The Lansing State Journal cited Williamston, Mich., as a community where aspiring female entrepreneurs "unsure about starting your own business" might find inspiration. One of those business inspirations is Tuesday Books, which was opened five years ago by three friends-- Justine Dailey, Beth Phelps and Theresa Grossman--who "had what they said was an insane idea."

Barbara Burke, executive director of the Williamston Area Chamber of Commerce, said there are 97 businesses in Williamston and the surrounding area owned by women, with 48 of them downtown. 

---

Book trailer of the day: The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter.

---

In the University of Wisconsin's Daily Cardinal, Bonnie Gleicher shared a "psychedelic experience at the bookstore. . . . a state of euphoria I like to call my 'Scholastic Fantastic I-Saved-Money' state.

"As I grab the used book off the shelf, the store morphs into a swirl of rainbow delight; reds, greens and yellows emerge from the exit signs and institutional floor tiles. The walls melt, like a cup of strawberry ice cream left behind at the Terrace as the room warps into a kaleidoscopic surprise. The shelves turn sideways, and out floats every used item in the store. Like autumn leaves swept up in a breeze, the books fill the air and become weightless."

---

The release date for Sarah Palin's Going Rogue: An American Life has been moved up to November 17, according to the Los Angeles Time, which added, "Fans/haters who thought you had until next spring to buy and then read at least the first part of Sarah Palin's book need to change your plans."

---

Cool author tour idea of the day: William Dalyrymple, author of Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India wrote in the Financial Times about setting off "on a bus full of ganja-smoking tantric madmen from rural Bengal. Also on board will be a Keralan dancer and part-time prison warder who is widely believed to be the human incarnation of the god Vishnu; five fakir monks from the badlands of Pakistan who sing in a sort of castrati falsetto; a smoky-voiced Tamil diva who has helped to keep alive an ancient but dying sacred song tradition from the temples of southern India; and an anthropologist of Sufi mysticism who does amazing Jimi Hendrix-ish things with his guitar. It's going to be an interesting few months: Spinal Tap on a potentially fatal collision course with the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage."

Dalrymple noted that it is "all part of what will be a year-long tour to launch my new book."

---

"Bookseller, where art thou?" asked Kristina Chetcuti in the Times of Malta, observing: "Unfortunately, bookselling is a dying art. Not only in Malta, I would say. I think it's the globalisation/chainstore effect. Instead of personal recommendations we are given bestseller lists which are almost the same in every shop worldwide. Instead of bookworm independent booksellers we have stores full of very efficient, polite salespeople, many of whom are not readers. It's like going to a beautician and when you lie on the couch you realise she has a thick dark moustache: however good the service, you want someone who practises the service they're giving.

"This is my idea of a bookshop: rickety-hickety and with a little bell which rings when you go in. I know that probably it does not make business sense, but I know it makes a very harmonious place for the soul. As Franz Kafka says 'A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul.' How I wish we could stop selling and buying books from soulless places."

Perseus Books Group and the Daily Beast have created Beast Books, which will publish titles on "current, national issues of the highest interest and importance," first as e-books, then quickly followed by trade paperback editions. The imprint plans to publish three to five books a year. The Beast Books venture was negotiated by Perseus and literary agents Ed Victor and Larry Kirshbaum, who represented the Daily Beast.

The first Beast Books title will be Attack of the Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America by John P. Avlon, a Daily Beast columnist and a frequent commentator on CNN with his "Wingnut of the Week" segment. The e-book version of the book appears in December, and a trade paperback will come in January. The company will hold a contest naming the 50 Biggest Wingnuts of 2009 (25 far left and 25 far right).

Tina Brown, Daily Beast co-founder and editor-in-chief, said that the goal of Beast Books is to be "both deep and timely. That means publishing differently." She added, "Authors are frustrated with the long pipeline for publishing material relevant to the news. We feel producing digitally first is the best way for ideas that we have already seen thrive on the Daily Beast to get a strong response. In Perseus, we have a partner that thinks differently, that can combine the powerful quick-to-market digital capabilities of their Constellation platform, and that has deep expertise in publishing books."

