The non-outraged publishers

Following the outrage among some authors, booksellers, and book reviewers about the reduction of newspaper book review space, I can't help but notice the deafening silence from book publishers. The fuss was sparked by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's recent decision to eliminate the position of book editor, though not, the paper says, book coverage. The National Book Critics Circle has led a protest campaign, which included a modest demonstration outside the Journal-Constitution's offices and a petition.

But where are the publishers? Look at the website of the Association of American Publishers, and you mostly find them fighting against overseas piracy and the Patriot Act. They're not up in arms over book review space.

Part of their silence, I suspect, is that publishers know that newspaper reviews don't really drive sales. Take, for example, Jane Smiley's newest novel, "Ten Days in the Hills." Published in February, it was reviewed everywhere, beginning with a strong early review by John Updike. Smiley is a big deal and the book is loaded with explicit sex scenes. A sure bestseller, right? It's ranked at No. 5,181 on Amazon.com, and not to be found on any bestseller list. Then there's "The Castle in the Forest," by Norman Mailer. Norman Mailer, a living legend and national literary monument, with his first novel in 10 years, quite likely his last. It's about Hitler and Satan. It got an enormous lead review in the Jan. 21 New York Times Book Review, but where is it now? No. 7,303 on Amazon.com.

Meanwhile, look at the bestsellers on any fiction list, and what you will see is books that are seldom reviewed in newspapers, except in short-review roundups: the David Baldaccis, the Danielle Steels, the Maeve Binchys. If a publisher believes in an author, it doesn't pray for reviews; it chases off-the-book-page coverage -- interviews and profiles -- sends the writer on a national book tour with local TV and radio gigs, and pays for big displays in stores. National TV is even better: Stephen Colbert, or the Today Show. Even so, as yesterday's New York Times story makes clear, nobody really knows how to make a bestseller.

A publisher once said to me, "Ads don't drive sales, and neither do reviews." I asked what does, and she shrugged and said, "Appearances on NPR." NPR listeners are a literate, book-reading audience. Brian Lies's children's book, "Bats at the Beach," went off the charts when Daniel Pinkwater praised it last year on "Weekend Edition." If you get a sympathetic interview on Terry Gross's "Fresh Air," your book may take off. On the other hand, what happened to Gross's own book, "All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians, and Artists," published last July? On Amazon.com, it's ranked No. 288,566.