Their Book Deals Snag Big $$$

Deceptively Delicious wasn't plagiarized, federal judge rules

(NEWSER) - A federal judge in New York has tossed out a suit claiming that a cookbook by Jerry Seinfeld's wife plagiarized a rival's book. Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious, like Missy Chase Lapine's The Sneaky Chef, shows parents how to sneak vegetables into their kids' food—an idea nobody can copyright, the judge said. She added that Seinfeld's book is "bright and cheerful" while Lapine's is "dry and text-heavy," the New York Daily News reports. More»

Obama's vacation book list drives leaps in Amazon sales rankings

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s poll numbers are faltering, but his summer reading choices are getting rave reviews, Politico reports. A survey of the Amazon.com standings of the five books the White House announced he would take with him on his Martha’s Vineyard vacation show a drastic improvement in sales. If you’re doubtful about joining Obama’s Book Club, look at these numbers and follow the pack: More»

Fluffy novels 'must respond to a more sober age'

(NEWSER) - The world of chick lit is populated with material concerns and hefty price tags—but in today’s battered economy, such themes may no longer resonate, writes author Sarah Bilston for DoubleX. Her latest book's “cheery consumerism and aimless career-dithering were clearly out of touch in a world of mortgage defaulting, pink slips, and repossessed homes.” The UK version was already on shelves, but not so the US edition: So "in a single mad month I slashed and burned," as other writers must for the genre to survive. More»

Publishers roll dice on shocking French work by Yank Jonathan Littell

(NEWSER) - A novel about a Nazi officer with a taste for sodomy and incest might not scream “bestseller”—especially at nearly 1,000 pages long and translated from French. Yet Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones topped charts in France and precipitated a bidding war among US publishers. HarperCollins paid a reported $1 million, but early reviews have been deeply polarized, the New York Times notes. More»

(NEWSER) - Funny girl Sarah Silverman will be paid $2.5 million by HarperCollins to write a collection of comic essays, the New York Observer reports.The bankable big- and small-screen star set off a spirited bidding war among publishers, though she will fall short of the reported $6 million that fellow comedian Tina Fey will get from Little, Brown for a similar venture. More»