According to the New York Times, writers will receive "low five-figure advances from Perseus, then split profit from the sale of both the e-books and paperbacks with Perseus and the Daily Beast."

Last week at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York, Leslie McGuirk (far right) and Alex von Bidder (an owner of the restaurant, center) hosted a party for their book, Wiggens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant (Candlewick, August), pictured with McGuirk's mother (far left), and niece, Emma Bennington (center). Emma's chocolate lab, Morgan, inspired the book's puppy hero. The authors met when von Bidder took a creativity class from McGuirk (who's written several books about a Westie named Tucker), and she suggested they collaborate on a manners book. To canine-themed tunes (such as "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog"), waiters strolled among children's book fans and Four Seasons patrons with platters that included dog bone-shaped hors d'oeuvres. McGuirk, who also illustrated the book, said she cast the Saint Bernard as the kindly instructor in honor of von Bidder's Swiss heritage. Von Bidder, who's taught manners classes to fifth-graders, N.Y.U. students and at a law firm, said that Wiggens contains life lessons as much as etiquette guidelines, such as No. 5: "Always be willing to take a bite of something new." Von Bidder explained, "This is about being adventurous and courageous in life." And McGuirk pointed out that these are not just for children: "We wanted to make sure that it was gentler and also more profound, about how to have a good life as an adult."--Jennifer M. Brown

E-books, online bookselling, selling in the recession and fall lists featuring many promising books were among the major topics at the Midwest Booksellers Association annual trade show held last weekend in St. Paul, Minn.

Booksellers in a session on e-books led by Paige Poe of the ABA indicated that while only a few of them have IndieCommerce websites and many believe they should sell e-books, they are apparently reluctant to sign up for the service. (Several said later that this had to do either with unfamiliarity with the program's details or not having the authority to make such a decision, which applies especially at college and other institutional bookstores.) ABA CEO Oren Teicher urged them to consider--or reconsider--IndieCommerce, saying that indie booksellers can't afford to lose the e-slice of the market.

In her presentation, Poe gave a history of e-books, e-book readers (we had almost forgotten about the Rocket eBook!), historical patterns for the broad adoption of electronic products by consumers, and judged that "e-books have reached the takeoff point. Reality is catching up with the hype."

Among indicators of changes in e-attitudes: consumers have become comfortable with digital content, so much so that they look for information online before most anywhere else. The next generation of readers and consumers are already "eagerly using digital content," which is well-established on campuses and "trickling down" to high schools and lower grades. Mobile access to digital content "is everywhere." People are buying e-readers and e-reader apps. And the book industry has adopted an open standard for books with the ePub format.

Already Random House e-book sales have increased 400% over last year, and AAP sales figures show major gains every month, most recently 213% in July. While e-books are still a "small fraction" of book industry sales, "they are going way up," Poe said.

She also outlined steps the ABA is taking to make sure bricks-and-mortar independent bookstores become a major part of the e-book world:

• The ABA is talking with several e-reader makers, including Sony, about making "e-reading devices easily available to indies" in time for this year's holiday season.
• The ABA is partnering with publishers to develop digital opportunities that will be exclusive to indies and mostly involve bundling: likely the e-book version of a book would be offered to the purchaser of a printed version of a book at a nominal cost. 
• IndieCommerce is integrating e-book functionality into the IndieBound app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is "nearly ready" and will allow consumers to buy e-books this way.
• The ABA is working with others to develop an independent open source mobile e-book reader program competitive with Stanza and others that are now owned either by Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
• IndieCommerce has made a transition to the open source solution with Drupal that allows enhanced e-book functionality. (Ingram Digital is working with IndieCommerce on this.)

Poe also made recommendations for booksellers who want to be competitive selling e-books:

• Download an e-book and learn about e-readers such as the Kindle and the Sony Reader.  "Understand the Kindle system," Poe said. "Customers want to know if you can sell the Kindle or books for Kindles. Explain how your system will be different."
• "Visit the competition" by getting to know how e-books are promoted on Amazon, B&N.com, Fictionwise and elsewhere.
• Focus on market share not margin because "the goal is to put your foot in the door. Right now the e-book market is a race to the bottom in terms of price since everyone wants to emulate iTunes."
• Keep in touch with the ABA and its e-initiatives.
• Keep reading about e-book developments in Bookselling This Week, Shelf Awareness and TeleRead.

