While the television news networks scrambled to make sense of Alaska governor (and failed Republican vice-presidential candidate) Sarah Palin's sudden Friday afternoon resignation, we wondered: What does all this mean for the book deal she signed with HarperCollins back in May?

The short answer is, as of 10 p.m. Friday night, we have no idea. As you can imagine, we'd pretty much checked out for the holiday weekend when this Paling thing happened, and just about everybody we knew at Harper had checked out for the holiday weekend, and the one person we did reach declined (not unexpectedly) to speak on the subject...

And that's where the matter stood until we checked our RSS feed and saw that Jeffrey Trachtenberg at the Wall Street Journal had spoken to Harper director of publicity Tina Andreadis, who told him the memoir is still on track: "We think the book will be huge," she says. "Even though she's stepping down, people will want to hear her story. This is her opportunity to tell her own story her own way."

Originally, we saw a post on BoingBoing pointing to some commentary by John Green (Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines) on ways authors could think smarter about advances, along with continued thoughts along those lines, and we thought we might try to summarize them, but then we poked around Green's site some more and found the video above, and we figured it would be a lot more fun.

Well, okay, we can't resist throwing in one quote:

"Okay," you say, "but publishers don't behave rationally. If they behaved rationally, they wouldn't be massively overcommitted to a business model that has failed so spectacularly that many of them would be in real danger of bankruptcy if they were not owned by gigantic media corporations that can absorb the losses."

Oh, you. With your overlong and underpunctuated sentences, you could almost be me. But right, yes. This is very true. Do editors push books merely because they foolishly paid too much for them? Maybe somtimes. But am I the only person who worries that exploiting that irrationality for our short term gain is harming our business at the very moment of its greatest fragility?

Now take our word for it and go read the rest.

Our friend and occasional correspondent Karen Spears Zacharias wrote a blog post yesterday about her friend Wanda Jewell, the executive director of the Southeast Independent Booksellers Alliance: "Books are her passion, bookstores her pulpit, and readers her mission field," Zacharias said in praise of Jewell, who earlier this year created a promotion in which she gave a free book for every purchase at a SIBA affiliate. (By the way, as far as we know, the free book stimulus plan is still running.)

But, Zacharias reports, Jewell will be undergoing surgery for breast cancer next week. Authors and other book people in the South have already begun to offer their hope for a swift recovery in the comments to Zacharias's post and in other online venues. "Wanda has reshaped the Southern literary landscape," says the Atlanta-based VERB. "[She] has never been interested in being known to anyone but her bookstores, but she is a giant in the industry, and her name is gold." We know that we are not alone among New York's publishing industry professionals in sending our own best wishes her way.

I loved this book and I definitely look forward to reading it to my youngest nephews and niece. My People (Ginee Seo Books) is a photo book, more than a picture book, that helps young people appreciate their color and their own beauty.

It brought a smile to my face and, corny as it may sound, made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Words by Langston Hughes and photographs by acclaimed poet Charles R. Smith, Jr. this book should be on every parent's bookshelf who wants their child to understand and appreciate how beautiful they are inside.

Jeff Rivera is the author of "Forever My Lady" and the founder of GumboWriters.com

Despite Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs's remark that "people don't read anymore," his company has a mysterious page-turning patent registered. Whatever they are doing with the patent, the company has earned a spot on our weekly Book Stock Watch.

GalleyCat has been tracking the stock performance of the major companies that influence the bookselling business. We created this chart with eight publicly-traded publishing stocks hand-picked by our readers--including company name, symbol, current stock price, and price increase or decrease at week's close.

The McGraw-Hill Co. MHP 29.48 -1.15
Books-A-Million, Inc. BAMM 7.64 0.18
Borders Group, Inc. BGP 3.41 -0.24
Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN 79.32 -2.28
Barnes & Noble, Inc. BKS 19.69 -1.33
Wiley John & Sons Inc. JW.A 32.68 -0.99
Scholastic Corporation SCHL 19.2 -0.88
News Corporation NWS 9.98 -0.66
Google Inc. GOOG 408.49 -10.5
Apple Inc. AAPL 140.02 -2.81

HarperCollins will publish a YA science fiction novel entitled, "I Am Number Four"--the first in what is conceived as a six book series co-written by James Frey and Columbia University creative writing graduate Jobie Hughes.

