As Usual, Publishing Industry Had Year Of Turmoil

It was a year of turmoil in the publishing industry then again, isn’t every year? that was redeemed by a hugely successful literary novel (“Cold Mountain”) that came out of nowhere and some steady sellers on the nonfiction side.

Out-of-control multimillion-dollar advances, masses of books returned unsold to publishing houses and turnovers in the executive suite made publishers look about as savvy as the people running Asia’s economies. Without further ado, a look back at the year in books …

Publishing crisis, part one: Harry Evans, one-half (with wife Tina Brown) of the media’s most famous fun couple, leaves Random House for Mortimer Zuckerman’s mini media empire amid rumors that he was in trouble for paying too much money for books and too little attention to the bottom line.

Publishing crisis, part two: Advances paid to celebrity authors spiral out of control. Whoopi Goldberg gets a reported $6 million for “Book,” which spends only four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Publishing crisis, part three: Stephen King shops around for a new book contract, seeking a reported $15 million advance per book. When that doesn’t pan out, he opts for an unusual arrangement with Simon & Schuster for a reported $2 million per-book advance and a 50-50 split on net profits.

Publishing crisis, part four: An outcry from authors follows the news that HarperCollins is canceling contracts on 106 “midlist” books. Midlist refers to books that may sell 10,000 to 30,000 copies.

Publishing crisis, part five: Most major publishers boycott the industry’s annual convention, where the buzz on fall books traditionally begins. No news is - boring.

It’s not all bad news: Oprah Winfrey’s blessing continues to translate into automatic bestsellerdom for the books she chooses for her on-air book club.

A kiss is just a kiss? Pundits decide there’s something yicky about Kathryn Harrison’s memoir “The Kiss,” in which she discusses her adult affair with her father. The novelist is accused in some quarters of talking about it … just for the money. But the book doesn’t exactly burn up the bestseller list, and some feminist critics argue that the reaction against “The Kiss” is pure sexism.

More kissing and telling: The backlash against memoirs extends beyond “The Kiss” to include various efforts at “creative nonfiction.” The present mood toward writers who feel a need to share seems to be: Oh, just shut up already.

An unhappy ending: Writer Michael Dorris, husband of novelist Louise Erdrich, commits suicide amid divorce proceedings and allegations that he sexually abused his daughters.

Making mincemeat of Martha: In “Just Desserts,” Jerry Oppenheimer presents Westport entertainment maven Martha Stewart as an unstable harpy. Martha is not amused, but the book makes the bestseller list anyway.

Diana reigns: After the death of Diana, princess of Wales, in a car accident, Andrew Morton admits that the princess was the primary source for his bestselling books. His updated version, “Diana: Her True Story. A Commemorative Edition,” returns to the bestseller list. Meanwhile Kitty Kelley scores again when publication of her tell all, “The Royals,” is moved up to take advantage of sudden intense interest in the royal family and Diana.

The case grows cold: Demand for O.J. books weakens for a while - Paula Barbieri’s book is a bomb. But Vanity Fair readers who salivated over Dominick Dunne’s dishy reports from the criminal trial help push “Another City, Not My Own,” his gossipy “novel in the form of a memoir,” onto the bestseller list.

No such thing as bad publicity: Scathing advance reports that he was briefly hoodwinked by a forger fail to dent sales of Seymour M. Hersh’s “The Dark Side of Camelot,” an unflattering portrait of JFK.

The Energizer bunny of books: John Berendt’s “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” just keeps selling and selling and selling in hardcover, four years after publication. People stay away in droves from the movie version, but the book about a Savannah murder does better than ever - regaining the top spot on the nonfiction bestseller list.

Politics means having to say you’re sorry a lot: Columnists have a couple days of fun at the expense of Vice President Al Gore after he reports that he and wife Tipper were the models for the tragic couple in Erich Segal’s weepy 1970 novel (then movie) “Love Story.” It turns out that Gore was part inspiration (along with actor Tommy Lee Jones) for the preppie Oliver Barrett 4th, but that perky Tipper has no connection to snippy baker’s daughter Jenny Cavilleri.

Mountains of books: Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction account of the Mount Everest disaster, “Into Thin Air,” rivets readers for the better part of the year. And “Cold Mountain,” a writerly first novel about a Confederate deserter walking home to the woman he loves, becomes the surprise fiction hit of the year, giving hope that readers still appreciate truly good books.