> But the contract between the bookstore and Woodward's publishers
> was probably broken if an agent of a bookstore actually sold the book.
New York Times - September 30, 2006
Woodward Book Debut Not Quite as Planned By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Simon & Schuster had an intricate strategy all worked out for rolling out Bob Woodward's new book, "State of Denial," scheduled for publication on Monday.
Extensive excerpts would appear in The Washington Post, where Mr. Woodward works, on Sunday and Monday. The book would be featured Sunday night on "60 Minutes." And excerpts would appear Monday in Newsweek, which is also owned by the Washington Post Company.
But that plan was disrupted Friday when The New York Times and The Daily News published articles with details of the book, which describes behind-the-scenes disputes within the Bush administration over the Iraq war.
Now, Simon & Schuster has moved up the release of the book to today, allowing bookstores, which have had it for days, to put it on their shelves earlier than the scheduled sale date.
The decision to make the book available earlier than planned highlights the difficulty that publishers face in trying to execute a promotional strategy on their own timetable.
It also raises questions about the relationship between The Post and Mr. Woodward, a prolific author who is by far its most famous reporter for his role in exposing the Watergate scandal, which brought down Richard Nixon's presidency. His books often contain exclusive material that has not appeared in the newspaper, where he is an assistant managing editor.
"60 Minutes" began promoting its segment about "State of Denial," including details of the book's content, on its Web site on Thursday. An internal critique yesterday at The Post, written by a former reporter, suggested little patience with Mr. Woodward's special relationship with his paper.
"The big question of the day is, Why A1 didn't have Woodward on Bush before CBS began promoting their interview," the critique read. "Oh yeah, I know why, blah, blah, blah."
Leonard Downie Jr., the executive editor of The Post, said that during the course of reporting for this book and others, Mr. Woodward "has been helpful to us from time to time."
He declined to specify Mr. Woodward's contributions to the newspaper from "State of Denial," but noted that after the articles were published in The New York Times and The Daily News on Friday, The Post ran on its Web site "material that originated with us" and said that it would have excerpts in its Sunday issue, which will be available today.
"You will still read Woodward's words first in their entirety in The Washington Post," Mr. Downie said. He added that he was not upset about the turn of events, saying being scooped was part of the ebb and flow of a competitive business.
"Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose," he said.
Simon & Schuster was somewhat less sanguine. Some industry watchers said that the front-page treatment in The Times could only help lift sales of the book. But David Rosenthal, publisher of Simon & Schuster, maintained that the book already had significant buzz and that it was not clear whether additional publicity would increase it.
Regardless of sales, he said, a principle was violated because it appeared some booksellers had sold the book to The Times, The Daily News and other outlets even though they had signed affidavits saying they would abide by embargoes.
Breaking an embargo, he said, can disrupt a highly structured, coordinated publicity and sales program.
"You want your sales to start happening at a synchronized time, in a concentrated period at first, to drive the book" on the best-seller lists, he said. "And its list position affects the discounting of a book."
Mr. Rosenthal said he had moved up the release date to today "because it's the soonest we can" and because "we don't want to penalize stores that are upholding the embargo."
Barbara Meade, a co-owner of the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, said that she had received a "frenzy" of calls yesterday for the book. Even if the publisher had not moved up the sale to today, she said, she might have started selling it then anyway to avoid disappointing her customers. "It would be a bad business decision not to put it out," she said.
Howard Rubenstein, a public relations executive familiar with roll- out campaigns like this one by Simon & Schuster, said that controlling such information "really doesn't work anymore."
He said that he advises clients to prepare a strategy for publicity but also to prepare for leaks. "And if it happens," he said, "jump on the bandwagon."