature.

The copy of “Tamerlane and Other Poems” had been estimated to sell at auction on Dec. 4 for between $500,000 and $700,000 at Christie’s auction house in New York City. The previous record is believed to be $250,000 for a copy of the same book sold nearly two decades ago.

The 40-page collection of poems was published in 1827. Poe wrote the book shortly after moving to Boston to launch his literary career. No more than 40 or 50 copies of “Tamerlane” were printed, and only 12 remain.

The record-breaking copy is stained and frayed and has V-shaped notches on the outer and lower margins.

E-Matters

Publishers plan to hold back some e-books

NEW YORK — As the market quickens for e-books, the schedule for their release is slowing down.

Simon & Schuster announced that the electronic editions for more than 30 works due out in early 2010 would not be available until four months after the hardcover. These include novels by Don DeLillo and Mary Higgins Clark and a memoir by Karl Rove.

HarperCollins plans to withhold the digital version of five to 10 titles per month, starting next year. And Hachette Book Group USA will delay a wide selection of e-books in 2010.

Publishers and authors have worried that e-books might hurt sales for hardcovers; Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and other online retailers commonly price top-selling e-releases at $9.99, which publishers say is too low and could cheapen the value of books overall.

With the digital market estimated at 2 to 5 percent of total sales, more than double from two years ago, e-books were held back for several of the fall’s leading titles, including the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s “True Compass,” Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” and Andre Agassi’s “Open.”

Publishing industry

Obama’s publisher at Crown steps down

NEW YORK — Jenny Frost, who as head of the Crown Publishing Group oversaw the release of President Barack Obama’s million-selling 2006 book, “The Audacity of Hope,” stepped down Dec. 9, a decision she said was not hers.

Crown’s parent company, Random House Inc., announced Frost’s departure, saying it was a result of a “reorganization” of Crown, which is being split into “separately structured and distinct groups.” Spokesman Stuart Applebaum said no staff reductions were planned and declined to comment further on Frost’s leaving.

Frost, 53, had worked at Random House since the 1980s and served as president/publisher of Crown for the past seven years. She came out well from a major restructuring in 2008 when Random House consolidated its five major divisions into three, a move that added several imprints and laid off an undetermined number of employees.

Other best-sellers released during her reign included Ann Coulter’s “Treason,” Erik Larson’s “The Devil in the White City,” and the million-selling re-issue of Obama’s “Dreams From My Father.” Next year, Crown will publish a memoir by former President George W. Bush.

Frost will be succeeded by Maya Mavjee, who starts her new job Jan. 1. She is executive publisher of the Doubleday Canada Publishing Group and executive vice president of Random House of Canada, Ltd.

BOOK DEALS

R. Kelly working on autobiography due in 2011

NEW YORK — R. Kelly is writing more chapters, only this time, it’s not for his “Trapped” saga, but for a new memoir. The 42-year-old singer, writer and producer said in a statement that he is working on an autobiography with David Ritz that will “tell it like it is.”

The book promises to go through all his drama, including child pornography charges that ended with an acquittal.

The autobiography is untitled right now, just like his new CD. It’s scheduled for release by Tavis Smiley’s SmileyBooks in 2011.

Vindicator wire reports