[More from MBA this week!]

This morning on Good Morning America: Brian Ross, author of The Madoff Chronicles: Inside the Secret World of Bernie and Ruth (Hyperion, $19.99, 9781401310295/140131029X).

---

Today on the View: Madeleine Albright, the former Secretary of State whose new book is Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box (Harper, $40, 9780060899189/0060899182). She is also on Larry King Live tonight.

---

Today on Fresh Air: Dan Fante, author of 86'd: A Novel (Harper Perennial, $13.99, 9780061779220/0061779229).

---

Tomorrow morning on the Early Show: Byron Pitts, author of Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges (St. Martin's, $24.99, 9780312577667/0312577664).

---

Tomorrow morning on the Today Show: Dr. Irene Levine, author of Best Friends Forever: Surviving a Breakup With Your Best Friend (Overlook Press, $15.95, 9781590200407/1590200403).

---

Tomorrow morning on Fox & Friends: Ruth Graham, author of Fear Not Tomorrow, God Is Already There: Trusting Him in Uncertain Times (Howard Books, $22.99, 9781416558439/1416558438).

Also on Fox & Friends: Victoria Gotti, author of This Family of Mine: What It Was Like Growing Up Gotti (Pocket, $27, 9781439154502/1439154503).

---

Tomorrow night on Larry King Live: Mackenzie Phillips, author of High on Arrival (Simon Spotlight, $25.99, 9781439153857/143915385X).

---

Tomorrow night on the Charlie Rose Show: Taylor Branch, author of The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President (Simon & Schuster, $35, 9781416543336/1416543333).

---

Tomorrow night on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Jon Krakauer, author of Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (Doubleday, $27.95, 9780385522267/0385522266).

---

Tomorrow night on the Colbert Report: Richard Dawkins, author of The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (Free Press, $30, 9781416594789/1416594787).

Fans of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee novels will be pleased to learn that The Deep Blue Goodbye has been adapted for Leonardo DiCaprio. Variety reported that Peter Chernin joins DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson-Killoran as "producers on a project that has a strong draft by Dana Stevens (For Love of the Game) that is drawing interest from directors. Amy Robinson is also involved in a producing capacity."

Selected new titles next Monday and Tuesday, October 5 and 6:

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus, illustrated by Mark Burgess (Dutton, $19.99, 9780525421603/0525421602) is the newest adventure with Winnie-the-Pooh and friends, approved and published 80 years after A. A. Milne's final story.

PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God by Frank Warren (Morrow, $22.99, 9780061859335/0061859338) is a selection from 150,000 anonymous postcards received by PostSecret.com.

Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by Michael Chabon (Harper, $25.99, 9780061490187/0061490180) is a collection of funny and insightful essays on life's tribulations and the concept of American masculinity.


Now in paperback:

Eat This Not That! 2010: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding (Rodale Books, $19.99, 9781605295381/1605295388).

For nearly 30 years, Harvard professor Michael Sandel has taught a course entitled "Moral Reasoning 22," nicknamed "Justice," to a packed auditorium of more than 1,000 undergraduates. This stimulating volume, prepared in conjunction with a PBS series airing this fall and available online succeeds admirably in translating to a wider audience the challenging moral dilemmas he and his students confront and will help thoughtful readers focus their thinking about what a just society might look like while sharpening the vocabulary they call upon to express their views.

At its heart, Sandel's book offers a broad and, for the most part, readily comprehensible survey of some of the major theories of justice. He rejects the utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham and its grounding of morality in the attempt to maximize the overall balance of pleasure over pain and is equally critical of the unbridled free market ideology of libertarianism. While more sympathetic to what he calls the "liberal neutrality" of Immanuel Kant and his modern counterpart John Rawls, he likewise finds their ideas wanting. But Sandel is more than a tepid repackager of received philosophical wisdom. He subjects each of these theories to a probing critique and is a witty and graceful writer who understands he's addressing the intelligent general reader, not an academic audience.