According to the NY Times, William Morris Endeavor agent Eric Simonoff sealed the deal. Dreamworks has already purchased rights to the space alien story, and Michael Bay is interested in producing. After his bestselling memoir was revealed to be embellished, Frey mounted a comeback with last year's novel, "Bright Shiny Morning."

Here's more from the article: "[Simonoff] said the pair had also sold three subsequent books in a planned series ... A source familiar with the deal for 'I Am Number Four' said HarperCollins paid less than seven figures for the four books."

The brand new literary journal, Electric Literature, combines old and new media distribution models in a new kind of product. The magazine will be published as a digital text, with a print-on-demand option for readers looking for paper copies of the journal.

In addition, the journal can be purchased as an e-book, Kindle, or iPhone format. The opening issue features a blockbuster list with work by Jim Shepard, Lydia Millet, and Michael Cunningham.

Here's more from the site: "Ultimately, the content of a book is information, and the methods of distributing information have changed. Electronic publishing is the greenest option: it kills no trees, requires very little energy, never goes out of print, and can reach anyone on the planet. To create the paper version of Electric Literature, we use print-on-demand, ensuring that every copy has a home." (Via Patrick deWitt)

Penguin's Sentinel imprint has released South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford from his book contract.

Recently, the governor admitted to an affair with an Argentinian woman. Sanford was scheduled to finish the book for Spring 2010 publication. In 2000, he published a book entitled, interestingly enough, "The Trust Committed To Me."

Here's a statement from Adrian Zackheim, President and Publisher of Sentinel: "Sentinel has agreed to release Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina from his contract to write a book about fiscal conservatism, which was to be called WITHIN OUR MEANS and was scheduled for publication in March 2010. This is a mutual decision. We wish Governor Sanford the best."

Publishing types have been buzzing all week about Adam L. Penenberg's long Fast Company article about Amazon.com, Inc. and the future of the book.

The article explores the company's $9.99 pricing structure for many Kindle books, an arrangement that reportedly creates a loss for Amazon as publishers are "earning between $12 and $13 per e-book." Despite the Amazon-centric focus, this GalleyCat editor spotted a nugget of Apple intelligence, as Penenberg examined the company's patent for a tablet device and an intriguing screen design--another of the fabled "Kindle-killers."

Here's more from the article: "a recent patent application, listing as lead inventors Steve Hotelling, the man behind Apple's multitouch-screen patents for the iPhone, and Jonathan Ive, [Steve Jobs]'s design guru, includes a multitouch e-book technology. U.S. patent application No. 20080204426 ('Gestures for Touch Sensitive Input Devices') describes a method to 'simulate a finger turning the page in an actual paper-bound book.'"

In a new interview, author Alain de Botton explained that he never expected (and regretted) that his comments on a book critic's blog would reach a "large audience" via the Internet.

Literary blogger Edward Champion interviewed the author about his unexpected headlines--de Botton had left a passionate set of messages in the comments section of Caleb Crain's blog, responding to a critical review this week. The author explained that critics have a "quasi moral responsibility" to review responsibly, joining a short, fiery list of authors arguing with critics through blogs and microblogs this week.

Here's an excerpt from the interview: "I think that a writer should respond to a critic within a relatively private arena. I don't believe in writing letters to the newspaper. I do believe in writing, on occasion, to the critics directly. I used to believe that posting a message on a writer's website counted as part of this kind of semi-private communication. I have learnt it doesn't, it is akin to starting your own television station in terms of the numbers who might end up attending."

The morning after federal Judge Deborah Batts ruled that a Swedish author could not publish the follow-up to "The Catcher in the Rye," the book's distributor vowed to appeal.

"60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye" by Fredrik Coltingwas to be distributed by Aaron Silverman of SCB Distributors Inc.. "Today's ruling temporarily prevents us from bringing a wonderful book to U.S. readers," he explained, noting they "plan to appeal." In addition, a defense lawyer involved in the case said the judge was effectively "banning the book."

