Regan inspires novel work

Judith Regan, the publisher who brought us tell-alls about steroids, pornography and, almost, the "crimes" of O.J. Simpson, has helped inspire another novelty in the book world: a work of fiction about the industry itself.

"Because She Can," by former Regan employee Bridie Clark, not only builds upon the tumultuous legend of Regan, fired last month amid reports of anti-Semitic remarks, but adds to what has been a surprisingly small genre. While Hollywood and the magazine world have been endlessly parodied, in such books and movies as "The Player" and "The Devil Wears Prada," there are few book world takeoffs.

"It isn't that kind of business," says Jason Epstein, a longtime editor with Doubleday and Random House whose many authors have included Norman Mailer and E.L. Doctorow. "It's very gentlemanly, and there isn't a lot of scandal to write about. You publish a book, it sells, or itdoesn't sell, and then you publish another one."

The number of novels with publishing plots would probably fit easily on a small shelf: "The Bestseller," an elaborate parody about a chaotic Manhattan publishing house by "First Wives Club" author Olivia Goldsmith; Deborah Ginsberg's "Blind Submission," published last fall, features an especially bossy boss widely believed to be based on literary agent Sandra Dijkstra, for whom Ginsberg once worked.

Clark, 29, worked 11 months as an editor at ReganBooks before leaving at the end of 2004. She quickly put together a manuscript about a young editor in the publishing business, what she calls a "coming of age novel disguised as a 'boss from hell' story." Clark's novel was already of interest -- fitting for Regan's place in the book world, the contents were first leaked in a gossip column in the New York Daily News -- before Regan's misbegotten Simpson project, a hypothetical confession to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Warner Books has given "Because She Can" an announced first printing of 50,000.