And it's that understanding that gives Justice its real zest. Sandel has richly seasoned his analysis with crisp treatments of an impressive array of contemporary social and political controversies: the familiar (abortion, stem cell research and the debate over same-sex marriage) and the obscure but no less thorny (whether a disabled professional golfer should be permitted to ride a cart or whether it would be appropriate to auction college admissions). In each instance he gently challenges us to question our conventional ways of thinking, relying on real (if occasionally bizarre) examples to push competing philosophical positions to their limits: If surrogate motherhood is O.K., why can't we simply buy babies? Is there a moral basis for limiting immigration or for laws that require government to "Buy American?" Is consensual cannibalism acceptable?

For Sandel, "a politics emptied of substantive moral engagement makes for an impoverished civic life." Instead, he advocates what he calls "a new politics of common good," one that "takes moral and spiritual questions seriously, but brings them to bear on broad economic and civic concerns, not only on sex and abortion." It's impossible to come away from this thoughtful book without feeling invigorated by the possibility of realizing that exalted vision, if only slightly daunted as to how it might be achieved.--Harvey Freedenberg

Shelf Talker: Harvard professor Michael Sandel offers an intellectually nimble survey of competing philosophies of justice against the backdrop of contemporary social issues.

What's worth celebrating as much as a birthday? Why, a book birthday, of course! Twitter Book Parties (@bookbday), the brainchild of Mitali Perkins (@mitaliperkins), grew out of the Kids Heart Authors' Day celebration on Valentine's Day earlier this year, for which Twitter also served as midwife (Shelf Awareness, December 17, 2008). With 200 authors and artists gathering at 75 bookstores all over New England for that event, Perkins said she realized how important independent booksellers are. "I write these titles that may not be as commercially viable, but I've managed to stay in print," Perkins said. "I've discovered how much we need indies to keep the breadth and depth of titles."

Perkins started Twitter Book Parties both to connect again with indies and to help authors boost exposure for their titles. "With the publishing industry struggling and the amount of publicity dollars shrinking, the pressure is on authors to publicize their books," Perkins said. "I wanted to do something that would be special for authors on their launch date, those who are not getting their Suzanne Collins moment." Perkins's next novel, Bamboo People, appears in fall 2010. But that has not stopped her from joining others' celebrations.

Members of the Twitter Book Parties site agree to tweet about other member authors' books. (There are currently about 150 participating authors.) Six book parties on September 1, the most on one day so far, resulted in 2,011 clicks through to IndieBound. "The whole way that sales are happening is through relationships," said Perkins. "We need to capitalize on the community we have in the children's books industry--authors, teachers, librarians, agents--it's a great network."

A typical Twitter Book Parties tweet might read something like this: "Happy Book Birthday!: GIVE UP THE GHOST | @megancrewe | YA | Henry Holt | http://bit.ly/EF8mi #bookbday," which for those not versed in Twitter, cites the title, author, publisher and a direct link to the book's IndieBound page.

Perkins said she believes that all authors, no matter how modest their time or financial budget, can have a Web presence. "If you have just $50 to spend and a half hour a day, you register a couple of domain names; there's a lot you can do to get yourself an online business," said Perkins. "With 20 minutes a day, update your Facebook status and Twitter status. These are tools that showcase your writing. If people like your writing, they might enjoy your fiction."

To aid the uninitiated, Perkins has a blog entry called "Getting Started on Twitter: A Quick Guide for Kid/YA Writers." She is, of course, a big fan of social networking. "There used to be this big distance between the New York publishing houses, the authors, the booksellers and the librarians," she said. "And unless you had a lot of power, you couldn't cross over and get to know those groups. With social networking, it makes everything feel closer. Voices that felt marginalized can come together, especially writers of color. Twitter Book Parties has nothing to do with my being a writer of color. It allows you to participate and make connections in ways that spread the power a little more."--Jennifer M. Brown