Against All Enemies: Booksellers' New Best Friend

A remarkable amount of media coverage of Richard A. Clarke's Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror (Free Press) has created a demand that booksellers are struggling to supply. A March 26, page-one story in the New York Times led with a description of the "literary phenomenon" of the book at Washington, D.C.'s Politics and Prose Bookstore. The title by President Bush's former counterterrorism chief charges the government with inadequate preparation and response to the September 11 attacks.

Politics and Prose co-owner Barbara Meade noted in the Times that "it's reached a point now where if you're going to be in the loop in Washington you probably have to say you've read the book." She also indicated that the store, which had sold out of its initial order in a matter of hours, was able to secure enough copies of Against All Enemies to last through last weekend. Many booksellers around the country have reported experiencing a similar quick sell-out and problems restocking the book through the publisher or any of the wholesalers. However, Simon & Schuster Customer Service told BTW that a reprint of the title should be available on April 7, and booksellers could place orders now.

At Arkansas' That Bookstore in Blytheville, Mary Gay Shipley had sensed that this book would be a very good seller. Her initial order of eight copies sold quickly, and, she said, as soon as more came in, she expected they would go right off the shelves. She told BTW with a laugh, "Customers will have to get in line behind the White House. I can imagine [President] Bush out back carting off wheelbarrows full."

Karen Ford, a bookseller at McLean & Eakin in Petoskey, Michigan, said the store had sold most of what it had, and hoped the reorders came quickly. She has seen steady sales over the last few days. "We sold over 20 in the first week," she said. Comparing Clarke's sales to those of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Living History (S&S), Ford found that the store sold 49 copies out of a total of 65 copies of Living History in its first month on the shelves. "After less than a week, Against All Enemies, has sold almost half that."

In Worcester, Massachusetts, Tatnuck Bookseller's owner Larry Abramoff was able to reorder copies after his "initial buy was blown out the door in the first few days." He credits his "great staff" for making the sales possible. He told BTW that the sales of the Clarke book compare "very favorably" with those of his last nonfiction blockbuster, Clinton's Living History. As Abramoff looked through his sales records of Living History, he indicated that 130 copies of the book were sold in June, the month it was published; 51 in July; 17 in August; then down to four or five up until Christmas, when there was a small uptick.

"These books have a 60-day curve," Abramoff explained. "They have a huge spike then their sales curve is very steep. If you don't have the book available today, you'll miss it. You have to respond quickly before the interest dies. In some cases, interest might continue and that's what I have to consider: How much depth does this book have? Does it have legs?" --Nomi Schwartz