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2007/11/03 Bestsellers: Book on War and Compassion (Dec, 2001)

Bestsellers: Book on War and Compassion (Dec, 2001)

Master CNN 2007/11/03 14:27

RICHARD QUEST, CNN Anchor: Forget the potboilers. These days when it comes to picking up a good read, bookstores have seen a dramatic shift in what people want to buy. Today’s book buyer’s interests have turned to religion, war and inspirational subjects. The Dalai Lama’s and the popular inspirational have publishers scrambling to reprint. Susan Lisovicz has been taking a look.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN Correspondent: When times are bad, Bible sales are good, but even at this Christian bookstore, a landmark in New York since 1883, there is no comparison to September 11th and its aftermath.

UNIDENTIFIED CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE OWNER: When you look at even the Gulf War, or even the previous recessions, we saw increases in our Bible sales between 10 and 20 percent. But this time, we are seeing increases of 50 to 60 percent. So, it’s just a dramatic difference from what, anything, we’ve experienced before.

LISOVICZ: Even recently retired GE Chairman, Jack Welch, had to postpone his book tour.
JACK WELCH, Former Gen.
Electric Head: We cancelled our trip to the first month after the tragedy. We started on the 11th, actually that day, and so it ended right away.

LISOVICZ: Even so, Welch’s memoir tops the bestsellers list, but look at the newcomers. Books about biological weapons, firefighters, war, compassion and the Twin Towers. The media’s complete focus on breaking news over the past month translates into lost marketing opportunities at a critical time.

JOHN BAKER, : The real problem has been, I think, that the usual promotion, marketing and publicity plans for authors with big fall books have been thrown completely into disarray for several weeks.

LISOVICZ: Now the same booksellers that were so hard hit after September 11th see an opportunity for the upcoming holiday season, because of the deteriorating economy and Americans’ preference to stay home.
The nation’s number two bookseller, Borders, lost one of its own stores, located in the World Trade Center. It’s already warned that sales will be off in the third quarter as a result of September’s terrorist attacks. But Borders is capitalizing on its DVDs, patriotic music and current events section.

TAMI HEIM, Borders Stores: What we provide customers, especially if they’re tightening their belt, is a very affordable gift alternative. It’s personal, it’s something that someone can specifically relate to.

LISOVICZ: And in these difficult times, readers are looking for answers. Susan Lisovicz, , New York.

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