Here's a statement from Edward H. Rosenthal, an attorney at Frankfurt Kurnit, part of the book's legal team: "We are very disappointed that the judge chose to ban Mr. Colting's book ... '60 Years Later' is an important critical work about 'The Catcher in the Rye.' Because of the Court's decision banning the book, members of the public are deprived of the chance to read the book and decide for themselves whether it adds to their understanding of Salinger and his work."

One week after his extramarital affair in Argentina surfaced, some wonder what will happen to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's book deal. According to CNN, the rising Republican star secured (before the affair surfaced) a book deal with Penguin's Sentinel imprint--scheduled for Spring 2010 publication.

The news agency caught up with the imprint's associate publisher, Will Weisser, for an interview with a cryptic ending. This isn't Sanford's first book. In 2000, he published a book entitled, interestingly enough, "The Trust Committed To Me."

Here's more from the article: "Weisser would not elaborate on whether that meant Sanford would write a new book about the scandal, or if it simply meant the book deal has been scrapped altogether. 'We'll announce a decision about what's going to happen about the book.' he said."

"The zombies rose in the summer of 2006, following the accidental combination of two genetically-engineered viruses... Shortly after that, people who were believed dead started getting back up and attacking. The mainstream media was, of course, not entirely willing to go 'hey, look, zombies.' They came up with lots of stories, but none of them were really capable of taking that final step into George Romero territory. The Internet media had no such qualms. Almost immediately, the world blogging community was documenting attacks, sharing information, and delving into the horror community's full supply of zombie lore, looking for the answer to survival."

That's the beginning of the backstory Seanan McGuire supplied to the science fiction blog io9 when they wrote about the auction of her novel Feed and its sequels, which was eventually won by Orbit this week. McGuire will actually be publishing the trilogy under the name "Mira Grant," io9 reports; she's already got another series in the works at DAW Books, beginning with this September's Rosemary and Rue. And that's in addition to her webcomic and three CDs of filk and filk-inspired music. (Vocabulary update: "Filk is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction/fantasy fandom.")

To expand on the trilogy's themes a bit, McGuire said, "It's also about, well, zombies. Lots of zombies. What happens to a society when it has to live with the constant threat of zombies. What that does to the entertainment industry. To social patterns. To clothing styles. To the way that people interact. To funeral rites. Basically, it's an unholy cross between Transmetropolitan and Night of the Living Dead, with a little Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on the side." And we have to wait until 2010 for this awesome sauce? Damn.

We were saddened yesterday to hear of the death of novelist Mary Wilbon, who came to New York in the 1970s to pursue a career as a Broadway actress and eventually wound up as an employee of the U.S. Department of Labor (doing such an outstanding job that she received a letter of recommendation from then-vice president Al Gore). Wilbon stayed active in community theater near her home in northern New Jersey, but she also published two novels with Kensington: Naughty Little Secrets in 2004, and One Last Kiss in February of this year. "Mary’s effervescent personality will be missed by all those who knew her," Kensington said in its notice of Wilbon's death following a short illness. "Her last wishes included any donations to be sent to the Human Rights Campaign and local chapters of the ASPCA."

"This isn't a recent photo," she once wrote about the headshot at left, "but damn it, she was determined to get some use out of the headshots she paid for."

Federal Judge Deborah Batts decided today that a Swedish author could not publish his follow-up to "The Catcher in the Rye."

Earlier this month, the judge issued a temporary order blocking author Fredrik Colting from publishing "60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye"--a novel revisiting characters from a classic J.D. Salinger novel. According to the AP Batts ultimately rejected two main claims by the defense, that the book was a parody and critique of Salinger's original work.

Here's more from the article: "[Batts noted that] Colting and his publishers made no indication before the lawsuit was filed that the book was meant as a parody or critique of Salinger's work. 'Quite to the contrary, the original jacket of '60 Years' states that it is '... a marvelous sequel to one of our most beloved classics,'' the judge noted."