ORDERS FORF SIMPSON BOOK SOAR

From the New York Times.............

Beaufort Books, the publisher of “If I Did It,” the recently revived book in which O. J. Simpson hypothesizes about how he might have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in 1994, announced yesterday that it would print 125,000 copies and would likely go back to press before the book is released around Sept 13. Eric Kampmann, owner and president of Beaufort, said the company already had orders for 116,000 copies from chain bookstores, independents and online retailers. Although Barnes & Noble announced that it would not sell the book in its stores, advance orders online at bn.com propelled it to No. 1 on its best-seller list on Monday, and it hovered between No. 2 and 5 yesterday. Last fall, after a public outcry, HarperCollins scuttled plans for a 400,000-copy print run by its Regan Books imprint. Since then, the Goldman family won the rights in bankruptcy court to publish the book. Separately, Denise Brown, sister of Ms. Brown Simpson, said yesterday in a statement that she was withdrawing from a planned Sept. 13 appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” alongside members of the Goldman family. “At the time of accepting this proposition from Oprah, a publisher was not yet established, and publication was still pending,” Ms. Brown said, adding: “Since then, the Goldmans have retained a publisher who is rushing the book to market as we speak. And thus, has made the show a moot point for me.”

Footnote from Bookman Beattie- Barnes & Noble has announced it is reversing its earlier decision not to stock the book and I suspect this has a lot to do with the increased print run.