Celebs join book-sales campaign

Jon Stewart, Barbara Walters and some other famous people would like you to buy books during the holiday season.

“Books make great gifts because they’re an amazing way to kill time while your Web site is buffering,” Stewart jokes during a two-minute video that is part of an industry campaign, www.BooksAreGreatGifts.com.

The campaign was organized by the Association of American Publishers to boost books during an especially bleak economy.

The association announced Thursday that sales for October, based on results from 80 publishers, dropped 20 percent from the month before.